order backlog

Class 8 truck orders rose in July, but they are still in the summer doldrums and trail replacement demand.

Wabash reported record Q2 earnings because it was able to price its trailers and truck bodies higher than the cost of materials.

Class 8 orders in June remained muted as manufacturers focused on reducing their backlogs of unbuilt trucks.

May’s Class 8 truck orders rose, but a truer measure of manufacturing health is the industry’s still-elevated backlog-to-build number.

Trailer maker Wabash reaped the benefits of its reorganization and long-term customer deals in the first quarter.

After a surge in orders in December, trailer OEMs follow truck manufacturers in reporting slower bookings with large backlogs.

Don’t expect the restrictions that truck manufacturers are imposing on Class 8 order intake to last. There’s too much at stake.

Electric truck maker Nikola posted its first gross profit in Q1 and racked up orders backed by California incentives.

Trailer orders in January achieved equilibrium with the months of unbuilt orders as fleets and manufacturers operated in an ongoing parts supply shortage.

It took a delicate dance by truck manufacturers and fleets in January to keep Class 8 orders from adding to the industry’s huge backlog.

After a couple of oddball years, shippers and carriers alike are anxious to see how the market rebalances — or doesn’t — after the new year.

Class 8 truck orders placed this year for 2022 models are being retimed to next year as 2023 models because parts shortages are preventing production.

Fleets and individual truckers buying at today’s elevated prices
assume a big risk when the used equipment market normalizes.

Declining Class 8 truck orders in May are deceptive. Fleets would order more but they are holding off because it might take a year to get them.

March Class 8 truck orders fell slightly from February, but still added to an industry backlog that manufacturers are struggling to reduce.

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Workhorse Group built just seven electric delivery vans for the second consecutive quarter. Production systems and supply chain problems hamper the company.

Driveline and thermal management supplier Dana Inc. has $700 million in new business from auto and truck makers. Half of it is in electrification contracts.

2020 was supposed to be a year when trailer orders dropped after racing ahead of Class 8 tractor reservations. Even with practically no orders in April, annual trailer bookings blew away early-year predictions.

Orders for new trailers dipped in November but the total bookings in the last three months are still the second highest in industry history.

The continuing rebound in trailer orders is in line with three-year high in spot freight rates as consumers buy more goods than services.

Trailer builder Wabash National kept the business impact of COVID-19 to a minimum in the second quarter. It even paid back money it borrowed and maintained its dividend.

PACCAR overcame a slowdown in Class 8 truck orders to report record revenue and earnings in 2019, but fourth quarter results took a hit in both measures compared with a year ago.

New Class 8 truck orders dipped to their lowest level in a decade in 2019, payback for an ordering frenzy a year earlier.

Preliminary orders for new trailers met expectations in October reached their highest level in 11 months, upholding expectations for a good, but not great 2020.

The traditional ordering season for new Class 8 trucks opened in October with the highest activity in 11 months. Still, the number of orders placed was the weakest for an October since 2016 — and 51% below October 2018.

The impact of a United Auto Workers’ strike at Mack Trucks will nearly double next week when Volvo Trucks North America lays off about 3,000 employees because of a lack of engines and transmissions that come from a Maryland plant the companies share.

Four of six major truck makers are reducing production line speed and/or laying off manufacturing workers. Market leader Daimler Trucks North America will cut 900 jobs in North Carolina on Oct. 14.

Preliminary September orders for Class 8 trucks improved over August but remained stagnant as fleets delayed booking new equipment in the face of ongoing trade tensions slowing swaths of the manufacturing economy.

Navistar is the first to slow production lines for new trucks. It is targeting medium-duty units because inventories are up 30 percent year over year.