by Calculated Risk on 1/06/2021 12:32:00 PM

The following graph shows heavy truck sales since 1967 using data from the BEA. The dashed line is the December 2020 seasonally adjusted annual sales rate (SAAR).

Heavy truck sales really collapsed during the great recession, falling to a low of 180 thousand SAAR in May 2009.  Then heavy truck sales increased to a new all time high of 575 thousand SAAR in September 2019.

However heavy truck sales started declining in late 2019 due to lower oil prices.

Note: "Heavy trucks - trucks more than 14,000 pounds gross vehicle weight."


Click on graph for larger image.

Heavy truck sales really declined towards the end of March due to COVID-19 and the collapse in oil prices, but have since rebounded.

Heavy truck sales were at 454 thousand SAAR in December, down from 477 thousand SAAR in November, and down 5% from 475 thousand SAAR in December 2019.

For the year, heavy truck sales were 409 thousand, down 22.3% from 527 thousand in 2019.    This was the fewest heavy truck sales since 2016.