While there has been an increase in truck tire issues, overall unscheduled roadside repairs are down according to the latest Truckload Vertical Benchmarking study from American Trucking Associations Technology & Maintenance Council and FleetNet America.

For the second quarter, mileage between breakdowns increased 12%, indicating fewer unscheduled roadside repairs. However the hotter summer weather predictably led to an increase in tire problems of 25%.

Increased tire and wheel repairs made up 69% of all Vehicle Maintenance Reporting Standard systems related repairs, up from 58% in the first quarter of 2018. For comparison, these top five systems — tires, lighting, brakes, wheels/rims/hubs/bearings, and exhaust systems — represented only 37% of repairs in the fourth quarter of 2017.

An executive summary of the report, which examined maintenance issues in the second quarter was released by TMC during its annual Fall Meeting and National Technician Skills Competition. The TMC/FleetNet Vertical Benchmarking Program is a new benefit for TMC members. In addition to the summary, fleets that participate in the study are provided an analytic tool that allows them to drill into their data, comparing it to the industry average.

"TMC exists to help our members run better, more profitable maintenance operations.  Peer-to-peer benchmarking is an exciting step toward helping fleets do just that," said Robert Braswell, executive director, TMC. "The next step is to share the best practices fleets employ to become best-in-class in a particular system.  This is a great aspect of TMC membership, which supports maintenance leaders working together to make our industry even more efficient."

The program is open to TMC fleet executive level members and FleetNet America customers.  The analytics provided through the program are cumulative and non-fleet specific.  For information about the TMC/FleetNet Vertical Benchmarking Program, click here.