Trailer order activity posted solid improvement in September after lackluster performance in previous months. Net orders were up almost 31% month-over month and 22% year-over-year.


Supported by solid production and inventory reduction, total trailer factory shipments were up nearly 65% year-over-year in September. This update on industry performance was reported in the latest State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers published by ACT Research Co. (ACT) October 21.

"Production is still outpacing new order intake, despite the improvement in orders in September," said Frank Maly, director CV transportation analysis and research with ACT. "This is reducing the backlog. However, we cannot divorce ourselves from seasonality: orders are always weak and backlogs always fall through the third quarter. On a seasonally adjusted basis, total trailer backlogs have been virtually unchanged since May," he added.

For more information on ACT, please visit www.actresearch.net.com.