North American January Class 8 truck orders were up 121% year-over-year, marking their second-best level in history, with Canadian sales more than doubling that number, according to ACT Research.
“And after a couple months hiatus, orders from Canada were broadly strong in January, up 259% year-over-year,” said Kenny Vieth, president and senior analyst.
Overall, North American Class 8 orders totaled 49,100-plus units.
“The only month in history better than January was a 52,000 unit order explosion in March 2006, at the peak of the pre-buying frenzy ahead of EPA07,” ACT reports.
Vieth explained that drivers of the current order onslaught are broad-based, with supply-side, demand-side, and exogenous factors all contributing to Class 8 order activity.