December dry van orders highest in history: ACT Research

by Truck News

COLUMBUS, Ind. – Dry van orders in December reached historic levels, according to data from ACT Research.

The month saw 47,500 net orders posted to eh backlog, marking the second highest net order month in the industry’s history, trailing only October 2014.

“Major support came from dry vans, which posted their highest net order monthly volume in history. Eight of 10 trailer categories were up month-over-month, while a similar count was up year-over-year,” said Frank Maly, director, commercial vehicle transportation analysis and research at ACT Research. “For the full year, industry net orders were up 38%, and robust orderboards are encouraging fleets to submit orders to obtain preferred/acceptable delivery timing for 2018.”

Total production totaled just 19,400 trailers in December, the lowest number since February 2014.

“The majority of the decline came from dry vans, where some holiday-related scheduling occurred for the second straight year, holding down volume,” said Maly. “Inventory drawdown helped offset lower production last month. Added production capacity, helping to generate that higher inventory as the year progressed, also provided support. Total build for the month was equivalent to last year, which also saw holiday-scheduling impact.”


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