For the second time this year and only the fourth time in 19 months, the demand for Class 8 trucks rose faster than the supply, according to the most recent ACT For-Hire Trucking Index from ACT Research Co LLC.
Steve Tam, ACT’s vice-president-commercial vehicle sector, noted that the balance between supply and demand is still at the mercy of the widespread macro-inventory overhang. “This is only the second time in 10 months that freight volumes showed any meaningful increase,” he said. “Time will tell whether this is the beginning of a trend or a temporary or transient anomaly.”