Click to enlarge.New U.S. trailer orders of 14,800 were up 7 percent month-over-month and, after accounting for cancellations, net orders of 10,600 hit their second sequential increase in nine months, rising 2 percent from July, but down 72 percent compared with August of 2018, according to this month’s issue of ACT Research’s State of the Industry: U.S. Trailer Report.
Year-to-date, however, net trailer orders are 51 percent below last year, the report states.
“With 2020 order boards fully open, the dramatic lack of fleet interest continues to astound,” says Frank Maly, ACT director, commercial vehicle transportation analysis and research. “Uncertainty breeds inaction and many factors are pushing fleets to observe the market from the sidelines. Poor financials, the result of lower freight demand and weak rates, portend a challenging financial road ahead, while more general economic uncertainties generate additional headwinds.”
Additionally, Maly says, “New orders are being placed at half the pace of January, while cancellations are nearly double the unit volume, but more than three times the rate to the backlog of Q1. Fleets are unwilling to commit investment for next year, while still adjusting this year’s spending. Reports indicate that some orders were actually cancel/reorders, effectively pushing late 2019 volume into next year, sometimes at OEM request.”
