Commercial trailer net orders up 14% over July

The year-over-year gain for the month is the second straight for the trailer industry, as it is now overlapping very weak comparisons from the second half of 2008.

The Trucker News Services

9/25/2009

COLUMBUS, Ind. — Net orders for commercial trailers in August increased 14 percent from July and 69 percent from a depressed August 2008, which was during the early stages of retrenchment in the commercial vehicle sector according to the latest “State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers” report issued by ACT Research Co.

The year-over-year gain for the month is the second straight for the trailer industry, as it is now overlapping very weak comparisons from the second half of 2008. Year to date through August, net orders for commercial trailers are still down 35 percent from the same period in 2008. However, when comparing June-July-August versus the same three months of 2008, net orders are up 16 percent.

“While recent order trends indicate the industry is no longer contracting, demand conditions are still about half of normal replacement levels. It is too early to celebrate a recovery,” said Kenny Vieth, partner and senior analyst with ACT Research. “On a bright note, July and August are typically the weakest order months of the year, hinting that modest sequential improvement could continue in the coming months.”

ACT is the recognized leading publisher of commercial vehicle (CV) industry data, market analysis and forecasting services for the North American 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, go to the Web site by clicking here.

Kevin Jones of The Trucker staff can be contacted to comment on this article at kevinj@thetrucker.com.

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