Preliminary trailer orders in August fell 3% from the previous month to a total of 16,400 units, FTR reported. Trailer order activity was up 21% from August last year, however, with orders now totaling 286,000 units for the past 12 months. Factors such as labor conditions, component supply chains, and volatile raw material prices remain the primary factors preventing OEMs from committing to new orders for 2023, the industry analyst suggested.
“In discussions with both suppliers and OEMs labor continues to endure as one of the greatest factors inhibiting the industry’s ability to increase production,” Charles Roth, commercial vehicle analyst for FTR said. “Visibility into component and raw material supply chains—which is necessary for OEMs to plan production and quote new orders—will only increase as we move through Q4 as suppliers finalize and provide OEMs with pricing and lead time commitments for Q1 production.”
FTR also anticipates industry backlog levels will again decline month-over-month in August, continuing a trend that has been present for the past five months.
“Demand nonetheless continues to remain exceptionally robust as fleets and end-users have struggled to replace aged equipment and have been limited as to the opportunity to add additional equipment necessary to meet any plans to increase overall fleet capacity,” Roth said. “Fleets continue to see allocation limits for build slots as well as existing orders being pushed out into the future.”