ACT Research said in its latest North American Commercial Vehicle Outlook that the truck manufacturing industry is recovering, but significant headwinds remain.

The heavy-duty commercial vehicle market is coming off its worst year since 1991 in terms of production.

ACT is predicting quarterly production rates for Class 8 vehicles will grow 20% year-over-year in each quarter of 2010. It also expects medium-duty truck production to begin ramping up beginning in the second quarter of 2010.

“While the economy emerged from recession in the third quarter, we expect a slow recovery rather than a break-out,” said Kenny Vieth, partner and senior analyst with ACT Research. “With a slow recovery in demand, excess capacity in for-hire trucking sectors is not expected to be eliminated until the second half of 2010, putting continued pressure on transportation prices and profits. When profitability does return to trucking, there will be significant pent up demand to replace older than normal fleets.”

For more info on ACT, visit www.actresearch.net.