ACT Research’s preliminary reports show trailer net orders closed on a softer spot with OEMs booking 26.6k in units in December.
That was 17 per cent lower than November and 40 per cent below the previous year’s volume.
“After a very conservative path from April through August, OEMs cautiously began to accept additional orders in September,” said ACT Research Director CV Transportation Analysis and Research, Frank Maly.
“That careful posture continued through the remainder of the year.
“OEMs continue to balance staffing and supply-chain challenges as they seek to ramp production volumes to better fulfil fleet equipment demands.
“Even with the lower December order volume, preliminary results point to month-over-month growth in industry backlog as the year closed, and it appears that 2022 production slots are now committed through August, at current build rates.
“This preliminary report puts the full-year 2021 net orders at almost 248k trailers, down about 17 per cent from 2020. The decline is entirely the result of supply-chain and staffing issues, as OEM output continues to trail actual fleet demand.”