Fleet owners spend billions on parts

Fleet owners in the US market spent $107 billion on parts and service in 2015, according to John Blodgett, vice president of sales and marketing for the consultancy MacKay & Co.

Speaking at the recent Heavy Duty Dialogue, in Las Vegas, he said that spend breaks down as follows:
- $30.1 billion on replacement parts
- $16 billion on tires
- $2.5 billion on lubricants
- $58.5 billion on labour (assuming a $100 per hour labour rate)

Blodgett said that in 2015, on average truck owners spent $7,400 on parts, $3,200 on tires, $700 on lubricants and $10,200 on service labour for a total annual spend of $21,500 per truck. Over the course of a 15-year truck life cycle, the fleet will end up spending $345,000 on replacement parts and service.

The parts market grew slightly from its $28.8 billion level in 2014 and dealer share of the market grew from 46 percent in 2014 to 48 percent in 2015 – most likely spurred by emissions components. Heavy-duty distributors sold 19 percent of the parts last year, compared to 17 percent in 2014. Independent repair garages and engine distributors lost market share.

The overwhelming majority of parts being purchased are new, up from 71 percent in 2014 to 74 percent in 2015, again likely driven by emissions requirements, according to Blodgett.

In the U.S., factory-remanufactured parts account for 15 percent of parts purchased with another 6 percent being locally rebuilt. In Canada, 11 percent of parts purchased are factory-remanufactured and 8 percent locally rebuilt. In Mexico, 96 percent of parts purchased are new with reman accounting for only 2 percent and locally rebuilt for 1 percent.

Blodgett expects U.S. aftermarket parts purchases to increase over the next several years from $30.1 billion in 2015 to $38.6 billion by 2020. And he expects Canadian aftermarket parts purchases to rise from $4.8 billion in 2015 to $5.6 billion by 2020.