Trailer Orders Soar 56.9% in Strongest August in 20 Years

This story appears in the Oct. 6 print edition of Transport Topics.

New trailer orders totaled 25,191 in August, a 56.9% jump from a year earlier and the highest level for that month in 20 years, ACT Research reported.

August’s total also climbed 30.3% from July, pushing the year-to-date figure to 200,186, a 45.6% gain from 137,493 in the first eight months of 2013.

“Fleets are making money and capacity is tight,” he said. “They’ve got the need and the wherewithal to acquire equipment, and they know that the lead times continue to be long so they want to get in line.”

Year-to-date, dry van orders have climbed 54% from a year ago and reefer orders have increased 52%. Flatbed orders are up 33%.

New trailer orders are growing along with freight demand, as American Trucking Associations’ truck tonnage index climbed 4.5% to a record high during August.

Consequently, many fleets have been placing orders for delivery well into 2015 to reserve spots in the production cycle, Maly said.

Great Dane Trailers already has filled its plants to capacity for this year, said Chris Hammond, vice president of dealer and international sales.

“We continue to see strength in the dry-van marketplace as pent-up demand and under-buys in the past have forced carriers to update their fleets,” he said. “These fleets are confident in the underlying strength in the transportation segment and are making necessary investments to stay competitive.”

Hammond added, “We expect this trend to continue and carry us through 2015.”

Utility Trailer Manufacturing Co. also has filled all of its production lines for 2014, “with new orders pushing well into first quarter and beyond,” marketing director Larry Roland said.

“The increase of freight tonnage coupled with lower fuel costs and a general feeling of a stronger economy is driving new orders,” he said.

Roland said Utility saw “very strong” order intake in August with demand for reefer trailers leading the way.

“Stretching backlogs seem to be adding to the current demand. However, some rising material costs as well as the truck driver shortage could be moderating further increases in trailer sales,” he said.

Industry analyst Rhem Wood of BB&T Capital Markets noted that August’s unusually strong order total followed the best July since 2006 and the best June since 1999.

He said he expects “solid quote and order-flow activity to continue,” considering that the first and fourth quarters tend to be the busiest periods of the year for orders.

David Giesen, vice president of sales and marketing for Stoughton Trailers, said demand is still “very strong.” The company filled the remainder of its 2014 production schedule during September, which was earlier than usual, he said.

That also bodes well for 2015.

“We’re anticipating next year will be as good as or better than this year,” Giesen said.

Glenn Harney, chief sales officer at Hyundai Translead, said some of the incoming orders represent “cautious but calculated growth” as opposed to straight replacement.

Harney said the company’s 2014 production schedule has only a small number of remaining slots, which it is holding for customers who have not yet finalized orders.

“Everything we are quoting now is for 2015 production,” he said.

At the end of August, the trailer industry’s order backlog stood at 114,300 units, a gain of about 1,200 from July and also up about 60% from a year earlier, according to ACT.

Maly said backlog increases are unusual during the summer, lending further confirmation “of just how strong the August order number was.”

The current backlog would be enough to keep manufacturers busy through January, he said.

Meanwhile, order cancellations remain low, Maly said. “In general, once they’re hitting the order board, they’re staying there.”

Separately, FTR reported a somewhat lower figure for August trailer orders.

The research firm said the industry placed 23,135 orders during the month, up 45% from a year ago and a 27% increase from July.

Much of the August order intake was for production in 2015, FTR said.

“August trailer-order activity is a very positive development and reflects strong market momentum approaching the fall ordering season,” FTR Vice President Don Ake said. “FTR sees no signs of the trailer market slowing down, so we expect good order numbers for the next few months.”

ACT analyst Frank Maly said the latest monthly tally was a “great” figure for any month, but was “phenomenal” for August, when order activity is typically slow.