Thomas L. Gallagher | Oct 02, 2009 5:02PM EDT
Orders for new heavy duty trucks jumped in September in the first expansion in more than a year, according to a preliminary report from FTR Associates.
Class 8 net orders for all major North American OEMs totaled 10,817 units in September, FTR said. Year to date orders through September are 5.2 percent ahead of the same period in 2008, reflecting the first year over year increase since June 2008. The figure includes orders for the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Exports. September was the fourth consecutive month that orders have shown a month over month increase. Order activity for September represents an annualized rate of 129,804.
“FTR still believes that any increases we are seeing now are partially driven by abnormal industry activity ahead of 2010 EPA emissions mandate,” said Eric Starks, president of FTR. “The data we track does not support any significant purchasing activity driven by increased freight demand any time soon. We continue to advise our clients to expect a continued soft recovery at least through 2010.”
Final data for September will be available from FTR later in the month as part of their North American Commercial Truck & Trailer Outlook.
Contact Thomas L. Gallagher at tgallagher@joc.com.