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Wabash opens 2027 dry van trailer order book early
Trailer OEM says demand from fleets justifies atypical start
"Our customers are planning their 2027 fleet acquisitions right now, not in October, and they need us on their timeline,” Yeagy said. (Wabash)
Key Takeaways:
- Wabash opened its order book early for 2027 dry van trailer production, citing stronger-than-expected demand and shifting customer purchasing timelines.
- The move signals a demand rebound after a Q1 loss, supported by ACT data showing trailer orders up 237% year over year in May and rising truck orders.
- Wabash plans to leverage added Lafayette capacity for higher output while broader industry momentum is prompting hiring, including Daimler Truck adding workers at a North Carolina plant.
Wabash opened its order book for 2027 dry van trailer production slots a couple of months earlier than usual, citing a turnaround in demand from carriers.
Lafayette, Ind.-based Wabash typically opens its order book for the coming year in the fall, but said fleets were asking for earlier access to configurations, delivery windows and pricing this year.
The decision to accept orders for 2028 model year DuraPlate and DuraPlate HD dry van trailers signals a substantial turnaround for Wabash, which posted a first-quarter 2026 loss due to a gloomy demand picture.
Green shoots were obvious to Wabash executives when the company — the only publicly listed trailer manufacturer and therefore a unique window into demand dynamics — reported Q1 earnings May 1, but customer interest outpaced expectations for the second quarter.
“The trailer buying cycle has moved. Our customers are planning their 2027 fleet acquisitions right now, not in October, and they need us on their timeline,” Brent Yeagy, president and CEO of Wabash, said in comments accompanying the July 9 announcement.
In January, Wabash announced plans to idle its Goshen, Ind., and Little Falls, Minn., manufacturing facilities, partly as a result of the demand softness.
But dry van trailer capacity added at the company’s Lafayette South plant in late 2023 would allow Wabash to produce about 10,000 trailers more than in prior upcycles.
Industry data supports Wabash’s assertions about fleet appetite for trailers.
ACT Research reported data showing May orders jumped 237% year over year to 20,700 units, although May 2025 was an especially weak month. The 10-year average for May is 11,649, according to FTR Transportation Intelligence.
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Demand also rose 7% sequentially compared with April in what typically is the second-weakest order month annually. ACT data showed April orders rose 126% year over year to 19,400 units, which in and of itself was a 3% increase compared with March.
Fleet managers’ appetite for trailers follows a rebound in the freight market after the longest downturn in industry memory, which has also manifested an atypical upturn in Class 8 tractor orders through the first and second quarters.
ACT data released July 3 showed June orders jumped more than 100% year on year for a fifth consecutive month. North American Class 8 orders totaled 31,400 trucks in June, a 231% jump compared with the year-ago period, ACT data shows. Orders rose year on year in June for a seventh straight month.
In one of the first publicly announced guideposts of the freight market rebound’s impact on truck demand, Daimler Truck North America is set to boost the workforce at its Mount Holly manufacturing plant in North Carolina.
The plant, which focuses on production of Freightliner trucks, will bring back 400 employees laid off in July 2025 as part of 2,000 production plant job cuts across North American DTNA manufacturing facilities.
In addition, DTNA plans to hire an additional 200 workers at the Mount Holly facility by the end of 2026 as part of plans to add a second shift.
