Preliminary trailers in June continued the segment's downturn, totaling 6,300 units (8,000 seasonally adjusted), ACT Research reported this week.
ACT's Jennifer McNealy, director, CV market research and publications says the total was down 34% from May and 75% year over year.
McNealy says summer is generally a slow time for the trailer space. June was lower than expected but not terribly out of line considering the market's order backlog. "Seasonal expectations suggest orders are likely to remain soft the coming few months, particularly given near record-level order backlogs. Trailer manufacturers normally spend mid-year working down the backlog ahead of the next year’s full orderboard opening," she says.
"Albeit against strong comparisons, demand is softening, but with 2024 orderboards just beginning to open, it is no surprise that net orders in June were the lowest they’ve been so far this year," she continues. "That is simply part of the cycle. However, we’re seeing increased and broad-based cancellations, but we’re hearing that much of this is a dealer stocking issue, rather than a general decline in fleets’ appetite for equipment. Since backlogs remain relatively healthy, most fleets needing trailers remain in queue."
McNealy also reports the backlog should decrease by around 22,000 units to 172,000 units when complete June data is released. "With orders being preliminary and the build number a projection, there will be some variability in reported backlogs when final data are collected," she adds.
