COLUMBUS, IN – Net orders of commercial trailers rose to 22,915 in December, a seven percent increase over a strong November. ACT Research Co. (ACT) also reported that December factory shipments were up 12 percent from November and up 69 percent versus December of last year.
In the latest release of State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers, ACT noted the surge in net orders has been broad based. Seven of the nine trailer categories reported triple digit year-over-year increases in December, led by a 417 percent gain in the “dry van” segment, the largest trailer market. For the full year, commercial trailer factory shipments rose 52 percent while net orders rose by 105 percent.
“Comparatively speaking, 2010 was a good year for the commercial trailer industry as factory shipments rebounded by 52 percent,” said Kenny Vieth, president and senior analyst with ACT Research. “However, the fact that even with that increase, 2010 was the second worse year for factory shipments since 1983, clearly showing how bad 2009 was. The good news is that orders have ramped up nicely in the last quarter and set the stage for strong growth in 2011,” added Vieth.
ACT is the recognized leading publisher of new and used commercial vehicle (CV) industry data, market analysis and forecasting services for the North American market, as well as the China CV market. ACT’s CV services are used by all major North American truck and trailer manufacturers and their suppliers, as well as the banking and investment community. For more information on ACT, please go to our web site at http://www.actresearch.net.
