Something strange is happening in the Class 8 truck market. We just had record quarterly orders in Q4, making 2014 the second-highest order year ever. This order deluge has pumped up backlog to the highest point since 2006.
So you would expect production in 2015 to get off to a rip-roaring start, with factories going full-out to churn out loads of trucks to satisfy this torrid demand. However, this did not happen. January production was much below expectation, 18% lower than last November, on a per day basis. Factories were easily able to satisfy order requirements without working much, if any, overtime.