In January, Commercial trailer net orders climbed 10 percent over January 2009
, according to ACT Research's State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers report. ACT says overall trailer orders were consistent with weak trends, although performance within individual trailer segments were mixed.

For example, the dry van segment was consistent with recent trends, while the flatbed and heavy lowbed markets, both closely tied to the construction sector, posted very weak net orders. Reefer vans, along with tanks and dumps, posted stronger net order numbers in January.

"Consistent with what we are seeing in the overall economy, sector performance can vary materially while the overall economy trudges slowly forward," said Kenny Vieth, partner and senior analyst with ACT Research. "The outlook for trailer production going forward should be slightly positive as backlogs begin to build and inventories remain relatively low."