Trailer orders, shipments hit six-year high in 2012
Orders for and shipments of new trailers last year hit their
highest annual levels in the past six years, according to data
released in late January by the consulting firm ACT
Research Co. The increase is a sign that the trucking industry is on the road to recovery after the deep recession that
began in late 2006.
New trailer orders (excluding cancellations) hit 253,000
units in 2012, up from 245,000 in 2011, according to
Columbus, Ind.-based ACT. Manufacturers shipped 240,000
new trailers in 2012, a 13-percent increase from 2011.
The six-year high in new orders was propelled by a surge
in activity from November to December, according to ACT.
Sequential new orders rose by 38 percent in December to
31,586 units, according to the firm’s data.
The seasonal order cycle normally starts in November
and runs through the next year’s first quarter. Last year’s
order cycle, however, actually began in October, according
to Frank Maly, ACT’s director of commercial vehicle (CV)
transportation analysis and research, and the organization’s
trailer guru. As a result, November’s orders were historically low and created the environment for the strong month-to-month increase in December, Maly said.
According to ACT, order cancellations in 2012 totaled
about 14,000 units, leaving the net new order number at
239,000 units. While the 2012 cancellation number was
higher than the 8,000 units canceled in 2011, it was still a
relatively modest figure, Maly said.
“The orders that are going up on the board are staying on
the board,” he said.
ACT tracks activity in 10 trailer types. Dry and reefer
vans accounted for 80 percent of the new orders in
December, Maly said.
A large portion of new orders and shipments are for
replacement purposes, as many trailers are hitting the end of
their useful lives at between eight and nine years. However,
the numbers also reflect an increase in capacity as truckers
anticipate more demand for their services, Maly said.
“A lot of the large fleets came to the party [last year],” he said.
Maly said the strong orders and moderate cancellation
activity was impressive considering the year-end uncertainty surrounding the “fiscal cliff,” a package of spending cuts
and tax increases that would have hit the U.S. economy in
early January had Congress and the White House not
reached a deficit-reduction agreement by year’s end. ;
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