FTR Reports Preliminary North American Class 8 Net Orders Ease for Fourth Straight Month, Dropping to 21,600 Units in January
Bloomington, IN – (Trailer Technician) – Preliminary North American Class 8 net orders have declined for the fourth consecutive month after reaching a record high in September 2022, according to FTR. Orders fell to 21,600 units in January, down 25% m/m but up 2% y/y. Class 8 orders came in at 303,000 units for the previous 12 months.
With backlogs already solidifying production slots, it is no surprise that orders have fallen off their previous torrential pace. Orders may have declined over the last four months, but they were still higher than year-earlier totals.
Eric Starks, chairman of the board, commented, “Orders remain above replacement demand levels but are below recent production activity. As such, backlogs likely moved slightly lower in January.
“Putting the order numbers into perspective is important. In the first half of 2022, orders averaged just shy of 18,000 units per month. This suggests that recent activity is healthy, and January itself is up 2% year-over-year. This type of activity by fleets indicates that they are not overly concerned about an economic recession and continue to lock in build slots for the second half of 2023.”
Preliminary orders may be estimated and are subject to revision when FTR releases final data mid-month as part of its North American Commercial Truck & Trailer Outlook service. To contact FTR, email [email protected] or call (888) 988-1699 ext. 1.
About FTR
For more than 30 years, FTR has served as the industry leader in freight transportation forecasting for the shipping, trucking, rail, intermodal, equipment, and financial communities in North America. FTR’s experts, with over 250 years of combined experience in the transportation industry, provide quantitative analysis with historical and modal-specific insights. FTR’s reports, data, commentary, and insights help clients evaluate market risks, identify new opportunities, and make informed decisions.
FTR is the only company with a complete set of freight data for all modes of transportation with detail at the 3 Digit STCC commodity level. FTR tracks and forecasts 200+ unique commodity groups both quarterly and annually using their proprietary Freight•cast U.S. freight transportation model. FTR’s Transportation Conference held annually in September in Indianapolis is a unique event bringing together every aspect of the freight transportation world into one place. For more information www.FTRconference.com
To learn more about FTR visit www.FTRintel.com. Follow us on Twitter @FTRintel and connect with us on LinkedIn! To contact FTR, call 888-988-1699 or email [email protected]