The final numbers, which will be released mid-June, will approach 18,000 units for heavy duty Class 8 trucks and 13,100 for medium duty Classes 5-7 vehicles. The preliminary net order numbers are typically accurate to within 5 percent of actual.

"As has been the case the past two months, the issue appears to center on credit-buying truckers' confidence in the economy relative to the risk of taking out a sizeable loan," said Kenny Vieth, president and senior analyst, ACT Research. "Highlighting the notion that the recent pullback in orders is a confidence rather than freight-related issue, cancellations in recent months have remained at low levels. Beyond confidence, the demand check boxes remain positive, suggesting that the pull-back is temporary. Of course, we are approaching the period of the year that is associated with order weakness: July and August are typically the softest order months of the year," he added.

ACT is a publisher of new and used commercial vehicle (CV) industry data, market analysis and forecasting services for the North American market, as well as the China CV market.

Source: ACT Research