US market recovers amid challenging outlook

After a disappointing September, US trailers recovered in October due to a strong performance of the dry van and reefer segment.

US research company, ACT, had predicted the rebound in mid-November and now confirmed the bounce back.

“Net trailer orders rebounded strongly in October, following a disappointing September,” said Frank Maly, ACT’s Director CV Transportation Analysis & Research.

“It appears that dry vans provided major impetus last month. Dry van net orders were over two-and-a-half times above September’s level, providing the majority of the October growth.”

Yet, even with October’s rebound, orders are still behind from last year by a “wide margin”, Maly added.

“Dry van net was down over 30 per cent year-over-year. Those stats reflect the mix of short-term improvement and the dramatically lower order volumes being placed this order cycle.”

Maly said a “significant bias” of fleet investment towards trailers lingered into October, with the ratio of net orders of trailers-to-tractors hitting its highest monthly level since 2010.

“It’s evident that fleets remain cautious regarding their purchase commitments, continuing to balance their cap-ex plans to current market conditions.”

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