Rising costs, parts shortages challenge truck maintenance

Trucking operations experienced the bite of significant parts shortages and price increases in the past year as they maintained equipment, a TruckNews.com Pulse Survey shows.

Eighty percent of the survey’s 139 respondents said maintenance and repair costs, including parts and labor, were up 10% or more in the past year. Sixteen percent saw the costs rise 5-9%, and 2% reported no change. Just 1% saw prices rise 1-4%, equal to the number who said costs dropped 10% or more.

Thirty-four percent said parts shortages represent the biggest challenge to their maintenance budget, up from 30% recorded in the survey in the spring of 2022.

Parts shortages “significantly increased” downtime for 58% of respondents compared to other years, and “slightly increased” the downtime experienced by another 32%. The remaining 10% said parts shortages did not change the downtime.

That could be affecting buying relationships. The majority of those surveyed said they sourced parts from someone other than their usual vendor in the past year. Twenty-three percent said they did so very frequently, while 26% did this frequently, and 32% did it occasionally.

Fifty-eight percent experienced more downtime than usual.

Pulse Surveys are conducted once per month on a variety of industry issues.