After recent lackluster performance, trailer order activity posted solid improvement in September. Net orders were up almost 31% month-over month and 22% year-over-year. Supported by solid production and inventory reduction, total trailer factory shipments were up nearly 65% year over year in September. This update on industry performance was reported in the latest State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers published by ACT Research Co. (ACT) .

“Production is still outpacing new order intake, despite the improvement in orders in September,” said Frank Maly, Director CV Transportation Analysis and Research with ACT. “This is reducing the backlog. However, we cannot divorce ourselves from seasonality: orders are always weak and backlogs always fall through the third quarter. On a seasonally adjusted basis, total trailer backlogs have been virtually unchanged since May,” he added.

ACT is the worldwide leading publisher of new and used commercial vehicle (CV) industry data, market analysis and forecasting services for the North American market, as well as the U.S. tractor-trailer market and the China CV market. ACT’s CV services are used by all major North American truck and trailer manufacturers and their suppliers, as well as the banking and investment community in North America, Europe and China.