Well once again its good to hear from you I always like to read what you post. Being an owner/op how do you pick a shop to fix your truck? What I mean is do you have someone you trust to fix what needs fixing on your time off that you trust? For example I own an 03 accord which I commute with to work. The rate at Wal-mart to change the oil is about 16 bucks but at my favorite place TOYOTECH its 24 bucks. I'll gladly spend the 8 bucks knowing someone that gives a damn is working on my car not some flunky that could give a rats ass. I'm sure being an owner op it has to be the same thing. Yes I could save 8 bucks by going to Wal-Mart but do I really trust them..? Uh-no! Spending an extra 8 dollars is worth it to me knowing the job is done right. What savings would that be if some flunky didn't put oil in my engine and I blew it up down the road..Big savings huh?..Your pal VM-out!
You bring up a good point, VM. It's often a better deal to pay more for quality than to pay *lots* more for lack of quality. I've had several instances where a mechanic's lack of ability or outright negligence cost me severely in time wasted and extra repairs. The problem with us O/O drivers, especially the ones who free-wheel all over the country like ourselves, is that we're never sure where our downtime will be. So we can't really keep any dedicated mechanics, let alone good ones we can trust. Mechanics like to have steady business, and they can count on that with the larger local carriers. But a single-truck operation doing coast-to-coast hauling is not very appealing to anyone. So it ends up being kind of a crap shoot. The next time you hear someone talking about how much money O/O's make, remind them about this little wrinkle. It's one of many little details that can end up hitting you real hard in the pocketbook. Fortunately, there are other factors that enter into the equation, which we have a lot more control over, and so we're still able to come out ahead...
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VM on Sun, Nov 26 2006 @ 4:38 AM [PST]