Parts and Labor Costs Continue Downward Trend in the Second Quarter of 2024
Parts and Labor Costs Continue Downward Trend in the Second Quarter of 2024
Benchmarking Report from TMC and Decisiv Shows Third Quarter of Improvement Since mid-2023
American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council and Decisiv Inc., said that there is a clear indication that while continuing to decrease, parts and labor cost reductions across 25 major categories have slowed in the second quarter of 2024. Combined parts and labor expenses fell 0.7 percent during the second quarter of 2024, according to data released in the latest quarterly Decisiv/TMC North American Service Event Benchmark Report.
The report shows costs across 25 key Vehicle Maintenance Reporting Standard (VMRS) systems continued a downward trend seen in the previous quarter when those costs fell 1.6 percent.
In 2024 Q2, Quarter-over-Quarter (QoQ) combined parts and labor costs were up in 13 of the 25 VMRS Systems tracked in the Decisiv TMC Benchmark Report, reversing a trend seen in the previous quarter when costs rose in only seven of the code categories.
In 2024 Q2 parts costs fell 0.4 percent following decreases of 2.2 percent and 2.4 percent in the two previous quarters, more than off-setting a 2.2 percent increase in 2023 Q3. QoQ labor costs dropped 1.1 percent in 2024 Q2 after a 0.6 percent decrease in 2024 Q1.
On a Year-over-Year (YoY) basis, combined parts and labor costs were down 1.4 percent, a continued decrease following a 2.3 percent drop in 2024 Q1. Labor costs YoY did rise 0.7 percent in the latest analysis, at about the same rate (0.9 percent) as in 2024 Q1. Parts costs, however, fell 2.8 percent YoY after dropping 2.2 percent in the previous report.
“With decreasing parts and labor costs reflecting a continued leveling off of expenses following historically high increases that resulted from supply chain challenges, fleets and service providers are seeing a return to predictability and an enhanced ability to more effectively plan service cost allocations,” said Dick Hyatt, President and CEO of Decisiv. “Along with more predictable freight volumes and vehicle mileages, the resumption of more consistent parts availability and overall declines or only modest increases in parts and labor costs point to much needed cost stability for fleets and service operations.”
The Decisiv TMC Benchmark Report is based on comprehensive service data. For the report, Decisiv collects and analyzes parts and labor costs for 25 Vehicle Maintenance Reporting Standard (VMRS) system level codes, which accounts for more than 97 percent of total parts and labor spent on costs more than seven million assets during over 300,000 monthly maintenance and repair events at more than 5,000 service locations.
“Continued trends for reduced parts and labor costs is welcome news to fleets, who have been weathering substantial increases for much of the last several years,” said TMC Executive Director Robert Braswell. “The Decisiv/TMC parts and labor cost analysis report provides Council members an excellent means of comparing how their operations are performing to industry trends so they can take action accordingly.”
The data that Decisiv collects and analyzes for the Decisiv/TMC North American Service Event Benchmark Reports on 25 VMRS system level codes accounts for more than 97 percent of total parts and labor costs for more than seven million assets and over 300,000 monthly maintenance and repair events at more than 5,000 service locations.
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 more than 60 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.
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