According to the preliminary findings from ACT Research, orders for class 5-8 vehicles dropped by 14% in June, marking the third straight month of decline.

ACT is quick to note that these numbers are based on preliminary research and that actual numbers will be available later this month.

In addition, Kenny Vieth, ACT president and senior analyst, feels that the order drop-off is a symptom of larger backlogs and not structural change in demand. He notes that class 5-8 backlogs were 56,000 units in June, which is a healthy increase (33%) over the same time period last year.

Even so, Class 8 orders in North America were hit hard in June, although Vieth is confident seasonal adjustment will be beneficial to the sector.

“At 19,900 units, NA Class 8 orders were down 25% year over year to their lowest monthly net order volume since September 2013. However, starting in June, and for the next several months, seasonal adjustment becomes accretive to Class 8 order volumes,” said Vieth. “Seasonally adjusted, June’s order volume rises to 22,200 units – the best order month on a seasonally adjusted basis since April.”

Medium-duty orders experienced a downturn as well, helping to lead to an overall decline. At 14,700 units, the monthly net order was far below the 19,000 units per month average the industry has experienced since last July. Again, seasonal adjustment makes those numbers look a bit better with a rise to 16,000, but that is still below previous months.