Parts and Labor Costs Rose in the Third Quarter of 2024
Parts and Labor Costs Rose in the Third Quarter of 2024
New Report from TMC and Decisiv Shows First Rise In Three Quarters
Washington – A new report from American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council and Decisiv Inc. indicated parts and labor costs rose in the third quarter of 2024.
According to the latest Decisiv/TMC North American Service Event Benchmark Report, following three consecutive quarterly decreases, combined parts and labor costs rose 2.2 percent and quarter-over-quarter results were up in 19 of the 25 Vehicle Maintenance Reporting (VMRS) Systems tracked in the report. The number of VMRS Systems with higher costs in the most recent quarter represent a 24% increase compared to the 13 systems with higher expenses in 2024 Q2. The uptick also continues a quarterly trend that began with combined cost increases in seven VMRS systems in 2024 Q1.
“The overall rise in parts and labor costs as a result of higher mileage and tonnage levels points to increased revenues for fleets,” said Dick Hyatt, President and CEO of Decisiv. “At the same time, these increases elevate the importance of adopting and implementing more effective service management, communication and collaboration practices between in-house service operations and dealers. With the data and analyses we are uniquely able to provide TMC, fleets can more effectively identify and plan for best practices that can help offset recent parts price increases and higher labor costs.”
The latest Quarter-over-Quarter (QoQ) data also indicated increases in both parts costs of 2.0 percent and labor expenses of 2.5 percent. In 2024 Q3, the rise in costs points to both ongoing parts price increases and along with higher labor costs that are likely the result of mileage and tonnage levels driven up by traditional holiday season freight volumes.
On a Year-over-Year (YoY) basis, the 2024 Q3 report showed lower combined parts and labor costs (-1.3%) despite the quarterly increase. YoY parts costs were also down (-2.8%) while higher labor costs of 1.1% indicate the ongoing need to spend more to recruit and retain technicians for service operations.
“Increased parts and labor costs are troubling news to fleets,” said TMC Executive Director Robert Braswell. “However, 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% 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.
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.
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.