Trailer Orders Fall 10% in June

A high number of dry van trailer order cancellations caused the trailer market to perform below expectations in June, as U.S. net trailer orders fell 10% from the month before and 56% compared to June 2015, according to an FTR report.

Orders totaled 11,900 units for the month – the weakest June trailer order numbers since 2009.

“It appears that Q4 backlog has begun to soften because of moderating freight demand, with fleets reevaluating their second-half requirements,” said Don Ake, FTR vice president of commercial vehicles. “Monthly trailer orders have averaged only 13,700 units, so the market is cooling. Backlogs fell 15,000 units, likely a record drop for one month.”

Dry van trailers were down 2,000 units compared to May, but orders in other segments were similar. Segmented trailer production was either flat month-to-month or down slightly. In the past 12 months, orders have totaled 271,000 units, with backlogs falling to the lowest level since Sept. 2014.

“The good news is that production remains strong in the van segments. Backlogs are still decent and production should fall only moderately in the coming months,” said Ake “However, flatbeds and tankers are not expected to improve any time soon. Dump trailer orders have weakened, so production cuts are probably on the way.”