How Fleet Upkeep Managers Adapt to Components Shortages – Aftermarket
(Left to proper) Taki Darakos of Pitt Ohio, Scott Ewell of H.R. Ewell, and Adam Wolk of Challenger Motor Freight focus on provide chain constraints at Heavy Responsibility Aftermarket Dialogue.
Picture: Vesna Brajkovic
Car producers, suppliers and distributors a like all rely on the trucking fleet buyer to buy their vans and order their parts. In the meantime, the upkeep managers of these fleets are additionally coming face-to-face with part and tools shortages which have altered their operations for years now.
Three upkeep managers from North American for-hire carriers sat on a panel throughout Heavy Responsibility Aftermarket Dialogue on Jan. 16 in Grapevine, Texas, to debate their perspective of the business and provides perception into how they’ve efficiently adapting to the difficult envirnoment.
HDAD, collectively offered by MEMA and MacKay & Firm, is an outlook convention particularly directed towards the heavy-duty aftermarket provider business.
Beneath is a number of the panel dialogue within the type of a Q&A, that includes:
- Taki Darakos, vp of auto upkeep and fleet providers at Pitt Ohio.
- Scott Ewell, director of upkeep at H.R. Ewell.
- Adam Wolk, director of upkeep at Challenger Motor Freight.
Molly MacKay Zacker, vp of operations at MacKay & Firm, was the moderator.
These questions have been simplified for brevity and readability, and the solutions have been edited for grammar and editorial requirements. Some solutions have been shortened or omitted for brevity.
Q: What number of vans and trailers are you planning on buying this 12 months? Did you must adapt plans on account of new truck availability challenges? In that case, how did you?
Taki Darakos, Pitt Ohio: In 2022, we had been seeking to buy roughly 120 tractors, 50 straight vans and a pair hundred trailers. And in a typical shopping for cycle, we might most likely purchase via a major, secondary provider. One vendor from every of the OEs. However we had been placed on allocation. So, we had been compelled in a method to get inventive from a relationship standpoint and reached out past our regular sphere, our regular community. We had been decreased to 40 tractors, straight tracks we received about what we wished, after which trailers. In a typical shopping for cycle, we might most likely have labored with two suppliers, however we labored with 4 suppliers to make up the distinction.
Taki Darakos, vp of auto upkeep and fleet providers at Pitt Ohio, says he has elevated his stock by 20%.
Picture: Vesna Brajkovic
Shifting into 2023. Our perception is to attempt to hold the fleet a mixture of older models, center aged and newer models. So, we have tried to depart the shopping for cycle in a spot to unfold out price of the brand-new expertise. It provides us quite a lot of flexibility by way of what we do. So, you recognize going into this 12 months, I’ve received three suppliers, three sellers, offering 130 tractors; I’ve received a pair suppliers offering field vans, getting every part I want there.
Trying ahead to taking supply on the rest of 2022, as a result of I nonetheless have lots open trickling in, and getting began with these 2023 purchases.
Scott Ewell, H.R. Ewell: I am taking supply of 25 Mack’s this 12 months. In 2022, I took supply of fifty vans, some trickled in from 2021. Trailer smart, most of our trailers are all STE trailers out of Beloit, Wisconsin. Get about 30 to 40 a 12 months. I did have some suspension travels. Very loyal to at least one suspension provider, which I did change to a brand new suspension provider was staying there from for thus lengthy.
Adam Wolk, Challenger Motor Freight: We’re extending the life cycles. We had been working three years on energy models, and 10 years on trailers. We’re extending energy models now to 6 (years), and the trailers we’re planning on extending to go 15 years.
I have never received the tires which might be really ordered most likely for a couple of 12 months and a half. It has been difficult. It’s to not say that the merchandise had been horrible, nevertheless it wasn’t what we had deliberate on. And we plan effectively prematurely, we plan on the info and information on our current fleet. So, it may be fairly difficult.
I need upkeep to be boring … When we now have to maintain autos longer than anticipated, then [we face things we haven’t] anticipated, and typically in depth failures that ordinarily we don’t plan for.
Q: How have provide chain situation impacted your fleet? How have you ever overcome these struggles?
Ewell: I feel my hardest wrestle was with suppliers kind of mendacity to you, saying they’ll have it there Monday. Monday comes and it’s not there. 4 extra Monday’s come and it is nonetheless not there. That made us simply change suppliers, change aftermarket components, that we had been loyal to for 30-40 years and change to a special model. We did do this lots.
Darakos: I feel at the beginning, shout out to the components folks and the sellers, assist industries/firms that assist fleet. I imply by way of the place it was such shortages, it was like the sport of whack a mole. As a result of while you thought you had one thing, one thing else will pop up.
Right this moment with the trailers coming in, there’s axles which might be delayed that delay manufacturing, there’s tires… you do not actually have a selection. For us, we bumped into battery points, ran within the brake chamber points. We ordered a years provide of brake drums with the numerous enhance by way of prices and availability. We elevated our stock by about 20% to actually clean out these peaks and valleys that had been occurring on the store degree.
We could not have achieved it with with out our workforce of seven components professionals to handle who we purchased the components from, after we purchased it, and at what worth we paid for the components.
We had been extra reman and aftermarket, and there was a interval of migrating to strictly OE. Bcause of availability, it is a combine. I feel we did do extra authentic tools to maintain our fleet up and operational, however we do have secondary suppliers that we use. You simply cannot rely on one supply of components and supplies to outlive in this sort of stuff on this surroundings.
Q: What’s your greatest stock problem?
Darakos: We will burn via issues fairly rapidly to assist the fleet. So I feel the rise [in parts inventory during the supply chain constraints] has been about 20%. We will dial it again as we as we really feel somewhat bit extra comfy. We’re not comfy on the subject of issues involving chips, oils, lubricants, greases.
You understand, I can let you know there have been quite a lot of lubricant-involved suppliers pre-COVID that got here knocking in your door to realize your small business. There was not a lot of that over the past two-and-a-half years. It is solely now they’re beginning to get somewhat extra comfy and knock in your door and say, “Hey, I can present this to you.” I feel it is extra of a consolation degree together with your provide chains.
“I need upkeep to be boring,” mentioned Adam Wolk, director of upkeep at Challenger Motor Freight, on the challenges of working tools for longer than regular, which results in extra unanticipated failures.
Picture: Vesna Brajkovic
Wolk: We needed to get into a way of danger evaluation of our excessive quantity or excessive price components. As the provision constraints comfy, we are going to nonetheless hold a pointy eye on it.
We leveraged {our relationships} with our suppliers. In some circumstances, they had been even capable of maintain stock at their warehouse. It is ours, nevertheless it’s on their website. Some had been in a position to do this, some not. Some have preordained the stock to us prior to buy. So, we have dedicated via typically a signed doc or a handshake to say “OK, we will take this off with you.” Or “OK, we could not do it.” We simply wish to ensure that our provide of this specific essential half for us is assured.
