U.S. Heavy Truck Sales down 5% Year-over-year in September

The following graph shows heavy truck sales since 1967 using data from the BEA. The dashed line is the September 2019 seasonally adjusted annual sales rate (SAAR).

Heavy truck sales really collapsed during the great recession, falling to a low of 180 thousand in May 2009, on a seasonally adjusted annual rate basis (SAAR). Then sales increased more than 2 1/2 times, and hit 479 thousand SAAR in June 2015.

Heavy truck sales declined again - mostly due to the weakness in the oil sector - and bottomed at 366 thousand SAAR in October 2016.


Click on graph for larger image.

Following the low in 2016, heavy truck sales increased to a new all time high in July 2019, but have declined over the last couple months.

Heavy truck sales were at 501 thousand SAAR in September, down from 538 thousand SAAR in August, and down from 526 thousand SAAR in September 2018.