According to ACT Research, net U.S. trailer orders reached 32,103 units in November, marking an increase of more than 84% from October but a nearly 20% decrease compared with November 2020.

Before accounting for cancellations, new orders reached 33,900 units, rising more than 73% compared with October but falling 18% compared with last November. Year-to-date net orders and new orders for the first 11 months of 2021 were both about 11% lower compared with the same time period in 2020.

“Trailer OEMs continue to be cautious regarding order acceptance as they attempt to maintain acceptable delivery schedules given their available staffing and anticipated supply chain support,” Frank Maly, director of commercial vehicle transportation analysis and research at ACT Research, said. “The difficulty of developing pricing in the current inflationary market conditions also impacts order acceptance. OEMs are attempting to avoid the renegotiation cycles that occurred earlier in 2021, and the best way to achieve that is to extend their order boards in small steps as the year progresses.

“Expect trailer OEMs to continue closely managing their backlog horizons, which now edge into the second half of 2022 at current build rates. There were concerns that more 2021 commitments might need to be shifted into 2022, resulting in an additional surge in cancels. It now appears that most of that adjustment occurred in September, and excluding September, the industry has had an average 1% cancel rate since May.”