Projected Class 8 truck activity improves

ACT Research estimates OEMs will manufacture more Class 8 trucks in 2023 than it originally projected, although the activity on assembly lines is still expected to decline in the year to come. A recent surge in Class 8 orders, adding to order backlogs, provides manufacturers and suppliers a good indication of what activity will look like in the first half of the year, president and senior analyst Kenny Vieth said in a press release. Coupled with moderating inflation metrics, those build rates in the first half of the year are expected to continue later into 2023.

"Supporting the upwards Class 8 revision, we have tempered the severity of the decline we anticipate in freight activity in 2023." Vieth said. "To be clear, we continue to expect a macro recession, and a slight [year over year] decline in Class 8 build, but recent economic reports and still strong Class 8 fundamentals have us thinking in a more encouraging direction."

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