Registrations of new Class 8 trucks climbed 16.7% in the first half of 2014 from a year earlier as strong freight demand and tight capacity spurred large fleets to boost equipment purchases, IHS Automotive reported. The increase pushed the total population of Class 8 registered trucks in the United States to 3.71 million at the halfway point of the year, the highest level on record and up 3.3% from a year earlier. The six-month total of 107,158 new registrations puts the industry on pace for its best year for new equipment since the 2006 “pre-buy” event and the third-best since 2000, according to IHS’ Polk report on commercial vehicles. Continue to read this exciting article by Trucking Topics here.