ACT Research announced Monday historically strong net order trailers volumes during the close of 2017 have continued into this year last month’s net order totals were the strongest February net order volume in industry history.
The month also was 14th highest on the all-time list.
“Dry vans and reefers were off sequentially; flatbeds had the best monthly gain,” says Frank Maly, director, commercial vehicle transportation analysis and research at ACT Research. “On a year-over-year basis, eight of the ten trailer categories were up, with liquid tank orders more than double last year. Total industry net volume was up 27 percent year-over-year. The saga of strong freight demand, tight capacity, and industry backlogs that, on average, stretch through September, continued to support order strength.”
“Every trailer category posted both sequential gains and year-over-year improvement of backlogs in February, which is an indication of widespread fleet investment,” Maly adds. “As seasonally expected, production is beginning to increase. The increase in build rates offset the gains in backlog, resulting in the BL/BU ratio ending February at seven months, which commits the industry, on average, through September, with both vans and reefers stretched into Q4.”
