Final North American Class 8 net orders totaled 37.2k units in November, on very strong tractor demand, as published in ACT Research’s latest State of the Industry: NA Classes 5-8 report.
“Given the generationally weak profits experienced by for-hire carriers in 2024, and the relative youth of private fleet, tractor orders of 28.7k units are a high-side surprise,” according to Kenny Vieth, ACT’s President and Senior Analyst. “While some of this month’s strong orders likely came from post-election optimism in for-hire, we suspect that private fleets worried about future supply chain disruptions continued as the larger driver of tractor demand in November. Vocational truck orders totaled 8.6k units, another historically strong number, suggesting the vocational market is jumping in the queue ahead of EPA’27 and GHG-3.”
Regarding medium duty, Vieth added, “Total Classes 5-7 orders decreased 28% y/y to 17.1k units. Orders have slowed the past three months, and that trend is likely to continue as record-high inventories take some air away from new orders.”
State of the Industry: NA Classes 5-8 Report Overview
ACT’s State of the Industry: NA Classes 5-8 report provides a monthly look at the current production, sales, and general state of the on-road heavy and medium duty commercial vehicle markets in North America. It differentiates market indicators by Class 5, Classes 6-7 chassis and Class 8 trucks and tractors, detailing measures such as backlog, build, inventory, new orders, cancellations, net orders, and retail sales. Additionally, Class 5 and Classes 6-7 are segmented by trucks, buses, RVs, and step van configurations, while Class 8 is segmented by trucks and tractors with and without sleeper cabs. This report includes a six-month industry build plan, backlog timing analysis, historical data from 1996 to the present in spreadsheet format, and a ready-to-use graph package. A first-look at preliminary net orders is also published in conjunction with this report.
ACT Research Overview
ACT Research is recognized as the leading publisher of commercial vehicle truck, trailer, and bus industry data, market analysis and forecasts for the North America and China markets. ACT’s analytical services are used by all major North American truck and trailer manufacturers and their suppliers, as well as banking and investment companies. ACT Research is a contributor to the Blue Chip Economic Indicators and a member of the Wall Street Journal Economic Forecast Panel. ACT Research executives have received peer recognition, including election to the Board of Directors of the National Association for Business Economics, appointment as Consulting Economist to the National Private Truck Council, and the Lawrence R. Klein Award for Blue Chip Economic Indicators’ Most Accurate Economic Forecast over a four-year period. ACT Research senior staff members have earned accolades including Chicago Federal Reserve Automotive Outlook Symposium Best Overall Forecast, Wall Street Journal Top Economic Outlook, and USA Today Top 10 Economic Forecasters. More information can be found at www.actresearch.net.
Additional Resources
November preliminary North America Class 8 net orders were 37,200 units, up 21% m/m. Complete industry data for November, including final order numbers, will be published by ACT Research in mid-December.
“We are still in the early stages of the industry’s building of 2025 backlogs, but through November, seasonally strong orders have made little progress in closing the backlog gap compared to year-ago levels,” shared Kenny Vieth, ACT’s President and Senior Analyst. He continued, “While up from October, orders were 11% below last November’s performance. On a seasonally adjusted basis, Class 8 orders jumped 42% from October to 34,800 units, 418k SAAR.”
Regarding medium duty, he added, “MD Classes 5-7 orders continue their consistent, if slowly deflating, trajectory into historically elevated truck and bus backlogs. Preliminary November NA Classes 5-7 orders fell 30% y/y to 16,500 units, the third weakest net order tally of 2024.”
Class 8:
Net Orders: 37.2k units
Tractors: 28.7k units
Vocational: 8.6k units
Click here to learn more information about ACT's State of the Industry: NA Classes 5-8 Vehicles data.
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