Supply chain issues resulted in a shortage of replacement parts over the past several years. When dealers and distributors were able to find parts, many of them purchased more than they normally would have to increase their safety stock.
Supply chain issues have improved somewhat, and freight demand has fallen slightly. As a result, many dealers and distributors are reassessing their stocking levels especially as rumors of a recession in 2023 are beginning to surface.
Trucks, Parts, Service was curious about the current state of parts inventory in the aftermarket, whether dealers and distributors were returning parts to their suppliers and how market changes would influence their inventory stocking levels.
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Marc Karon, president and CEO of Total Truck Parts, explains his company anticipated some of the supply chain issues when the shutdowns from COVID were waning. “We ordered a six- to 12-month supply of critical items. We are also fortunate to have multiple sources for most of our key items.” He adds because the company is “a brand-focused supplier to our customer base” they have duplicate inventories on many commodities to meet the different requests of its customers. “That duplication has helped us immensely during the worst of the supply chain problems. If one supplier was out of the product, we could often substitute a different brand. The customer was just happy to get something to keep their trucks on the road.”
Karon adds while supply chain issues have eased, there are still critical parts that are difficult if not impossible to find — many are engine-related parts.
When supplies were short, Karon says he overstocked but adds that was good business. “Prices were increasing at a double-digit pace so buying excess inventory proved to be a great investment and it proved to boost our profitability.”
