For some reason this story didn't make it onto the news pages of this website, so I have posted it here.

New truck lead times have reached an all-time high, with the buyers of some models having to wait well over a year MT can reveal.
Delivery times for Daf’s XF105 vary from 40 to 60 weeks depending on the model: order an XF SuperSpace cab today and it won’t be delivered until October 2008 with a ‘58’ registration plate.
Sources suggest some of Volvo’s tractors are affected by equally long delays, but nobody was available for comment.
Mercedes-Benz Axor C tractors won’t be delivered for 52 weeks. Operators wanting a Renault Premium or MAN TGS/TGX will experience a 35 week wait, while Iveco says its new Stralis can be delivered in 25 weeks. Scania was unable to provide figures.
The delays vary from model to model, with shorter times for lighter weight trucks. Daf quotes eight weeks for a factory-bodied LF, and MAN says TGLs will arrive in October.
The record lead times have been caused by Eastern Europe’s insatiable demand for new trucks. “The centre of gravity of the European truck industry is moving east,” says Daf’s marketing director Tony Pain, “and hauliers from Russia and the Balkan states, who would normally have bought locally-made vehicles, today prefer recognised European brands.” In 2005 Daf sold 1,250 trucks in Poland, this doubled to 2,500 in 2006 and it has already reached 4,104 this year.
The growth has coincided with a surge in demand in the UK, France and Germany, marking the end of the 2006 lull triggered by digital tachographs and Euro 4.
According to Glass’s Guide chief CV editor George Alexander, some UK hauliers have turned to the used market. “There are three buyers for every good truck at the moment,” he says.