CCJ’s annual three-part guide to trailer specifications begins this month with a look at dry vans from selected leading suppliers.

New trailers are rare these days. According to ACT Research, new trailer shipments in 2009 were off 44 percent year-over-year and at the lowest level since 1978. Shipments were improving by yearend, however, as the 8,296 shipments in December were the highest monthly total for 2009.

Kenny Vieth, partner and senior analyst with ACT Research, blames the 32-year low in trailer shipments on not only the worst economic downturn in decades but also the impact of trailer-tracking technology on trailer productivity and utilization. “On a more positive note, inventories reached a new four-year low, a prerequisite for improvement in production rates.”

Look for specs of selected refrigerated models in May and flatbeds in July.

Great Dane SSL

Length: 53 ft.

Width: 102.36 in.