The sales slowdown continued for the U.S. new Class 8 market in April.
A total of 15,941 trucks were sold during the month, according to data received from Omdia. While the total was an improvement of 6.6% over March sales of 14,952, the results ran behind April 2025 sales of 18,078 for a year-over-year decline of 11.8%.
For the first four months of 2026, the industry purchased 12,484 fewer trucks than in the same period of 2025, a decline of 18.2%. That’s equivalent to losing an entire month of sales for manufacturers.
Analysts predict sales will pick up during the second half of the year as trucking conditions improve.
Freight rates are already rising, even if much of the increase is due to higher diesel fuel prices, but the truckload cycle is on full display. After many months of overcapacity, the trucking industry is finally balancing. Fewer new trucks are being purchased as older equipment is retired and the size of the nation’s truck fleet continues to shrink. That creates more competition for shippers finding available trucks to haul their products – and that drives freight rates upward.
Soon, carriers will increase their truck buying to take advantage of the higher rates.
Eventually, there will once again be too many trucks for the available freight and good times will end as the cycle continues. For now, however, signs are pointing upward for an industry trying to come out of some difficult days.
Orders for new trucks have plummeted, too, as carriers adjust their inventories. A term that hasn’t been heard for a while but is now being brought up is “driver shortage.” Whether a shortage of qualified drivers may be an arguable term, but it’s no secret that drivers are harder to find and hire when freight rates rise and trucking conditions improve. Carriers want to remain lean and don’t want to spend for trucks they can’t find drivers to drive.
Still, orders are running far ahead of last year’s pace.
As Trump tariffs took effect, buyers were unsure of potential costs once trucks were delivered. There was also concern that EPA 2027 mandates for fuel efficiency and emissions controls would increase truck prices, fears that were only partially assuaged when the EPA issued a “clarification” of upcoming changes.
ACT Research reported North American orders for just 24,675 Class 8 trucks in April, down 24% from March activity. Of those, 16,807 were for new road tractors with the remainder slated for vocational use such as dump, trash and concrete.
FTR Transportation Intelligence reported 25,500 preliminary orders for April, down 34% from its March report. The discrepancy between ACT and FTR numbers is attributable to differences in reporting processes.
Dan Moyer, senior analyst for commercial vehicles at FTR, attributes the strong order months to “fear of missing out” (aka FOMO). Buyers, he said, were motivated “to order earlier or in larger quantities than needed to avoid being shut out of 2026 production.”
Manufacturers have adjusted their staffing for lower production, and carriers want to make sure they get enough to replace aging equipment.
Manufacturers report final April figures.
Truck manufacturers reported selling 989 more trucks in April than in March.
Freightliner was responsible for 807 of those sales. Reporting sales of 5,342 units, the company topped its March total by 17.8%, the largest increase of all reporting manufacturers. Well, other than Hino, that is. Hino’s sales total increased by 63.6%, but that number is a little misleading: Hino Class 8 sales increased from 11 units in March to 18 trucks in April for an increase of 7 trucks. Freightliner’s April ran 18.5% behind April 2025. For the year to date, the company is 27.9% behind its 2025 pace, the largest drop of all the reporting OEMs.
International sales improved by 14.4% in April. The company reported sales of 1,851 units in April compared to March’s 1,618. For 2026 to date, International sales are just 4.4% behind its 2025 average, compared with 18.2% for the industry as a whole.
Kenworth claimed sales of 2,519 Class 8 trucks on the U.S. market in April (40 more than in March) for an increase of 1.6%. Compared with April 2025, however, sales were down 17.1%. For 2026 thus far, Kenworth Class 8 sales are running 18.2% behind the 2025 rate, right at the industry average.
PACCAR sibling Peterbilt sold 20 fewer Class 8 trucks in April than in March, a decline of 0.8%. The total ran 17.1% behind April 2025 results. For the year to date, Peterbilt Class 8 sales are running 16.7% behind last year’s pace.
Volvo sales of 1,515 ran just 15 trucks behind March totals for a decline of 1%. Compared with April 2025, the numbers were even closer as sales dropped just 0.3%. For 2026 to date, Volvo Class 8 sales are running 5.1% behind the 2025 pace.
Mack Truck is even closer, running just 3.3% behind 2025 sales for the first four months. April sales of 1,420 ran 5.8% behind March’s 1,508, and were 5.6% lower than April 2025 sales.
Western Star reported sales of 709 for April, up 3.7% from March sales of 684 but down a substantial 33.1% from April 2025 results. For the year-to-date, the company is running 22.7% behind its 2025 pace, the second largest decline by percentage in the industry behind sibling Freightliner’s 27.9%.
Hino, best known for its Class 4-6 offerings, has gained some traction this year in the Class 8 market with year-to-date sales of 55, an improvement of 89.7% over last year’s pace. Hino produces day cab versions of its Classes 7 and 8 models that are used primarily in local or regional operations.
U.S. market share breaks down like this:
- Freightliner leads with 33.3% of new Class 8 trucks.
- Peterbilt is next at 15.7%.
- Kenworth is close behind at 15%.
- International is next with 12.2% of the market to date.
- Mack takes 9.3% of the market.
- Volvo is right behind at 9.2%.
- Western Star sits at 5.2% of new Class 8 trucks sold on the U.S. market in 2026.
- Tiny Hino brings up the low end with sales comprising just 0.1% of the market.
Slow Class 8 sales may continue for another month or two, but should pick up later, especially once 2027 models are introduced about August.
Cliff Abbott is an experienced commercial vehicle driver and owner-operator who still holds a CDL in his home state of Alabama. In nearly 40 years in trucking, he’s been an instructor and trainer and has managed safety and recruiting operations for several carriers. Having never lost his love of the road, Cliff has written a book and hundreds of songs and has been writing for The Trucker for more than a decade.
