Near-record backlogs have filled 2019 build slots for many OEMs, and there continues to be some resistance toward booking orders into next year, according to this month’s issue of ACT Research’s State of the Industry: U.S. Trailer Report.
“While some fleets have fulfilled investment plans for the year, others reportedly are seeking more equipment this year,” says Frank Maly, ACT director, commercial vehicle transportation analysis and research. “However, their efforts will likely be in vain, with dry van and reefer order boards consuming most available production slots for the year.”
Furthermore, Maly says, “Factory inventory was a mixed bag across categories, but most unusual was reefers, up 60 percent year-over-year and at the highest level in our historical database, which started in 1990.”
The report also notes that while the cancellation rate continued at acceptable levels, the high backlog, at 7.5 months, helped disguise higher cancellation volume. Cancellations have averaged more than 2,300 per month for the last four months, the longest string of higher volume months since the mid-year 2016 market inflection.
