The wholesale used market was the only segment to grow from 2011 to 2012, up 3 percent. The auction and retail markets both fell 11 percent. The update on the used market was reported in the latest release of the State of the Industry: U.S. Classes 3-8 Used Trucks, published by ACT Research.

North America Classes 5-8 commercial vehicle preliminary net orders for October rose to levels of "best since" comparisons. The final numbers, which will be released mid-November, will approach 23,200 units for heavy duty Class 8 trucks and 18,500 for medium duty Classes 5-7 vehicles. The preliminary net order numbers are typically accurate to within 5 percent of actual.

Class 8 new and net orders continued to soften in September as the perceived threat of bad economic news impacts potential truck buyers.

North America heavy duty GVW Class 8 commercial vehicle preliminary net orders for September, as reported by ACT Research Co., remained soft. The final numbers, which will be released mid-October, will approach 15,600 units for heavy duty Class 8 trucks and 14,000 for medium duty Classes 5-7 vehicles. The preliminary net order numbers are typically accurate to within 5 percent of actual.

Pricing continues to be the most interesting and watched of the used truck market metrics. In August, pricing was up for all three time period comparisons - month over month, year over year, and year to date/year to date. Volumes also increased month over month, but remained well below pace for other time period comparisons.

Net orders for trailers improved in August, rising to 15,370 units. Applying August's seasonal factor brought the order total to 18,200 units.

Weakness at the front end of the demand cycle for heavy-duty commercial vehicles persisted into August, although underlying fundamentals are healthy. This updated status of the North America commercial vehicle market was included in the State of the Industry report, released by ACT Research Co., which covers Class 5 through 8 vehicles for the North American market.

In what may be an unprecedented event, all the month-over-month comparisons - volume, price, miles and age - for all weight groups of used trucks improved in July.

June used truck sales grew 8 percent over May, but lagged June 2011 and the first six months of 2011, while pricing appears to be slowing a little more rapidly than was previously expected. The update on the used market was reported in the latest release of the State of the Industry: U.S. Classes 3-8 Used Trucks, published by ACT Research.

With a freight transportation slump and operational costs rising, China's heavy-duty market continued the downward spiral that began last year, according to the recently released China Commercial Vehicle Outlook jointly published quarterly by ACT and SIC, China's State Information Center.