Trailer Orders Jump 51% in June
Trailer orders in June notched the seventh consecutive month of year-over-year gains, as they topped 20,000, ACT Research Co. said.
Orders reached 20,375, up 51% compared with 13,532 in the 2016 period, ACT said.
Dry van net orders were up nearly 125% compared with last year, according to ACT, which cited preliminary net order data that would be adjusted as needed later in the month.
“Flatbeds and reefers posted the best month-over-month improvement, while the sequential growth in dry van net orders was similar to overall total industry results. When compared to last June, preliminary information shows that dry vans were the major contributor to the solid industry results,” Frank Maly, ACT’s director of commercial vehicle transportation analysis and research, said in a statement.
May’s orders totaled 17,889, ACT said.
“We continue to be in an extended cycle for trailers,” Seaport Global Securities analyst Rhem Wood wrote in a note to investors.
He is maintaining his 2017 forecast of 276,200 trailers, with “maybe some slight upside,” and suggested it’s too early to lift his 2018 forecast of 257,600.
The research firm FTR pegged June orders at 18,900, calling it a final net number.
“The trailer market had a fantastic month in June. Production was the highest since July 2015. Orders did not fall all much from the respectable numbers posted in March and April. Backlogs are dropping, but that’s due to the high build rates rather than lower orders,” Don Ake, FTR vice president of commercial vehicles, said in a statement.
