July Trailer Orders Increase 36.7%, Fueled by Surge for Reefer Units

This story appears in the Sept. 1 print edition of Transport Topics.

An 80% jump in orders for refrigerated trailer units helped fuel a 36.7% gain in industrywide orders in July from the same month a year earlier, ACT Research reported.

U.S. trailer manufacturers booked 19,283 net orders during the strongest July since 2006, ACT said Aug. 25.

On a sequential basis, orders slipped 12.3% from  21,997 in June, but an ACT analyst said the strong pace is likely to continue.

“Fleets are finally getting some decent rates. It’s going to their bottom line, [and] they’ve got money to invest,” said ACT’s Frank Maly. “The vast majority of demand in the commercial vehicle segment, both truck and trailer, is always going to be replacement. But we’re definitely at a point where additional capacity is in play now.”

Year-to-date, industrywide orders are up 44% to 174,947.

During July, reefer orders jumped to 3,490, which was also a 25.4% sequential increase from June. Dry-van orders increased 25.9% from a year earlier to 9,261.

Orders also were strong for flatbeds and bulk tanks, with flatbeds jumping 50% to 1,886 and bulk units quadrupling to 687 from a year earlier, Maly said.

Going back to 1996, only three previous months of July have been better: 2006, 1998 and 1997, BB&T Capital Markets’ Rhem Wood wrote in an analyst’s note.

The summer months are typically the year’s slowest, and even though the total is the first since September 2013 below 20,000, original equipment manufacturers said the higher trend will continue.

“It’s the best summer in many years,” said Larry Roland, marketing director for Utility Trailer Manufacturing Co. “Our new-order intake is up 50%. Our June was better, and our August will be even better.”

“Food distribution and refrigerated products are really driving things, but the dry-van business is very strong, [and] even the flatbed business is coming along with continued, mild growth,” Roland told Transport Topics.

“We have seen backlogs continue to stretch into next year as the van sector has remained very hot all year, and next year looks similar,” said Chris Hammond, vice president of dealer and international sales at Great Dane Trailers.

“We are booked through the end of this year on reefers and are now booking well into the first quarter of 2015,” Hammond said. “There is some capacity

left yet this year in [flatbeds], and overall, we expect to increase sales in 2014 and 2015. Trucking is staying strong, despite the overall malaise in the economic recovery.”

David Giesen, vice president of sales and marketing for Stoughton Trailers, said that “while July came in with the typical seasonal slowdown for incoming orders, we are, however, enjoying one of the largest historical backlogs that the company has ever seen. Overall demand for dry vans remains very strong, [and] quote activity, orders and discussions on future plans to add trailers are all strong.”

Wabash National Corp. said that while it could not yet comment on July activity, its second-quarter performance had exceeded its expectations.

“In contrast to typical seasonal expectations, our backlog increased during the quarter to the highest level since 2000, consistent with strong industrywide net-order levels,” CEO Dick Giromini said. “We believe overall demand will remain solid and significantly above replacement levels in 2014 and beyond.”

Trailer OEMs’ backlogs are up 48.5% from a year ago to more than 113,000, which is “close to a five-month backlog at existing production rates,” ACT’s Maly said. “So on average, you’re talking about things being spoken for through the end of the year.”

Regarding the high backlog, “the industry learned a lesson with the last run-up” in 2006 “and went through a lot of pain in working down those speculative orders and backlogs,’ he said.

“Some OEMs actually went to the point of requiring deposits with orders. We don’t think they’re going to let themselves get in that position again. When people have to put money on the line, it tends to make them think twice before putting an order in,” he said, adding he was “not aware that deposits are being put in now.”

The bulk-tank backlog was up 500% year-over-year, which Maly attributed to the ongoing hydraulic fracturing boom.

Those trailers move “dry goods: fertilizers, plastic pellets and flour, but we think the driving factor is fracking sand and ceramics,” he said.

Hyundai Translead declined to comment.