>As mentioned by RichM, Ateam was never mentioned in this
>post and chose to respond. But since he did, I thought his
>experiences would be of value to people contemplating a
>truck build. Since his truck build has been going on for
>almost two years, surely he would have some input helpful to
>folks contemplating this task. No reason to consider it a
>secret when it is not.
I have never once stated who my vendors are because until the project is complete I do not want to give an implied endorsement. Also, when the project first began, I knew trucking publications that would be interested in writing the story. To preserve that option for industry writers, and to enhance the positive recognition I then wanted to give my vendors, I spoke, and continue to speak, only in the most general terms about the project. Doling out project specifics (truck specs, vendor names, etc.) in dribs and drabs would undermine my vendor recognition objectives. Also, the story would be of more interest to industry writers if they would be the first to tell it.
It is now evident that one or more of my vendors has betrayed the confidentiality requests we made of him (them). In one case, we know who it is, and it is no longer certain that his product will be placed on our truck. While we of course wish to get into our new truck as soon as possible, we have the luxury of taking all the time we need to get the truck we want. Of equal importance, is we want to maintain positive long-term relationships with vendors that put their customer first and honor their customer's requests. A vendors failure to honor our requests is cause for termination.
I will continue to keep vendor names and truck specifics to myself until the project is complete. DaveKC's statement that the project is no secret is simply not true. He is not privy to specific project information. The release of specific project information that he thinks he knows or has been illegitimately told would be a dishonorable act. To his credit, he has not named names in the EO Open Forum, and refrained from doing so in others.
Regarding the criticism that I could help people now by stating who my vendors are, I beg to differ. Had I done so earlier, I would have prematurely praised a vendors that ended up serving us poorly. Had I named vendors then, and had someone acted on my implied endorsement, they may have ended up having the same vendor issues we ended up having. I belive it is best to name vendors only after they have proven (and disproven) themselves. For that, it is best to wait until the truck is on the road and the full story is known.
DaveKC said, "I thought [ATeam's] experiences would be of value to people contemplating a truck build." I think so too. However, changes occur. Surprises rise. It is impossible to accurately tell the story until you know what the story actually is. That can't happen until the truck is actually on the road.
The desire to see the story told in industry publications has faded as the project went through it's twists and turns. Not because the project went wrong at points and required major mid-course corrections - indeed, that enhances the value of the story for would-be custom truck buyers - but because we learned something about ourselves that we did not like. We had become too emotionally vested in the truck.
We were getting too involved in something that at bottom is simply a piece of property. We're taking a more healthy approach now. It's just a truck. No more or less a part of our lives than a premium car, high-end piece of living room furniture, or a gun collection would be.
Whether we have the truck or not, we'll feel the same about ourselves. We don't need this custom-built truck to prop up our self worth, live happy and successful lives, or achieve the objectives we set when we became expediters. Want the truck? Yes. Need it? No.
Some have suggested in other Internet forums that I should be embarrassed or ashamed because we are not yet driving the truck we ordered. I interpret DaveKC's eagerness to brand our project as a disaster as being offered with similar intent. While we have experienced a wide range of positive and negative emotions throughout this project, embarrassment or shame have not been among them.
Those emotions relate to self worth, or to the need to have other people think well of you because you do not think well of yourself. The notion that people think highly of you because of what you own is no guarantee they will. Ask Donald Trump or Bill Gates. We're not building our custom truck because of what other people will think. We're building it because we want the creature comforts, business advantages, and lifestyle enhancements it will provide.
We entered this project with high hopes and expectations of the vendors involved. They were selected because of their reputations for quality products and seniority in the industry. To date, we have not received our money's worth from them, to say the least. We eventually will, but it has not happened yet.
Newbies may wish to profit from our experience in that regard. There is no guarantee that a vendor that has built 100 widgets will do better than one that has built 10. There is no guarantee that a 25-year industry veteran will deliver what he promised or even prove to be competent. There is no guarantee that an experienced vendor will serve you better than a new one just starting out. You need not look far to find experienced vendors that have failed their customers and failed in business. If you are seeking a new truck, I recommend keeping an open mind. Evaluate young and old vendors with equal regard and base your selection on numerous items like product knowledge, state-of-the-art facilities, attention to your needs and requests, etc.
As time passes and our project continues, responsibilities for project errors can be accurately laid and appropriate responses can be made by or extracted from the responsible parties. Those discussions have changed the nature of forward progress in the project. At one point, forward progress was measured by what was being built and when. At present, it is being measured by the time it is taking to resolve certain vendor issues, and the time vendors are taking to check, double check, cross check, and cross check again the specs the vendors got wrong the first time. Resolution is in sight and the physical truck build will resume soon.
Factual correction: Our truck build process is no where near two years old as DaveKC states in this thread. We have not even been expediters for two years (will be in August). Our truck order was placed less than a year ago. When such misstatements of fact (intentional or unintentional) are made, especially by a moderator, Open Forum fairness and civility is undermined. An acknowledgement of the error and correction by DaveKC is in order and would be appreciated.
