Trailer orders last year settled just below 229,000 units, down 28 percent versus 2015 according to ACT Research.
The year closed strong with December dry van orders jumping 26 percent year-over-year. Reefer orders were up almost 140 percent over 2015.
Despite that solid year-over-year performance, ACT’s Director, CV Transportation Analysis and Research Frank Maly notes both new and net orders were down 5 percent from the previous month.
Additionally, the impact of higher energy prices was evident in the vocational segments, as flats, dumps, and bulk tanks all posted solid month-over-month improvement.
“Dry vans and reefers, both off 30 to 31 percent year-over-year, were the major factors in that total market performance,” Maly says, “although net orders for every trailer category in our group of ten were down from 2015.”