Final North American Class 8 net orders totaled 24,675 units in April, down 24% m/m, as published in ACT Research’s latest State of the Industry: NA Classes 5-8 report.

“April signifies the beginning of lower order seasonality until 2027 orderboards open in September,” according to Carter Vieth, Research Analyst at ACT Research. “Due to last April’s ‘Liberation Day’ impacting orders, y/y comparisons this month are arguably uninformative, with m/m comparisons the better metric this month. Tractor orders totaled 16,807 units, down 21% m/m on seasonality. The surge in orders the past six months boils down to improved spot and contract rates and regulatory clarity. Vocational Class 8 orders totaled 7,868 units, down 29% m/m, but given seasonality and last month’s historically strong order month, the pull back from March levels is unsurprising.”

Regarding medium duty, Vieth added, “Total Classes 5-7 orders rose 29% y/y to 16,801 units (17.5k SA), partially on easy comps, but perhaps also reflecting continued consumer resilience despite the war, as well as some regulatory-driven dealer inventory stocking.”

ACT’s State of the Industry: NA Classes 5-8 report provides a monthly look at the current production, sales, and general state of the on-road heavy and medium duty commercial vehicle markets in North America. It differentiates market indicators by Class 5, Classes 6-7 chassis and Class 8 trucks and tractors, detailing measures such as backlog, build, inventory, new orders, cancellations, net orders, and retail sales. Additionally, Class 5 and Classes 6-7 are segmented by trucks, buses, RVs and step van configurations, while Class 8 is segmented by trucks and tractors with and without sleeper cabs. This report includes a six-month industry build plan, backlog timing analysis, historical data from 1996 to the present in spreadsheet format and a ready-to-use graph package. A first-look at preliminary net orders is also published in conjunction with this report.