Class 8 Truck Sales Rise in 2010
Posted on Fri, Feb 04, 2011 @ 07:56 AM
The end of 2010 showed great promise for truck sales. Numbers were way up in November and even higher in December, capping off a year where sales of Class 8 trucks were up 10 percent from 2009’s multi-decade low. The record sales have spilled over into 2011 which makes it a great start for the new decade. On top of the good news for the trucking industry, this is also good news for the overall economy. Trucking is very sensitive to the overall market so when the economy is down, so are truck sales. The fact that truck sales are up in 2011 is a good indicator that the economy is improving and recession doesn’t have quite the stranglehold it had in 2010.
As reported by TheTrucker.com, Truck sales in December were the highest of any month in 2010, jumping a whopping 22.1 percent from November. Naturally, this spike in sales can be attributed mainly to increased demand, but there are many additional indirect factors. The trucking industry plays a huge part in transporting autos and housing goods. Both of those industries are on the rise as well as the housing industry so naturally the trucking industry will see improvements.
Other than the concerns mentioned above, there were thoughts that railroads would overtake trucks in the shipping industry. Since the beginning of the Millennium rails have shown their worth and become more prominent in shipping but trucks still prevail. The fact remains that there are only 95,000 miles of Class 1 railroad track, which pales compared to the about 4 million highway miles. This on top of many the many other facts mentioned earlier leads experts to believe that there will always be a demand for trucks.
What do you think about the bounce back in Class 8 truck sales? Have you directly benefitted from this surge? Let us know what you think.