The average cost of mechanical repairs in the trucking industry increased for the second straight quarter, while miles between unscheduled roadside maintenance remained unchanged, according to the latest benchmarking report from the American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council and FleetNet America.

The Truckload Vertical Benchmarking Study, released March 17 during TMC’s annual meeting, covers events during the final quarter of 2018.

One fleet was able to set a new industry best for miles between unscheduled maintenance.

“This is a clear indication that fleets can reduce their roadside repairs, driving down costs and improving customer service,” said Jim Buell, executive vice president of sales and marketing for FleetNet America. “If one fleet can run 75,000 miles between breakdowns, why can’t all fleets in the industry? It’s a matter of using data to direct where you have the best opportunities to improve.”

During the fourth quarter, the average participating truckload carrier ran 10,663 miles between breakdowns, 3% less than the same quarter previous year. The top performing participating fleet operated with one breakdown every 75,528 miles.

The average cost of a roadside mechanical repair increased to $334 in the fourth quarter, up from $317 in the third quarter and $299 in the second quarter.

The Vertical Benchmarking Program is a benefit for TMC fleet members and a partnership with FleetNet America, an ArcBest company. It uses TMC's Vehicle Maintenance Reporting Standards (VMRS) codes to track breakdown data.

In addition to the executive summary, which is available to TMC fleet members, carriers that participate by sharing their data are provided an analytic tool that allows them to drill into their data, comparing it to the industry average.

The program is a strategic collaboration between TMC/ATA and FleetNet America and is open to TMC fleet executive level members and FleetNet America customers. The analytics provided via the program will be cumulative and non-fleet-specific. For information about the TMC/FleetNet Vertical Benchmarking Program, visit http://benchmarkit.fleetnetamerica.com.