Commercial trailer orders surge in February

Net orders of commercial trailers rose to 21,990 in February 2011, a gain of more than 25% from January. ACT Research Co also reported solid factory shipments in February, posting a 105% gain versus the same month in 2010.

The latest State of the Industry: US Trailers, published March 24, shows the positive industry performance was broad-based. ACT’s analysis notes that all nine trailer categories have posted year-to-date gains for both net orders and shipments year over year. Of particular note was the performance in the Dry Van segment, where on a year-to-date basis, net orders are up more than 90% and shipments are up almost 225%.

“The ramp-up in orders that we’ve been tracking has continued into 2011. Year-to-date, total net orders are up over 87 percent compared to 2010”, said Kenny Vieth, president and senior analyst with ACT. “Shipments are up an even stronger 116% when compared to the first two months of 2010. Strong orders and rising backlogs set the stage for solid industry performance during 2011.”