What Three Fleets Are Doing Differently When Buying Truck Parts in 2026

After two years of cutting back, deferring purchases, and stretching equipment life, it looks like trucking fleets are finally seeing enough improvement in the freight market to think differently about equipment and parts purchasing.

But they’re doing it in a market where costs remain stubbornly high.

In the Heavy Duty Aftermarket Dialogue’s Mid-Year Fleet Check-In, three fleet maintenance and equipment managers discussed how they’re approaching that challenge.

The virtual discussion included executives from Groendyke Transport, Clark Freight Lines, and B-H Transfer.

Freight demand and freight rates have improved for all three fleets, allowing them to put trucks back to work, expand trailer capacity, and resume more normal maintenance decisions.

At the same time, tariffs, global uncertainty, and higher prices for everything from lubricants to steel wheels continue to squeeze operating budgets.

Better Freight Environment Means Fewer Deferred Repairs

For much of the freight recession, these maintenance managers said they had difficult decisions to make about whether aging trucks were worth repairing.

Joe Richley, vice president of maintenance at Groendyke Transport, said that’s beginning to change.

“At this point I feel more comfortable making a decision on whether a truck is worth repairing and putting back in service,” he said, noting that last year some repairs were delayed or deferred altogether.

The improving freight environment is giving these fleet managers more confidence to invest.

B-H Transfer’s freight has strengthened enough that it’s now turning down loads and adding drivers where it can. Last year, the company kept equipment purchases to a minimum; this year, it has added both used and new trailers while continuing its tractor replacement program.

Groendyke also is seeing enough improvement to resume truck purchases after sitting out 2025. The company ordered 35 tractors this year and expects to receive them beginning this month, with plans for a 125-truck order next year if current conditions continue.

Another wrinkle, of course, is some uncertainty about new EPA 2027 emissions engines coming next year.

Clark Freight Lines is taking a cautious approach, leasing five vehicles through PacLease. “So far we’ve had no trouble,” Schnautz said, and if things still look good after a year in service, they will likely increase the number of leased trucks. “We’re looking forward to a full-service lease where we can give it back to them if something goes wrong.”

Where he is investing is making his equipment more flexible.

“I am putting dual PTOs on some of my equipment for more flexibility for backhauls,” Schnautz said. “I’m going full bore with that, where I wasn’t a year ago. Turn the truck into more of a Swiss Army knife, if you will.”

Parts: Price vs. Brand Loyalty

While freight has improved, parts managers said the environment is still one that requires a sharp focus on costs.

Richley said Groendyke has shifted away from focusing on brands toward finding the best value.

“I don’t want to say lesser quality,” he said, “but the lowest price for the best quality we can find.”

The company continues working toward single-sourcing many parts purchases to stabilize pricing while also consolidating vendors for breakdown services.

“Brand loyalty and equity count, but the best deal for the best quality is my bottom line.”

Clark Freight Lines President David Schnautz said improved parts availability has also changed the equation. When supply chains were scrambled in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, fleets often had little choice but to pay whatever was necessary. Today, parts are generally available again, but prices remain elevated.

“I don’t care whose name is on it,” Schnautz said. In his experience, OEM and aftermarket versions are often identical products manufactured by the same overseas suppliers. That reality has weakened brand loyalty in many purchasing decisions.

He offered one example: When he got an alert that the truck needed an air system sensor, a driver stopped at an OEM dealership. Faced with a $435 price tag and knowing his boss wouldn’t be happy about the amount, the driver found the same part online for about $125 delivered to the trucking company.

Those kinds of price differences are hard for maintenance managers to ignore.

Quality Still Matters, Especially With Technicians Scarce

Even with greater emphasis on pricing, none of the panelists suggested buying the cheapest available component. Instead, it’s a careful balance between quality and price.

Mike McDonald of B-H Transfer said labor shortages make quality more important than ever. Uptime has become increasingly important as freight volumes have improved.

While there’s a lot of focus on finding good drivers, he said, “Technicians aren’t falling out of the woodwork either. You can’t afford to not use high-quality parts.

“I’ve always been big on getting the highest quality you can get, but at a price you can afford,” McDonald said.

His company recently completed an extensive request-for-proposal process.

“We didn’t really change a lot of vendors,” he said, “but we sharpened the pencil on pricing.”

Creating that competition between multiple vendors led to lower pricing across multiple categories. Fuel and diesel exhaust fluid vendors were consolidated. DEF, for instance, went from four suppliers for six sites to now using a single supplier across the board.

Relationships Still Matter

Despite the increased emphasis on competitive pricing, the panelists weren’t ready to dismiss supplier relationships.

Richley noted that fleets aren’t simply buying a part. They’re buying from a distributor whose service can be just as important as the product itself.

Schnautz agreed.

Houston’s highly competitive parts market gives Clark Freight Lines plenty of purchasing options, he said, but longtime sales representatives still add value. They can often work with fleets on volume purchases or sharpen pricing when opportunities arise.

For instance, he said, he gets visits from his sales reps offering a deal: “If you buy a pallet of brake drums, I’ll give it to you at this price.”

What’s Driving Higher Parts Prices?

Although tariffs have dominated industry headlines over the past year, the panelists suggested they’re only one piece of a much larger cost picture.

Richley said pricing has become somewhat more predictable than earlier in the year. But geopolitical events, including the war in Iran and its effect on global oil markets, now appear to be affecting costs as much as tariff policy does.

That mirrors broader industry data showing that fleets continue to face rising maintenance costs from several directions.

Tariffs already were contributing to higher tire prices last year. The American Transportation Research Institute reported earlier this year that industry-average tire costs, including parts and labor, rose 6.4% to 5 cents per mile in 2025 after increasing by just 0.1 cent per mile in each of the previous two years.

ATRI attributed the jump to tariffs on natural rubber as well as higher petroleum prices, which affected synthetic rubber production. (And this was before the Iran War caused oil prices to skyrocket.)

Parts costs also have continued to climb. According to the Decisiv/TMC Parts & Labor Service Benchmark Report released in March, fleets saw a 25% increase in parts costs between the first quarter of 2020 and the fourth quarter of 2025.

In the fourth quarter of 2025 alone, Decisiv reported, parts costs increased 3.7% from a year earlier, a larger-than-normal jump that Decisiv officials said was partly tied to tariffs implemented earlier in the year.

Lubricants Lead Current Cost Increases

While fuel surcharges have helped fleets recover some of the higher cost of diesel fuel seen this year, that doesn’t help with other supplies and parts affected by the petroleum market, such as lubricants and tires.

“The cost of oil, tires — not just fuel,” Richley said. “It goes up every month.”

“I’m asking for assurances from our lubricants supplier; am I going to see those prices come back down or is that a new normal?” he added.

Schnautz agreed that pricing has stabilized, even if it hasn’t come down. McDonald said B-H Transfer hasn’t experienced significant supply shortages but has seen higher prices, pointing to recent increases in steel wheel costs.

When asked which operating expenses have increased the most, all three fleets pointed to lubricants or fuel — not hard parts. The seeming discrepancy between that and the industry data from last year is likely due to the high oil prices driven by the war in the Middle East.

Little Parts Pricing Relief Expected

Stronger business conditions are giving maintenance departments room to repair trucks they might have parked a year ago and resume equipment replacement cycles. But every purchasing decision still comes under intense scrutiny.

In its 2025 costs report, ATRI projected repair and maintenance costs would continue to rise, thanks to tariffs on imported parts and on steel, aluminum, and copper used to make parts in the U.S.  

Whether it’s consolidating suppliers, using competitive bids more frequently, or comparing OEM and aftermarket options more aggressively, fleets appear determined to make every maintenance dollar go further.