Dealers expand mobile service as tech, demand rises

Equipment dealers are increasing their efforts to deliver mobile services for customers as industry technology ramps up and demand for holistic solutions grows. 

The machinery and heavy equipment repair and maintenance industry expanded to $50 billion in 2024, with a sustained 8% annual growth over the past three years, according to a Nov. 6 market research note by Kentley Insights. 

As the repair and maintenance side of the industry expands, more OEMs and dealers aim to implement mobile repair services to meet demand, especially in agriculture and transportation, for which repair shop access remains limited.  

AGCO’s FarmerCore 

Ag OEM AGCO has launched FarmerCore to deliver mobile repair services to farmers, and the platform already aligns with dealer Parallel Ag’s efforts to deliver repairs to customers, Parallel Ag Chief Executive and President Shawn Skaggs told Equipment Finance News. 

“We’ve invested heavily in mobile service, field diagnostics and technician availability for years, so AGCO’s vision aligns well with how we support customers today,” he said. “We’re currently working on rolling the program out across our new locations in Illinois.” 

With the structure FarmerCore creates, AGCO dealers can deliver better mobile service and strengthen uptime, Skaggs said. 

 “If AGCO executes the program the way it’s intended, it will reinforce the level of responsiveness and field support customers already expect from us,” he said. 

Commercial fleet repairs improving 

Expanded commercial mobile fleets boost efficiency by handling minor repairs in the field while freeing shop technicians for major work, and allowing dealerships to split operations, Peter Spitzer, commercial and fleet account manager at Dixon, Calif.-based dealer Ron Du Pratt Ford, said during the virtual Commercial Vehicle Business Summit in October. 

“You have mobile, you have commercial, you have retail and you have our Quick Lane … they all have separate scheduling calendars for them, so it has to be divided,” he said. “That’s really improved our efficiency a lot by separating those and giving our customers those options and reducing downtime.” 

For fleets without their own shops, dealer-backed mobile service acts as an extension of the fleet’s maintenance team by providing proactive, concierge-style service, Jim Ledsome, general manager of The Pete Store’s Mid-Atlantic region, told EFN. 

“It’s just going to bring us closer to the fleets,” he said. “The smarter the trucks get, the more they need us, and the more we’re going to have to offer them to actually be an extension of them.” 

Dealer support will become increasingly more essential as truck technology and warranty requirements become more complex, Ledsome said. 

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