How does TA get any business?

Discussion in 'Truck Stops' started by RustyBolt, Nov 12, 2015.

  1. RustyBolt

    RustyBolt Road Train Member

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    I'm talking about their repair shops. My alternator went bad and no place I had called had one in stock. I stopped at the TA and went in for a quote. That was no quote. It was highway robbery at it's finest. $489..+tax and another $100 if I wanted them to install it. NO THANKS!

    Grabbed the ole 14 gauge wire and ran it from my reefer to my battery and drove on. Went to my local parts shop and got the (no core) alternator for $207 out the door. They had the OEM replacement for $330. New! Will be getting a second $207 alt for under the bunk as a spare.

    I guess TA relies on all the company trucks that just don't care what they have to pay to get their truck rolling. Unbelievable.
     
    jammer910Z Thanks this.
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  3. truckon

    truckon Swamp Thing

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    Spare alternator and belts, two simple things that get expensive fast if you dont have them.
     
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  4. mrdot

    mrdot Light Load Member

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    Simple. These big companies dont care to pay the price to keep the truck rolling.
     
  5. buzzarddriver

    buzzarddriver Road Train Member

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    Yeah, and just imagine all those greedy truckers who want to charge more than 75 cents a mile to haul my freight. Just a bunch of crooks.

    What goes around comes around. This isn't 1960 anymore. That large flashy truck stop costs a lot of money to operate, so they charge what they can get away with.
     
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  6. Allow Me.

    Allow Me. Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    They take lessons from the oil comp...........charge whatever they want and you take it or leave it !
     
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  7. RustyBolt

    RustyBolt Road Train Member

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    I guess I just really never paid any attention to prices when I was a company driver. Wasn't coming out of my pocket. Now it does. I guess it's like everything else at the truck stops. Priced to keep drivers broke all the time.
     
  8. CaliforniaRoadtoad

    CaliforniaRoadtoad Bobtail Member

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    Oct 18, 2009
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    I would add that you should consider drive offs, which happen far more often than you realize. That gets expensive. And when you're in a business that serves as mobile a customer base as the trucking industry, you have to cover the losses as best you can.

    Either that, or credit card fraud, which sucks a lot of green out of the business. My father in law was a mechanic who had to put up with a lot of this crap.

    I can empathize, but that alternator wasn't cheap to start with, and the dirtbags just made it worse.
     
  9. TLeaHeart

    TLeaHeart Road Train Member

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    Just keep in mind the price you pay to TA as an independent is NOT the price a fleet pays for service at TA. TA stays in business due to the large fleets.
     
    mountaingote Thanks this.
  10. uncleal13

    uncleal13 Road Train Member

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    I have a spare alternator that I carry, plus an extra pulley for it, as the original one is hard to get off without an impact wrench.
    I carry both spare serpentine belts. I know a fellow in 2006 with a Volvo that blew a belt on top of the Coquihalla Highway, no spare, it took them two solid days to get a new one to him. Worth about $76.
     
    mountaingote Thanks this.
  11. G.Anthony

    G.Anthony Road Train Member

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    that is cheap. many years ago i had a company truck and the alt went kaphooey. a T/A replaced it for $600......and i could not take the core back to my company, or the T/A would charge an additional $600...
     
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