April 2026 Trailer Orders Follow Truck Brethren
The trucking industry is absolutely booming at a rate not seen since when the dog days of the COVID-19 pandemic came to an end and bottled-up demand for trucks and trailers exploded like a well-shaken bottle of soda. We wrote about truck sales for April earlier this month, rounding out a hat trick of crazy sales numbers for the last quarter of a year. Now, it seems trailers are following right behind, as they always do!
Details
Freight Transportation Research (FTR) reports a 100% increase from April 2025 and an 11% increase from March 2026, coming in at a total of 19,953 units. ACT Research reports a lower total at 19,400, but because they also reported lower numbers in April 2025, the increase is much larger at 126%.
“April traditionally marks the second consecutive month of ‘weakest’ months of the annual order cycle,” said director of commercial vehicle market research for ACT Research Jennifer McNealy. “That said, this year’s cycle seems to have been delayed a few months.”
Dan Moyer of FTR felt the same way. “Overall, the U.S. trailer market appears to be moving from deterioration toward stabilization and modest improvement. Freight conditions are improving in pockets, but the recent rebound remains driven mainly by replacement demand and selective fleet activity rather than broad expansion.”
Conclusion
McNealy’s words, however, bring the slightest hint of an omen: is it possible that because April, usually a weak month for sales, is doing astoundingly well that the numbers in the future will change?
“Based on the April data, we now know there was at least one more month of improved order intake in the pipeline, but it remains to be seen how the final two months of Q2 will unfold,” McNealy said. “Additionally, concern is mounting about how quickly trailer OEMs will build down the relatively still-thin backlog.”
We are personally inclined to believe no: as summer rolls around demand for delivered goods of all types tends to shoot up, and it is likely that truck and trailer sales will remain steady or improve to meet that demand. The only potential downside is that the year-over-year increases will cease to be triple digit in the future, as May and June tend to be stellar months for truck and trailer sales. Regardless, an increase of 10% or more would still be nice to see on top of a larger base.
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