Mack sees drop in truck orders

Deliveries of Mack Trucks took a downward turn in June, dropping 10.1 percent compared with the same month a year ago.

The drop followed two months of upward momentum for the Allentown manufacturer, which has seen its sales plummet in response to a housing construction slump and sluggish shipping industry.

Mack in June delivered 1,482 trucks to dealers, down from 1,649 the year before. The company does not build trucks on speculation, so deliveries directly represent customer orders.

The company has faced a protracted slump in truck sales that began in 2007. It was initially attributed to new emission standards that made trucks more expensive. But the demand drop has lasted much longer than the company initially anticipated as home building and freight shipping slowed and the overall U.S. economy headed south.

”It is still difficult to predict exactly when market conditions will improve,” Mack spokesman John Walsh said. ”Faced with higher operating costs and economic uncertainty, customers for the most part continue to take a wait-and-see attitude, delaying new mack truck purchases.”

Mack continues to work on improving the fuel economy of its trucks in response to record-high fuel prices, Walsh said.

In 2007, Mack delivered 18,600 trucks, down 50 percent from 2006. Through June 2008, the company has shipped 8,585 trucks to dealers, down 2.7 percent from the first six months of 2007.

The company had laid off employees in anticipation of a tough economy entering 2007, and currently employs about 550 workers at its plant in Lower Macungie Township. About 1,000 more work at its Allentown headquarters and testing site.