Friday i need some parts for a KW we are about a hour from any truck parts place but are trucks go buy a dealer dayly so i called them they dont have it but the cummins dealer close buy does and they go there about every day but they wount go till monday so i say my guy will come buy tuesday early. I need something else monday i call they have it but they havent got other stuff yet. I call tuesday early they dont have cummins parts yet but will by end of day i tell them my guy will be there early wensday. My guy calls me 3:30 am they dont have cummins parts yet. I call the place a hour away they have enough stuff to get it back on the road so 2 hours on the road i have it.. I call KW because i still want parts they said they are going to ship it? I ask why are you shiping ? they dont know who said to ship it they dont know. Next day i get a package with one part havent got the other part yet. There is another place that delivers i ordered a complete exhaust it wasnt leaking but was realy rusty 3 weeks went by and it started leaking i called 3 diffrent days they didnt call back i called agin about to have a talk with some one that cares they say parts are on the truck but at 5:00 they havent shown up. Next morning i call and tell then i need parts now they show at 4:50.but dont have every thing i put it together with what i have 3 weeks later they steal havnt delivered the rest. I want so bad to get away from mechanic work.
Doug, its been my experience the dealers can only stock so much, in just the last 10 years trucks have gotten so complex that they just cant stock everything. I have reached the point of considering having a rental tractor for the customer to use when the parts are coming from Indiana or some other mystical place. No this truck will not be a loaner truck. It will be full rental and bring your insurance info when you get it. It's not my problem the parts dealers don't have it NOW. And DON'T ride me every 20 minutes about when the parts will show. That has created a few tense situations in the last few weeks. I don't care... it is what it is... go away and come back when it runs.
Never wait on anyone to show up with the goods . Do what you can with what ya have at the time .
Been trying to do what I can with what I have... But when I need dealer parts I have to do what I can with them. I'm normally a mild mannered guy, but lately there is a circle of parts people that have been getting foul mouth tongue lashings. I'm sick to death of hearing "it will be here tomorrow morning/afternoon " and then I don't see it for three days. Meantime I have a plugged bay and a naggy customer. I was told once that stress is the result of giving a sh!dt about what you are doing. I doubt theres a parts guy I know that has any stress. Anybody wanna bail me out if I kill a couple? I'm with Doug... I'm ready to quit over this stuff.
Local mack dealer barely stocks any r or rd model parts anymore and there are tons of them running around charlotte. We have 8 in the dumptruck fleet and a few more at the owners farm, its mostly the cab parts that are getting to be a pain waiting for them.
Cab parts really don't bother me, unless the doors are flapping open, It's the parts that make them run.
Normaly it dont bother me right now but i have 3 trucks that need rh window regulators and the strip on the glass, we have ordered rh window parts from every pdc in the usa and they all have the lh part in the box with the rh part number , we have been battling this problem for 3 months pluss, they must have changed who makes them they use to have rh and lh stamped on the parts . Not sure if volvo messed that up or of its the supplier. As far as the rest of the truck goes i have had many instances of having to get creative to get it rolling again till parts came in same on heavy equipment .
Doug, I feel your pain.. I've never been on the parts side of things BUT I've seen customers{mechanics} send a TAXI to pick up parts that are needed "right now".. & they cant get away. It sure sux when they tell u it'll be here in 2 days & 2 WEEKS LATER your still waiting..
I stock the major parts in the shop because the dealers don't have it. A few times parts have been run 250 miles to a dealer to get the job done and rig moving. Truck Shop
Seems now if you do not have the correct part number already a call to the parts department will be long and most likely fruitless. I wish manufactures would make parts catalogs more accessible especially when factory service has long back logs. Am I the only one that calls hoping to get one of the good guys and if one of the duds picks up I just hang up and call back?
I'll kick in a few bucks for bail!
I know whatcha mean about not having/getting P#'s.. HECK, it happened TO ME when I called my old WORK.!! Worked there for 25+ years & had to BEG the parts guy for the # I needed.. it pizzed me off.. so instead of buying it FROM THEM, I bought it online.. Lol
Part Numbers? I have too many logged in my noggin already, I need to delete some of those numbers. It's pretty bad when you know the part numbers to 30 year old electrical switches for KW. lol Truck Shop
nothin wrong with having a good memory
I have one RD model under a boom truck. I have a hole in the air to air. Called Mack in springfield. If I ordered it "emergency overnighted air" I could get in 3-4 days, $2,160 plus shipping. I had just bought one for a pete 379 for like $600-700, so I told them to hold off a little bit. Called one of my truck parts places, aftermarket was just under $600, at their place the next morning, no freight. Mack is probably getting it from the same supplier. When Mack wants another $1,500, I kind of figure they are telling me they don't want to sell me parts. I think volvo is just wanting all the old mack stuff to go away, they don't want to deal with it. Its a shame.
It is unreal how much time i spend on the phone. Are phone is out in the shop were every one can see. The boss some of the drivers and the custermers see me and think i am wasting time. Whats bad is finding parts is like finding your lost car keys they turn up in the last place you look.
I called about a part they say they will have it in the morning so i call the driver so he will pick it up. He says other truck needs mirrors. I call back parts guy told me he cant get the complete mirror but can get me parts glass ,rubber , houseings to build some?? Then he says we dont have every thing for 2.I dont know what i will do for a job but i want to get away form this.I dont know how parts places keep going if they cant figure out how to sell a simple mirror.
We routinely have run across the NW to get parts. There is a reason my pickup has 50k & isn't even a year old!
I tryed a new place this week. I needed a block heater for a truck. The parts guy sounded ok. He said i would have it in 2 days. I told him to put my name on the package because it would be delivered to the other building. 4 days i was walking between the building when the ups truck pulled up heater no cord my name wasnt on the package. It cost $15.00 to ship so now if i get the cord it will be another 15.00. I ordered 3 air electric/ air togels and 4 air tank drain cocks from the guy that stops by weekly. I happen to look in a Oreilys catalog and they had togles so i ordered one had it next day.3 weeks weekly guy brought ordered togles by. 2 more weeks i ask about drain cocks he said they were in and he would have them delivered nextday i got them next day.
The industrial electrical business has become the same. One supplier used to have 7 to 8 million in parts locally, now 3 million on a good day. Oddball stuff that was locally stocked comes from Alberta or the manufacturer shipped air(if the $$ are high enough). Bean counters run everything now. If it doesn’t sell a high volume, it is not stocked anymore. Cam