June preliminary North America Class 8 net orders of 31.4k units increased 231% year over year. Complete industry data for June, including final order numbers, will be published by ACT Research in mid-July.
“Strong orders this month, adding to an already full Class 8 backlog, suggest either higher than expected industry builds into year-end or orders increasingly spilling into 1H’2027. Underpinning the 7-month run of strong Class 8 order activity has been the ongoing, supply lead and demand supported recovery in the trucking industry. As we say, truckers only buy trucks when they make money. Underscoring the rapid change in carrier fortunes, freight rates continue to soar,” Carter Vieth, research analyst at ACT Research, said.
Regarding medium duty, he added, “Preliminary Classes 5-7 orders rose 67% Y/Y to 20,700 units in June. The U.S.’s ongoing economic resilience is certainly aiding medium-duty demand, but given near record low consumer sentiment and the very real sticker shock hitting small-to-medium fleets, this month’s medium-duty orders appear to be driven largely by dealer inventory stocking ahead of 2027.”
