By John Blodgett, vice president of sales and marketing, MacKay & Company
As I write this column, we just finished the longest day of the year (I mean daylight hours, not a bad day, which doesn’t seem to want to end) June 21. Not quite the midpoint of the year, but close, so maybe it is a good time to review what we at MacKay & Company know so far about the aftermarket for 2017. I do understand that by the time you are reading this it is likely August and Jordan Spieth has already won the British Open.
(TP&S editor’s note: Wow at this prediction. Get your lottery numbers from this man.)
Let’s start with our Fleet Utilization Index. Each quarter we measure fleet vehicle utilization rates for more than 700 fleets of various sizes and vocations. Obviously, fleets’ equipment usage has a direct impact on the aftermarket for parts and service. First quarter utilization came in at a record high and the forecast by the fleets for the second and third quarters was also very strong.
We also have an Aftermarket Index of component suppliers’ sales to OES and independent channels. Preliminary numbers through May have the parts sales for these participants up 3.5 percent year-to-date compared to last year. Canada is up 7.8 percent. Sales to independent channels are outperforming OES in both markets. Both markets (U.S. and Canada) were down last year compared to 2015.
(Commercial break: If you would like to join our Index, let me know. Now back to the column.)
Monthly, we also survey several truck dealers and independent parts distributors each month about their aftermarket parts sales. Our survey respondents in May for both channels were up between 4 percent and 5 percent year-to-date compared to 2016.
