Dorman Products Inc. announced its HD Solutions group has ramped up manufacturing and delivery of certain replacement parts to help keep customers’ heavy- and medium-duty trucks rolling as COVID-19 continues to disrupt supply chains.
As the global pandemic grinds on, a number of the heavy- and medium-duty trucks that move freight in North America continue to be impacted by declining inventories of certain original equipment repair parts. Critical replacement components, particularly those that trucks need to properly maintain diesel engine exhaust emissions systems, are in short supply in many locations.
Major truck manufacturers have boosted production of those parts but much of that incremental factory output is being absorbed by a surge in new truck orders. As a result, a number of trucks and the freight they transport are sidelined waiting for back-ordered parts once readily available at original equipment dealers.
“A torn gasket shouldn’t keep a truck off the road, but that’s exactly what’s happening,” says Daniel Simon, HD Solutions product manager. “The pandemic has caused a spike in demand for manufactured goods of all kinds and the raw materials and components needed to make them, which has constrained the capacity of truck manufacturers and the logistics systems that rely on those trucks. Right now, a wide range of products, from basic polymers to microchips, are very difficult to get.”
Truck uptime demand is correspondingly high and placing a strain on some original equipment truck brands that distribute their repair parts through a limited number of factory-authorized dealers.
Simon says Dorman responded to the market dynamics by increasing production and flexing its global supply chain to help ensure the heavy- and medium-duty aftermarket provides owner-operators and fleets the parts they need to keep their trucks moving.
Dorman HD Solutions already offers over 2,000 direct-replacement truck parts through an extensive network of dealers and independent truck repair centers in North America, and it recently concentrated a significant share of its resources to help meet growing demand for diesel exhaust emissions control system parts. When these relatively inexpensive but crucial exhaust aftertreatment parts fail, a truck can be effectively grounded until replacement parts are installed, the company says.
“Dorman has increased production and distribution of the emissions sensors, NOx sensors, clamps and gaskets that often fatigue and fail on hardworking commercial trucks,” Simon says. “These are direct-replacement emissions systems parts that are designed to rival the fit, function and performance of the original equipment components. They’re competitively priced and are high in quality. Most important of all, they’re available now, so our customers can keep their trucks rolling.”
