TheTrucker.com

ACT Research: Strength in commercial vehicle industry varies by sector

Reading Time: 2 minutes
ACT Research: Strength in commercial vehicle industry varies by sector

COLUMBUS, Ind. — According to ACT Research’s recently released Transportation Digest, conditions in the Class 8 market are solid, while data from the medium duty sector diverged in February, with strength in backward-looking indicators, like build and sales, and some softness in forward-looking metrics, like orders.

The used Class 8 market remained challenged longer-term as robust sales translate into strong trade-in activity, and February net trailer orders are reported down sequentially, as well as versus last year at the same time.

The report, which combines ACT’s proprietary data analysis across a wide variety of industry sources to paint a comprehensive picture of trends in transportation and commercial vehicle markets, also suggests that U.S. economic growth in 2019 remains positive, although slowing, and in a less certain environment.

“Our near-term outlook for heavy duty trucks changed very little again this month. As we transition into spring, the contours of the rest of 2019 and beyond are becoming clearer and pretty much conform to our expectations,” said Kenny Vieth, ACT’s president and senior analyst. “What marks current business conditions as ‘strange’ is the volatility and the rapid change of many of the freight-related indicators and signals that we track.”

Regarding the medium duty market, Vieth said, “Weaker medium duty orders are the largest detractor from a higher 2019 forecast, with softening in key end markets, such as light vehicles and housing acting, as a governor on demand. And, with higher interest rates and rising prices, growth is expected to remain restrained.”

ACT Research is a publisher of commercial vehicle truck, trailer and bus industry data, market analysis and forecasting services for the North American and China markets.

ACT’s analytical services are used by all major North American truck and trailer manufacturers and their suppliers, as well as banking and investment companies. More information can be found at www.actresearch.net.

For more information about ACT’s Transportation Digest, visit www.actresearch.net/services/publications/transportation-digest/

 

 

The Trucker News Staff

The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Avatar for The Trucker News Staff
The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
For over 30 years, the objective of The Trucker editorial team has been to produce content focused on truck drivers that is relevant, objective and engaging. After reading this article, feel free to leave a comment about this article or the topics covered in this article for the author or the other readers to enjoy. Let them know what you think! We always enjoy hearing from our readers.

COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE