Shop Frustrations

I just don't understand the mentallity of the Swift terminal shops. I don't understand how they operate and I certainly do not understand the lack of pride in workmanship of the mechanics. I do understand that, in the case of us company drivers, the trucks are actually owned by Swift, but that does not allow for the shoddy work and treatment by the mechanics.
I was an auto mechanic for 20 years. I would not dream of racing a customers car into the shop, working inside of a vehicle and leaving it an absolute mess, or not earnestly listening to the customer about their complaint. Although that customer may not be a mechanic themselves, it is their vehicle and they know when something is not normal with it. And when I was working, timely repairs were always a priority, and a promise made was a promise kept, unless there were circumstances beyond my control, then I would notify the customer of the delay.

This brings me to the reason for this....rant.

For the past 4 months I have been having a regen problem with my Freightliner. I have actually had it in the shop at Columbus a couple times for this problem, but they have more or less just blown me off. They showed me how to do the manual regen the first time, but that obviously didn't fix the problem. Next, they supposedly put it on a computer, but I don't believe they did. They just cleaned the regen injector and said let's hope that takes care of it. Nope.

I have tried to be pro-active in fixing this problem and try to find out what might actually be causing the problem, but of course, a true diagnosis cannot be made without the truck in the shop. Part of the problem is the Swift shops all have tunnel vision and when you mention a problem with a certain system, that is ALL they focus on. They don't know how to think outside of the box.

While talking with another Swift driver about our truck problems, I mentioned I had an 09 freightliner and he proceded to tell me what my symptoms were. I would take that to mean that he has seen my problem before and has a pretty good idea of how to fix it.

I have tried to pass this information along to the various Swift shops I've been to, but again I'm confronted with tunnel vision and no one will listen to me. Perhaps until now.

I'm sitting here now at out wonderful Memphis, TN terminal, where I have been since Wednesday morning. It is now friday night. I actually arrived here with a couple problems, the regen just being one, and the minor one at that since it actually hasn't been a problem since temperatures have warmed up (another clue that my suspicions are correct). I also have a battery and charging system issue. Columbus also blew off the batteries previously.

So I arrive wednesday morning and inform the pre-qual guy of my problems. While I'm talking with him, Matt, the supervisor comes out and listens also. When I bring up the regen problems and try to let him know of what I found out, he tells me it's not possible, it's completely unrelated. I hold fast to my arguement, relating to the engine temperature and he says as long as it's running at 245* (which to me seems high anyway) it should be fine. I said my temperature never gets over 185*, unless I'm climbing a hill, then it will reach 200*. Finally, a light bulb goes off and he says they will check it out. Now, whether they do or not is the next question.

Did I mention that I put the truck in the shop wednesday morning and it's now friday night? Yeah. The first thing they did was rush the truck right over to the pm shop and get the new qual-com installed. Not that I really needed it, but it's done. And of course, they left the interior a shambles.
That left thursday. Nope. Not getting in thursday. I asked this morning when and if they might get to mine. The man at the counter said mine was the next one in and would be this afternoon. Ok, I can live with that. I go back out at 5 pm to check on the progress only to find that my truck has never even been moved! WTF!? Something about his heavy line guys have gone home, he's got a quick line that's wrapped around the building, and UPS and Fed-Ex trucks coming in and they take priority. BS! Looks like I'm stuck here at least another day. I said I'm gonna be here til monday and Matt said no, we"ll get you out this weekend. I'm thinking yeah, right. I'm so seriously angry right now I could just scream. And there's not a blasted thing I can do. I would not in a million years even think of treating a customer like this, even if it was a company owned vehicle.

Sorry this was so long.

 

I don't know how the mechanics here get paid, but they certainly don't get paid for doing quality work. How many times have you been into a shop for repairs and it was a bandaid fix at best. Again, there is no pride in workmanship. It shouldn't matter who they work for or who owns the truck, fix it once and fix it right. I had Columbus tell me one time they were only doing DOT offensible and some other quick repair. If it wasn't an emergency, they weren't touching it.

So here is an update on my current status....which of course is still "shop status". Dateline: saturday morning. I have now been here for 4 days, since 10 am wednesday morning. It is now saturday, which means an entirely new crew and supervisor. So I walk into the shop to see when it's coming in. Now remember, I was told yesterday morning that I was the next to come in and would be that afternoon. This morning, they punch in my truck number and I'm told...(drum roll, please)...sometime this afternoon. Then, the supervisor, Mark, looks at the problems and asks what the injector complaint is. So, once again, I explain my research findings about my regen problem and he tells me that what I'm saying will have absolutely no effect on the regen. He's been doing this for 25 years and he has never seen that before. You know what? I don't give a flyin flip about how long he has been doing this. Just take a chance, think outside the box, test the flippin injectors and replace as needed. He also said if it's gonna need injectors, it won't even come in until monday.

By then, some other driver had come in I guess to check on his truck. He made some comment about how quick they got his truck in. I said I've been here since wednesday morning and walked out. Later that driver came into the lounge here and said Mark had said for some reason I had been shuffled to the back but he didn't know why. He also said it shouldn't have happened. Gee, ya think?! Of course that isn't gonna motivate him to get my truck in any sooner.

At this time, I'm considering asking what trucks they have available in case I'm gonna need to swap. I just don't want some ragged out Volvo with 500,000 miles and smells like an ashtray.

Somebody just shoot me now...please!

 

There was another driver sitting here. Brought his truck in wednesday morning for a b-service and, of course, they found some stuff that needed fixed. He's got a 2006 Volvo with over 500,000 miles on it, of course they found some broken stuff, like a front shock and a slack adjuster bracket. He got his truck back last night and got a preplan this morning...after he had to go back to the shop and ask them to take his truck off shop status.

On friday, after I learned I was the "next one in", I had gone back to the truck later to put my computer away and saw that my truck still hadn't moved, but the two that were on either side of me were gone. When I questioned that, Matt said they had gone to the PM shop for the new QC. I tried to call my DM, but he was out to lunch, so I told the other DM who answered and asked if he or my DM could do anything to speed up the process. He said not even the terminal manager can do anything about the shop. Maybe PHX can, I don't know, but I'm guessing it's more likely I'm gonna end up with a different truck instead of getting this one fixed.

 

Yep, that pretty much sounds like what mine is/was doing, except I didn't notice it regenning like you said after you shut it off and restart with the check engine light out and regen light on.

I would have to say that since early february I haven't had to do the parked regen except maybe twice. There was a couple times I thought I was gonna need to, but it cleared itself up. During this time, I have been in mostly warmer climates, although I have hit a couple snow storms. But like I said, haven't had much problem with the regen.

So this is what I found out from another driver. I was talking with this driver about our truck problems and when I told him I had an 09 Freightliner, he told me what my symptoms were, plus a couple things I hadn't picked on before. He said, along with the regen problem, there is also a lack of power and poor fuel milage. The driver said the truck he experienced this on was his mentors truck and they too had been to several shops and could not get it fixed until they finally found a private mechanic somewhere who spent some time checking it over thoroughly. (The mentor was an owner).

So what was discovered, as explained to me, is that one or more of the ENGINE fuel injectors is not supplying enough fuel and it's not allowing the engine to reach it's proper operating temperatures. While the temp guage looks to be normal, the readings the computer is seeing is 10 to 20 degrees below what the computer needs to regen. While everyone I've talked to so far, including the people here in Memphis, all insist that this is completely impossible, it actually makes some sense. Weak fuel injectors will definately cause a lack of power, and with temperatures warming up (finally!), the engine is gonna run warmer and it's gonna do it's automatic regen.

So with all that being said, here is an update on my truck. They've checked everything over, ran some tests on the injectors, hooked up their computers, did a forced regen...and everything checks out fine. Ok. I give up. I've lost too much time on this problem, and since it is not requiring a parked regen everyday right now, I'm not gonna worry about it anymore. They have to order a part in the morning to fix the battery problem and then it's finished. Hopefully, I can get a load out of here on sunday.