Truck manufacturers are struggling to keep up with order demand due to material shortages.

FTR reported preliminary orders of 42,800 units in January, up 144% year-over-year but down 18% from December 2020. Orders over the past 12 months total 308,000.

Fleets are rushing to add capacity to meet freight growth, but OEMs are struggling to keep pace, says FTR.

“Currently there are shortages of raw materials and component parts, which will result in supply being unable to meet the demand of Class 8 trucks in the short-term,” said Don Ake, vice-president, commercial vehicles. “Class 8 suppliers are working diligently to ramp up production but are hindered by the pandemic and material shortages. In addition, imported parts deliveries are being delayed up to two weeks at the ports.”

“Demand for Class 8 trucks is surging, but the supply chain is hindered,” he added. “Our industry is very skilled and experienced in dealing with roadblocks. It will handle this situation better than other sectors. However, this will limit first-quarter production and will probably run over into part of Q2. When the vaccine enables employment to increase and the other bottlenecks are removed, this will end up being a robust year for Class 8 sales.”