Preliminary trailer orders leapt forward last month, ACT Research and FTR reported Thursday.
ACT reported preliminary net orders of 22,100 units, up 21% month-over-month and 63% jump year-over-year. FTR orders were 21,516 units, up 3% from February and 70% over 2024.
"Given that March marks the cyclical beginning of the weaker order months of the year, this month's data certainly were a high-side surprise," says Jennifer McNealy, director of commercial vehicle market research and publications at ACT Research. "That said, it is not that much of a surprise this year, amid the unprecedented environment in which we find ourselves presently, and we again caution that on month does not make, or in this case buck, the trend."
McNealy went on to warn the market is still ripe for a lower than average trailer market in 2025.
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"With weak for-hire truck market fundamentals, low used equipment valuations, relatively full inventories, high interest rates and the ambiguity of policy shifts still in play, ACT's expectations for subdued build and order intake levels during 2025 remain intact," she says. "While speculative, what we may be seeing in March's data is a pull-foward of orders in advance of possible tariff-related costs increases to come. While good news for this month, pull-forward, if that is the case, means orders placed now will not need to be placed at a later date."
FTR had a similar sentiment, noting while March represented the fifth consecutive month with net orders exceeding 20,000 units and positive year over year growth, a weak start to the 2025 order season (September 2024 through March 2025) kept cumulative net orders at 146,253 units — down 8% year over year at 20,893 units per month.
"Some fleets appear to be prioritizing adding trailers in lieu of power units. So far this year, U.S. trailer net orders have outpaced total North America Class 8 net orders by 7,900 units. Given the increasing level of uncertainty — the economy, tariffs, truck freight demand and pricing, etc. — it remains to be seen if this order strength can be sustained," says Dan Moyer, FTR senior analyst, commercial vehicles.
"Recently imposed U.S. tariffs, along with retaliatory measures, pose significant risks to the North American trailer market, influencing both imported units and domestic production reliant on foreign-sourced materials," Moyer adds. "OEMs will likely face increased manufacturing costs, diminished margins and possibly softened or stagnant demand. Suppliers, meanwhile, likely will experience intensified financial pressures stemming from supply chain disruptions, potentially prompting shifts toward alternative sourcing strategies or domestic partnerships. For fleets, higher prices and prolonged lead times may result in postponed procurement decisions or a renewed focus on upgrading power units instead."
As for production, FTR reports builds were up 11% month over month in March and in line with seasonal expectations but below 2024 totals. The company says 2025 year-to-date trailer build fell 31% year over year to 46,218 units, an average of 15,406 per month.
With total trailer net orders above production, FTR adds backlogs increased by 4,564 units (+4% month over month; -16% year over year) to 127,892 units for a fifth consecutive monthly increase. However, the larger monthly increase in production compared to backlogs lowered the backlog/build ratio to 7.3 months.
