Pub2-2021-Issue3

6 Kentucky Trucker Medley’s Auto and Truck Repair Service Inc. COMPLETE TRUCK & TRAILER ALIGNMENTS TRACKING & TRAM D.O.T. INSPECTIONS U-BOLTS STEERING REPAIRS FRAME ALTERATIONS TRUCK FABRICATIONS LEAF & AIR SPRINGS AIR RIDE SUSPENSION ANY SUSPENSION REPAIRS FIFTH WHEEL WHEEL BALANCING/ TIRE REPLACEMENT DRIVE AXEL REPAIRS & REPLACEMENT 3913 Shepherdsville Road • Louisvile, KY 40218 • 502-459-5740 Email us at quote@medleystruck.com • Visit us at medleystruck.com At Medley’s Truck, we get you back up and running. continued from page 5 has gotten even more constricted since then. Many companies have increased their stockpiles of necessary parts, and they are also increasing the number of parts they consider necessary. Currently, sourcing parts can be done, but it involves extended lead times. Buyers who are used to complaining about fulfillment rates at 80% or less are now grateful for 30% fulfillment rates. Put the shortages in context. Cars have about 30,000 parts. I don’t know how many parts are in trucks, but I am pretty sure the number is more than 30,000. There’s a tier system to provide OEMs with those parts. Tier 1 suppliers sell to OEMs. Most have a close business relationship with one or two OEMs, but they may also have a more distant relationship with other OEMs. Tier 2 suppliers don’t sell directly to OEMs, but their parts often wind up in cars anyway. Tier 3 suppliers sell raw or close-to-raw materials. The shortages have affected all Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers. Stockpiling is a natural reaction to shortages, but some large companies have taken out loans so they can spend three times as much money as usual on parts this year. They want to prevent shortages during the next three years. But their stockpiling strategy causes problems for smaller companies that can’t spend that kind of cash on parts. It’s like someone buying all the available toilet paper and leaving empty shelves for everyone else. Key relationships with parts suppliers have been important. If you can be proactive and call the right person about a part that isn’t generally available, sometimes you can find one after all. But as time goes on and supply chain problems persist, it is harder to make that call and still be successful. And there are other problems, too. For example, you might find aftermarket parts, but they often won’t be covered by a warranty. However, you might not care about a warranty if that’s the only way to get a key part. The hardest problems are always the ones where you can’t take care of them alone, and you have to rely on other people. But fortunately, KTA members are not alone. We want to help you stay in business. It is a tremendous advantage to have help from the association, and we want you to know that we are aware of your business challenges. Let’s work together to solve these difficult problems.