Preliminary January 2023 Class 8 net orders see declines

Preliminary North American Class 8 net truck orders, for the month of January, saw declines, according to recent data respectively issued by freight transportation consultancy FTR and ACT Research, a provider of data and analysis for trucks and other commercial vehicles.  

FTR reported that January preliminary January net orders—at 21,600 units—were down 25% compared to December, while rising 2% annually. Over the last 12 months, through January, FTR said that total Class 8 orders are at 303,000 units. What’s more, FTR said that January marked the fourth consecutive month of declining orders, since hitting a record-high in September 2022.

The firm explained that with backlogs already solidifying production slots, it not surprising orders have fallen off their previous torrential pace, and it added that while orders may have declined over the last four months, they were still higher than year-earlier totals.

ACT data: ACT reported that January preliminary North American Class 8 orders came in at 18,400 units, well below December’s 30,400 unit preliminary tally and also trailing November, at 30,300 units.

“Given how robust Class 8 orders were into year end, the relative pause in January is not surprising,” shared Eric Crawford, ACT’s Vice President and Senior Analyst, in a statement. “We note that over the final four months of 2022, nearly 159k Class 8 net orders were placed, +92% y/y, and only 8% below those placed over the same period in 2020. January’s orders represent the first y/y decline in five months (August).”