A lot of people are interested in becoming diesel mechanics because they:
However, many people only see one side of the industry. They see:
…but they do not always see the reality of the day-to-day work.
Continue reading What Is Day-to-Day Life Really Like as a Diesel Mechanic?Many diesel repair shops focus heavily on:
However, the strongest shops usually track much deeper operational data.
Why? Because profitability problems rarely appear overnight.
Most issues start as:
Tracking the right diesel repair shop KPIs helps identify these issues before they become major financial problems.
Instead of waiting until the end of the month to see whether the shop made money, many successful diesel repair shops monitor key performance indicators weekly.
That allows owners and managers to:
A KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is a measurable metric used to track business performance.
In a diesel repair shop, KPIs help measure:
Good KPI tracking turns shop management into a data-driven process instead of guesswork.
One of the most important diesel repair shop KPIs is Effective Labor Rate (ELR).
ELR measures:
👉 What the shop actually collects per billed labor hour.
Many shops focus only on their posted labor rate.
However:
…can significantly reduce the actual collected labor revenue.
Effective Labor Rate is commonly calculated as:
ELR=Total Billed HoursTotal Labor Sales
A low ELR may indicate:
Strong ELR tracking helps shops understand what they are truly earning: not just what they charge on paper.
This measures how many billable hours a technician produces compared to paid hours.
Technician Efficiency=Paid HoursBilled Hours×100
Efficiency helps determine:
For example:
Low efficiency may indicate:
Efficiency and productivity are not the same thing.
Productivity measures:
👉 How much time technicians actually spend working on vehicles.
A technician may be efficient while still losing productivity because of:
Strong shops track both efficiency and productivity together.
RO Count measures:
👉 How many repair orders the shop closes during a specific period.
This KPI helps monitor:
A sudden drop in RO count may indicate:
Average Repair Order measures:
👉 The average revenue generated per repair order.
ARO=Total Repair Orders Total Revenue
A low ARO may indicate:
A strong ARO usually reflects:
One of the most overlooked diesel repair shop KPIs is parts margin.
Many shops focus heavily on labor profitability while ignoring:
However, parts sales often represent a major portion of total shop revenue.
Weak parts margins can quietly destroy profitability.
Common causes include:
Strong shops closely monitor:
ARPO measures:
👉 Average parts revenue generated per repair order.
Low ARPO may indicate:
Strong ARPO numbers often reflect:
Comeback rate measures:
👉 How often vehicles return for the same repair issue.
This is one of the most important quality-control KPIs in any diesel repair shop.
Comebacks damage:
Repeat repairs also increase:
Strong diesel repair shops focus heavily on:
…to minimize comeback rates.
Turnaround time tracks:
👉 How long trucks remain in the shop from arrival to completion.
This KPI is especially important for:
Long turnaround times may result from:
Dwell time measures:
👉 How long a truck sits before work actually begins.
A truck sitting idle in the yard generates:
Reducing dwell time often improves:
Gross profit margin helps determine:
👉 How much profit remains after direct costs are removed.
Strong shops monitor:
Tracking gross profit helps shops identify:
Inventory turns measure:
👉 How often inventory is sold and replenished.
Slow-moving inventory ties up:
Strong inventory management helps reduce:
Many successful shops review KPIs weekly instead of monthly.
Weekly tracking allows shops to identify:
…before they become larger operational issues.
Many diesel repair shops use KPIs together to forecast revenue.
Labor revenue commonly depends on:
Parts revenue commonly depends on:
Tracking these numbers weekly helps shops predict:
Good KPI tracking also improves:
The goal is not simply increasing numbers.
The goal is building:
The best diesel repair shops do not rely on guesswork.
They track KPIs consistently to understand:
Some of the most important diesel repair shop KPIs include:
Tracking these metrics weekly helps shops identify problems early, improve workflow, and build stronger long-term profitability.
Call 844-304-7688 or visit highwayandheavyparts.com to get the right diesel engine parts for your application.
From diagnosis through delivery, we’re Highway and Heavy Parts.
Being a diesel mechanic is not an easy career – but that is also part of what attracts many people to it.
Modern diesel technicians are expected to understand:
At the same time, the work can be physically demanding and fast-paced.
However, for many technicians, the challenge is also what makes the career rewarding.
Continue reading Is It Hard to Be a Diesel Mechanic?Connecting rods are among the strongest components inside a diesel engine. Built from forged steel or powdered metal, they are designed to withstand enormous combustion pressures and transfer thousands of pounds of force every second from the piston to the crankshaft.
Because they are so robust, connecting rods rarely fail on their own.
When a connecting rod bends, breaks, or suffers bearing damage, it is almost always the result of another underlying problem. Oil starvation, bearing failure, overheating, improper assembly, hydrolock, overspeed, or using outdated components during an engine overhaul can all lead to connecting rod damage.
That is why replacing a damaged connecting rod without identifying the original cause often leads to another expensive engine failure.
This failure analysis walks through one real-world example of connecting rod damage, explains why it happened, and highlights other common causes of connecting rod failure so you can diagnose the root cause—not just replace broken parts.
Long hours behind the wheel demand more than just caffeine.
For truck drivers, staying alert comes down to stable energy, focus, and avoiding crashes that come from the wrong foods.
👉 The best snacks don’t spike your energy: they keep it steady.
That means choosing foods that are:
Winter can be one of the toughest seasons for both diesel trucks and the people who drive them. Snow, ice, freezing temperatures, reduced visibility, and changing road conditions all increase the risk of breakdowns and accidents. Cold weather also puts additional stress on your truck’s batteries, cooling system, air system, tires, and engine.
The good news is that most winter problems can be prevented with a little preparation before your trip begins.
Whether you’re hauling freight across multiple states or making regional deliveries, these winter driving tips can help keep you safer, reduce downtime, and protect your diesel engine throughout the season.
Need replacement parts to get your diesel engine ready for winter? Our ASE Certified Technicians can help you find the right parts the first time.
If you’ve spent any time around commercial trucking, you’ve probably heard the debate:
Should you buy new tires, or retread the ones you already have?
Some fleets run almost exclusively on premium new tires. Others routinely retread their drive and trailer tires multiple times to maximize the value of every casing.
The truth is that there isn’t one correct answer for every truck or every fleet.
The best choice depends on the truck’s application, axle position, operating environment, casing condition, and maintenance program.
Let’s look at how new and retread tires compare.
Diesel has dominated heavy-duty trucking for a reason.
It is energy-dense, widely available, familiar to fleets, and supported by a massive fueling and service network. But it is not the only option.
Natural gas semi trucks have been used in commercial fleets for years, especially in refuse, regional haul, port drayage, delivery, and return-to-base operations. They run on either compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), or renewable natural gas (RNG), offering a lower-emissions alternative to diesel for certain heavy-duty applications.
They are not perfect. They are not a drop-in answer for every fleet. But they are also not experimental.
Natural gas trucks are one of the more mature alternative-fuel options available for heavy-duty commercial transportation today.
Truck shows are more than just polished builds and chrome.
For diesel repair shops, owner-operators, fleets, and vendors, the right event is an opportunity to:
If you’re planning your 2026 calendar, here are some of the most relevant diesel and semi-truck-focused shows across the United States, organized by month.
👉 Always confirm dates and registration details on official event websites before traveling – many events fill quickly or update schedules.
Continue reading 2026 Truck Shows Across the U.S. (Diesel & Semi-Truck Focus)When a diesel engine suffers a broken crankshaft, it’s easy to assume the crankshaft simply reached the end of its life.
In reality, that’s rarely the full story.
Heavy-duty diesel crankshafts are designed to withstand millions of combustion cycles under enormous loads. Yet even these incredibly strong components are constantly twisting and flexing as each cylinder fires. That twisting motion—known as torsional vibration—is completely normal, but it must be controlled.
That’s where the vibration damper comes in.
While the crankshaft converts combustion into rotational power, the vibration damper absorbs harmful torsional vibrations before they can damage the lower rotating assembly.
When the damper begins to wear out, the crankshaft absorbs more of those forces itself. Over time, the result can be accelerated fatigue, bearing wear, excessive vibration, and eventually a cracked or broken crankshaft.
Understanding how these two components work together can help prevent one of the most expensive diesel engine failures possible.
The PACCAR MX-13 is used in many Kenworth and Peterbilt heavy-duty trucks, especially in long-haul and fleet applications.
Like any modern diesel engine, it depends on several systems working together:
When one of these systems starts to fail, the symptom may show up as low power, derate, rough idle, hard starting, excessive regens, or poor fuel economy.
The key is not just replacing the part that triggered the fault code: it is identifying why the issue happened in the first place.
Continue reading PACCAR MX-13 Common Engine Problems & Solutions
