Jobopps1118

OWNING THE WHEEL
BY DEL WILLIAMS
that while all orders are not sequential, if you order
a truck in September, it would be delivered in
July 2019.
As for individual OEM sales, International had
the largest gain in August at 35.8 percent, with
sales of 3,667 in August compared with 2,701 in
July, according to WardsAuto.
Freightliner had a 28.6 percent increase with
sales of 9,564 in August compared with 7,438 in
July.
Year-to-date, Volvo has the biggest gain at 57.2
percent, with sales of 17,085 in 2018 compared
with 10,868 for the first eight months of 2017.
International had the second largest gain at
56.8 percent, with sales of 20,663 in 2018 compared
with 13,177 to date in 2017.
As for orders, data indicate that during August,
North American Class 8 orders rose 0.9 percent
month-over-month and 150 percent from August
2017, Vieth said.
“Super-strong orders in June and July are likely
pulling large fleet orders ahead in the schedule,
as truckers race to reserve build slots in a market
where demand is running well above capacity,” he
said.
August orders were just continuing their hot
streak in 2018, according to Don Ake, FTR’s vice
president of commercial vehicles. He said six of
the top 12 order months ever have occurred in the
first eight months of 2018, with North American
Class 8 orders for the past 12 months now totaling
477,000 units.
Ake said carriers continue to scramble to get
enough trucks on the road to handle the robust
freight growth.
The surging economy and vibrant manufacturing
sector are stretching the logistics system to the
limit, he said, adding that in some markets, goods
are moving slower because of supply chain gridlocks,
necessitating even more trucks to deliver
goods.
“The good news is, it appears the supplier
shortage issues that significantly slowed production
earlier this year have been largely abated
for now,” Ake said. “However, the supply chain
remains tight, and fleets and dealers continue to
place large orders to lock down build slots in 2019.
“Fleets are ordering early and often and orders
this plentiful indicate fleets are highly confident
the flourishing freight market will persist for a
while. Current economic and manufacturing data
point to a strong start to 2019. FTR does expect
some easing to occur in the second half of next
year.”
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