Final North American Class 8 net orders totaled 24,675 units in April, down 24% month over month, as published in ACT Research’s latest State of the Industry: NA Classes 5-8 report.
“April signifies the beginning of lower order seasonality until 2027 orderboards open in September,” Carter Vieth, research analyst at ACT Research, said. “Due to last April’s ‘Liberation Day’ impacting orders, Y/Y comparisons this month are arguably uninformative, with M/M comparisons the better metric this month. Tractor orders totaled 16,807 units, down 21% M/M on seasonality. The surge in orders the past six months Total Cl5-7 Net Orders April 2026boils down to improved spot and contract rates and regulatory clarity. Vocational Class 8 orders totaled 7,868 units, down 29% M/M, but given seasonality and last month’s historically strong order month, the pull back from March levels is unsurprising.”
Regarding medium duty, Vieth added, “Total Classes 5-7 orders rose 29% Y/Y to 16,801 units (17.5k SA), partially on easy comps, but perhaps also reflecting continued consumer resilience despite the war, as well as some regulatory-driven dealer inventory stocking.”
