Freight Transportation Research Associates (FTR) have released their data on new Class 8 truck sales for November 2020 on December 2nd. We predicted the numbers would stagnate and be approximately equal to those found in October, at around 40,100. To say the very least, we were wrong.
The Data
FTR reports preliminary data that says that North American Class 8 net orders hit 52,600 in November 2020, a 31% increase from October, which was a 26% increase from September, which was a 55% increase from August. The truck manufacturing industry is on a hot streak.
To compare, the sales are three times larger than it was a year ago in November 2019.
Don Ake, vice president of FTR, commercial vehicles, repeats what he has been saying for many months now: the trucking industry is making up lost ground for shrinking early on in the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Class 8 market is trying to rebalance after suffering through woeful order numbers early in the pandemic. The huge November orders mean that Q4 will be a fabulous one, regardless of what comes in for December and that portends well for the expected increase in production early next year.”
Conclusion
This is the part where we give our estimates for next month, for whatever that is worth. We clearly have been incorrect before.
Our prediction for December is similar to the one we had for November: the numbers will be in the approximate range of 52,600 sales. This would indicate stagnation in demand, but at 52,600 sales, which is one of the highest months on record, that would hardly be a bad thing at all.
