The trucking industry is currently going through an exciting period of technological change; new systems are being put into place to improve efficiency and power better decision making. At times like this, it’s good to review the many aspects and efficiencies associated with the industry’s foundational system that make all types of comparisons and maintenance tracking possible—Vehicle Maintenance Reporting Standards (VMRS). Managed by the American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC), VMRS has been the ultimate building block for maintenance and equipment reporting for more than 50 years.
VMRS provides a methodology for tracking parts, equipment, labor costs, and vehicle maintenance issues across the entire transportation industry. It provides an important data layer that enables manufacturers and fleets to compare maintenance information to make intelligent business decisions.
It’s often said that the best technology is the kind you never see working. That’s the case with VMRS. It’s been thoroughly integrated into various equipment maintenance software packages used by many fleets, no matter their size or vocation, and VMRS continues to expand and add new codes on an ongoing basis, adapting to the many changes in the industry.
The flow of maintenance information starts with technicians; they are the first step in collecting the correct data. For a fleet to operate smoothly, the data must be precise and the repair order complete. If the incorrect information is collected on the repair order, eventually the wrong information will be portrayed as factual.
Fleets using VMRS have a standard by which they can analyze their entire portfolio of maintenance and operational costs, including historical data. VMRS can help pinpoint areas of excess expense and premature failure, increasing efficiency and equipment utilization. VMRS is also a valuable tool for benchmarking equipment expenses and the overall performance of the maintenance department.
VMRS provides a sound basis for budget preparation and forecasting based on fleet mix, projected utilization, and historic performance. VMRS helps control costs by providing detailed records of where monies were spent and at what point a piece of equipment might be ready to be decommissioned.
Any size of fleet can benefit by implementing VMRS into its daily maintenance routine. VMRS codes help track labor distribution, covering both direct and indirect labor. VMRS provides complete details as to parts usage, identifying which part should be inventoried and which should be procured on an “as needed” basis. VMRS creates a single process to document when, why, and how maintenance is performed on equipment.
VMRS gives the user the ability to track repair data for use in forecasting, setting a realistic budget, and to proactively schedule maintenance procedures. The collection of substantial amounts of information can become confusing and chaotic if you do not have structure, but VMRS brings clarity to the process.
In response to VMRS user requests and changes in technologies, TMC has made several upgrades to the VMRS database and added and expanded the Code Keys that comprise VMRS. In 2023, TMC announced the addition of the VMRS Services Portal, an online tool where the complete VMRS database is housed, giving VMRS licensees real-time access to the codes.
The VMRS Services Portal is a unique one-stop location for everything VMRS. It offers access to the codes, an online copy of TMC’s VMRS Implementation Handbook, a way to request new codes, a way to communicate directly with TMC concerning any questions, and much more about VMRS. It is a long-awaited upgrade for the many VMRS licensees.
New codes are added to VMRS on a continual basis; the latest examples are for Electric Vehicle components. TMC has been working with major truck manufacturers and other original equipment parts manufacturers to ensure the new codes are valid and ready for the VMRS community to use. There are currently more than five hundred electric vehicle (EV) codes in Code Key 33. Each such code has “electric vehicle” at the end of the component’s description. In addition to the EV components, codes for an EV charging station have been added, making VMRS ready for use by any company currently using EVs as part of their fleet.
There are times when new VMRS codes are needed that offer greater flexibility when describing maintenance events. The VMRS Codes Task Force determined such new codes were needed to describe maintenance alerts and repair priorities. After much deliberation, TMC successfully approved a new separate Code Key, entitled Code Key 25: Maintenance Labor Alerts.
Historically, VMRS has been used during or after a service event, usually when completing a repair order or warranty claim. Code Key 25 is a departure from the normal method of using VMRS, as the new Code Key reflects work that needs to be performed in advance of a scheduled activity. Code Key 25 serves as a notice that the labor in question is due to be performed at specified intervals determined by the fleet, service provider, vehicle and/or component manufacturer.
The maintenance alert codes in Code Key 25 define a single description and code to represent a bundle of activities that are associated with a given maintenance task. Code Key 25 gives the capability of providing standardized alerts prior to the actual maintenance task being performed, adding a new aspect to VMRS.
In 2025, TMC’s S.5 Fleet Maintenance Management Study Group, working through its Health Ready Component Status Task Force, proposed the development of a new Instruction Set for the purpose of establishing linkage between key VMRS component codes and SAE fault codes.
Proposed Instruction Set 17 allows each SAE Fault Code (also known as Diagnostic Trouble Codes) to be directly mapped to a specific VMRS Component Code (Code Key 33), giving additional meaning and consistency to each individual fault code and reducing the need for subject matter experts to make the connection between faults and their respective components from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) fault descriptions.
Data following the schema in VMRS Instruction Set 17 can enable fleet managers to conduct analytics based on mission-specific experiential data. The mapping file based on Instruction Set 17 can provide a starting point for fleets, third-party maintenance providers, and OEMs to expand their data science and analytics capabilities for maintenance and operations.
VMRS Instruction Sets are composite codes, derived from combinations of various Code Keys and/or other data elements. These Instruction Sets are numerical sentences, using individual Code Keys as building blocks or “words” to describe various aspects of equipment specification or labor activity.
In the balloting process in the summer of 2025, Instruction Set 17 is featured in the latest update of TMC RP 802G. Instruction Set 17 is composed of several elements, first of which is SAE Fault Code Type — The type can be one of the following:
- Suspect Parameter Number (SPN) which identifies a specific component or system
- Subsystem Identifier (SID) which identifies a subsystem
- Parameter Identifier (PID) which identifies a specific parameter
- On-Board Diagnostics (OBD), which refers to the system that monitors and reports vehicle faults
Additional data elements of Instruction Set 17 include:
- SAE Fault Code — This is a numeric data element.
- SAE Fault Code Description — This is an alpha data element.
- SAE Protocol — This can be J1939, J1587, OBDII, and others.
- VMRS Component Code — This is a nine-digit numeric code from Code Key 33 which identifies a component at the system, assembly, and component level (Code and Description).
- VMRS Technician Failure Code (optional) — This identifies the apparent failure of a suspect component, as determined by the technician/ supervisor (Code and Description).
Proposed Instruction Set 17 has several potential uses. For example, Instruction Set 17 can:
- Help fleet managers realize a significant increase in warranty claim approvals
- Help submit relevant fault codes with each repair claim
- Enable enhanced predictive analytics opportunities
- Identify system repair trends
- Help fleet managers better understand financial trends within each system, assembly, and component
- Enable further downstream tool capabilities
- Unlock greater potential for data science teams
- Identify technician training opportunities
- Shed light on where technicians are not correctly diagnosing certain systems
- Identify repeat repairs/failures
If the new changes are adopted by Council membership, TMC will create and maintain a populated list of codes following the Instruction Set 17 schema which will be entitled “Instruction Set 17 SAE/TMC Fault-to-Component-Code Mapping Digital Annex.”
As mapping develops, the digital annex will be updated and managed by TMC’s VMRS Services Manager with the assistance of the Council’s VMRS Codes Task Force as needed.
As new technologies are developed and equipment requires new methods of maintenance, VMRS will continue to reflect those changes. VMRS had been an integral part of equipment maintenance for many years and will continue to be an important aspect of maintenance for many more years.