truck repair and maint costs

[LDB]

Attended a good seminar today on truck maintenance. The differences in operating costs from 1-100k, 101-200k and 201-300k miles were presented and discussed. During that time there are a lot of pm's, lube jobs etc. as well as a lot of wear and tear on the engine.

A very good point was made about reducing costs. It was pointed out that putting the truck in the shop at 300k during home time to change the water pump could be a good idea. WHAT?!?!?! Go in and pay for the replacement when it's not even leaking?

Well, you are on home time so you will lose how much revenue from jobs you'd have taken the next few days while it's being changed? Oh, that's right, zero. How much was that tow bill to get it there? Oh, that's right, zero. How much did you lose on the job you can't complete because it went out and you had to be swapped? Oh, that's right, zero. How much are you going to have to fork over to Tom Bodet for lodging during the repair? Oh, that's right, zero.

How much discount can you get from the shop on the job? Oh, 10-15% I'd say if they want your business. You talk to the shop foreman up front and get the price of the job. Then you say "Mr. shop foreman, I'd like to have your fine establishment do this while I'm home but that's a little steep. Since I don't have to do it at all and you don't want to lose the work tell me what kind of a deal you can make me on the job." I have it on good authority that Middle Georgia Freightliner will give a nice discount on a job like that since they can have 3-4 days to get it done and you could leave if you wanted. I suspect at least some other shops would do the same.

The key point is to stay on top of maint. and replace injectors, water pump, etc. before they break when the amount you are going to lose during the repair is zero and you can negotiate a better price to do them.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
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[greg334]

Leo,
I don't want to sound naive but I thought that was the way most ran their truck in this business? I would think that it would be rather..well I can't find a word for it, not to do this if at all possible.

I can't go through and replace any major parts (injectors, water pump) at this point in my 'career' but I do buy things items every chance i get that are normally changed out on regular basis, headlights are a common thing lately that I replaced a few times (stones and desert driving in California Baja - hitting a cactus when I got knocked off the road in the rally was a pain) but they also include wipers and belt on a regular basis regardless if they need to be changed.

I also have planned another alignment in September and new tires right after that.

I learned in my mechanic days and learned from people who I used to fly with is that everything has a life and many major components get replaced before they break.

 

[JohnO]

Leo,

As usual you are passing on valuable information.

Thanks

 

[LDB]

Greg,

I think a lot probably do however I know that a lot don't do things like that proactively either. Of the ones that do, I suspect not all have thought about bidding the job with their shop. I hadn't until today.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
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[greg334]

The other thing I can throw in here is that some shops have slow times that are predictable (seasonal) and you may get a bigger discount with working with the shop to keep their cash flow going. Prices are not set in stone and if the mechanic is hourly only (and many are), than it only makes sense to keep him working and make a little than to have him sit around.

 

[mcbride]

Our 2001 truck has almost a million miles on it. We have had miniscule problems with it.

I will be the first to admit I personally know next to nothing about the mechanics of our truck but I do know that my spouse routinely replaces "thingys" that are not broken or what I perceive sometimes to be NOT so needed "improvements"...lol

Case in point:

Oil changed every 10k
Every year all belts replaced.
Water pump, radiator, thermostat every hose, alernator replaced 500k.
Shocks replaced every 50k.
One air bag blew on truck...all air bags replaced.
Air conditioner compressor started going....all air conditioner parts replaced ie, evaporator etc.
Top end redone at 800k which included new head, new compressor, new fuel injectors etc.
Valves adjusted/transmission (synthetic)serviced each 200k

I know if I were to consult spouse about what else is done routinely the list would be much longer. lol

Bottom line: I feel safe and comfortable taking this truck anywhere. We just had a compression test done on our truckat Detroit diesel and the results proved to me that preventative maintenence pays off. Our truck with almost a million miles on it had a 2 1/2 reading. Now that being absolute Greek to me....was explained like this: new trucks have a compression of 1 thru 2...trucks that need to have the "bottom end done" have a compression of 4 thru 5.


-mcbride-
--What goes around comes around--

 

[LDB]

I'm taking a wild guess all these things were done during your off time so you didn't have tow bills, hotel bills, lost revenue from giving up a run or losing part of a run and more lost revenue from a few days you intended to run being stuck for repairs too. That was the point of Heath's presentation. You save yourself far more in grief and lost money than you lose in the extra time you could have run the part you're replacing. Not mentioned until you brought it up, you also have a truck you are comfortable and confident in driving anywhere.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
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Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[mcbride]

--This post has been edited because it had a billion spelling/typo errors-
-I know I may have missed them all so please ignore the ones I didn't correct.lol-


>I'm taking a wild guess all these things were done during
>your off time so you didn't have tow bills, hotel bills,
>lost revenue from giving up a run or losing part of a run
>and more lost revenue from a few days you intended to run
>being stuck for repairs too.

Oops, forgot to add that. Yes, he schedules a time we are going to do maintenance and then orders all the parts etc. We pick up the parts, which I should add, we buy at locations where we get the best price for them and he only uses Freightliner/Detroit parts (not knock offs or parts that need adaptation).

For instance, now we are heading home after the truck show for some "routine" maintenance before the busy season starts.

I sometimes joke about it but having a truck this age with this many miles on it...we are a rolling truck parts store. We have one of our belly boxes dedicated to just tools and new replacement parts. We carry new spares of several items...alternator with pully, hoses, belts, an air pressure valve thingys, coolant, oil, oil filters, fuel filters, transmission fluid, etc...we have transferred three loads in this truck because of break down, once the turbo went, once a sensor went, and the last most recent was because Joe actually took us off the load thinking we may have blown a head. (We didn't blow it but thus, the top end was redone within days lol). He didn't feel comfortable driving the truck the last 46 miles to delivery. He knew it had a coolant problem and felt further damage may be possible if we did drive it to the delivery so we stopped at a Freightliner to do a transfer.

I have to admit carrying our traveling parts has kept us from losing a couple of loads as well. We have replaced an alternator, a couple of hoses, a belt, a fuel sensor thingy, an air line thingy, etc while underload.

In my estimation, the break downs we did incur were out of our control. The fact that we went 800k with the origial turbo was an act of God to begin with. lol Now, the turbo is something that he routinely looks at. (Although this is now an expensive item for us to "keep in stock") With regard to the sensors, they give little if any warning and to routinely replace all of them would be ridiculous.

I also have to admit that it sometimes frustrates me to spend money on this truck when it is not physically broken. BUT, the peace of mind in knowing that we have done all we can do to keep our truck in good running condition and to prevent potential breakdown is worth it. As far as I am concerned, this truck could drop over tomorrow and it does not owe us a thing.

I should also add, (as I have reached novel and/or epic proportions here already...so why not...)we have been blessed with regard to maintaining our truck...my spouse has the wherewithal, a location, and a brother-in-law who is a certified mechanic which affords us the ability to do much of the preventative maintenance on our truck without incurring the labor costs of a going to a repair facility.

-mcbride-
--What goes around comes around--

 

[LDB]

>I also have to admit that it sometimes frustrates me to
>spend money on this truck when it is not physically broken.
>BUT, the peace of mind in knowing that we have done all we
>can do to keep our truck in good running condition and to
>prevent potential breakdown is worth it.
>

That sums up the intent and the reason right there. Every owner should memorize that wise saying.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
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Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[FIS53]

Leo and Greg, that's what I used to do years ago. I had GMC truc back in the '80s and used to get the mechanic to do things at his timing rather than rush and I always got a bargain on the pricing of the job. One of the best things was the brake drums. I bought an entire set for the truck from a parts discounter and when I need a brake job, we just rolled in had the drums swaped and new shoes installed and left the other drums there for turning. When they were worn out we ordered new ones. We used to arrange all our other work the same way, belts, filters etc all replaced when the truck was in at a conveinient time for the mechanic.
can't seem to get good deals like I used to for repairs. Although I do have a resonable priced mechanic now. Thanks for the reminder though, gotta replace the belts, do air filter, check gas filter (next oil change).

Rob Fis

 

[Thornapple]

McBride:
Very good breakdown on Non-breakdowns.

What kind of percent of linehaul do you put away to beable to do that on a regular program?

Don't need to know how much or how much you have in the bank or how big your credit card is. Just trying to find the % that is needed every week/month to pre-program that plan?

Thanks.
t.

 

[TeamCaffee]

McBride Great post and sure gave us something to think about. Our truck is getting up there in miles and we do carry several pieces that are for spares. We need to keep adding to that stock pile though. I also wonder about the expense of buying these items that we do not need YET and yet is the key word. We have an account where I put a minimum of 500.00 a month into for extra truck repair expenses. We pay for our oil changes and our monthly expenses out of our general account. We do not use that 500.00 every month and the account grows and then we need tires or our air conditioner will go out and there sits the money waiting for just such an emergency. We also keep an emergency fund of 20,000 for large emergencies that we put 10% of gross into every month. This will be our fund if the truck has a major break down or when we go to replace the truck. When we buy our next new truck and we have warranty once again that emergency fund will probably go down to 10,000 to 15,000.

LDB you did not include in your post of where you buy your fuel conditioner at such a great price. That is also something that needs to be stockpiled so you do not have to pay the truck stop price.

 

[LDB]

From the Howe's website I found the distributors in Texas. None were convenient to home but one is only about 20 miles from my daughter's home in Abilene. I got 6 cases for about $33 a case of 6 of the large bottles of Diesel Treat that are $11.95 each in the truckstop. Each distributor sets their own price so you may have to check a few to find the best one.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.