“September’s rank as third-best month in industry history was short-lived, as October activity now takes that title,” Frank Maly, director CV Transportation Analysis and Research at ACT Research, said.
As we predicted back in October, the trailer sales for that month were higher than those of September, by only a few thousand. A 6% increase, more or less.
The Details
There are two research groups tracking new trailer sales each month: ACT Research and FTR. Their numbers are slightly different, but both say October was higher than September.
ACT Research puts the total at 54,200, compared with 52,000 the month prior. Frank Maly’s initial comments on the data report kicked our article off as a summary of their results. He continues, “Fleet commitments over the past two months have now pushed industry backlog to the highest level since June of last year. Increases in both freight volumes and rates, along with capacity challenges, have influenced fleets to aggressively enter the market.”
FTR, in contrast, pins the net trailer orders at 56,500, which it says is 9% higher than September and an all-time high since FTR started reporting.
Both research groups say the new trailer orders were up 68% from October 2019, and both believe there to be a large backlog for 2021.
Conclusion
Now is the part where we give you our prediction for next month’s trailer sales. With the coronavirus pandemic seemingly coming to an end (albeit it has appear that way for many months now), we believe that the pent-up demand for goods, combined with the holiday season, will lead to equal or greater trailer sales in November. We will keep you updated as the news from ACT Research and/or FTR comes in.
If you want to make a prediction, you can comment below with your estimate and reasons why, and then smile or frown when you are right or incorrect.
