David A. Kolman, editor, Fleet Maintenance

Kolman’s Komments: What’s the annual cost to maintain a big rig?

March 21, 2016
The numbers may surprise you.

Last year, the average new truck price for a Class 8 sleeper tractor was $125,000; $113,000 for a Class 8 daycab.

So reported John Blodgett, vice president, sales, MacKay & Company, during a presentation at the recent Heavy Duty Aftermarket Dialogue outlook conference put on by the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association, an organization of NAFTA-based heavy duty original equipment and aftermarket commercial vehicle suppliers.

MacKay & Company is a specialized management consulting and market research.

Here are some of the other MacKay & Company research findings he highlighted.

- The 2015 U.S. operating population totaled 9,237,000 vehicles:

+ 2.979,000 Class 8 trucks.

+ 1,482,000 medium duty (Class 6 and 7) trucks.

+ 4,776,000 trailers and chassis.

- The total aftermarket (Class 6 to 8 trucks, trailers and chassis) in 2015 was $107 billion:

+ Parts, $30 billion.

+ Tires, $16 billion.

+ Lubricants, $2.5 billion.

+ Service labor, $58.5 billion (based on a value of $100 an hour for service work that gets outsourced and also for work fleets do in-house).

- Assuming an average 15-year life for a Class 8 tractor, the annual cost to maintain it, at present, is:

+ Parts, $7,200.

+ Tires, $2,900.

+ Lubricants, $600.

+ Service labor, $9,900.

- Retail sales of new Class 8 trucks in 2015 totaled 250,000. Over the next 15 years, in today’s dollars, each of those trucks will generate some $21,000 worth of aftermarket parts, tires, lubricants and service labor opportunities.

- A Class 8 truck develops a “sweet spot” during its seven- to nine-year life where some major components need to be overhauled and replaced. The average aftermarket opportunities gets higher for those years to around $30,000.

- For a Class 8 truck, that’s about $345,000 spent over 15 years.

About the Author

David A. Kolman | Contributor - Fleet Maintenance

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