Commercial vehicle dealers finally saw some good news in the order world Wednesday when ACT Research announced a rather substantial uptick in trailer orders for June.
ACT Research reported orders up by nearly 9,000 units in May to 15,400 units, a 133% month-over-month increase and 144% stronger than June 2024. Seasonal adjustment at this point in the annual order cycle raises June’s tally to 23,400 units, ACT reports.
“That said, OEMs have been sharing for the past several months that amid the lower order placements, they have seen a flurry of quotation activity. While speculative, we suspect this may be a pull-forward of demand in advance of anticipated price increases.
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“And although this is good near-term news, supporting build rates in 2025, concern remains that weak for-hire carrier profitability continues to be an ongoing challenge to stronger demand.”
McNealy adds, “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. Additionally, preliminary data show cancel rates continue to be elevated, and in aggregate our standard notice that one month’s data does not make a trend is worth reiterating.”
