Challenges Remain for Trailer Industry Despite Recent Data Uptick
COMMERCIAL TRAILER MARKET
According to this month’s issue of ACT Research’s State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers report, end-of-2025 challenges remained on the horizon as the trailer industry entered 2026.
“Cancellations gyrated between earth and outer space through most of 2025, before returning to a more subdued rate, 1.8% as a percentage of backlog, in December. The new year opened with a still elevated but more stable 1.6% rate in January,” said Jennifer McNealy, Director–CV Market Research & Publications at ACT Research. “Data continued to show elevated cancellations in the dry van and tank segments.”
“For a second consecutive month, net orders significantly outpaced build, pumping some life into the anemic backlogs on the books through most of 2025,” McNealy continued. “Backlogs rose more than 18% sequentially, or about 12k units, ending January at 75,500 units.”
McNealy concluded, “As we move into 2026, the trailer industry faces relatively weak demand/order activity, financing concerns, tariffs known, the uncertainty of tariffs to come, weak carrier profits and still low freight volumes, in a period of constrained capital spending balanced against high input costs. However, the uptick in net orders the past two months has built the backlog queue and given industry leaders reason to believe that 2026 could be the year of transition that everyone has been hoping to have.”
State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers Report Overview
ACT Research’s State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers report provides a monthly review of the current US trailer market statistics, as well as trailer OEM build plans and market indicators divided by all major trailer types, including backlogs, build, inventory, new orders, cancellations, net orders, and factory shipments. It is accompanied by a database that gives historical information from 1996 to the present, as well as a ready-to-use graph packet, to allow organizations in the trailer production supply chain, and those following the investment value of trailers, trailer OEMs, and suppliers to better understand the market.
ACT Research Overview
ACT Research is recognized as the leading publisher of commercial vehicle truck, trailer, and bus industry data, market analysis, and forecasts for the North America and China markets. ACT’s analytical services are used by all major North American truck and trailer manufacturers and their suppliers, as well as banking and investment companies. ACT Research is a contributor to the Blue Chip Economic Indicators and a member of the Wall Street Journal Economic Forecast Panel. ACT Research executives have received peer recognition, including election to the Board of Directors of the National Association for Business Economics, appointment as Consulting Economist to the National Private Truck Council, and the Lawrence R. Klein Award for Blue Chip Economic Indicators’ Most Accurate Economic Forecast over a four-year period. ACT Research senior staff members have earned accolades including Chicago Federal Reserve Automotive Outlook Symposium Best Overall Forecast, Wall Street Journal Top Economic Outlook, and USA Today Top 10 Economic Forecasters. More information can be found at www.actresearch.net.