A busy morning at the 2024 Truck Renting and Leasing Association (TRALA) Annual Meeting Tuesday concluded with business sessions on the trucking economy and ordering projections, and alternative fuels.
The first session was led by Steve Tam of ACT Research and Tom Moore of the National Private Truck Council.
Tam kicked off the segment by providing an update of the current Class 8 truck market, showcasing how truck orders were good in the first quarter but are likely to regress as the year continues due to lower demand. Tam said the for-hire truck market has suffered from poor freight rates and volumes for the last year, and as such as unable to make significant investment in new equipment. He said the private fleet market is driving most truck ordering at this time and will likely continue to do so for the remainder of the year.
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Looking into 2025, Tam is more bullish, both for for-hire carriers and the market at large. He said freight rates are just starting to elevate out of this most recent cycle trough and should start posting year over year monthly gains later this year. That progress, coupled with carriers’ preference to pre-buy ahead of EPA 2027 regulations, means the truck market should enjoy and extended sales peak in the next two years.
And most of those sales will go to private fleets.
