In a world of uncertainty that just won't go way, ladies and gentleman, there’s one thing you can count on: Every February, TBB will publish the Trailer Output Report, probably the most anticipated, widely circulated, and ripped-off feature that we produce.
Basically, TBB independently compiles North American heavy-duty trailer production, and ranks the Top 25, adding insights from OEM leadership.
It's time to start compling. So, if you or or your company is an OEM who's been on the list in the past, or think you migh qualify for the Top 25, we need to hear from you.
The report’s been around for more than thirty years, and the man who put together the first one stuck with it 24 more times, into his 80s.
You’d have to have been a long-time reader to fully appreciate it, but Paul Schenck was the founding editor of TBB. And the magazine celebrated a milestone in 2025: Its 65th anniversary.
Paul died a couple of years ago, but before he passed responsibility for the annual report to me, I had a few questions for him.
The first, of course: Why did he bother to put the report together well into his retirement? “Who else could do it?” he replied, and I laughed, because it was the response I’d expected. Uncertainty, when it came to the trailer business (or himself), was not in Paul’s nature.
He quickly explained that somebody eventually would carry the torch, but people in the industry had known Paul for 60 years.
“They have to trust what you say is accurate, and that you have no selfish interests—that you are an independent voice," Paul told me when I first started. "I’m very proud of the fact that we do this, that we do it and do it well.”
He credited the Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association with encouraging its membership to get on board in the early going, making the case that everyone would benefit from data put together by a reliable and objective source. And the magazine already was well-established in 1994.
Again, quoting Paul: “People realized it was for the good of the industry, and they were willing to bend a little bit. It’s an industry that works together very well,” he said. “The people who think big tend to get big, and those who think small have to work harder because of it.”
Of course, there was—and, occasionally, still is—some reluctance to publicize arguably proprietary information, but the instances of participants passing along questionable production totals have been very, very few.
Paul emphasized the importance of making phone calls to discuss the numbers, noting that it’s more tempting to fudge on an impersonal form than to be deceptive in an interview. He also calls the process largely “self-regulating.”
He also suggested that anyone in business knows pretty much what his main competitors are doing.
If there’s a shortcoming to the survey, Paul suspected, it would be that there are a handful of trailer manufacturers whose production totals would qualify for the Top 25, but they’ve somehow been overlooked over the years.
And that’s an opportunity I’ve tried to run down in my five years of doing the report.
Perhaps more importantly, during this prolonged market downturn, more than a few regular Top 25 OEMs might be cutting it close on the 1,000 units threshhold. Fret not. Let's talk.
(Side note: Every year since I've put together the survey, a trailer builder or two have relucantly admitted production slipped below 1k, and asked me to be sure to check next year. Again, fret not. We'll figure it out.)
So, let's get started. I've been annualy lousy about getting ahead on my phone calls, and HDAW falls right in the way. Do me a favor, drop me a line. Otherwise, keep an eye on your inbox if we've communicated on TOR before.
I've temporarily removed the registration restriction on last year's report, so anyone who's interested might get a look here.
Otherwise, hit me up here, and keep an eye/ear out. I'll be in touch soon.
