August ties March for the longest trailer OEM work schedule of the year, which is also three days longer than July. Capitalizing on the additional work days, a sequential increase in U.S. trailer build was expected in August. “The longer schedule gave OEMs a bit of operational breathing room,” said Frank Maly, Director–CV Transportation Analysis and Research at ACT Research. He continued, “Daily production of 1,189 units per day, the third highest of the year, was off 7 units per day from July.”

The total U.S. trailer backlog was off 10% month over month and 11% lower year over year in August. “Backlog slipped below 100k for the first time since last October,” said Maly. “While most vocational/specialty trailers backlogs are up versus last year, both dry vans and reefers are in the red, off 11% and 39%, respectively,” he concluded.