February commercial vehicle net orders fell modestly below most people’s expectations. However, the results did not change ACT Research’s expectation for a very strong year of Class 8 demand. This updated status of the North America commercial vehicle market was included in the State of the Industry report, recently released by ACT Research Co. (ACT). The report covers Class 5 through 8 vehicles for the North American market.
 
“One only has to look at an order graph to see than in any given month orders can fall well above, or well below expectations,” said Kenny Vieth, president and senior analyst at ACT. “The list of reasons trucks are purchased remains positive from top to bottom, and the industry’s backlog of unbuilt orders is deep. To that end, we continue to expect that Class 8 demand will be very strong this year,” he added.