Reports: Trailer orders stay above 20,000 units in January
U.S. trailer orders remained above 20,000 units in January, but industry analysts were divided on overall order-intake performance.
FTR Intel’s trailer tally of 24,206 units showed sustained momentum from December, relative to prior months, FTR reported, but still checked in below the firm’s 10-year January average of 26,340 units. ACT Research indicated January orders were down about 2,000 units from December, when fleets ordered 25,100 trailers, but that was still 9% above January 2025.
“Positive indicators from the truck freight market and improved regulatory clarity are much-needed boosts to the U.S. trailer market, but manufacturers and fleet purchasers still must deal with cost inflation and trade uncertainty that continue to shape pricing and demand,” Dan Moyer, FTR senior analyst for commercial vehicles, explained in a news release.
Improving trailer demand?
Net trailer orders essentially were flat month-over-month, and down 4% year-over-year, according to FTR’s data. And, despite recent demand stabilization and modest improvement, the 2026 order season (September 2025-January 2026) is down 16% y/y, the firm added.
Order pacing reflects several factors, FTR asserted:
- The ongoing release of deferred orders from September through November
- Improved carrier fundamentals as reflected in FTR’s Trucking Conditions Index reaching its strongest level since February 2022 in December
- Firmer freight rates and tighter capacity utilization
- Outsized spot rate increases in December and then, sparked by weather, again in January
- Fleets advancing purchases ahead of further tariff-related cost pass-throughs
- Improved capital planning visibility amid greater Class 8 regulatory clarity
U.S. trailer production increased in line with seasonal expectations but is still muted at close to the lowest levels since the fourth quarter of 2010. Net orders exceeded build by a wide margin, increasing backlogs, but backlogs were still down substantially versus January 2025, FTR added.
“The Trump administration reportedly is considering a narrower approach to certain Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs,” Moyer said. “That move could ease cost pass-through pressures at the margin, though no formal policy change has been announced.
“Trade risk in the van segment has also become more tangible due to the advancement of an antidumping and countervailing duty proceeding. Even though potential changes resulting from that investigation would be months away, it is likely already influencing sourcing strategies and pricing decisions. Overall, existing metals tariffs and the advancing van investigation likely will keep costs elevated and demand selective.”
Uncertainty delays decision-making
U.S. trailer orders decreased by 8% m/m but increased by 9% y/y, according to ACT’s reporting. Seasonal adjustment at this point in the annual order cycle lowers the monthly tally to 19,700 units, ACT added.
“Sequentially, a drop in net orders was expected, as December is usually the second strongest order month of the annual cycle,” said Jennifer McNealy, ACT director of CV market research and publications. “January is usually the month when trailer makers begin to take fewer orders and start to work down the backlog that grew during the peak of order season, October through December. That said, fleet decision-making hesitance into late 2025 seems to have delayed the cycle a bit, causing January orders to follow the traditional pattern but still surprising on the high side, as December’s weather-induced spike in freight rates, increasingly aged fleets, and some level of tariff-related clarity are in play for trailing equipment demand.
“The questions now become how sustainable are 20,000-plus-unit order intake months, and how quickly will trailer OEMs build down the still-thin backlog, particularly given concerns about the level of activity in the key freight-generating economic sectors that drive transportation demand, still-weak—although improving—for-hire carrier profitability, and uncertainty about future government policies that remain as challenges to stronger trailer demand in the near term.”