Operators want new trailers even though a recession is within touching distance, writes Steve Banner, with most production slots maxed out till 2024.DEMAND FOR trailers is booming despite fears that the economy is heading for a severe recession. “We are massively busy,” said Don-Bur group marketing manager, Richard Owens. “We’ve got orders coming out of our ears.”
The demand for trailers remains unrelenting, said Schmitz Cargobull’s UK managing director, operations, Paul Avery. “Despite suggestions that it will come crashing to an end, it doesn’t seem to be slowing,” he commented.
Tiger Trailers reported that its order book remains strong, with curtainsided and double-deck box vans figuring heavily in the mix. “Around 60% of the double-decks we build are boxes and our total double-deck output is split equally between fixed and moveable decks,” said marketing manager Oliver Hammond. There is little enthusiasm for longer semi-trailers, he said and added: “We’re not seeing much interest in them. We’ve built fewer than 20 over the past year. “Customers seem to want to go higher rather than longer and we’re seeing more of them move from single- to double-decks.”
