A notable decrease in labor costs led to a reduction in parts and service expenses for carriers in the final quarter of 2025, but Decisiv, co-producer of the Parts & Labor Service Benchmark quarterly report with ATA’s Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC), tells Trucks, Parts, Service the pricing dip is more likely a reaction to seasonal softness than the reversal of long-term trends.
In announcing its Q4 insights at TMC’s Annual Meeting in Nashville in March, Decisiv reported a 2.6% dip in fourth-quarter labor costs, a downward swing the industry hadn’t seen “in quite a while.” The decrease was a welcome sign for commercial fleets, especially after labor rates had risen 3.8% the previous quarter, but Decisiv reports to TPS the volatility shown in those six-month averages is a more realistic assessment of the service labor market than either three-month stretch.
“Historically, labor costs tend to be firmer in Q2 and Q3 when freight demand, mileage and utilization are higher, and then soften in Q4 as activity moderates,” Decisiv tells TPS. “Parts pricing shows less pronounced seasonality, though certain categories, such as HVAC or tires, can experience seasonal service activity-driven fluctuations.”
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The data presented in the Parts & Labor Service Benchmark report is collected and analyzed from 25 VMRS system-level codes in the Decisiv platform at more than 5,000 service locations across North America to provide an accurate, up-to-date assessment of pricing levels.
The reduced labor costs in Q4 was cheered by TMC’s fleet audience but shouldn’t overshadow longer term realities. Decisiv stated at TMC parts and labor pricing is up 27.4% over the last six years, with labor up 33.5% and parts 23.8%. And with freight tonnage and rates both slowly rising, it’s possible the Q4 labor price decline will be short lived.
“Improving freight tonnage and mileage in early Q1 would normally create upward pressure on parts and labor pricing. If higher tonnage is moderated by increased shop throughput, we would expect pricing pressure to build gradually rather than immediately,” Decisiv tells TPS.
Even with the fourth-quarter decline, overall parts and service costs still rose by 1.9% in 2025.
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The recent report also shows several critical component areas are driving a large portion of rising costs. Drive axle costs were up an astonishing 31% year over year while wheels (rims, hubs and bearings) were up 15.5% and frame costs were up 7.1%.
That’s to say nothing for powerplant and brake expenses, both of which were down slightly in the fourth quarter but up year over year (powerplant 4.3%; brakes 1.3%). Decisiv says both categories represent a disproportionate share of total service spend, a trend that’s unlikely to change.
“In Q4 2025, these two systems combined represented 39.8% of total repair costs across all VMRS systems, underscoring their outsized influence on overall cost trends,” the company says.
Those parts will remain expensive too.
The total year-over-year increases in both categories were driven by parts — year-over-year labor rates were slightly down — and regarding powerplant expenses, Decisiv notes “parts represent a higher share of total repair costs, reflecting the inherent complexity of these systems. As a result, future cost movement in powerplant will continue to be driven primarily by parts pricing and availability.”
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The company does note brake expenses are more evenly distributed across parts and labor, though rising costs in the category should still be expected, with labor market conditions and parts costs remaining “key drivers of brake-related service expenses.”
Regarding the other suddenly high priced categories, Decisiv states axle costs have ballooned due to material pricing, increased loads and the complexity of servicing modern systems, while frame costs were driven by labor cost changes.
“At this time, we don’t have any insights into what is causing that labor cost increase,” the company says.
To download the full Parts & Labor Service Benchmark report, please CLICK HERE.
