Trailer manufacturers faced worker outages due to omicron infections and ongoing parts shortages that ended 2021 on a low note, with little hope for a meaningful recovery in the near term.
Preliminary net orders in December were soft at 26,600 units, continuing a months-long trend of manufacturers accepting only orders that they are confident they can fulfill. According to ACT Research, bookings were down 17% from November and down 40% year on year.
Manufacturers received approximately 248,000 orders for the entire year, a 17 percent decrease from 2020. According to FTR Transportation Intelligence, the number of orders for 2021 is 249,000.
“Even with lower December order volume, preliminary results show month-over-month growth in industry backlog as the year ended, and it appears that 2022 production slots are now committed through August, at current build rates,” said Frank Maly, ACT director of commercial vehicle transportation analysis and research.
Great Dane, based in Savannah, Georgia, said it has solid commitments for the first half of the year but is hesitant to accept orders for the second half until it can set prices amid volatile commodity prices.
‘We’re making do with what our supply base has to offer.’
“We are building and managing through what our supply base can provide us and balancing that with our labor availability to best build equipment for our customers in as timely a fashion as possible in this environment,” said Chris Hammond, executive vice president of sales.
According to Don Ake, FTR vice president of commercial vehicles, the trailer market is similar to Class 8 truck manufacturers’ selective order acceptance practices.
“For the past four months, orders have averaged 26,000 units, just a few thousand more than monthly production,” Ake said. “This means that, despite tremendous demand, backlogs have only increased by 6%.” You won’t see consistent increases in order numbers until there are enough parts to support significantly higher production.”
Stoughton Trailers, which announced a new plant in Waco, Texas, last week, said meeting production targets will be “a strain,” but the product’s demand is worth the effort.
Concerning the latest COVID outbreak, Stoughton Vice President of Sales David Giesen told FreightWaves that the higher infection rate is offset by workers being absent for less time. COVID isn’t the biggest problem for the Wisconsin-based company.
“All of the component and material supply chains continue to be strained,” Giesen said. “At this point, this appears to be the most significant limiting factor in producing more equipment.”
Stoughton’s build slots are either fully committed or sold out for the year.
