Trailer manufacturing continues to experience strong fundamentals, even after a blockbuster year in 2015. Don Ake, FTR vice-president, listed a number of factors in a presentation he made as part of the FTR Virtual Conference. Among them:
• Trailer orders continue to hold up well after reaching record levels in 2015.
• Backlogs also are back up to near record levels.
• Manufacturers continue to produce 1,100 trailer per day. December production was slightly higher than December 2014.
• Ake expects a spike in production levels, most likely in March, followed by a softening.
• Trailer types—vocational types of trailers, although the minority of production, were stable throughout 2015. Van shipments fluctuated throughout the year, but the overall result was strong growth for the year. Vans reached a peak in November and were down in December.
The up cycle of trailer production has peaked, Ake said, and backlogs should begin to decline. Freight growth has slowed, he said, indicating demand for trailers should begin to moderate.
The trailer market, however, has been outperforming Class 8 truck sales. These two products tend to track one another.
