September Trailer Orders Slip 5% After 4 Positive Months
Industry Faces Flat Demand Despite Seasonal Uptick in Orders
Key Takeaways:
- U.S. trailer orders fell 5% year over year in September to 11,300 units after four months of gains, according to ACT Research.
- Analysts said the decline reflects economic uncertainty, weak carrier profitability and policy concerns, though year-to-date orders remain up 20% at about 121,200 units.
- Manufacturers reported cautious fleet spending but expect replacement demand and potential cost pressures from tariffs to support future trailer purchases.
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U.S. trailer orders slipped compared with prior-year results in September, snapping four consecutive months of year-over-year gains, .
Preliminary net orders fell 5% year over year to 11,300 units — the first decline since April. The results did show a 25% sequential increase, though seasonally adjusted results lower the tally to about 10,000 units.
“Sequentially, September’s higher net order intake was expected, as the annual cycle begins to move toward stronger order months at the end of Q3 when the industry begins opening next year’s order boards,” said Jennifer McNealy, director of commercial vehicle market research for ACT. “September’s tally brings the Q3 net order total to 29,200 units, or 8% more net orders than were accepted in Q3 ’24.”
Year to date, net orders are up 20% to nearly 121,200 units, ACT data showed. But McNealy noted continuing concerns over moderating economic activity, weak for-hire carrier profitability and ambiguous government policy — especially around the Environmental Protection Agency’s low NOx rule — remain as challenges to trailer demand.
“However, two potential positives for trailer demand are in sight,” McNealy said. “Pent-up demand is building, and with Section 232 tariffs risking cost increases for power-unit expenditures, fleets may be willing to divert capex to trailing equipment purchases deferred over the past few years.”
(ACT Research)
Stoughton Trailers held the grand opening for its new global headquarters Sept. 18. The event featured remarks from Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, state Sen. Melissa Ratcliff and state Rep. Randy Udell. A community open house followed a couple of days later.
“The last several months have been pretty similar, very subdued, just a lot of waiting,” said Ron Jake, director of marketing at Stoughton Trailers. “It seems like a lot of fleet customers are content with not making purchasing decisions, and pulling the trigger, so we’re doing a lot of quoting. We’re holding our own with our market share. We’re actually on pace to have a record market share year for net orders by a healthy margin. So we’re doing good. The whole market just feels flat, and so we’re feeling it like everybody else is too.”
Jake attributed much of the hesitation to uncertainty around policy changes. Freight volumes haven’t moved much for his customers either, nor do they expect that to change soon. He has seen more activity from bigger fleets with capital who plan further ahead.
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“There’s been an imbalance, if you will, of new purchases, as it pertains to the normal replacement cycle,” said Jeremy Sanders, chief commercial officer at Stoughton Trailers. “In some cases, I think, we’re seeing the replacement cycle overall exceed the build that we are in this year. So I think we’re getting, knock on wood, hopefully towards the tailing end of people being able to hang on to some of this equipment.”
Sanders suspects the market paralysis stems more from an uncertain trade environment than freight fundamentals. But he noted that equipment will eventually get to the point when investing further into maintenance becomes more expensive than purchasing something new — and he’s hearing more customers discuss replacements for 2026.
“It was really poor,” said Steve Bennett, president and chief operating officer at Utility Trailer Manufacturing Co. “We’ve got our first half opened, and demand is very muted. I don’t think that we’re losing business. I just think that people are very hesitant to pull the trigger and sign orders right now. So it’s very disappointing and, I think, there’s just so much uncertainty out there, and it’s across the board. It’s the for-hire fleets, the private fleets, everybody’s definitely pausing.”
Bennett added that this uncertainty has compounded financing difficulties for companies. Many have not been operating in or near the black, so even when market conditions improve, carriers may struggle until they can get their books back in order.
“Their balance sheets are going to need to get some repair first,” Bennett said. “We were with all our dealers last week at our international sales meeting, and I heard from several that there were deals that needed to be unwound because of the English-language requirement, where some of our customers had drivers that wouldn’t pass the English-language requirements, so they clawed back some planned expansions.”
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