When it comes to equipping your semi truck fleet with the best parts at the best price, there are many misconceptions and myths surrounding semi truck parts that you must first dismiss—otherwise, these myths may lead you astray. In this post, we will dispel some of the most common myths surrounding the purchasing of semi truck parts in Marion County, FL, and share some best practices for being a smart buyer.
Truth: New, refurbished and used parts come in a variety of qualities and price points
While one common myth says that all semi truck parts are created equally, the truth is that many manufacturers spend more money on research and development than on testing the long-term reliability of their products. When it comes to heavy-duty trucking, the weight and stress faced every day by a semi truck means that, no matter what some new company promises, you are always better off trusting a company that rigorously tests its products, and has products that have years and years of testing bearing out their quality.
Truth: There are more important things to consider than price when buying semi truck parts
You should always favor parts that are common and readily available, even if other parts are cheaper. The thing is, if you cannot get a replacement part the same day something goes wrong on your truck, you will be leaving money on the table. Also, the more common a part is, the more likely it is that your semi truck repair contractor will be familiar with it.
Truth: Wear and tear make as much of a difference as age when it comes to the performance of your truck
An important factor to consider when purchasing new parts is where your truck is in its overall life cycle. As a truck ages, it becomes harder and harder to keep it running at peak efficiency, and therefore it becomes more and more expensive to maintain. You want to have someone in charge of your fleet who fully tracks each truck’s usage and every dollar put into maintaining it. This person should have a reliable model for predicting when it is best to pay for maintenance on your truck, and when it makes financial sense to trade up before repair costs snowball.
Truth: Industry standards are poorly defined and enforced
The safety standards that apply to truck parts are poorly defined and almost never apply to parts imported from outside the country. This is yet another reason why you should prefer common, trusted parts to newfangled cheap parts. The market for semi truck parts is largely regulated by forces of scale. Almost every truck company prefers the same parts from the same handful of companies, because these parts have performed so reliably for so many years, and in such great numbers that, despite the lack of robust centralized quality testing in the industry, these parts and these companies can truly be counted on.
Find semi truck parts in Marion County, FL
If you are in the market for semi truck parts in Marion County, FL, the most important thing to remember is to never buy blindly. If you don’t feel you have the time to do the research yourself, or if you do not have a fleet manager on contract, we hope you will reach out to us today for a consultation or to schedule an appointment to learn about how we can help your business.