Even without December’s tally, 2018 is on pace to be the highest net order year in U.S. history for trailers, according to ACT Research.

Even though in November, U.S. trailer order volume “slid sequentially for the second month in a row, it’s all relative when one considers that more than 45,000 net orders were posted in November,” the research group said.

ACT Research’s latest State of the Industry: U.S. Trailer Report explains that November was the fifth-highest net order month in industry history, following September’s all-time record and October’s ranking as second best in history.

“Seasonals call for a small sequential net order gain to close the year, but several factors make that a challenge,” said Frank Maly, ACT’s director of CV Transportation Analysis and Research. “With the last three months all ranking in the top five [of] all time, how likely are fleets to continue to increase commitments that currently stretch into fall 2019? Several factors, including softening freight rates, some interest-rate driven uncertainty, and the continuing potential of tariff wars, cloud the economic horizon.”

Maly also remarked that, “It is important to remember that year-to-date volume already ranks 2018 as the highest net order year in history, with one month remaining. The order board is just above twice the level of this point last year, and eight of ten trailer categories are in the black year over year, with dry vans, reefers, heavy low-beds, and liquid tanks all posting triple-digit percentage improvement.”

For more information about ACT’s State of the Industry: US Trailer Report, click here.