NEW YORK — March of this year saw better-than-expected trailer orders, with total trailer increases of 66.7 percent year-over-year to 37,066, according to the transportation arm of U.S. investment firm and market analysts Bear Stearns.

Dry van orders are up 55 percent y-y.

The number is slightly up from the firm’s own forecast of 29,000 to 31,000 and up 12.5 percent in February.

Dry van orders increased 55.8 percent year-over-year (vs. up 26.5% year-over year in February). “Over the quarter, year-over-year order growth has outpaced factory sales for both total trailers and dry vans — favorable indicators of overall demand,” states the report. “The overall data are consistent with our recent channel checks that underlying demand remains firm, although orders lag those in Class 8 — as expected, due to the pre-buy.”

Seasonally, the result is good news for a month that tends to see strong but moderating orders. Total trailer net new orders tend to pick-up in the fall and remain relatively strong through the early winter, but this past March demand was stronger than the seasonal norm, says the firm.

Dry van daily build rates increased 3.0 percent to 618 a day in March. Builds have generally firmed since December 2005’s weakness, and Bear Stearns suggest that 2006 is shaping up to be roughly in line with 2005 industry-wide builds of 253,798 for total trailers and 145,086 for dry vans, respectively.