June saw the third consecutive monthly decline in total U.S commercial trailer net orders, with the industry posting a 26% decline from May, according to ACT Research.


That decline, in combination with an increase in trailer production, resulted in industry backlogs falling 5% month over month. The industry orderboard ended June at 97,000 units.

This update on industry performance was reported in the latest State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers, published by ACT July 26. ACT also noted that, despite the decline in the orderboard during the month, industry backlog is still more than double the level of one year ago.

"The fall-off in net orders was greater than anticipated," said Frank Maly, Director CV Transportation Analysis and Research with ACT. "A positive factor to keep in mind is that cancellations of existing commitments on the orderboards were not an issue; new order weakness was the cause."

Maly said we are in a seasonally low time of the year for new order placement. Fleet order rates will need to be closely monitored over the next couple of months to determine if the recent order softness is a short-lived pause or the start of a new trend in the industry recovery.