Truck Trailer Shipments Doubled in February

Strong demand for truck equipment, particularly dry-van trailers, spurred a 105 percent increase in trailer shipments in February, ACT Research said.

Net orders of commercial trailers hit 21,990 in February, a gain of more than 25 percent from January, the Columbus, Ind.-based research firm said.

"The ramp-up in orders that we've been tracking has continued into 2011," said Kenny Vieth, president and senior analyst at ACT Research.

Year-to-date, total net orders for January and February were up 87 percent compared to the same months in 2010, while shipments were up 116 percent.

Orders were up in all nine trailer categories tracked by ACT, the company said in its latest report on the U.S. trailer industry, published March 24.

Net orders for dry van trailers were up 90 percent in the first two months of 2011 and shipments almost 225 percent, the research firm said.

--Contact William B. Cassidy at bcassidy@joc.com.