COLUMBUS, Ind. — 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 wildly throughout 2025, before returning to a more subdued rate to start 2026,” said Jennifer McNealy, director–CV market research & publications, ACT. “February’s rate of 0.5%, as a percentage of backlog, fell well below the target range for the first time in 13 months, following an improved but still-elevated 1.6% reading in January. Data continued to show elevated cancellations in the tank segments, coming primarily from carriers and attributed to a decline in oil/gas activity. However, if high oil prices continue, tank trailer cancellations are unlikely to continue at elevated levels.”
According to McNealy, after two consecutive months of net orders significantly outpacing build and pumping some lifeblood into the anemic backlogs, the tide receded in February. Backlogs fell 1.5% sequentially, or about 1.1k units. Given the annual order cycle is coming to an end, and it’s now typically the time to build down the backlog, the question remains truckers’ near-term appetite for trailers. Much like 2025, the issue today remains a shallow backlog.”
“In addition to weak backlogs, the industry is facing relatively soft demand, financing concerns, tariffs known, the uncertainty of tariffs to come, weak carrier profits and low freight volumes, and low levels of capital spending balanced against high input costs (metals in particular),” McNealy said. “And those on the front lines are waiting, knowing a ramp in demand is coming but worried about the industry’s ability to meet it if it is too steep and quick.”
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.
