Parts and labor costs continued to decrease in the first quarter, according to the latest survey from the Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) of the American Trucking Associations and Decisiv.

Combined parts and labor costs fell 1.7% in Q1, according to their latest benchmarking report.

“Lower parts and labor costs are welcome news to fleets, who have been weathering substantial increases for much of the last several years,” said TMC executive director Robert Braswell. “This important parts and labor cost analysis report is an excellent tool to help Council members compare how their operations are performing relative to industry trends and plan accordingly.”

The report covers costs across 25 VMRS codes. In Q4 2023, costs fell 1.4%. In Q1 of this year, parts costs were down 2.4% while labor costs decreased 0.8%.

On a year-over-year basis, combined costs were down 2.3%, but labor costs were up 0.9%.

“While more new trucks and greater parts availability are helping commercial asset service operations realize an across-the-board drop in costs, the ongoing shortage of new technicians entering the workforce continues to drive up labor costs,” said Decisiv president and CEO Dick Hyatt. “The recent findings are certainly positive. The ongoing efforts by commercial asset service operations to streamline management and execution of maintenance and repair activities are clearly playing a role in keeping costs down.”