An order bank is basically the collection of open orders for a particular model. If it is open, orders can be placed by your dealer.
You should probably watch at least the first 5 minutes or so one of Long McArthurs scheduling videos on YouTube to get a feel for how the allocation system works.
I wouldn't wait for it, if you need it. I'm not sure where the idea came from that the ranger couldn't be updated OTA, but it will eventually be applied to your truck.
If there was an actual change to the tune, Ford would probably have to reapply for certification again. I have my doubts there is any real value in updating after the tune has been applied.
IIRC, they were completely booked for 2025 well before mine came in July of 2025. I had to wait until they opened up 2026 scheduling to get mine scheduled.
For the ROW, the Ranger is the truck for the region though right? So it makes sense that it gets more/all of the configuration options. I don't blame Ford for bundling options/trims on the Maverick and Ranger. The Ranger is like a 1/10th of the sales of the F series. The Mav is like a 1/5th.
Everything I've read about Ford's Electronic Shift on the Fly system suggests that it is higher than that. The couple times I've switched to 4H on my truck, though? I was probably sub-15MPH at the time.
It's also available online.
https://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_Content/vdirsnet/OwnerManual/Home/Index?Variantid=9478&languageCode=EN&countryCode=USA&VIN=&userMarket=usa&div=f&buildtype=web
They do not trust the technology yet either, it seems. Scroll to the end...
https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/2026-03/Report-to-Congress-Advanced-Impaired-Driving-Prevention-Technology.pdf
I wouldn't worry about 2027... at least on this front.
That is why I removed mine first. If a mess was going to be made, I was going to cause (and deal with) it. Not by a shop that was spraying the bed liner.
All told: Nine came out without any form of heat, just a TP40 and a breaker bar. Two were stripped and required heat to finish the job...