ACT: US trailer industry faces challenges

The U.S. trailer market has transitioned from cautious optimism to staying afloat as the “modus operandi of wait-and-see continues,” according to the latest issue of ACT Research’s State of the Industry trailers report.

ACT earlier this month reported preliminary net trailer orders of 9,000 units in August in a 3% month-over-month increase from July.

“Carrier profits remain weak, freight rate traction is incremental, private fleets are pulling back on asset investments, and Class 8 indicators continue to deteriorate. Within this environment, trailer demand remains subpar,” Jennifer McNealy, ACT director of commercial vehicle market research and publications, said in a news release. “At this point, muted intake continues to be expected until policies and pricing are more transparent and carrier profitability sustainably increases.

“As the industry remains in the weaker months of the annual order cycle, build again outpaced orders in August. Trailer production was about double order placements.”

ACT’s State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers report provides a monthly review of current U.S. trailer market statistics, as well as trailer OEM build plans and market indicators divided by all major trailer types, including backlogs, build, inventory, new orders, cancellations, net orders, and factory shipments. It’s accompanied by a database that gives historical information from 1996 to the present.

“With weak orders, an elevated cancelation rate, and lower build rates, the industry backlog-to-build ratio fell to 3.6 months in August, which doesn’t commit the industry into the beginning of 2026 and is well below the long-term BL/BU average of 5.7 months,” McNealy concluded.

“To say that the environment is challenging at present may be an understatement.”