ACT Research reported this week that November net U.S. trailer orders of 39,645 units fell nearly 28 percent from the previous month, but that followed a two-month order surge and still indicates a solid month.
Overall, ACT says net orders were up 100 percent year over year and more than 30 percent year to date compared to the first 11 months of 2019. Before accounting for cancellations, new orders of 41,000 units were down 28 percent versus October, but 94 percent better year-over-year, the company indicates.
“While lower sequentially, November net orders really just took a bit of a breather from the September/October order surge, just missing the all-time top 10 list,” says Frank Maly, director, commercial vehicle transportation analysis and research, ACT Research. “It is quite possible that the previous two-month surge actually could have generated some minor November headwinds, and not surprisingly, dry vans and reefers are creating the majority of the volume uptick.”
Maly adds that at current production levels, the first available production slots for those two categories, on average, are in the fourth quarter of 2021. But he adds that “we’re talking averages, so while some OEMs may be fully committed for 2021 until higher production rates can be generated, some OEMs have remaining 2021 slots. This has led us to a surprising industry comment in recent discussions: Fleets were wondering when the 2022 orderboards might open.”
