According to FTR, final net trailer orders for May were improved over April activity, coming in at 4,300 units.

May orders were +1200% month-over-month but still substantially lagging last year with a -64% year-over-year comparison. New orders are still tepid, and cancellations were elevated for the third consecutive month. Trailer orders for the past twelve months now total 155,000 units.

All segments except flatbeds and specialty experienced m/m order increases. FTR says it appears that fleets were still reluctant to replace old trailers in the throes of the pandemic, which crashed the economy in March. Carriers continue to monitor the freight markets closely before committing to placing orders for 2020 deliveries.

“Freight demand has started a slow and choppy recovery after hitting the bottom in mid-April,” said Don Ake, FTR’s vice president of commercial vehicles. “The freight markets should continue to improve as concern about the pandemic wanes and more sectors of the economy reopen. A key area is the manufacturing sector which got severely crunched when many factories shut down, some not reopening until May. Industrial-related freight will take longer to recover than consumer freight.

“There are signs of life in the trailer market,” he continued. “We expect June orders to be much better than the previous two months. After that, it depends on the speed and strength of the economic recovery. The summer is traditionally a weak time for trailer orders, but the buying cycles have been disrupted. Everything ordered in the next four months should still be for use this year. There is still a fair amount of quote activity happening, it just depends on fleet confidence going forward.”