August offered “several eyebrow-raising data points” for Class 8 truck orders, according to Kenny Vieth, president and senior analysis at ACT Research. He pointed out a second consecutive month of off-trend production, cancellations at a 71-month high, and only about 1,000 August orders booked into Q4 build slots.

“While some items are more worrisome than others, they are interrelated and reflective of underwhelming domestic economic activity,” Vieth said.

Class 8 posted roughly 20,000 net new orders in August, while Class 5-7 booked roughly 17,900 orders.

Class 5-7 orders were up for both July and August but still down year over year, according to ACT’s report.