Trailer orders plunge despite ‘desperate’ fleet demand: FTR
Trailer orders continued to drop, with the 8,200 units ordered in July 32% below June totals and down 58% year over year, says FTR, which tracks U.S.-based manufacturing data.
The analysts add that 354,000 trailers have been ordered in the past 12 months.
Manufacturers of dry and refrigerated van trailers are fully booked for 2021 and not even entering orders for 2022, but vocational orders also fell in July.
“The challenge remains to build the trailers. OEMs continue to struggle hiring factory workers. Suppliers are struggling to keep pace due to a shortage of manpower and imported parts and components,” says Don Ake, FTR vice-president of commercial vehicles, in a related press release.
“The supply chain is still experiencing disruptions and bottlenecks. Some improvement in production is expected this year, but there are indications some supplies will be restricted into next year.”
Fleets are “desperate” for new dry vans to offset the shortage of new trucks and drivers, he adds.
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My understanding is next year’s Van and Reefer production is completely sold out already and that’s without the increasing issues of parts shortages and for the Reefer side foam insulation shortages that will affect all manufacturers in North America