COLUMBUS, Ind. — According to this month’s issue of ACT Research’s State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers report, three months into 2026 and the US trailer industry remains mired in the same challenging environment in which it operated throughout 2025.
“Demand for trailers improved in March, but demand was weak across Q1,” said Jennifer McNealy, director–CV market research & publications, ACT. “Carrier profits, although benefitting from an uptick in freight rates and a tightening driver pool, remain low, with government policy and geopolitical instabilities keeping customers cautious. With equipment demand fundamentals transitioning in Q1, net order intake in March jumped to 18,800 units, up more than 42% from February. This brought the Q1’26 order tally to 55.4k trailers, about 9% less than were ordered during Q1’25. Cancellations gyrated throughout 2025, before returning to a more subdued rate to start 2026. March’s rate of 2.3%, as a percentage of backlog, returned the industry cancellations to ‘elevated’ territory from the middle of the acceptable range reported last month. Unlike the last few months, though, data in March showed high cancellations in nearly all segments.”
“After a one-month hiccup in February, net orders again outpaced build in March, but this time it wasn’t by enough to pump much lifeblood into the anemic backlogs,” McNealy said. “Backlogs grew 3% sequentially, or about 2.2k units, bringing the Q1-ending BL to 76.4k units, or 23% lower than the Q1’25-ending, 99.3k-unit trailer backlog. The backlog-to-build ratio was 4.7 months at the end of 2026’s first quarter.”
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.
