After two months of strong order volumes exceeding 24,000 units in December and January, U.S. trailer net orders saw a steep drop in February, according to FTR and ACT Research.
FTR
FTR’s preliminary data showed a month-over-month decline of 45%, bringing totals to 13,305 units, with the sequential decline outpacing what seasonal patterns would normally suggest. Orders were down 31% year over year and fell short of the 10-year February average of 25,172 units. Orders for the 2026 season are now behind last year’s pace by 19%.
ACT Research’s data points in the same direction, with February net orders coming in around 13,200 units, down 43% from January and 26% below February 2025.
The decline in orders was anticipated as February represents the low point for trailer orders, said Jennifer McNealy, director of CV market research and publications at ACT Research.
ACT Research
Trailer manufacturers will now shift to fewer orders and work on backlogs that built up during the peak ordering season, McNealy said.
This year’s cycle started and ended later than usual due to fleet hesitancy in late 2025, she noted, which pushed activity into January and a surprise strong result that month.
Trailer demand continues to hover around replacement levels, as fleets still have adequate capacity and are directing capital toward Class 8 truck purchases instead, FTR noted.
A mix of factors is keeping trailer orders muted, FTR said, including elevated steel and aluminum prices, ongoing tariff uncertainty, high financing costs, and tight capital budgets.
The trailer market is pressured by both high input costs and ongoing trade uncertainty, said Dan Moyer, senior analyst, commercial vehicles at FTR.
“Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum, and derivative products remain in place,” Moyer said. “Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s February ruling striking down the administration’s country-specific tariffs that relied on emergency powers, replacement tariffs of 10% under other authority took their place.”
Trade-related pressures are further intensifying in the van segment, Moyer added, which is subject to an active antidumping and countervailing duty investigation.
On the production side, FTR reported that U.S. trailer builds rose 20% month over month in February to 15,199 units, roughly matching February 2025’s production levels, coming in essentially flat on a year-over-year basis. However, with 2026 orders particularly low below prior-year levels, FTR noted that OEMs are likely to remain cautious with their 2026 build plans.
McNealy pointed to a broader concern of what comes next: “We now question when we will see 20k-plus-unit order intake months again and how quickly trailer OEMs will build down the still-thin backlog, particularly given concerns about the level of activity in the key freight-generating economic sectors that drive transportation demand.”
