Localized service and market expertise is a common sales pitch in the independent aftermarket. Most distributors and service providers only have a few locations, and even larger independent operations are still driven by market-specific expertise when making business decisions.
But there’s also a difference between being locally focused and locally exclusive.
According to RigDig (owned by Fusable, parent company of Trucks, Parts, Service), there are 2,296 fleets in North America with 250 or more pieces of verified equipment. Though those large carriers account for less than 0.16% of RigDig’s total prospect list, they operate more than 1.08 million units, 26% of the verified vehicles in operation today.
That’s where national accounts and membership programs come in. By partnering with a marketing group or fleet service organization and committing to their national accounts programs, independent aftermarket businesses gain access and competitive resources to sport any customer, regardless of their size.
For those on the fence, here are several key benefits supporting national accounts or joining national service networks can offer your business.
Defend local relationships
Counterintuitive as it may sound, national accounts can be vital to sustaining local relationships. All carriers start somewhere. A fleet expanding out of your hometown shouldn’t mean your business can no longer support them.
VIPAR Heavy Duty’s national account program is designed to work as an extension of its distributor’s operations, says Joe Meyer, vice president of business development. As a fleet grows and requires support across a larger geographical area (and out of a single distributor’s market), VIPAR’s national accounts team exists to maintain the service level the carrier is accustomed to.
“As fleets continue to centralize purchasing and consolidate decision‑making at the corporate level, participating in national account programs enables our distributors to maintain and strengthen the relationships they have built locally,” adds Jeff Paul, VIPAR’s executive vice president.
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It’s also important to note not every national account customer is enormous. Small and medium-sized fleets also may gravitate toward national account service if their routes are long.
Gary Price says that’s the core customer base for True North Fleet Services, a new, growing service network that connects carriers with proven service providers.
“Our core customers are fleets in the five- to 75-truck/equipment range that need a partner that is local, but with regional and national scale, to service their fleet at the highest quality level, improve their uptime [and] create a seamless billing experience in a closed loop system,” says Price, CEO.
PennFleet is one of several independent parts and service operations that has joined the True North Fleet Services network.
Exposure to new partners
The obvious benefit of national accounts also can’t be overlooked. Curt Westphal, HDA Truck Pride director of program development, says this has been a point of emphasis for his team since launching its new national accounts program in 2024.
He gives the aforementioned example of a carrier that expands out of one distributor’s market, stating through the group’s national program, the original distributor and fleet can present their partnership to HDA Truck Pride and its other distributors who can replicate the relationship across the fleet’s extended operating area.
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Westphal says distributors signing on to the national account acquire business they wouldn’t have bid on before, while the original distributor maintains a key customer and the fleet strengthens its reliance on HDA Truck Pride member companies.
“Suddenly a national fleet is stepping into a distributor’s door when they never would have done that before,” he says.
National accounts also keep the ball in a distributor’s court. Neither marketing group requires members to support national accounts.
Brian Huber, vice president of operations at Point Spring & Driveshaft, says the flexibility is helpful, and appreciates the way HDA Truck Pride and its members work with fleet customers to set pricing levels that make participation worthwhile.
He says when the math works out, the benefits (increased purchase volume and market penetration, customer diversification and marketing exposure) are notable.
Meyer says VIPAR’s program works the same. “All relevant stakeholders are involved to ensure the program is structured for optimal effectiveness,” he says.
Doug Gaddis, senior vice president at Ogburn’s Truck Parts, appreciates the effort VIPAR makes to provide strong national account opportunities.
“We support our association and the work that’s been done by the National Account team,” he says. “The evaluation has been done and we have all the confidence in the team.”
Operational consistency and performance standards
Participating in national accounts programs also creates a higher standard for members. As customer expectations rise, so to must vendor performance.
“As fleets seek greater visibility into their purchases, more control over their buying decisions and more standardization of the brands and products they rely on, national account programs provide the structure that supports these expectations,” says Paul.
VIPAR Heavy Duty does this through collaborative development, Paul and Meyer say. The group has invested heavily the back-office functionality to support the ordering, fulfillment and billing expectations customers demand, but the duo note front-line distributors also remain vital in communicating with customers and receiving and distributing their expectations to other members and the group.
“The distributor is always the key local service partner,” says Paul. “Their customer relationships and industry reputation are often what opens the door in the first place and drives our success.”
Price echoes the VIPAR message. He says a key sales advantage for True North is the ability to promise to prospective customers a level of parts availability, dedicated maintenance services and uptime across its member base, and says shops cannot join the group unless they commit to the standard.
And as a national network grows, so too does its standards.
“As we get better at this and continue to sign up more distributors and fleets, what we’re able to do will only expand,” Westphal says. “Because we’ll know more about [customer] needs, and have more data points to make decisions.”
Increased access to customer data
Having more and larger customers also gives independent aftermarket operations a glimpse under the hood at regional and national fleet buying trends.
Because larger carriers often run newer equipment, national accounts can expose the independent aftermarket to newer components and technology before they have aged into the space. Distributors and service shops can then track this equipment, and use existing customer data and fleet population trends to identify how parts and service demand may shift in a marketplace over time.
Westphal believes that’s a huge opportunity that cannot be overlooked.
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Identifying and supporting customer demand in advance of customer requests is a great way for aftermarket operations to strengthen their connections with large customers, he says. And with the Right to Repair debate between the independent aftermarket and dealer channel continuing to heat up, tightening bonds with fleets could be vital to the long-term stability of the independent aftermarket.
“The bigger fleets obviously have to get warrantied jobs done at a dealership,” Westphal says. “But they also have a lot of other issues or parts needs where the OE can’t always help them, or aren’t able to help them in a timely manner, and the independent is who they turn to to keep their business going.”
He adds, “It’s very important that the independent guys realize how valuable they are.”
