Preliminary net trailer orders in August were 24,200 units, up about 8,600 units from July, a 55% month-to-month increase, and more than 16,000 units higher than August 2025. While appearing meteoric, it’s important to remember that the 193% y/y gain is against 2025’s very tepid environment. Seasonal adjustment (SA) at this point in the annual order cycle takes the month’s volume to 33,700 units, the second best seasonally adjusted order volume in the past 43 months. Final August trailer industry data will be available later this month. This preliminary order estimate is typically within ±5% of the final order tally.
“Seasonally speaking, August net orders should have improved sequentially, so the uptick from July was no surprise” said Jennifer McNealy, Director CV Market Research & Publications at ACT Research. She continued, “The degree of improvement, however, by historical standards was atypical. Typically, July is the weakest net order month of the annual ordering cycle, as fleets have made their decisions for current-year needs and OEMs start to build down the backlog. That said, this year’s cycle has been anything but ordinary. The order cycle that should have started about this time last year was delayed due to ongoing weakness in freight rates and policy-driven uncertainty. With freight rates and carrier profits on the mend, August orders are on track to be the best since last December and the second best in the past 30 months.”
McNealy concluded, “Regardless of the timing, the increased order activity is certainly welcome, and although premature in terms of 2027 order timing and the opening by OEMs of next year’s calendars, does match with anecdotal information we’ve received that orderboards opened early amid relatively few build slots available for the remainder of this year. Despite this turning of the tide, caution remains a strategy for some trailer purchasers. Rates have risen in 2026, but the past few years have been hard for carriers, and now the challenges of growing pent-up demand and higher maintenance costs and downtime remain as counter-weights to their new equipment purchase decision-making process. ACT Research continues to hear that the unseasonable spike in US trailer orders is a three-fold event: customers ordering ahead of tariff-related price increases, healthier long-term business conditions, and pent-up replacement demand.”
State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers Report Overview
ACT Research’s State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers report provides a monthly review of the current US trailer market statistics, as well as trailer OEM build plans and market indicators divided by all major trailer types, including backlogs, build, inventory, new orders, cancellations, net orders, and factory shipments. It is accompanied by a database that gives historical information from 1996 to the present, as well as a ready-to-use graph packet, to allow organizations in the trailer production supply chain, and those following the investment value of trailers, trailer OEMs, and suppliers to better understand the market.
ACT Research Overview
ACT Research is recognized as the leading publisher of commercial vehicle truck, trailer, and bus industry data, market analysis, and forecasts for the North America and China markets. ACT’s analytical services are used by all major North American truck and trailer manufacturers and their suppliers, as well as banking and investment companies. ACT Research is a contributor to the Blue Chip Economic Indicators and a member of the Wall Street Journal Economic Forecast Panel. ACT Research executives have received peer recognition, including election to the Board of Directors of the National Association for Business Economics, appointment as Consulting Economist to the National Private Truck Council, and the Lawrence R. Klein Award for Blue Chip Economic Indicators’ Most Accurate Economic Forecast over a four-year period. ACT Research senior staff members have earned accolades including Chicago Federal Reserve Automotive Outlook Symposium Best Overall Forecast, Wall Street Journal Top Economic Outlook, and USA Today Top 10 Economic Forecasters. More information can be found at www.actresearch.net.
Additional Resources
According to this month’s issue of ACT Research’s State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers report, net trailer orders in July reached nearly 15,700 units, representing a 16% sequential increase and a 94% jump over July 2025’s levels. Despite July typically being the weakest order month of the annual cycle, order activity outperformed seasonal expectations, while the industry’s backlog remained virtually unchanged from June and grew more than 13% year-over-year.
“Trailer quotation activity has been brisk, with many in the industry noting that orderboards for 2027 are opening earlier than usual, even as pricing for next year remains unsettled due to tariff-related uncertainty,” said Jennifer McNealy, Director–CV Market Research & Publications at ACT Research. “With 2027 orderboards opening earlier than normal, net orders continue to surprise to the upside, and while build rates have slowed in line with seasonality, the backlog-to-build ratio has climbed to the 5.0-month threshold, committing the industry into the fourth quarter. Cancellations, meanwhile, have moderated to within the acceptable range, indicating a more stable environment compared to the volatility seen over the past two years.”
- Cancellation Rate as a % of Backlog: 1.0%
- Backlogs: -5% m/m
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