Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
I ran across some bad news today. It goes against what I wanted to hear and what I want to believe but it is pertinent information and should be reported to TDR members.
Today I stopped by a local dealer who has a 3500 cab and chassis with an aftermarket flat bed, the type I have ordered, sitting on the lot. I was measuring the tool boxes with a tape measure, thinking about the fit and appearance of the boxes I plan to have installed when my ordered truck arrives and the ordered bed is installed.
A stranger walked up and we struck up a conversation. It turned out that he is a hotshotter from East Texas with a new '07 3500 cab and chassis. His truck was waiting in the service drive. He had pulled a load out here and delivered but was getting check engine lights, catalytic converter or dpf full messages, and low power so instead of picking up another load and heading for home he was at the dealer for repair. I was interested so stuck around and talked with him for an hour and returned this afternoon to see if he got his truck back and what was done.
Here's his story: He bought the truck new early last year. It is an early '07. He pulls a heavy tandem axle flat bed gooseneck trailer hauling cargo. I don't know the full history of the truck because he hasn't been hotshotting very long but I think most of the miles have been loaded highway miles. He told me he has 40k miles on the odometer.
He has had repeated problems with it and is very disappointed. He told me it has been in the shop "more times than he can count on his fingers" and has had multiple reflashes, cat converter and dpf replaced already, etc. The way he described the performance of the truck it sounds like a weak performer. He told of running with a friend who has an '08 pulling similar loads and said he couldn't keep up with his buddy. He has lost many days of work and has had to leave the truck overnight at least once.
Today, just before 5 p. m. the service writer who I know came out and told him he had bad news. The tech had done a reflash and took the truck out on a test drive and it ran poorly and set codes and messages. The dealership had contacted STAR and requested a replacement in-tank fuel pump, cat converter, and dpf. I know the tech in that dealership. He is an experienced and competent diesel tech but I don't know the level of factory training he has completed. The service writer told the poor hotshotter he wouldn't have the parts before 5 p. m. Wednesday (this is written Monday) and the earliest he could get the truck out is some time on Thursday. The poor hotshotter said he didn't have money for motels or clothes to stay all week. I offered to take him to a motel or bus station but he was determined to go back inside and talk with the service writer again. He felt they should pay for a motel or rental car. He claimed other dealers near his home but not the selling dealer have provided him with loaner cars or motels. I wished him good luck and left him.
Having been a transporter for almost three years I've met lots of drivers who were trying to support a family on a transporter's income. I felt bad for the poor driver. He is a man with a young family who lost his factory job a year ago.
I'm also considering what I should do. I can let my truck and bed order stand and hope that the '08s are already fixed as is the general opinion on TDR or that Cummins Inc. will resolve any future issues that might come up with the truck I've ordered. Or I could back out and wait a year. I still have enough time to contact the dealer where I ordered a cab and chassis and cancel the order. I also have time to cancel the bed order too. Nobody would be hurt if I cancel the orders ASAP. I could wait a year and buy a 2009. I have a clean well-maintained truck with a 5. 9 and "only" 226,000 miles that has been perfectly reliable and is no doubt good for another 226k.
I gave the hotshotter my card and he promised to call me and let me know how his story turns out. If I hear "the rest of the story" I'll report it here.
Harvey
Today I stopped by a local dealer who has a 3500 cab and chassis with an aftermarket flat bed, the type I have ordered, sitting on the lot. I was measuring the tool boxes with a tape measure, thinking about the fit and appearance of the boxes I plan to have installed when my ordered truck arrives and the ordered bed is installed.
A stranger walked up and we struck up a conversation. It turned out that he is a hotshotter from East Texas with a new '07 3500 cab and chassis. His truck was waiting in the service drive. He had pulled a load out here and delivered but was getting check engine lights, catalytic converter or dpf full messages, and low power so instead of picking up another load and heading for home he was at the dealer for repair. I was interested so stuck around and talked with him for an hour and returned this afternoon to see if he got his truck back and what was done.
Here's his story: He bought the truck new early last year. It is an early '07. He pulls a heavy tandem axle flat bed gooseneck trailer hauling cargo. I don't know the full history of the truck because he hasn't been hotshotting very long but I think most of the miles have been loaded highway miles. He told me he has 40k miles on the odometer.
He has had repeated problems with it and is very disappointed. He told me it has been in the shop "more times than he can count on his fingers" and has had multiple reflashes, cat converter and dpf replaced already, etc. The way he described the performance of the truck it sounds like a weak performer. He told of running with a friend who has an '08 pulling similar loads and said he couldn't keep up with his buddy. He has lost many days of work and has had to leave the truck overnight at least once.
Today, just before 5 p. m. the service writer who I know came out and told him he had bad news. The tech had done a reflash and took the truck out on a test drive and it ran poorly and set codes and messages. The dealership had contacted STAR and requested a replacement in-tank fuel pump, cat converter, and dpf. I know the tech in that dealership. He is an experienced and competent diesel tech but I don't know the level of factory training he has completed. The service writer told the poor hotshotter he wouldn't have the parts before 5 p. m. Wednesday (this is written Monday) and the earliest he could get the truck out is some time on Thursday. The poor hotshotter said he didn't have money for motels or clothes to stay all week. I offered to take him to a motel or bus station but he was determined to go back inside and talk with the service writer again. He felt they should pay for a motel or rental car. He claimed other dealers near his home but not the selling dealer have provided him with loaner cars or motels. I wished him good luck and left him.
Having been a transporter for almost three years I've met lots of drivers who were trying to support a family on a transporter's income. I felt bad for the poor driver. He is a man with a young family who lost his factory job a year ago.
I'm also considering what I should do. I can let my truck and bed order stand and hope that the '08s are already fixed as is the general opinion on TDR or that Cummins Inc. will resolve any future issues that might come up with the truck I've ordered. Or I could back out and wait a year. I still have enough time to contact the dealer where I ordered a cab and chassis and cancel the order. I also have time to cancel the bed order too. Nobody would be hurt if I cancel the orders ASAP. I could wait a year and buy a 2009. I have a clean well-maintained truck with a 5. 9 and "only" 226,000 miles that has been perfectly reliable and is no doubt good for another 226k.
I gave the hotshotter my card and he promised to call me and let me know how his story turns out. If I hear "the rest of the story" I'll report it here.
Harvey
