The Heavy Duty Parts Report
In each episode, Jamie Irvine and his guests have conversations that empower heavy-duty people. They discuss tips, tools, and technology that help heavy-duty parts manufacturers and distributors sell the right parts to fleets, repair shops, and truck operators.
The Heavy Duty Parts Report
What to Expect in Heavy-Duty Parts in 2026
Episode 360: In this episode, Jamie and Jennifer Irvine kick off 2026 by breaking down the biggest challenges and opportunities facing heavy‑duty parts businesses. They discuss the rapid rise of AI, the ongoing struggle to recruit and retain skilled people, and the critical need for strong marketing systems that actually convert leads.
They share real-world stories, insights from their consulting work, and a five‑step plan for companies looking to grow despite rising costs, market volatility, and shifting customer expectations. The conversation emphasizes strategy, people, technology, and the importance of eliminating internal barriers that prevent sales and growth.
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Sponsors of this Episode
The Hub Corp: Introducing the new standard in wheel-end protection: The Hub Corp's revolutionary XTRACTOR™. The only line of heavy-duty hub caps with a built-in 3-Stage Magnetic Oil Filter that safeguards critical axle components under extreme loads for longer. And with the patent-pending HexThread™ cartridge, the XTRACTOR makes hub oil servicing and inspections faster, easier, and cleaner. The Hub Corp: Challenge The Standard. Visit TheHubCorp.com to learn more and join the waitlist.
Fullbay: Fullbay is built for the heavy-duty world, giving your operation the tools to keep your fleet or independent repair shop running. Features like streamlined scheduling, real-time inventory tracking, technician efficiency insights, and detailed reports are how Fullbay helps shops reduce downtime and keep your vehicles on the road where they belong. Check out Fullbay.com/power to maximize your shop’s productivity.
GenAlpha: Equip360 by GenAlpha helps manufacturers and distributors grow their parts sales and make life easier for their customers. With real-time insights into inventory, pricing, and order tracking, it keeps customers coming back. Plus, it saves time by automating routine tasks and making repeat purchases simple. Explore Equip360 at GenAlpha.com.
Disclaimer: This content and description may contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, The Heavy Duty Parts Report may receive a commission.
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Jamie Irvine
It's a new year, can you believe it? 2026 has arrived. And this episode, we're going to talk about what it is going to take to really succeed in heavy-duty parts in 2026, based on some of the challenges we faced in 2025. To help me with that, I am happy to have Jennifer Irvine here with me. Jennifer, welcome to The Heavy Duty Parts Report.
Jennifer Irvine
So yes, it's the start of the year. Actually, today starts HDAW. So to kind of kick off 2026 - in Grapevine, Texas.
Jamie Irvine
Right, so we recorded this a couple weeks ago, but as of the day that this episode drops, which is January 19th, I'm actually down in Grapevine, Texas and attending the entire HDAW show, including HDAD, which is today, January 19th. And then the HDAW conference kicks off tomorrow and runs throughout the week. So over the next few days, I'm going to be recording footage of the show and interviews at the show, which we will share on our next episode. Excited to share that with you. If you're actually at the show, and by chance you're listening to today's episode, come on down and say hello. We'd love to see you. We've got The Heavy Duty Parts Report booth. If you go up to the main doors at the exhibition hall, to your left, there's a hallway, and there will be a couple podcast booths down there, including The Heavy Duty Parts Reports booth. So come on down and say hello. I'd love to talk to you. If you're not at the show, then watching the video version of this episode will give you some great insight into what being at HDAW is all about. And I highly encourage you, if you're in the heavy-duty parts business, to attend HDAW. It is the aftermarket heavy-duty parts show of the year. So this year, the show is again from today, January 19th through to the 22nd, and it's at the Gaylord Texan Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas. The theme of this year's show is Eyes on the Road. And a lot of the conversations this week are going to be about data, about AI, technology, tools and managing the volatility that we've experienced over the past few years, which is anticipated to continue in 2026. Now, why should you attend? There are over 300 suppliers. So basically anybody who supplies to the heavy-duty parts industry is at this show. So you want to go and visit with the suppliers. There are one-on-one business meetings, which allows suppliers and distributors to meet together to discuss what the plan is for 2026. In addition to that, there's education and networking events that are really built for the decision makers of heavy-duty parts companies so you want to be there. For me, a couple of the highlights of the show are the two exhibition times that are set out on Tuesday from 1:30pm to 6pm and Wednesday from 8:30am to 1 pm. And in addition to that, this year there's a Wild West Wednesday reception in the evening. So I've got my cowboy boots and really as an Albertan in Texas, I'm going to feel right at home in this Wild West reception. So lots of reasons to come to the show, Jen.
Jennifer Irvine
It sounds like it'll be a great show and a very applicable theme talking about AI. Seems like AI is taking over everything right now. And then you talked about volatility. Yep, lots of that happening in the world and in the industry. So I was thinking with AI, it's very easy to be resistant to change. But if we want to stay relevant, whether business or anything, we have to be able to use these new tools in order to do that.
Jamie Irvine
Yeah, one of the things that comes to mind when I hear you say that is really from, let's say, the 2000s, the early 2000s until just a couple years ago, that was really what they call Web 2.0. And there's a lot of heavy-duty parts companies that very slowly adopted that Web 2.0 technology. Think about e-commerce platforms, things like that. And it didn't necessarily detrimentally affect their business that they didn't adopt quickly. And it took time for that technology to develop and to really become prolific in the industry. That's not the case with what they are now calling Web 3.0 technology, which includes AI, it includes robotics. We are going to see the entire technological landscape change in months, not years. And so I think the time for slow adoption is over. And so there's a lot to think about and there's a lot of decisions that need to be made, which can really affect the performance of the business.
Jennifer Irvine
Okay, so I was looking actually yesterday with the help of AI, making a list of some of the things, the biggest things that business face as challenges in 2025, just to see if they seem like they'll continue in 2026, anything new that hasn't been an issue before. And of course, one of the biggest things, rising costs, that's hitting everybody. It doesn't matter if it's business, at home, you go buy a bag of groceries, you see costs are rising. And then there was several other things on the list as well. I know number two on the list was something you're interested in.
Jamie Irvine
So with all the talk of technology and how AI is going to take everybody's jobs and robots and robotics is going to replace everyone, it's interesting to me that people recruiting the right people and closing the gap on skilled people, which really does affect the heavy-duty parts and trucking industry, because so many of the positions are, really requiring skilled labor to be able to effectively do them. And that is still one of the biggest concerns of businesses, both in 2025 and going on into 2026. So it's interesting, right? There's all this hype about AI robots, but people at the end of the day still are the heart of this business.
Jennifer Irvine
Yeah, so it's finding the talent. That's a big issue to start with, but then retaining it. So no matter what, you're right. If you don't have the people, the right people, good people, trained people, or even if you can get them in the door and they leave, your business is still going to struggle.
Jamie Irvine
So many of me as the host of The Heavy Duty Parts Report, but not everyone really sees the consulting business that kind of operates behind the scenes and that really provides us with not only a living, but also gives us the ability to work with so many different companies. One of the things that we actually do a lot of work with our clients on at the Heavy Duty Consulting Corporation is we work with them on building out a system that allows them to recruit and also to retain employees. And so a big part of that, really the foundation of that system is using psychometrics or personality profile assessments to be able to establish, first of all, if you are hiring for a specific role, what would be the ideal personality profile for somebody to not only be able to be in that role, but to be able to succeed at a high level? And then how do you screen candidates to see which of the people who are applying for that job actually match up to that profile and actually have those innate personality characteristics that would allow them to be really great in that position if they also have the necessary education, experience, and skills? And then from there, how do you align each position in your company with the staff that you already have to ensure that each person is really leaning into their strengths? Because when you have that environment where everybody is leaning into their strengths, that's where you see happiness in the job. You see, you know, retention rates really skyrocket because people start saying, look, I love my job. I get to do what I'm really good at every day. And the stuff I'm not so good at, they found someone else in the business who's awesome at that to do it. And so you can really see how that environment would spur a performance from the entire team and would get the business a lot of results.
Jennifer Irvine
I was just thinking because I read some comments online somewhere the other day and they were saying like I hate those kind of tests, I hate applying for a job and having these kind of tests and like what does that say about whether I can do the job like I know how to be a mechanic, I know how to do this, whatever. But I was thinking how even just for you and I, that we took those tests years ago in training to use them in our business. But the difference it's made, even just in understanding, even just in marriage, honestly, right? When you can take those tests and you can understand better what motivates you as an employee, as a person. And not everybody is very introspective about that stuff or you know thinks about it in terms of oh I need this or this helps me to perform better or to work better, or to be happier all of all of us want to be happier 2026 you're going to see tons of stuff of people I want to be more content I want to be more fulfilled, I want to be happy so if we have better alignment in our life with our personality it's going to really help with that.
Jamie Irvine
And I actually look at it from a different perspective. I say that a company who takes the time to do that level of assessment when they're evaluating you for a job is really a signal that they really care deeply about finding someone who's going to fit into their company and be able to work there for a very long time and to be very happy in their job. And while there are certain standards where we have to do certain jobs the same way, so for example, there's standards around how to repair a commercial vehicle, there is differences in the way one shop operates over another, or there are differences in the way one company goes to market in the sales department over another, as another example. And so when you come across a company who's taking the time to do that assessment, they are looking for a specific type of person. And if you are that person and you have that relevant education, experience, and skills in addition to a good match, that's a signal to you that this is a company and this is a job, you should really take seriously about trying to join that company and fill that position because you have a signal there that tells you, hey, look, if I did the assessment and they hired me, that must mean that I'm a really good fit for that model that they've created. And that's a signal to me that, hey, I think I'm going to probably be pretty happy and successful in this job. So I think if you look at it from a positive point of view, on the flip side of that, if they don't, then they're telling you something. They're saying that in their business, in their culture, and in the way that they've structured that job, you would actually struggle to be at your best in that position. So they're telling you something positive there because they're saying, look, this is not the right spot for you, which frees you up to pursue a job with someone else where you would be a good fit. So, I mean, maybe that's a little, cup half full, cup half empty, and it just depends on your perception. I don't know. But to me, that's the way I see it.
Jennifer Irvine
Also, though, I was thinking, well, my brother's a good example of 1, that he actually was in a company and got promoted, but because of his personality, he was miserable. So yes, it was a promotion. Everybody kind of looks at, oh, you want a promotion? Not everybody wants a promotion is going to be happier. So sometimes we have to do things we don't like. We have to pay the bills, rising costs, everything. But if we can stay at a level in a company where we're actually happier, we can do our job better. We can feel every day like we're doing a good job instead of getting bumped up and being miserable or feeling like every day you're not doing well, that's not a good place to be. So those assessments can tell those things too.
Jamie Irvine
Yeah, there's a great study out of the University of Toronto that they ended up calling the Peter Principle. And it's part of how we approach organizational design, which is another component to the people service that we offer for heavy-duty companies. So we've talked about people now for a while. At the end of the day, if you're interested in really understanding how our system works and will help you to not only recruit, but also retain top talented people in your company, you should reach out to us. You can do so by going to the contact page on heavy duty parts. You can do so if you're on the heavy duty parts report.com website, you can just click the consulting button. If you want to contact us, go to heavydutypartsreport.com, click the consulting button, which will take you through to heavydutyconsulting.com, and there's a very easy contact page where you can see my availability and you can book an appointment with me to discuss your specific situation. We look forward to hearing from you.
It's time to hear from our sponsors. We'll be right back.
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Fullbay: It's not just fleets and owner operators that need to look at their total cost of operation and find tools that help them with their business. If you're running a repair shop, then you need tools to streamline your operations and that's why I recommend Fullbay. Now Fullbay has features like streamline scheduling, real time inventory tracking, technician, efficiency, insights and detailed report on exactly every aspect of the business that you need to be paying attention to make sure that your repair shop is running as efficiently as possible. And what does this mean for you?
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GenAlpha: Manufacturers and distributors are a key component in the supply chain, and they play a vital role in keeping trucks and trailers rolling. I'd like to introduce you to Equip360 by GenAlpha. This platform helps manufacturers and distributors grow their part sales, but more importantly it helps them make their customers lives easier, and that's so important. With real time insights into inventory pricing and order tracking, it's going to keep your customers coming back.
Plus, it saves time by automating routine tasks and making repeat purchases simple. I encourage you to explore Equip360 at genalpha.com GENalpha.com. Check it out today.
We're back from our break. Make sure you go and check out the links in our show notes to all of our sponsors. OK, let's get back to this episode.
Jen, before the break, we talked about AI. We talked about the challenges around recruiting and retaining people. You had kind of built a list of the top problems that heavy duty companies are going to face in 2026. What's the next one?
Jennifer Irvine
Okay, well, I have to tell the story to tell this one. So this is always a problem in business, but on the 2025 list, again, was marketing and lead generation. So every time we talk about this, it reminds me of a story. Years and years ago, we were hired many by the owner of a company. He was actually a contractor, so it wasn't in the heavy-duty market, but it applies, just stay with me for a minute here. He wanted to expand his business. So typical, right? Expand my business. He really needed help with marketing and he decided he was going to go all in on a big trade show.
Jamie Irvine
Kind of like, kind of like HDAW. It was that same environment.
Jennifer Irvine
It was that site. He spent a lot of money on a huge booth. So I don't know what these are worth now.
Jamie Irvine
Thousands and thousands of dollars. Yeah.
Jennifer Irvine
So he had big plans of expanding his company. He was a typical technician though, he wasn't great at chatting and talking with people. So he had hired us to work the booth for him, right? So we had a goal that we had discussed ahead of time, get information from qualified leads who wanted a quote to have work done on their houses. So over the few days we were there, we got 70 confirmed real leads that wanted quotes, were ready to do work on their house. And so he was ecstatic. We were happy. That was what he paid us for. We went on our way, but a few weeks later, we wanted to check in with him and we touched base to see how it was going, following up, how many leads had been converted. And he hadn't contacted a single one of those leads, not even contacted, not even an e-mail of we'll get back to you, nothing and so we were shocked obviously it was sad to see that went nowhere and then he mentioned how disappointed he is his business didn't grow after that trade show and we were incredulous because of course, like you know it wasn't going to grow without the work behind the scenes. But it did make me think how this situation is so common because He wanted to grow his business. Everybody wants that. He spent a lot of money on a marketing idea. Well, everybody's doing some kind of marketing and it costs more and more money nowadays. But then he had no system beyond that to capture the leads, turn them into any sort of ROI. Like there, there was no follow up. So then he got very discouraged that this didn't work and he probably never tried that again. So that was years ago, not even where we are now. I haven't kept in touch with him, but I'm assuming, at least from trade shows, he wasn't getting the results he wanted. And it's sad because it could have turned out differently.
Jamie Irvine
Yeah, and how I see that play out kind of in the last couple years is on the digital front. And so I think of how many podcasts have been started over the last few years by big companies, right? So tier one suppliers, big national distributors, a few episodes in, they get cut. Why? Well, a lot of times I think it's because people feel that, you know, we've done this big investment and we didn't get this wave of orders and new customers. So obviously that thing doesn't work. But the reality is, that brand awareness and building a marketing machine that drives leads to your business, especially in B2B, is not a linear type of proposition. You know, if you're selling a specific product, let's say on an e-commerce website, and you run an ad for that part number, you know, it's pretty easy to track the ROI, right? I spent $10 in advertising, I got $100 sale, I made $30 profit, I'm up 20 bucks. That's much easier to measure. But when you are trying to build a B2B brand in a marketplace and you're trying to establish that, and what I see a lot of business leaders do is they look at other companies that have done it successfully and they go, we want that. So we're going to start a podcast. We're going to do all this kind of digital marketing. We're going to fire up a bunch of social media channels. And then they're really, really disappointed by the results. But what they don't realize is that oftentimes it takes a long time to develop a foundation of and establish that brand in that digital way. And in addition to that, each year, things are changing so quickly. The algorithms are changing. What the social platforms are looking for is changing. The cost of marketing and advertising is going up. And so it's really difficult for companies who are looking at things in a narrow quarter by quarter kind of perspective to make the long-term investment and make that work. And they often abandon these endeavors way too soon. And speaking of e-commerce, it's another area where I've seen a lot of businesses spend a lot of money, but not get a lot of results because they might just be looking at it incorrectly. If you want to go back to episode 355, where I interviewed Kris Harrington from GenAlpha, a sponsor of the show, but also the only e-commerce platform we recommend for heavy-duty parts distributors and manufacturers, she talked a lot about how the e-commerce environment, that's your digital presence. That's where people come to do business with you. And just like in your physical presence, when they come to your store, they come to your place of business. They're not just there to buy something. A lot of times they're there to get information, to, you know, talk to the accounting department, to maybe get technical specs, to deal with a warranty. And all of that's happening on your e-commerce site in 2025. going into 2026. So you have to have a very different perspective when it comes to marketing. I think that I bring a unique perspective because I have worked both in the large corporate world and also, we've been running this podcast for many years. We've done a lot of our own small businesses over the years. So we understand how this stuff all works and how you have to put it together to be successful. So if you're interested in really expanding your marketing and sales and your digital presence, definitely, we would like to talk to you. Again, just go over to our website, hit the consulting button and book an appointment with me. You can do that by going to the contact page and you'll see my calendar so you can see all my availability.
Jennifer Irvine
Yeah, just when you're saying that about e-commerce, I know some companies, you know, shopping online, we're in a small town where we live, so there's not a lot here unless you're shopping online. And I know there's some companies I've gone to their e-commerce, gone to their website. And if it's a brutal experience, I'm not shopping there again. And so same with the heavy-duty parts companies. We don't want to make it harder for people to do business with us because everything is fast. I mean, years when we were teenagers, we waited for the dial up sound for the internet. We're not, now if it's more than a second on my phone, I'm like, well, I'm not dealing with this. I don't have time for this. So we do have to, our expectation has gone up of how fast and how good things have to run. But with that, to keep pace, companies have to follow suit.
Jamie Irvine
So as we've discussed, there is a lot to this. And having the right strategy is really, really important. And so that's where the Heavy Duty Consulting Corporation comes in. We can help you develop that strategy because let's face it, the costs are going up and up and up to do this the right way. So you don't want to make a mistake. As an example, when we were paying for some brand awareness as we were establishing The Heavy Duty Parts Report, you know, what I could get for, let's say, $100 of advertising spend 2 years ago, the amount of reach that I got, I feel like that's dropped by 90% over the last couple of years. It's ridiculous how expensive things are. And that, I don't think that trend is going to change anytime soon.
Jennifer Irvine
No, see, it's shrinkflation, just like when I buy chips. Same price, less in a bag. So that brings us back full circle to the prices going up and us having to mitigate for that. So if we could sum up a few things that heavy-duty businesses can do in 2026 to reach their goals despite these challenges, what would your advice be?
Jamie Irvine
Okay, so there's a five step plan here that you need to follow. So one, you have to have a solid strategy. Two, you got to get the right people sitting in the right seats. Three, you have to focus on the things that are going to move the needle towards your goals and help you fulfill the strategic intent of your strategy and your business plan. And that means also four, reducing the size of your sales prevention department. We didn't really talk about that in today's episode, but that is a recurring theme that I see over and over again inside of companies. Companies do things, they get in their own way. They make it harder for customers to do business with them than necessary. And therefore, they really don't ever get the full results that they should be getting if they were to really focus on reducing that sales prevention department. So you got to take a look at that. And 5, you're going to need to invest in technology. It has to be part of your overall strategy. So whether you're talking about a new e-commerce platform and going with GenAlpha, or you're talking if you're a repair shop about a shop management software software system like Fullbay. If you are in the sales game and you're running a sales company where you got to sell parts and you got to sell service, then you should look at Minecart, which is an AI-powered sales enablement tool. They're a new partner of ours, and we're going to be talking a lot more about them in 2026, but I think that is 1 amazing tool. You might want to also look at the systems of your business, or you might want to develop some custom software that allows your company to be more productive and to reduce the cost of doing something of a specific function. And we've got a partner there, Knomatic Software. We've had them on the podcast before. Just an amazing no-code, low-code company that can develop and customize software for your business. And then finally, with people, you've got to look at traits. So these are all partners of ours, but they're not just paying partners. They're companies I actually have ties to that I have worked with. I've used their solutions myself. I know they work, and that's why I recommend them to the heavy-duty parts industry. So there's a lot there. And sometimes it's really nice to have somebody to help guide you through step by step by step, not only the development of the strategy, but the execution of that. And that's where the Heavy Duty Consulting Corporation comes in. And so we are really excited about 2026, where we get to continue to work with great heavy-duty people in awesome heavy-duty businesses. And our goal is to help them to really unleash the full potential that is within both their business and the people who work for them. So that's what 2026 is about for us.
Jennifer Irvine
Yeah, I was thinking how many ads I've seen for get a fitness coach, right? Well, the idea, well, why can't we do it ourselves? We know, eat less, exercise more. Like it's simple, simple, but I'm still, maybe it's the chips thing. Okay, fair enough. But people get a fitness coach, right? Because it's hard to do it yourself, even if you know what to do. Tons of ads for therapy now, online therapy, better help, stuff like that. Like, yes, you know, don't yell at your family. You'll have a better family. But tons of people that, okay, they still want to talk to a professional and get that help walking through. I think of this as the same way. A lot of companies, okay, well, I don't need a business consultant. Like, I know, okay, get my sales up, get my costs down. It's fine. It's not that easy. And when you're in it, it's very hard to see the forest for the trees. So this, no matter what for coaching, consulting, it really helps you to be able to take that objective point of view where someone else can go, my emotions aren't involved here. You know, if you did X, Y, Z, this would help a lot. And sometimes it's so obvious it's staring us in the face, but we can't do it without that help. So that's what I really think, especially what you're able to help heavy-duty businesses do.
Jamie Irvine
Well, and you know, your clients often refer to you as the business therapist. And so I think depending on who you're working with, whether it's me in heavy duty parts or if you're in the contracting world and you're working with Jen, she is an excellent business therapist, will help you through the tough times. And I think I like to think of myself as somebody who can provide you with a perspective and guidance and a direction that will really help you to accomplish your goals. You've been listening to The Heavy Duty Parts Report. My name is Jamie Irvine and I've had Jen Irvine with me today. We've been talking about the challenges heavy-duty parts businesses will face in 2026 and beyond. And we look forward to continuing to provide you with heavy-duty parts content. Come back next episode because we are going to have our full episode covering HDAW and we've got a completely new kind of format for how we're going to showcase the HDAW event this year on our show. So come back in a couple of weeks, check out that episode, head over to heavydutypartsreport.com, follow the show, subscribe to it. We are looking forward to having you with us this year. And Jen, thanks for being on the podcast with me and helping me get through this list of things that people need to work on in 2026 in heavy-duty.
Jennifer Irvine
Absolutely.
Jamie Irvine
Thanks, Jen. And as always, I want to encourage you to be heavy duty.