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U.S. trailer orders more than halved in May compared with a year ago to an estimated 9,100 units, according to data released by ACT Research.

Hinton Transportation Investments Inc. (HTI) acquired Chicago-based U.S. Trailer Parts & Supply Inc., a distributor of heavy-duty trailer parts, it said June 6.

U.S. trailer orders dropped by nearly half from the year-ago total to an estimated 10,000 units in April, ACT Research reported.

Some carriers are using technology designed to help prevent drivers from picking up the wrong trailer, and some telematics vendors are developing tractor-trailer pairing capability.

U.S. trailer orders in January decreased 9% year-over-year to 24,300 from 26,595 a year earlier, reported ACT Research. This comes a month after net trailer orders reached their second-highest level on record at 57,300. Also, orders dropped 58% from near-record results the prior month.

Amid a challenging landscape of supply chain issues, manufacturers are extending the lives of trailers using products such as composite materials and galvanized elements.

U.S. trailer orders in September just cleared 25,000 and, while down about 10% compared with a year earlier, were the highest since first quarter, ACT Research reported.

Fleets are looking for solutions — some of them low-tech — to ensure trucks and trailers talk to each other now.

U.S. trailer orders in August jumped compared with a year earlier, but were still tepid at 17,700, the third-lowest this year and barely up from July’s total, ACT Research reported, citing trailer makers’ preliminary numbers.

Net U.S. trailer orders in June rose to 25,444, ACT Research reported July 22. It was an increase of about 10,000 orders compared with the preliminary number issued only days before.