Trailer orders slow down, but still healthy

BLOOMINGTON, IN – January trailer orders hit 27,300 units, returning to last January’s volumes, according to industry analysts FTR Associates.

Trailer orders saw a spike in the last three months of 2014, but slowed for January, according to FTR, but business is still strong, with orders exceeding 360,000 trailers for the past 12-months.

 “Cancellations were up, but that often happens at the beginning of the year when fleets take a closer look at their requirements,” said Don Ake, vice president of commercial vehicles at FTR. “With backlogs very high, order patterns should start to follow a more traditional pattern.”

Dry, refrigerated van and flatbed orders all fell in January compared with the end of 2014. Build rates remained steady for dry vans, slightly increased for flatbeds and slightly dropped for reefers. Tanker orders dropped off the most with high cancellation rates.

“The trailer market remains very vibrant,” Ake said. “The van OEMs are finishing up filling Q3 production; many Q3 orders remain speculative, but fleets are optimistic about 2015.”


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