Exports of trailers and semi-trailers from Mexico grew at double-digit rates in the last three years, according to data from the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
With this dynamism, these foreign sales reached a record of 4,369 million dollars.
After growing 54% in 2021 and 56% in 2022, exports of trailers and semi-trailers increased by 13% in 2023.
Where are these shipments going? They are highly concentrated with 99% going to the United States and the rest to nations such as Guatemala, Canada, Peru, Honduras and El Salvador.
Exports of trailers and semi-trailers
Wabash National Corporation reported that trucking in the United States, according to the American Trucking Association (ATA), reached an estimated value of $940.8 billion in 2022, representing approximately 81% of total US trucking industry revenues.
In financial terms, this value marked a 7.5% increase over ATA’s 2021 estimate and remained consistent with the previous year’s revenue percentage (81% in both 2022 and 2021).
In addition, ATA reports that approximately 72.6% of all domestic freight tonnage was hauled by trucks in 2022, while in 2021 trucks recorded a total of 327.5 billion miles travelled.
The demand for trailers is directly related to the amount of cargo to be transported.
Market and production
The above figures for Mexican exports include:
- Trailers and semi-trailers for the transport of goods, not designed to travel on rails.
- Parts of trailers and semi-trailers and other vehicles not mechanically propelled.
- Tank trailers and tank semi-trailers, not designed to run on rails.
- Hand-pushed or hand-driven vehicles and other vehicles not mechanically propelled.
- Other trailers and semi-trailers.
- Self-loading or self-unloading trailers and semi-trailers for agricultural use.
According to ACT Research Company (ACT) and FTR Associates (FTR), total trailer production in the United States reached approximately 308,000 units in 2022.
ACT and FTR project 2023 production of approximately 311,000 and 322,000 units respectively, representing increases of 1 and 4.4% over 2022.
By 2024, ACT and FTR estimates indicate that US trailer production will be around 254,000 and 240,000 units respectively.