North American Class 8 preliminary net orders of 23,300 in May were a virtual carbon copy of April, and preliminary net orders for Classes 5-7 at 16,700 units were also in line with the previous month's tally.
Final numbers will be released mid-June. The preliminary net order numbers are typically accurate to within 5% of actual.
"May typically represents the start of the slower order season for Class 8. As such, seasonal adjustment pushed May's order number above the recent trend to 24,300 units," says Kenny Vieth, president and senior analyst, ACT Research. "The preliminary volume for Classes 5-7 represents a 12% increase compared to last year. With a low but positive factor, seasonal adjustment gave a modest boost to the May order tally at 17,200 units."