Preliminary June Class 8 Orders 8% Below Previous Month

FTR's preliminary Class 8 orders for June was the lowest monthly total since July 2012; orders are expected to remain low through the summer months.

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FTR releases preliminary Class 8 net orders for June at 13,000 units, 8% below May and -34% year-over-year. June 2016 order activity was the lowest monthly total since July 2012 and the worst June since 2009. FTR expects Class 8 orders to remain tepid through the summer months. All OEMs were equally impacted by slow order intake. The annualized rate of orders continues to drop, at 162,000 now for past three months, 185,000 for the past six months and 224,000 over the past 12 months.

Don Ake, Vice President of Commercial Vehicles at FTR, comments, “The Class 8 market is stuck in a holding pattern, at the bottom end of this cycle. Fleets are cautious as freight demand has cooled off this year. There are enough trucks to handle freight right now with carriers are in a wait-and-see mode, before adding trucks or replacing older units.

“This is what the summer looks like in a market down cycle, so we can expect this level of activity for a couple more months. We do anticipate higher orders later this year. However, the volume of orders will be determined by the strength of the economy and freight activity at that time.”

Final data for June will be available from FTR later in the month as part of its North American Commercial Truck & Trailer Outlook service. 

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