According to this month’s issue of ACT Research’s State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers report, “With two-thirds of 2025 in the rearview mirror, the US trailer market has transitioned from ‘cautious optimism’ to ‘stay afloat,’ as the modus operandi of wait-and-see continues.”

“Carrier profits remain weak, freight rate traction is incremental, private fleets are pulling back on asset investments and Class 8 indicators continue to deteriorate. Within this environment, trailer demand remains subpar,” said Jennifer McNealy, Director–CV Market Research & Publications at ACT Research. “At this point, muted intake continues to be expected until policies and pricing are more transparent and carrier profitability sustainably increases.”

“As the industry remains in the weaker months of the annual order cycle, build again outpaced orders in August. Trailer production was about double order placements,” McNealy continued. “With weak orders, an elevated cancelation rate, and lower build rates, the industry backlog-to-build ratio fell to 3.6 months in August, which doesn’t commit the industry into the beginning of 2026 and is well below the long-term BL/BU average of 5.7 months. To say that the environment is challenging at present may be an understatement.”

ACT Research’s State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers report provides a monthly review of the current US trailer market statistics, as well as trailer OEM build plans and market indicators divided by all major trailer types, including backlogs, build, inventory, new orders, cancellations, net orders, and factory shipments. It is accompanied by a database that gives historical information from 1996 to the present, as well as a ready-to-use graph packet, to allow organizations in the trailer production supply chain, and those following the investment value of trailers, trailer OEMs, and suppliers to better understand the market.