According to preliminary data from ACT Research, the order pace for U.S. trailers that closed 2021 and opened 2022 continued in February, with original equipment manufacturers booking 26,500 net orders for the month, down 0.7% sequentially but up 3.9% compared with February 2021. Final February results will be available later this month, with the preliminary estimates projected to be within 3% of the final order tally.

“The careful order management efforts underway at OEMs were confirmed by the pace of February order acceptance,” Frank Maly, director of commercial vehicle transportation analysis and research at ACT Research, said. “Net orders have averaged 26.6K trailers per month since November, and February’s 26.5K volume tracks to that trajectory. Supply chain and staffing headwinds continue to challenge OEMs in their efforts to increase output to meet extremely strong fleet equipment demands. Initial projections indicate that the supply chain has allowed OEMs to build at a hard-fought, consistent rate over the last three to four months. Expect this to continue in the short term as the supply chain begins to adjust to underlying demand.”