FTR Transportation Intelligence expects a competitive truck market and port activity shift to put pressure on rail intermodal in 2023.
Class 8 truck backlogs enter 2023 in healthy shape despite three consecutive months of lower orders after a record September.
Solid Class 8 orders in November still marked the second straight month of decline as backlogs grow and supply and labor issues persist.
Sólidos pedidos en noviembre, pero las reservas caen tras el récord de septiembre
Uncertainty in the supply chain and commodity price vagaries are stretching out trailer orders beyond traditional cycles.
Rail service levels are impacting trucking intermodal growth plans. At a Deutsche Bank transportation conference on Tuesday, J.B. Hunt noted that intermodal demand remained strong but poor rail service appears to be creating a bottleneck.
When the 2023 orderbooks for trailers finally open, the suppressed booking numbers will flip in a hurry, but that isn’t happening yet.
Fleets are holding off on Class 8 truck orders because supply shortages continue to delay acceptance of 2023 bookings.
A common theme during the downward swing in the cyclical freight market cycle is the movement of owner-operators in and out of large fleets.
Consulting firm FTR Associates says the freight transportation markets will find support amid a still-growing manufacturing sector, despite perceived softness in the U.S. economy.
Cautious OEMs allowed the smallest number of trailer orders so far this year, pushing back bookings until late summer.
Don’t expect the restrictions that truck manufacturers are imposing on Class 8 order intake to last. There’s too much at stake.
Trailer makers continue to push away orders as supply chain issues in different areas vex production amid stable pent-up demand.
Class 8 truck orders fell in May for seasonal reasons and because manufacturers kept a tight lid on bookings.
War, pandemic shutdowns and supply chain woes resulted in a nearly 60% month-over-month decline in trailer orders in April.
Class 8 truck orders fell to a seven-month low in April as manufacturers continued to restrict bookings over supply chain uncertainty.
Seeking to avoid the embarrassment of canceling fleet orders last year, truck manufacturers are keeping a tight lid on bookings.
Trailers relegated to storage units are being cleaned up and hooked up to return to service as fleets wait out the supply chain crisis.
Manufacturers kept the screws tight on new Class 8 truck orders in February as a lack of supply chain visibility maintained stable backlogs.
Trailer orders in January achieved equilibrium with the months of unbuilt orders as fleets and manufacturers operated in an ongoing parts supply shortage.
