Trailer Orders Normalize in January

Trailer orders for January hit 27,300 units returning to normal order rates after a surge in the last three months of 2014, according to report from FTR. The number of units ordered was similar to January of last year.

Business is still strong, says FTR, with orders exceeding  360,000 trailers for the past 12 months. However, cancellations did increase in January as fleets reevaluated their requirements at the beginning of this year.

“Cancellations were up but that often happens at the beginning of the year when fleets take a closer look at their requirements,” said Don Ake, vice president of commercial vehicles at FTR. “With backlogs very high, order patterns should start to follow a more traditional pattern.”

Dry, refrigerated van and flatbed orders all fell in January compared with the end of 2014. Build rates remained steady for dry vans, slightly increased for flatbeds and slightly decreased for reefers. Tanker orders dropped off the most with high cancellation rates.

“The trailer market remains very vibrant,” said Ake. “The van OEMs are finishing up filling Q3 production - many Q3 orders remain speculative but fleets are optimistic about 2015.”