Truck dealers supply 44.7% of fan clutches for heavy-duty vehicles
How do your parts buying practices compare to those of your peers? Results from the FLEET OWNER Aftermarket Monitor survey on diesel engines for 1997 show that truck dealers are used as sources for heavy-duty-vehicle fan clutches 44.7% of the time. (Fig. 1)
When the data is segmented by GVW class, we can see that truck dealers are used as sources for fan clutches with about the same frequency across all GVW categories. In contrast, engine specialists are used as sources for heavy-duty-vehicle fan clutches more often than they are for those in the medium and midrange categories. At the same time, heavy-duty vehicles do not use jobbers/parts houses nearly as often as do midrange or medium-duty vehicles. (Fig. 1)
Fan clutches for midrange vehicles are purchased less frequently from heavy-duty distributors (11.5%) than are those for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. This group uses independent garages more frequently than the other groups do (6.7%), and is the only group to make significant use of used parts sources (4.0%). (Fig. 1)
When the heavy-duty data is broken down by fleet size, we see that use of truck dealers as a source of fan clutches is quite similar across all sizes. With a few exceptions, this pattern is fairly common, regardless of the part being purchased.
As fleet size increases, so does the use of heavy-duty distributors.
Small fleets (1-24 vehicles) use this source 15.6% of the time; medium fleets (25-100), 19.5%; and large fleets (101+), 33.2%. Data analysis also shows that large fleets (8.4%) use jobbers/parts houses substantially less often than do small- (13.5%) and medium-size (20.5%) fleets. (Fig. 2)
The Aftermarket Monitor divides components into 15 major groups and sends out more than 4,000 questionnaires each month to commercial vehicle operators. Parts categories covered are diesel engines; gas engines; electrical and lights; air brakes, wheel seals and bearings; hydraulic brakes, wheel seals and bearings; manual transmissions and clutches; automatic transmissions; drive axles, universal joints and drivelines, and PTO drives; exhaust components and engine cooling systems; front suspension and shock absorbers; rear suspensions and springs; engine oil and filtration systems; tires; electronics, wheels and fifth wheels; seats, mirrors, tanks, and leak detection equipment; and paint.
For more information on FLEET OWNER's Aftermarket Monitor, call Tom Duncan at 914-287-6710.
The following individuals recently received prizes for participating in last month's survey: Larry Hall, Barrup Farms, Irasburg, Vt.; Gary Charlton, County of York, York, Neb.; and Andy Knowles, Knowles Trucking, Tyrone, Ga.
[Ed. Note: For more information on charts mentioned in story, refer to page 144 of FLEET OWNER's March 1998 issue.]
