FTR’s factory shipment forecasts for Class 8, Class 4–7, and trailers provide visibility into current and future build volumes across North America. These projections eliminate production guesswork by mapping shipment trends alongside economic and freight data, helping operations teams plan builds with confidence.

Charts break out quarterly and annual forecasts, retail sales, and order activity—giving you a grounded, forward-looking view of where demand is headed.

Each report includes segmented forecasts for dry van, refrigerated, flatbed, and tank trailers, along with backlog and lead-time analysis. These visuals reveal the health of every trailer market, showing how order cycles, production capacity, and utilization interact across segments.

Whether you’re a supplier planning material purchases or a dealer adjusting inventories, these insights let you allocate resources to the most active and profitable build categories.

FTR’s proprietary Economically Derived Demand (EDD) models tie freight fundamentals directly to OEM output, linking truck and trailer production to economic indicators such as GDP, manufacturing, and industrial production.

These models help you see not only where demand originates but also how long it will persist—providing a framework to forecast cyclical shifts, justify capital expenditures, and plan for regulatory events like the EPA 2027 NOx overbuy scenario.

The demand cycle visuals track market peaks and troughs for Class 8, medium-duty, and trailer equipment. These cycle charts show when order surges, slowdowns, or pre-buy events are most likely to occur, helping manufacturers, component suppliers, and investors anticipate the next major pivot in production or pricing.

When paired with freight and economic indicators, this section serves as a strategic tool for timing investments and managing labor and inventory levels.

The report’s utilization and backlog dashboards turn complex market data into actionable insights.

Visuals highlight active truck utilization, backlog-to-build ratios, and lead-time trends—showing when capacity is tight and when plants can safely scale output.

By combining utilization data with freight forecasts and cost metrics, these dashboards enable more efficient scheduling, reduce bottlenecks, and strengthen budget forecasting for OEM and supplier teams.

Every issue includes expert commentary from FTR’s Commercial Vehicle team, including Dan Moyer, with analysis of regulatory impacts, order trends, and macroeconomic drivers.

Subscribers receive monthly client-only webinars for live Q&A and access to both State of Freight and State of Equipment sessions—plus exclusive discounts to the annual FTR Transportation Conference, ensuring your team stays ahead of industry shifts year-round.