MANHASSET, N.Y. – An upward trend in commercial vehicle aftermarket parts sales is in place, according to the latest Parts Aftermarket Leading Retail Sales Indicator (PLI) from Commercial Motor Vehicle Consulting (CMVC).

The index ticked up 0.6% in April from March, after a 0.6% increase in March. It has increased for 10 consecutive months and is up 6.7% year-over-year.

“PLI is signaling a very positive parts aftermarket as the truck population is operating at high utilization rates implying trucks are depreciating at normal rates and the population of trucks in operation is expanding as the inventory of used trucks decreases and new truck sales are above replacement demand volumes implying fleets are expanding capacity,” said Chris Brady, president of CMVC.

“Commercial vehicle parts aftermarket sales are expanding at faster growth rates than the total truck population, since the population of newer model year vehicles are expanding at faster rate than the total truck population.  Newer model year trucks operate in higher utilization applications than older model year trucks, so consume parts at faster rates than older model year trucks.”