The year closed strong with December dry van orders jumping 26 percent year-over-year. Reefer orders were up almost 140 percent over 2015.
Despite that solid year-over-year performance, ACT’s Director, CV Transportation Analysis and Research Frank Maly notes both new and net orders were down 5 percent from the previous month.
Additionally, the impact of higher energy prices was evident in the vocational segments, as flats, dumps, and bulk tanks all posted solid month-over-month improvement.
“Dry vans and reefers, both off 30 to 31 percent year-over-year, were the major factors in that total market performance,” Maly says, “although net orders for every trailer category in our group of ten were down from 2015.”