Parts and labor costs are moderating, Decisiv reported at the American Trucking Association's Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC) annual meeting in New Orleans on Sunday.
Decisiv expanded its 2023 report from nine to 25 VMRSs, covering more than 97% of total parts and labor costs, says Rob Ziemba, Decisiv's senior director of marketing.
"They're actually getting deeper into what's going on in the shops," says Jack Poster, VMRS services manager for TMC. In addition to expanded VMRSs, Poster says this year, the data is also available via a portal which will allow licensees directly into the database.
"It's everything you wanted to know about VMRS in one big package," Poster says.
Decisiv analyzes service operations using machine learning and AI algorithms to interpret service information captured during the creation of the repair order. Individual operations are then encoded in the VMRS system.
"This is very comprehensive data that we're able to provide on parts and labor costs," Ziemba says.
The top items in cost remain the same as in previous years, Ziema says, with the powerplant, exhaust, cooling and brakes topping the list. The good news: parts costs have come down 2.2% from 2022, helping to moderate an increase in labor costs by 4% in the same period.
