Class 8 order boards open; September hits all-time order record

Class 8 order boards for 2023 officially opened in September as the market hit an all-time monthly high with 53,700 preliminary orders, ACT Research announced Tuesday. Class 5-7 orders followed at 26,600 units. 

In analyzing the burst in orders — preliminary Class 8 orders in August were approximately 21,500 units — ACT Research Vice President and Senior Analyst Eric Crawford says it appears OEMs chose to open their order boards early. Class 8 orders typically trend up in October.

Crawford says September’s orders translate to 60,900 units on a seasonally adjusted basis (up 161 percent month over month and 94 percent year over year), and equivalent to more than 730,000 units across a year.

“September Class 8 orders were sensational no matter how you slice the data,” he says. “The past 12 months, 249,800 Class 8 orders have been booked.”

Crawford also notes using an October seasonal adjustment factor (typically the beginning of next-year orders), Class 8 September orders would translate to 43,800 units, equivalent to 526,000 orders on an annualized basis. 

Medium-duty orders rising to 26,600 units were up 39 percent month over month and 7 percent year over year.