Recent economic reports from trucking industry analysts show a decline in the freight market in the near term, but it could stabilize in the long term.
Trailer orders continued to slide in May as OEMs catch up on building orders from last year. But with few signs that ordering will pick up again this year and a slowing economy, could it mean lower prices for fleets in the future?
It’s no secret that orders for Class 8 trucks have been in decline this year, but May is projected to hit new lows, according to preliminary reports from FTR and ACT Research.
Decreasing freight rates, sluggish demand and slow truck orders are all signs of a trucking industry that has finally hit the brakes on the 2018 economic boom.
Trailer orders in March fell to the lowest level since late 2016, according to reports from analysts at FTR and ACT Research – but demand's still high.
March Class 8 truck orders fell once again, falling below the 20,000 unit threshold for the third consecutive month.
Reports from FTR and ACT Research confirm that Class 8 truck orders were down in February. However, the medium-duty Class 5-7 truck segment continued its solid upward trend.
January trailer order numbers were down to start the year as fleets and trailer makers are still dealing with the large amount of orders made in 2018.
Truck orders got off to a slow start in 2019 with early reports from industry analysts ACT Research and FTR tracking a 26% decline in January compared to December 2018.
Despite a significant drop off in trailer orders to close out the year, 2018 was the best year on record for trailer orders, according to preliminary reports from ACT Research and FTR.