External data indicated continued support for strength in heavy commercial vehicle demand, and Class 8 truck orders in November were 40,925 units, the fifth best order month since ACT Research Co. (ACT) started collecting industry data in the early 1980s. These results were published in the latest State of the Industry report, recently released by ACT. The report covers Classes 5 through 8 vehicles for the North American market.

Said Kenny Vieth, ACT’s President and Senior Analyst, “Year-to-date, orders of 336,000 units are up 42.4 percent from last year at this time. Meanwhile, Class 8 has the largest backlog since October 2006 and on a per day basis, November’s build was the second best since December 2006.”

Concerning medium duty demand, Vieth said, “After a strong run from August to October that was in part augmented by the annual school bus order surge, medium duty orders pulled back in November, falling 3 percent year over year to 17,691 units.”

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