July is seasonally the weakest order month for the US trailer industry, and the 14,500 new orders booked for July 2012 confirmed that pattern again, according to US form ACT Research. Orders were down 5.9 per cent month-over-month.
“The net order picture was a bit stronger than new orders, but still down two per cent month over month,” said Frank Maly, Director-CV Transportation with ACT Research. “Additionally the decline in orders outpaced the slide in production, resulting in the lowest level of backlogs since last December.
“July shipments were up 14.8 per cent year over year, although they were down 12.6 per cent from last month,” he added.
Maly reiterated that confidence and availability of funds are at the center of the pullback by credit buyers, impacting ongoing trailer order demand.