Trailer net orders in September, at nearly 36,000 units, rose almost 12% on a year-over-year basis and 47% over August, according to the most recent State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers published by ACT Research Co. (ACT).
“While September’s early kick-off to the fall/winter order season was not particularly surprising, the volumes in dry vans and refers were a bit more robust than anticipated, up 46% and 45%, respectively,” said Frank Maly, Director–CV Transportation Analysis and Research at ACT. “Despite the solid start to the order season, the commercial vehicle segment news is not entirely positive. Tractor volumes have shown weakness, and the softness appears to come from high dealer inventory levels and fleet resistance to extend investment in the current soft freight market.”
Maly noted that for the remainder of 2015, year-over-year comps will be challenging. He added, “A better measure of the industry will be backlogs, where growth will indicate order flow above the current build rates.”