US trailer manufacturers are rapidly filling available 2022 production slots, with both dry van and reefer build-to-backlog stretching deep into December, according to this quarter’s issue of ACT Research’s Trailer Components Report. Additionally, OEMs are building a large group of staged/planned orders into 2023 that are not yet officially posted to the backlog—meaning a surge of orders will be “officially” accepted once OEMs gain “sufficient confidence” in their supply chain and labor availability, per the ACT Research report.
“Overall, we expect orders and production to travel in lockstep until 2023 orderboards officially open,” said Frank Maly, director–CV transportation analysis and research at ACT Research. “We expect backlog to contract as we move through late spring and early summer, but the yet-to-be-determined date for opening the 2023 orderboards will reverse the backlog contraction and likely quickly extend the backlog well into next year.”
Still, OEMs continue to “very closely” control order acceptance, Maly noted. Component and material challenges are “certainly a driving force,” as are staffing issues, but less so than in the previous quarter.
“Their efforts border on order allocation, with discussions indicating that larger fleets might be getting better reception by the OEMs than the small and medium fleets and dealers,” Maly said. “There was some supply chain relief that occurred at the end of the first quarter. While we would expect that to continue during the next few quarters, progress will still likely be a bit choppy.”
ACT Research’s U.S. New Trailer Components and Materials Forecast provides those in the trailer production supply chain, as well as those who invest in said suppliers and commodities, with forecast quantities of components and raw materials required to support the trailer forecast for the coming five years.
Additionally, analysis is segmented into two categories: those needed for the structural composition of new trailers and those used in the production of undercarriage assembly.