Combined Parts and Labor Costs Fell in the Second Quarter of 2025
Combined Parts and Labor Fell in the Second Quarter of 2025
New Report from TMC and Decisiv Shows Downward Trend Continuing Since Q3 2024
Washington – A new report from American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council and Decisiv Inc. indicated parts and labor costs fell in the second quarter of 2025.
Continuing a downward trend that began in Q3 2024, combined parts and labor costs decreased in the Decisiv/TMC Parts & Labor Service Benchmark Report in Q2 2025 by -0.5%. The Quarter-over-Quarter (QoQ) lower costs reflect dropping tonnage and mileage levels. Despite gains in factory volumes and retail sales, the American Trucking Associations’ For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index was down in May and June, the result of weaker construction activity.
“While fleets and service providers are still facing uncertain market impacts, the continuing downward trend in parts and labor costs in the Decisiv/TMC Parts & Labor Service Benchmark for this quarter is an indication that effective service management practices are in place,” said Tim Hardin, president and CEO of Decisiv. “With a foundation of solid approaches, they will continue to address parts and labor needs to support reductions in downtime and costs.”
In this quarter, QoQ parts costs declined. The -0.3% drop was the third quarterly decrease in a row, falling as prices continued to stabilize and lower mileage reduced parts usage. Labor costs also continued to fluctuate, dropping in Q2 by -0.9% after increasing slightly (1.0%) in Q1 of this year.
Year-over-Year (YoY), combined parts and labor costs rose 0.5% following a similar increase (0.6%) in Q1. However, unlike the previous quarter when both parts and labor costs increased on a YoY basis, in this quarter parts costs fell -0.1% while labor costs were up 1.2%. Ongoing workforce pressures that are driving the need to continually attract and retain technicians are the likely cause of higher labor costs.
Combined parts and labor cost increases in Q2 were seen in 17 of the 25 Vehicle Maintenance Reporting Standard (VMRS) Systems tracked in the Decisiv/TMC Parts & Labor Service Benchmark, six more than in the previous quarter. QoQ parts costs were up in 16 systems, more than double the number in Q1, and labor costs rose in 14 systems, down from 17 in the previous analysis.
YoY combined parts and labor costs rose in 17 VMRS systems, up from 14 systems in the previous quarter. Parts costs were up in 18 systems, four more than in Q1, and labor costs increased in 19 systems, three more than in the previous YoY analysis.
Since Q1 2025, the Decisiv/TMC Parts & Labor Service Benchmark is now based on a more extensive dataset. The result of greater encoding precision, the report adds cost information across all VMRS codes included in the quarterly data. The report now presents an expanded view of service costs for deeper activity and trend analyses.
The Decisiv/TMC Parts & Labor Service Benchmark is based on comprehensive service data. For the report, Decisiv collects and analyzes parts and labor costs for 25 VMRS system level codes, which accounts for more than 97 percent of total parts and labor spent on more than seven million assets during over 300,000 monthly maintenance and repair events at more than 5,000 service locations.
“While the data on various parts and labor costs shows a downward trend, we recognize some of this is due to reductions in freight volumes and mileage levels caused by softness in the economy,” said TMC Executive Director Robert Braswell. “That being said, downward trending costs are welcome news, and the information provided by the Decisiv/TMC Parts & Labor Service Benchmark helps provide Council members an excellent means of comparing how their operations are performing to industry trends so they can take action accordingly.”
TMC issues the reports to its fleet members. The reports are organized based on the Council’s VMRS, sorted by VMRS-coded vehicle systems and geographic location.
TMC fleet members will receive the report electronically via email. For more information on joining TMC, call (703) 838-1763 or visit http://tmc.trucking.org.
By providing leadership support and opportunities to collaborate, TMC helps members develop the industry’s best practices that address the critical truck technology and maintenance issues that have the greatest impact on truck fleets. For nearly 70 years, TMC’s member-driven Recommended Maintenance and Engineering Practices have been setting the standards that help trucking companies specify and maintain their fleets more effectively. Follow TMC on X, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Virginia-based Decisiv is the provider of the largest asset service management ecosystem for the commercial vehicle industry. The Decisiv Service Relationship Management (SRM) platform is the foundation for the nearly 5,000 service locations across North America that manage more than 4 million service and repair events for commercial vehicles annually. Through Decisiv’s SRM platform, dealers, service providers, manufacturers, and fleet and asset managers can communicate and collaborate during every service event. The SRM solution streamlines the entire asset service management process bringing all the necessary diagnostic, telematics and asset information together for all participants, and delivers it at the point of service. This level of connectivity and collaboration drives an unrivaled level of service performance and asset optimization that gets trucks back on the road faster so fleets see higher revenue per asset and lower costs. Service providers using SRM establish efficient communication, better controls and increased productivity in service operations that enable them to become trusted partners to fleets. For manufacturers, SRM enhances the value of service networks and provides data and analytics to help develop more reliable and efficient commercial assets. For more information, visit www.decisiv.com.
American Trucking Associations is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of 50 affiliated state trucking associations and industry-related conferences and councils, ATA is the voice of the industry America depends on most to move our nation’s freight. Follow ATA on X or Facebook. Nothing Without Trucking
