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A plant worker welds a component at Volvo Trucks North America's New River Valley Plant in Dublin, Va. (Justin Ide/Bloomberg News)

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North American Class 8 truck orders fell from the prior year and sequentially in November despite it usually being the third-strongest month of the year.

preliminary data showed orders decreased 47% year over year to 19,700 units. The volume also was down 19.3% from 24,403 in October as ongoing uncertainty and a lack of profitability continued to weigh heavily.

“Despite last month’s announcement ... [on proceeding with] EPA ’27 [emissions rules] adding much-needed clarity for the market, the obvious bottleneck to stronger order activity is lack of carrier profitability,” ACT Research analyst Carter Vieth said. “Spot rates continue to tread along the bottom, and while supply is coming out of the market, demand in key freight sectors is lagging.”

EPA had previously pursued a set of increasingly stricter emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles in model years 2027 to 2032. The Phase 3 rule, as it became known, eventually was finalized in March 2024. President Donald Trump entering office in January was a catalyst for the agency moving to reconsider the rule.

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“November’s retail sales pace came in softer than anticipated, reflecting market conditions and broader weakness across freight and construction,” Mack Trucks North America President Jonathan Randall said. “Customers are telling us they expect this challenging environment to persist through the first half of 2026, and they’ll continue to prioritize efficiency and uptime over adding capacity.”

FTR Transportation Intelligence echoed that the drop in orders for November was more than seasonally expected. Class 8 preliminary net orders decreased 44% year over year to 20,200 units, and the findings also showed a sequential decline of 17%. Orders remained well below 28,910 — the 10-year average for the month.

[December State of the Industry: Classes 5-8 Vehicles Preliminary Update] - Preliminary Classes 5-8 Net Orders for November

Read more from the preliminary update here: — ACT Research (@actresearch)

“So far, improved clarity has not been enough to offset a host of challenges,” said Dan Moyer, senior analyst of commercial vehicles for FTR. “Fleets are emphasizing cost control, maintenance discipline and asset utilization over growth, delaying any meaningful rebound in equipment demand until economic and market conditions firm.”

Moyer said fleets continue to be hampered by weak freight fundamentals, limited carrier profitability and elevated capital costs, and he noted that forward visibility remains limited for truck manufacturers and suppliers. He suspects that order activity is likely to remain uneven until freight volume and rates show a sustained recovery.

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“The North American truck market continues to face significant headwinds, with November industry orders in the U.S. and Canada totaling 18,000 units, compared with about 33,200 in November last year,” said Magnus Koeck, vice president of strategy, marketing and brand management at Volvo Trucks North America. “To put things in perspective, November 2025 was the fourth-lowest November order month since 2010. November is often the strongest order month of the year, as many larger fleets are placing orders for next year.”

Koeck added that the industry is still navigating tariffs, upcoming emissions regulations, soft freight demand and low profitability for carriers. Because of this, he sees fleets holding on to trucks longer and delaying new purchases.

“However, I believe Volvo Trucks — as a 100% U.S. manufacturer — is in a very strong position to grow our business in this market environment,” Koeck said. “Our new range of vehicles — the safest and most fuel-efficient VNL ever and the regional-haul VNR — are helping customers improve their bottom line.”

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