16 American Journal of Transportation American Journal of Transportation ajot.com www.kiswaninational.com Call now for a free, no-obligation quote Terminals: South Holland & Joliet, IL · Dallas, TX Serving the Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth ramps Local · Regional · Crosstown · OTR 708-339-9700 Bonded Carrier • Hazmat Certified Private chassis fleet Tri-axle, quad-axle, and standard Overweight and Oversize Coast to coast reach Transloading Empty and loaded crane capability Container storage On-site stacking capacity FTR reports July US trailer orders increased M/M to 16,862 units FTR reports US trailer orders increased in July which along with rising contract rates, indicates a further tightening of capacity in 2026. By EC Lauriat, AJOT This July, the FTR, a freight transportation leader in forecasting for shipping, trucking, rail, inter- modal, equipment and financial com- munities in North America, reported that rather than the lull usually brought by the summer, heavy-duty trailer orders actually moved higher. At 16,862 units, net orders increased 22% month/month and by 130% year/year. The 10-year average for July is 13,665, meaning that there was a 23% increase for that month. The increase implies a firmer demand back- drop, although noth- ing will be set in stone until Septem- ber, when the 2027 order season begins. The current trailer order season net orders went up 5% from the previous season this July, and the YTD net orders shot up by 25% year-over-year. This was the opposite of how produc- tion numbers were during this July. At 16,195 units, build has fallen by 11% month-over-month and by 9% year- to-year. The YTD output, down 1% from last year was 113,969. “Freight Fundamentals Improving” Dan Moyer, senior analyst at FTR for commercial vehicles, made comments on the report, stating, “Freight fundamentals are improv- ing, but trailer demand remains more replacement-driven than expansion- ary. Tight capacity is supporting firmer rates, and we project that con- tract rates will continue to rise well into 2027 even as overall freight demand remains modest.” If the FTR is correct that contract rates will continue to rise as tighten- ing capacity is shifting the pricing power to the motor carriers over the shippers. But as the sit- uation for all forms of shipping and transpor- tation both inside and out of North America remains unstable, con- tract rates may rise, even if the overall freight demand does not. There are several different pieces that may have come into play, cre- ating these changes. Dan Moyer added, “Mean- while, trade-related cost pressures continue to build on multiple fronts, including April’s changes on how Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum are applied and the ongoing antidumping and countervailing duty investiga- tions related specifically to van equip- ment sourced from Mexico, Canada, and China. These developments could benefit domestic trailer manufactur- ers, but fleets likely will see higher costs. Overall, these actions are more likely to change where trailers and components are sourced, what they cost, and when fleets order than to create additional underlying demand.” Tariffs and other Impacts Tariffs have been widely dis- cussed. The impact of the ever-chang- ing tariff situation has been hard on every industry, with trailers being heavily impacted. Steel and aluminum are import- ant components in any trailer. The costs of sourcing these materials are likely to get pushed onto the fleets using the trailers, once the man- ufacturers finish the trailers to sell. On top of that, the anti-dump- ing and countervail- ing duty investigations cause more wrinkles in everyone’s plans, complicating an already complicated series of pro- cesses even more than it already was. If the trailers themselves increase in price, this could have long-term ram- ifications for both the trucking fleets, and the companies reliant upon those fleets for the transportation of goods. Another issue is rising gas prices. Fleets must carefully balance the costs versus the payments to come out ahead, and that gets trickier every day. Unfortunately, there is no good answer. Fleets do not have the power to control the gas prices, and so this is simply an issue everyone will have to work around. The changing of where compo- nents are being sourced from will have a massive impact on the costs of trail- ers. Companies must choose between either eating the tariff cost to maintain their original supply chains or ventur- ing out into the unknown. Choosing to shift their sourcing may also lead to higher costs, as companies can take advantage of being the safest option in the current market to increase the prices of their materials. Again, all of this will trickle down, increasing the costs at every point along the way. It is important that the FTR con- tinues to track and report this infor- mation. With the market’s current volatility, being able to have accurate Dan Moyer, senior analyst, FTR statistics on the ups and downs is truly vital. From August 31st to September 3rd, the 2026 FTR Transportation con- ference will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana. August 31st will be an entire day dedicated to the commercial vehi- cle market discussions and forecasts. This is an important opportunity for anyone with an interest in the com- mercial vehicle market. Keeping up to date helps everyone manage their situations with just that much more safety, which also benefits each com- pany that they work with as well. Using this information allows mem- bers of the industry to work together, which can keep costs from over- whelming any one company. In the end, this data presents us with an optimistic outlook for the upcoming 2027 order season. With any luck, the trends represented will con- tinue, with net orders either remaining steady or potentially increasing. NFI and BNSF ink strategic partnership On August 17, 2026, NFI and BNSF Railway, inked a “strate- gic partnership” for developing the future Barstow International Gate- way (BIG), a state-of-the-art logistics hub that will be located in Barstow in Southern California. The NFI and BNSF collaboration will leverage NFI’s supply chain exper- tise and the Class 1, BNSF railroad’s expansive intermodal network in a hub designed to seamlessly connect freight moving through the Ports of Los Ange- les and Long Beach with destinations throughout the United States. The development will combine intermodal infrastructure with logis- tics park capabilities, creating oppor- tunities for customers to streamline freight flows, improve supply chain performance and access major con- sumer markets through BNSF’s vast network. “Partnerships like this are criti- cal to creating the supply chains of the future,” said BNSF Group Vice President of Consumer Products Jon Gabriel. “By combining BNSF’s intermodal network with NFI’s logis- tics expertise, we can help customers speed up their network, unlock new efficiencies while improving net- work resiliency with greater flexibil- ity in how freight moves from origin to destination.” And the NFI’s broad portfolio of logistics services and customer-fo- cused solutions will complement the capabilities available through Bar- stow International Gateway, helping customers simplify operations and improve supply chain coordination. Together, the companies will support businesses seeking scalable solutions that integrate port drayage, transpor- tation, warehousing and distribution into a single logistics ecosystem. “We’re thrilled to partner with BNSF to create opportunities for our cus- tomers to streamline their operations, pairing intermodal and transload solu- tions, “said NFI CEO Sid Brown.
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