November U.S. sales of new Class 8 tractors declined 5.8% from October, but that’s expected for Thanksgiving month. What was not expected was a gain over November 2023 sales of 3.3% in a market that’s supposed to be weakening. Orders for future delivery of both tractors and trailers also grew in November, as prices for used trucks rose slightly.
In November, manufacturers reported sales of 19,658 new Class 8 trucks, according to data received from Wards Intelligence. For the year to date, 217,966 Class 8 trucks have been reported sold in the U.S., down almost 25,000 trucks — that’s 10.3% — from the total for the same period of 2023.
North American buyers ordered 37,200 new trucks in November, according to industry analysts at ACT Research. In its latest State of the Industry: NA Classes 5-8 report, Kenny Vieth, ACT’s president and senior analyst, explained that the number was surprising, considering the generally weak profits reported by for-hire carriers.
“While some of this month’s strong orders likely came from post-election optimism in for-hire, we suspect that private fleets worried about future supply chain disruptions continued as the larger driver of tractor demand in November,” he said.
Once again, orders for vocational trucks (those equipped with bodies for work other than pulling trailers such as dump, trash and so on) were responsible for a large number of orders.
“Vocational truck orders totaled 8.6k units, another historically strong number, suggesting the vocational market is jumping in the queue ahead of EPA’27 and GHG-3,” Vieth said.
New trailer orders
Orders for new trailers were down about 4% in November compared with the same month in 2023, but were up 23% from October, according to ACT.
Jennifer McNealy, ACT’s director of commercial vehicle market research and publications, says orders for the year to date are down 34% from the first 11 months of 2023 but are looking to improve.
“For the first time in nearly a year, order intake outpaced build, and by about 6,700 units,” she said.
Trailer sales have mirrored the Class 8 truck market in that an oversupply of units has plagued the industry — but trailer numbers don’t generally impact rates the way an oversupply of tractors can.
Used Class 8 truck sales
On the used tractor front, sales volumes dipped in November but only slightly.
“Given that typical seasonality called for a decrease of 18%, the small dip was a big win,” said Steve Tam, vice president at ACT research. Tam also noted that post-election optimism may have helped drive November sales.
Compared with November 2023, used tractor sales rose 24%. Due to high inventory levels, the average used tractor price declined by 4%, while both the average age and odometer mileage were down slightly. Prices did rise compared with October numbers, potentially an omen that the used truck market could see more attention as new truck prices rise.
Positive news for freight rates
There was more positive news about the truckload cycle, which has been stalled at a low point for an unusually long time.
The boom-to-bust-and-back-again cycle has been in an oversupply status for nearly two years, causing rates to plummet and remain low. Larger carriers have reduced fleet sizes, large numbers of carriers, mostly small, have gone out of business and sales of new trucks have slowed to the point where “balance” may have finally been achieved.
With greater demand for trucks to haul freight in the new year and fewer trucks available to haul it, freight rates should finally begin climbing.
“The big private fleet expansion of the past two years will likely still leave anyone looking for a boom disappointed, but the for-hire rate recession is finally over,” said Tim Denoyer, vice president and senior analyst at ACT. “The trajectory is quite different than the past two cycles, but after three years in loose territory, the truckload supply-demand balance is set to turn tighter in the coming months.”
OEM performance for November
Freightliner, produced by Daimler Truck North America, topped the U.S. new Class 8 trucks sales charts in November, reporting sales of 7,550 units in November. For the year, the company has reported sales of 79,699 tractors — 10.3% off its 2023 pace and about even with the total market. The company holds 36.6% of U.S. Class 8 tractor sales.
Daimler-owned sibling Western Star continued its recent upswing, topping sales of 1,000 trucks for the fourth consecutive month. With sales of 1,032 for November, the company tallied 4,186 truck sales in the past four months. A decade ago, the manufacturer reported sales of 3,645 for the entire year. This year, Western Star reports U.S. sales of 10,247 with a month of 2024 remaining, good for a 38% sales increase year-over-year. Western Star’s share of the Class 8 market has grown to 4.7%.
Kenworth reported selling 2,809 Class 8 trucks in November, down from both October and November 2023. However, as the average year-over-year decline for all manufacturers is 10.3%, Kenworth’s 5.3% decline means they’ve picked up more market share. They own 15.3% of the U.S. Class 8 market this year, up 0.8% from last year’s pace.
The other PACCAR company, Peterbilt, reported sales of 2,875 for November, bringing 2024 sales to 34,360. That’s 4.1% off last year’s pace but good enough to gain a full 1% of the U.S. market.
Volvo reported sales of 1,535 Class 8 units in November, down 16.5% from October and down 22.4% from November 2023 sales. The company has retained about the same share of the Class 8 market as it did last year, 10%.
Mack sales of 1,196 trucks were 12.3% down from October and down 9.5% from November 2023. The OEM has sold 6.6% of Class 8 trucks in the U.S. this year.
Finally, International saw a 3.8% sales increase in November, reporting 2,630 trucks sold. Compared with November 2024, International sales are down 31%. For 2024, the company holds 11% of the U.S. Class 8 market, having dropped 3.3% compared with last year.
A number of factors will impact the new truck market for 2025. Perhaps the largest will be pre-buying of 2025 and, later in the year, 2026 models to avoid steep price increases for the 2027 models. Increasing freight rates and falling interest rates will further incentivize potential buyers.
Cliff Abbott is an experienced commercial vehicle driver and owner-operator who still holds a CDL in his home state of Alabama. In nearly 40 years in trucking, he’s been an instructor and trainer and has managed safety and recruiting operations for several carriers. Having never lost his love of the road, Cliff has written a book and hundreds of songs and has been writing for The Trucker for more than a decade.
