COLUMBUS, Ind. — The U.S. trailer industry is going through an increasingly challenging period.
According to this month’s issue of ACT Research’s State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers report, with two-thirds of 2025 in the rearview mirror, the US trailer market has transitioned from ‘cautious optimism’ to ‘stay afloat,’ as the modus operandi of wait-and-see continues.
“Carrier profits remain weak, freight rate traction is incremental, private fleets are pulling back on asset investments, and Class 8 indicators continue to deteriorate,” said Jennifer McNealy, director CV market research and publications, ACT. “Within this environment, trailer demand remains subpar. At this point, muted intake continues to be expected until policies and pricing are more transparent and carrier profitability sustainably increases.”
“As the industry remains in the weaker months of the annual order cycle, build again outpaced orders in August. Trailer production was about double order placements,” McNealy said. “With weak orders, an elevated cancelation rate, and lower build rates, the industry backlog-to-build ratio fell to 3.6 months in August, which doesn’t commit the industry into the beginning of 2026 and is well below the long-term BL/BU average of 5.7 months. To say that the environment is challenging at present may be an understatement.”
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
