Hi LC ... not sure about being home for Christmas just yet ... I made it for thanksgiving though ... only because my engine went to pumping out water after 1,4 million and I've been the last three weeks in the shop ..... had it rebuilt and I just left the house today .... so I have some lost paychecks to make up ..... Hows Tennessee treating you ???
Today's Thoughts 12/10/11 Russell Built It's finally done and she's purring as pretty as a kitten. As many of you already know I've been shut down since before Thanksgiving because after one point four million miles on my engine, she went to loosing water to fast for comfort. It was time to take her over to Russell and get her rebuilt. I know that three weeks seems like a long time on a rebuild. But if you think about it, the first week was spent on the Holiday and Holidays are family time and I would have been home that week anyway. So only the last two weeks have been spent in the shop getting the work done. That shop and the work they done is what I want to talk about today. It's so hard out on the road to find a shop that is as interested in you getting a job done well as they are in you being able to take your truck when they are done and be able to go make a living with it. Finding a shop and a mechanic where they actually take pride in the work that they put out. Not only in how well will the repair perform for you, but how it looks under your hood when it is done. Adding the personal touch you might say.
Right up front I want to tell you that I was not asked to write this article. Nor was I paid or asked to take any of the pictures that are now on my FaceBook profile. This was my own idea, and the reason I came up with it is what you read in the first paragraph above. As an Owner Operator it is very important to me to know about a shop with these values and expertise and I thought I would share my little secrete with the rest of my friends so they could maybe stop by and check out for themselves this little jewel of a find. So let's fill in some of the blanks so you know who's who.
Bobby Allen, aka Blinky is the shop manager. Blinky drove trucks himself for many years so he knows by personal experience just how hard it is for drivers to get decent work done out on that highway. I spent a little time talking with him and watching him interact with different customers and I have to tell you, I think it would be hard to find a person that conducts business more honestly then Blinky does. "You have to be honest with your customers and explain to them exactly what needs to be done and why" Blinky told me. "So spending a little time talking with them is something that I always do"
Thats Blinky in a nutshell. As you talk to him and explain your problem, He will from years of experience explain back to you the most probable cause and exactly what it is that will fix your problem. You will walk away from that conversation or at least I did, more educated about just how it is your truck runs and what it needs to run properly. I think the thing that impressed me most about Blinky and his shop is the fact that when other major shops in the area cannot fix a truck or their mechanics mess up the repair, they tow the truck down to Blinky to get the job done right. Last week a major trucking company towed in a truck that their mechanics replaced the kingpins on the steering axel so well that the wheels would not even turn. After a lot of effort was made to tear down what they had done, Blinky called in the shop manager from the trucking company and went over piece by piece what his mechanics had done wrong. Then Brian and Slim did the repairs as they should have been done in a couple of hours and returned the truck to the company.
Russell is the mechanic that rebuilt my engine. The pride he takes in a job well done is something that I believe is hard to find in this world anymore. Russell learned his craft, and I call it a craft because as you watch Russell work and see the pride he takes in every step, it can be called nothing less; but he learned his craft the old fashioned way. Not by going to school and sitting behind a desk but by growing up in the trucking industry and from a very young age working besides mechanics on actual trucks as they worked in the real world. It's this years of real world experience that has giving Russell his unique ability to pin point with great accuracy exactly what needs to be repaired and the knowledge and skills to do the repairs.
"I've built so many truck engines that you could bring me any engine in a box and I could take those pieces out of that box and build that engine where it sits." Russell told me one day. "A customer needed his truck back one time. I had it torn completely down, nothing but a block sitting in the frame. John and I completely rebuilt that engine over night and had it ready to roll first thing the next day." Russell told me and to my knowledge, that engine is still running today.
But thats not the way Russell likes to work. Each piece is methodically removed and positioned around your truck so that he knows exactly where it is when it is time for him to revisit it. Every bolt, every washer, every nut and every part is removed, cleaned and inspected before it is painted and replaced. After the tear down the shop area is cleaned so that no dust is present as he builds your engine back. Old bolts in certain key positions or thrown out and replaced lowering the possibility of a parts failure. Your head that comes in completely assembled is torn down and inspected by Russell, then reassembled to Russell's standards before he installs it on your engine. In fact for me to go over each and every step and explain the TLC that Russell takes and the pride in his work would take up a lot of space here. Let's just suffice to say that it is not uncommon for Russell to hear back that one of his engines just passed the million mile mark again. And the normal time a shop takes to rebuild an engine is about half the time that Russell takes. The thing about that last statement is that the price is usually about the same if not cheaper. The little extras that are usually found are thrown in to make sure the job is done right, not used as a ploy to jack up your bill. Remember that honesty thing I was talking about?
Besides they great rebuild job that I'm sure I received as many of my friends currently run Russell Built engines, I also received one heck of an education about my engine and what makes her run. I have a much better understanding about how things work and even how to fix them myself now. Russell is a natural teacher even if he does not know it. That in itself was worth the time and money I spent these last couple of weeks. My new found knowledge will serve me well one day out on that highway.
Well, I guess thats all I have to say for now. I hope that someone out there that has been looking for an honest someone to help keep their truck on the road with expertise will find this information useful. I want to thank Blinky and Russell for the great job they did, and for making me feel like I was one of the family while I worked beside them out in the shop. The pictures of Russells work and the pride he takes can be found on my Facebook profile. And if you are thinking about giving these folks a call, here is their number. Just tell them Jeff sent you. "First Diesel Service, Attalla, AL, 256-538-1911 Be safe peeps
Today's Thoughts 12/21/11 Flushing The Subject I did a good thing today. A good deed you might say. At least I think so. A simple request was made from one of our friends in the traveling public that just happened to be driving a four wheeler or a car as most people would call them. It was not a hard thing to do and a service that I was most happy to provide for this young man as he seemed most animated that the individuals in the trucking industry as he seen the word should be doing anyway. Just a simple thing you see, taking one's finger and applying it to a lever and thus giving that lever a quick downward push. Let me explain so you can see just how willing truckers are to meet the wishes of those that know just what a trucker really is.
For the first time in what seems like five years, I've actually booked a load that will put me at the house on Christmas Day. So instead of once again being stuck at some truck stop waiting to deliver the goods that keep America alive, I get to wake up next to my wife of twenty eight years and actually see my kid on a holiday for a change. Of course as normal the load only works if I hump, hump and hump to get it there. Legally of course as you know I insist on but three days at seven hundred miles a piece have to be accomplished. Not so much a problem for a old timer like me, but you push your limits and squeeze a little longer then you should and you make those miles.
Well, along about the time I figured I squeezed as long as I was about to squeeze, I swing into a rest area for a what I call a fourteen point two second pit stop. Hard to make miles sitting around looking at the grass growing under your truck so I jump out and follow two young men that get out of a pickup truck into the restroom. As it works out, the first young man through the door walks up to the only urinal in the place while the second finds the first stall and enters into it to do his business. I'm left with the far right stall that just happens to be the handicap stall. I love telling bathroom stories as you can see.
Anyway, the second young man in the stall besides me and knowing that I just got out of my big rig and that I'm a truck driver; is already complaining that truck drivers are filthy pigs. Those nasty truckers should learn how to flush a toilet and clean up after themselves. I listen to all of this (leaving out his use profanity) as I grab a wad of toilet paper to use as I lift the seat so that I can do my business without leaving a mess for the next guy. I find it very interesting the fact that as he is complaining about this public restroom that he is leaving out the fact that it is open to everyone. I'm thinking he must believe that not a single driver of a car has ever ventured in here without leaving behind anything but the fresh fragrance of a rose garden.
So as he is pronouncing for about the third time that truckers really need to flush a toilet after they have used it and I'm just finishing up and noticing the floor drain that just happens to be between his feet which are now facing the door. I'm also looking at the fact that I've left out so far here; the toilet in front of me just happens to be stopped up and full to the brim with clear water except for what I just added to it. What a big smile that just happens to appeared on my face.
Ok, I did it. I grab another hunk of TP as you never want to touch anything in a public restroom that you don't have to and I did as my friend next door was asking me to do. I a truck driver for the first time in history flushed a toilet. Then I turned trying my best not to break out in laughter and waved at the first guy that just finished up as I headed for the door. I wondered what he was thinking about me being so happy waving at him but oh well.
About the time I opened the door for a quick exit, my friend sitting in the stall receives his wish and pronounces extremely loud, "G D.." and I'm out of there. I'm not very proud that as a Christian I made someone use the Lord's name in vein. But I am extremely tickled pink that I was once again able to improve the image of the trucking industry by helping a member of the general public receive his wish. I guess the moral of the story tonight is you need to watch what you ask for, you might just get it.
Be safe peeps Jeff Head. Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"
