Freight demand may not increase until 2010, truck and trailer orders are down and the economy doesn’t look to be rebounding anytime in the near future, according to FTR Associates’ North American Commercial Truck and Trailer Outlook Report.

“The freight environment can still be described as weak,” the report said. “With housing in a steep recession, the auto market’s in a sharp downturn and consumers under severe stress, there are very few commodities where aggregate demand is holding up. Exports continue to support economic growth but much of this freight is not handled by truck.”

The report noted that many fleets have reported their freight demand has fallen substantially in the past six weeks, adding to concern that it will not rebound in the second half of 2009 as originally hoped but stay slow until 2010.

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