TORONTO – There were fewer Class 8 trucks on Canadian roads in the first quarter of 2014, as new registrations dropped by 5.5 percent, according to registration data from IHS Automotive.

Of the OEMs, Peterbilt and Volvo were the only manufacturers with a positive year-over-year percent change. Peterbilt saw a market increase of 11.2 percent and Volvo was up 35 percent.

During the first quarter of the 2014 calendar year, new registrations in each of the provinces, except British Columbia and Prince Edward Island, were lower than the new registrations during the first quarter of the 2013 calendar year.

Who’s buying the most trucks?

Albertans bought the most trucks from January to March of 2014 with 5,949 units or 37.4 percent of all Canadian registrations. Ontario was second with 3,454 units bought, followed by B.C. and Quebec.

Historically, Ontario was the province purchasing most trucks from ’85 until 2005. Alberta took the lead as the top truck buyer in 2006 and the gap between Alberta and Ontario continues to widen.

The total number of commercial vehicles registered to operate in Canada is 897,000 units for classes 5 to 8.