by Wolf Richter
Wolf Street
Amid a shakeout among trucking companies & production cuts and layoffs among truck makers.
Orders for heavy trucks in December came in at 20,000. In the fourth quarter, they averaged just under 20,000. For the past 12 months, there were 179,000 orders for Class 8 trucks, down 64% from 497,000 orders in 2018, and the lowest annual total since 2010, according to FTR Transportation Intelligence.
“Fleets are being very cautious in this environment, only ordering what they know they need for the next few months,” FTR said in the statement. Stability at low levels, so to speak: