FTR reports preliminary North American Class 8 net orders held steady in February, coming in at 21,100 units and meeting expectations.  The order level for February was down 2% m/m and down 53% y/y.  Class 8 orders have totaled 320,000 units over the last twelve months.

OEMs continue to book fleet requirements a portion at a time in order to not overbook their production schedules. OEMs are not confident that the supply chain will improve in the short term, so they are controlling the number of official orders very carefully, keeping backlogs at a manageable level. 

Backlogs should not change that much since February order numbers are close to the forecasted production rate. The stability in the backlogs indicates the industry is content holding the number at the current level. Backlogs were very stable in 2021 and it is estimated that February backlogs will only be 4% higher than in April 2021.

Don Ake, vice president of commercial vehicles for FTR commented, “The steady order numbers do not reflect at all the huge demand for new trucks. There is a severe shortage of new and used trucks and the economy continues to generate steady freight growth in all segments. Even with the recent stagnant booking volumes, orders for the last twelve months are at an impressive 320,000 units.”

“However, the stable February order total is not good news for future production. By not booking more orders, OEMs are signaling that the supply chain remains clogged, and they don’t anticipate being able to ramp up production in the next couple of months.”