Truck Makers Gear Up for Second-Half Start to Pre-Buy

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Orders for new Class 8 tractors were on the rise as 2024 ended, but an anticipated rush among fleets to “pre-buy” new trucks before stricter federal emissions standards are due to take effect has, so far, not taken hold.

The possibility of a rollback of federal emissions regulations from the Trump administration further clouds the outlook.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules currently on the books will require model year 2027 heavy-duty trucks to emit no more than 0.035 gram of nitrogen oxides per horsepower hour, and industry watchers warn the advancements required to achieve these numbers could add as much as $20,000 to $30,000 to the sticker price of new semis. As a result, carriers are expected to ramp up purchasing of model 2025 and 2026 trucks. This pre-buy — for which a 2024 kickoff had been predicted by some — has been stymied by a frustratingly weak freight environment and, now, possible policy changes from the White House.

“Earlier this year, we were very convinced the pre-buy was going to start this year,” Magnus Koeck, vice president of strategy, marketing and brand management at Volvo Trucks North America, told Transport Topics in an interview in late December. Now he’s looking toward the back half of 2025. “I think we will see an uptick midyear,” said Koeck. “A year from now will look very different from today.”

North American Class 8 truck orders jumped in December compared with the same month a year earlier, according to ACT Research, the first such increase since May. Preliminary Class 8 net orders totaled 36,500 trucks, a jump of 39% year over year, the research and analysis firm said. Orders typically i…