Commercial Motor Vehicle Consulting (CMVC) reported Wednesday its Parts Aftermarket Sales Leading Indicator (PLI) fell for the 11th consecutive month in October, signaling lower parts aftermarket sales in the coming months.
CMVC says the fleet environment has changed substantially over the past 12 months resulting in lower parts aftermarket sales.
“The commercial vehicle population is expanding, but a host of factors are weighing on parts aftermarket sales,” says Chris Brady, CMVC president.
He references new and used truck operators upgrading their fleets and returning average ages back to a norm, increasing supplies of idled trucks on the used truck market, and trucks staying on the used truck market for a longer period of time due to the soft freight environment and a downward trend in fleet capacity utilization, which indicates the rate at which the truck population is depreciating is slowing.
“In the short-term, these factors are more than offsetting an expanding commercial vehicle population resulting in lower parts aftermarket sales,” Brady says.
