New and net trailer orders climbed in October, driven both by dry vans and reefers. Even with October’s rebound though, orders are still behind from last year by a wide margin, according to the most recent State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers published by ACT Research Co. (ACT).
A significant bias of fleet investment towards trailers lingered into October, with the ratio of net orders of trailers-to-tractors hitting its highest monthly level since 2010.
“Dry van net orders were over 2.5x September’s level, providing the majority of the October growth,” said Frank Maly, Director–CV Transportation Analysis and Research at ACT. “Even with that surge, dry van net was down over 30% y/y. Those stats reflect the mix of short-term improvement and the dramatically lower order volumes being placed this order cycle.”