as far as the tval test a month or so down the road or however often the fed does tval testing. atleast if the new truck was tval tested and approved, by fedex, before the purchaser picked the new unit up, they could hit the ground running for the term allowed until the next test date. alleviating some lost revenue.
With any carrier offering TVAL services, the unit is tested every time it is under load. TVAL testing done by the carriers make the truck eligible to begin TVAL work. But after that, the standards must be met every day, all day.
That's part of that TVAL is all about ... maintaining temperature and monitoring it in 15 minute intervals (maybe 30 maybe 5 depending on the shipment) with certified monitoring equipment on the truck, and monitoring remotely in real time too. If there is an unexplainable excursion (temperature deviation) of any kind, the usual solution is to put the reefer out of service until the issue is resolved.
The carriers don't make that stuff up. Customers drive this kind of scrutiny. They have teams of people who audit every load, and sometimes send people to carrier headquarters to physically audit the procedures there and records that document what is done.
Again, a brief temperature spike that would not even be seen on a load of ice cream or fresh flowers would be documented during the run by the monitoring equipment. That one lone spike will attract the attention of the carrier's quality management team and customer auditors.
What is nothing on many reefer loads is a big, big deal on TVAL loads. The load that may be worth over a million dollars may become worthless if transportation temps are not maintained. Customers and carriers are understandably particular with such cargo.
sorry, but i still think and excuse the term, this is probably what the salesmen use to describe certain buyers like you and me, pains in the *ss. there were more of us doing what you did maybe the dealers and reefer, lift axle suppliers would work together to make for a smoother less problematic build. i am just one who believes there is always a solution to any problem if all parties involved would work together.
With general truck issues, you are correct, if the customer and the dealer(s) are in fact willing to work together; and if the customer has the intellect, human relations skills, truck knowledge and backbone to hold up the customer's end and look after one's best interests. You and I both know that a lot of expediters who buy trucks seemingly fall victim to dealers but the reality is that they did little research or paid insufficient attention in the first place.
Example: Expediter orders new truck. Expediter reviews (or seemingly reviews) truck specs presented by dealer. Expediter signs off on the specs. Truck arrives without air ride that the expediter assumed would be included but was not on the specs. Dealer insists on being paid for providing the truck that was ordered and delivered.
Example: Expediter orders new truck with winter insulation package in the cab. Dealer submits order for new truck with winter insulation package in the cab. Truck arrives without winter insulation package in the cab. Expediter accepts delivery anyway and continues with the build.
Example: Expediter orders new truck with certain goodies mounted on frame (tool boxes, reefer, generator). Dealer not experienced in building expediter trucks mounts rear axle way too far to the rear to accommodate the goodies. Expediter complains. Dealer "tries" to make it right but there is a lengthy delay is getting that done. Expediter runs out of time and money and accepts the truck as is.
When Diane and I were researching our new truck, we talked to every expediter who was willing to talk about their trucks. And that was a lot of them. We received many truck tours and discussed many a truck over breakfast, lunch or dinner. One thing that impressed us when doing that research was the number of expedites who ended not with the truck they wanted but the number who ended up with the truck (or something about it) that they did not want.
Another thing that impressed us (and something that is borne out by a long and careful read of the Open Forum) is that many expediters would make significant changes to the trucks they now own if they had it to do over again.
They did not do enough research on the front end to know ahead of time exactly what they wanted. They went in partially blind and found themselves dissatisfied or partially dissatisfied after they took delivery of the truck. Or they went in over-eager, having too much fun being the big-spender customer for a change and treated like a king or queen when they walked in the door.
These are not flaws on the dealer's side, these are flaws on the buyer's side. Granted, there are dealers out there who are all too happy to prey on unprepared or unaware buyers. But even the good dealers are limited by working with the customers who walk in the door. When someone comes in unprepared, a good dealer will do the best he or she can, but there is much to think about when building a truck and the dealers are not mind readers.
... so, with all of this discussion on this subject, what are some ideas or opinions from all of you that would help in alleviating the problems. just curious.
Before spec'ing and building a new truck, prepare yourself ahead of time. Know EXACTLY what you want, bumper to bumper, and know why you want it. Do not commit yourself financially or by the calendar to the new truck anytime before you take delivery. Keep your options open and be prepared to forfeit your deposit and walk away from the deal at any time. Do not accept delivery of the truck until you know for sure the dealer(s) built the truck you ordered.
As far as reefer pretesting goes, I don't know it can be done ahead of the sale, even at an extra cost. The dealer would have to be authorized by the carrier to do such testing to the carrier's standards and I don't think companies that offer TVAL services would have any of that. They will want the owner-operator to actually own the truck and have that truck in the fleet before taking an interest in it.
The best you could get, I think, is a reefer dealer's guarantee that the unit will be TVAL capable and that if carrier testing proves it is not within the warranty period, the dealer will bring it up to spec after the flaws are discovered. That does not solve the down time problem, but if there is another way for an individual owner-operator to get something better, I'd be all ears to hear what it is.
