January's preliminary net trailer orders fell 2,000 units but remained above 20,000, ACT Research says. Order intake came in at 23,000 units on the month, down from December's 25,100 and 9% above January 2025.
FTR Transportation Intelligence reports net orders were essentially flat at 24,206 units, which brings December's momentum into the new year but is still below the average.
"Positive indicators from the truck freight market and improved regulatory clarity are much-needed boosts to the U.S. trailer market, but manufacturers and fleet purchasers still must deal with cost inflation and trade uncertainty that continue to shape pricing and demand," says Dan Moyer, senior analyst for commercial vehicles. "The Trump administration is reportedly considering a narrower approach to certain Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs. That move could ease cost pass-through pressures at the margin, though no formal policy change has been announced."
"Sequentially, a drop in net orders was expected as December is usually the second strongest order month of the annual cycle," says Jennifer McNealy, director of commercial vehicle market research and publications at ACT. "January is usually the month when trailer makers begin to take fewer orders and start to work down the backlog that grew during the peak of the order season, October through December."
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Seasonally adjusted, preliminary numbers for January are 19,700 units ACT says. Final numbers will be available later this month.
"Fleet decision-making hesitance into late 2025 seems to have delayed the cycle a bit, causing January orders to follow the traditional pattern but still surprising on the high side, as December's weather-induced spike in freight rates, increasingly aged fleets and some level of tariff-related clarity are in play for trailing equipment demand," McNealy says.
McNealy says 20,000-plus months may not be sustainable. FTR says orders outpaced build by a wide margin, increasing backlogs, but backlogs are still down when compared to January 2025.
"How quickly will trailer OEMs build down the still-thin backlog, particularly given concerns about the level of activity in the key freight generating economic sectors that drives transportation demand, still-weak, although improving, for-hire carrier profitability and uncertainty about future government policies that remain as challenges to stronger trailer demand in the near term," she adds.
Moyer says antidumping and countervailing duty investigations are already influencing sourcing strategies and pricing decisions, keeping costs elevated and demand selective.
