Net orders for commercial trailers jumped 80 percent from September to October, a 124 percent boost from October 2008

, according to the latest State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers by ACT Research.

The latest research shows an improvement in new orders within six of the nine trailer types. Net orders of dry vans gained 155 percent during the month. As a result of the strong net orders and only a slight increase in build, backlogs were up 2,500 units. The backlog to build ratio was at 3.9 months, lower than the level that can support increasing production rates, ACT says.

"An issue that adds complexity to interpreting current order activity is that October is normally the beginning of a seasonally strong period for orders," said Kenny Vieth, partner and senior analyst with ACT Research. "While the sequential increase was well beyond a normal seasonal uptick, the limited orders in backlog will still keep a lid on production in the near term."

More info: www.actresearch.net.