December North American net truck orders show sales up 50% year to year, according to a recent report by ACT Research Co.

Class 5-7 orders are expected to be at 14,200 units, plus or minus 5%, and Class 8 net orders are expected to be at 31,800 units, plus or minus 5%.

“This is the time of the year when the large fleets and leasing companies are in the market and large Class 8 order volumes are most likely,” said Kenny Vieth, ACT president and senior analyst. “As such, an above trend number was expected.”

Vieth said December Class 8 orders were up 50% consistently, while December’s Classes 5 to 7 orders pulled back. He said Q4 Classes 5-7 orders of 51,800 represent the best quarterly intake since the first Q1 of 2008.