Class 8 Truck Manufacturing Hits All-Time Records -- December 27, 2020

Updates

January 3, 2021: demand boosts average price for used Class 8 trucks in November, 2020. Link here. 

Original Post

Graphic:

Stories:

• here comes the trucking boom in the weirdest economy ever.
• Class 8 orders explode as 2021 approaches.
• Class 8 orders surge to fourth-highest monthly volume ever.
• November Class 8 truck orders third-highest ever.
• truck sales data show 2020 numbers likely to end on a high note. 

See also: Daimler Freightliner Cascadia. 

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Vans

Class 8 trucks aren't the only "thing" in high demand. 

July 10, 2020: we should have seen it coming. Last summer. Amazon begins rolling out bigger UPS and FedEx-style delivery trucks. Link here.

The world's largest online retailer ordered more than 2,200 heavy-duty Utilimaster "walk-in" delivery trucks from Shyft Group, SHYF.O, a Michigan-based specialty vehicle company, an Amazon spokeswoman told Reuters. The company declined to say how many of the vehicles have been sent to Amazon delivery contractors, or where they would be deployed.

Amazon is under pressure to make good on one- and two-day deliveries promised to customers who subscribe to its $119 annual Prime service. Orders for food, computers, toys and exercise equipment surged after states issued stay-at-home orders to battle the pandemic, overwhelming Amazon’s network and adding days and even weeks to delivery times.

November 30, 2020: if you missed the July story, we saw it again last month. FedEx, UPS can't get enough vans to keep up with delivery rush. Link here.  

Urged by the couriers to purchase any vans they can scrounge up, leasing companies are dipping into the used market. Added demand in the rental market “is creating shortages,” a UPS spokesman said by email. FedEx is even paying a stipend to its contractors to offset the extra cost of renting.

“If there’s a cargo van out there, we’re trying to buy it,” said Brendan Keegan, chief executive officer of Merchants Fleet, which provides vehicles to package delivery companies. It expects to have 15,000 vans out for lease at year’s end, up from 6,000 a year earlier.