Concerning Class 8, Jim Meil, ACT principal for industry analysis, said, “While one strong month may be statistical noise or an outlier, the July orders fit into a robust pattern that has held up since the start of the year. With year-to-date orders up 33 percent from the comparable 2013 span, 2014 is almost certain to be the best year of this cycle.”

Meil said that Class 8 backlogs were the highest since January 2012, but “we believe we are not yet at the point where an overheated market triggers duplicate ordering and raises anxieties about backlog integrity.”

Meil added that Classes 5-7 year-to-date orders are running about 10.5 percent higher than the prior year at this time. “While the numbers may not be as stellar as what we see in Class 8, the year is shaping up to be the best thus far of the post 2009 expansion for medium duty.”

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 U.S. tractor-trailer market and the China CV market.

Source: ACT Research