Final North American class 8 net orders totaled a strong 37,100 units in September, kicking off the beginning of “order season,” according to ACT Research’s latest State of the Industry: NA Classes 5-8 report. While the top line flatters, the underlying numbers point to a bifurcated market with softness in tractors and considerable strength in vocational.
“Tractor orders were down 32% Y/Y at 17,000 units, as a weak for-hire market weighs down capital budgets. Vocational orders surged in September to 20,000 units and were up 71% Y/Y,” Kenny Vieth, president and senior analyst of ACT Research, said. “With production capacity constrained in recent years, lingering pent-up demand and string end markets — still-plentiful stimulus money from CHIPS, IRA, IIJA projects, construction in Mexico, and utility investments — provide strong tailwinds in vocational.”
“The Class 8 backlog rose 10,600 units M/M in September to 116,034 units,” Vieth said. “Despite orders outpacing build for only the second time this year, the backlog-to-build ratio remained unchanged at 4.2 months on a nominal basis.”
