Class 8 Commercial Vehicle Orders and Its Production Remains Strong
Americas Commercial Transportation (ACFT) Research, Co., LLC, an organization that provides data and analysis for trucks and other commercial vehicles, released a data which revealed that there is a continuous increase in Class 8 commercial vehicle orders and its production remains strong.
According to ACT, in its State of the Industry: Classes 5-8 Vehicles report, net orders for Class 8 vehicles hit its highest level of the year, achieving a 93 percent year-over-year gain in June, which surpassed an 84 percent bump in May. ACT also spotted and increase in the class 8's net orders in June. June's 15,999 Class 8 net orders were 21% higher than of May.
Included in the statement of ACT's Vice President Steve Tam, mentioning that early second quarter reports from publicly traded truckload carriers affirm a recovering freight transportation market, with revenues and profits up significantly from 2009. Tam added that orders are still under replacement levels but momentum is increasing as profitability becomes better for carriers.
ACT Partner and Senior Analyst Kenny Vieth recently shared with LogisticsManagement.com that a typical unit replacement number for a full year is approximately 200,000 Class 8 vehicles. Senior Analyst Vieth also added that the overall forecast for replacement vehicles is about 150,000 units. Recently, huge haulers like Con-way Freight and J.B. Hunt, among others, have made significant replacement truck orders.
The demand may be improving but the present situation is still not a state of carriers requesting for as many trucks as you can build me right now, explained, Vieth. Though the senior analyst sees it materializing in the next four-to-six months.
Furthermore, Vieth said that in the last three months, there have been decent upside surprises on orders which has been reassuring from an equipment aspect.
Quoting Vieth, he said: What has been nice from an equipment perspective is the strength of demand has hit in all north American marketsin the U.S., Canada, and Mexico and up across equipment types so we have seen orders for tractors with and without sleepers going up. He also mentioned that they have discovered an increase in day cab trucks which is kind of everything being just a little bit better than it was.
Vieth also explained that while production levels for Class 8 trucks are under replacement levels, there is a continuous upward trend in second-hand truck pricing. Over the past six months ACT has noticed a $5,000 increase in the six-month run rate it covers over the past six months. ACT projected an increase of another $5,000 over the next three-to-five months.
Americas Commercial Transportation (ACT) Research, Co., LLC is a recognized leading publisher of commercial vehicle (CV) industry data, market analysis and forecasting services for the North American market. This organization was founded in 1986 with the goal of improving and expanding North American commercial vehicle data in order to achieve better understanding of the transportation industry. By working directly with CV manufacturers, ACT Research collects and confidentially circulates marketing data that offers an extensive look at the industrys past and present performance, as well as in-depth analysis of future expectations.
