'You're The Only One With That Problem'

      Before TMC and its predecessor, the Maintenance Committee of ATA's Regular Common Carrier Conference, individual fleet maintenance managers had little or no clout.
      TMC old-timers say that when a manager complained about a failure of a component or part, a supplier representative often replied, "This is the first time I've seen this problem. You must be the only one who's having it."
      The implication was that the failure was the fault of the fleet; it must be somehow abusing or misusing the equipment. Or the rep would blame another supplier for the problem (then as now, North American trucks are assembled from pieces made by many companies, and warranty coverage sometimes got contentious). The manager, sitting in a room with a supplier and with no knowledge of what was happening nationally, couldn't know if the rep was telling him the truth. And to be charitable, the rep, who worked only within a certain region, really might not have heard of this problem before.
      But reps couldn't get away with such responses at TMC meetings. I've attended a number of Fleet Forum sessions over the years where managers, sometimes fueled with a few beverages prior to the sessions, rose to make pointed complaints – early failures of alternators, water pumps, injectors, tires, even cracked cabs and main frames. They were told by builder reps – who, again being charitable, were shooting from the hip – that they hadn't heard such complaints before.
      "Anybody else have this problem?" the moderator would ask. Sometimes a dozen hands went up. The poor builder's rep would have to retreat to a phone to confer with folks at the factory, then return later with a report. Sometimes his answer was acceptable to the fleet people and sometimes not. But they now had clout, and eventually the builders and fleets worked together to solve the problem.
      This is how it's done today, though with greater civility. Fleet managers tend to be more polite than before, and TMC has a better hand on such sessions. While spontaneous comments are still encouraged, TMC asks fleet managers to put their complaints in writing, and session moderators show the complaints beforehand to the respective supplier people, who then can be prepared to answer. Sometimes they've already met with the complaining managers and worked out solutions.
      Fleet managers are still pointed in their criticisms, but some of them now are polite to the point where they won't name names of offending suppliers or products during formal presentations.
      Usually, though, people in an audience know what such presenters are talking about, or can find out by asking after the sessions. The results are the same: Problems get solved and everyone comes away from TMC meetings better informed.
      Regular attendees say they learn enough at every meeting to more than pay for the costs of traveling to it. I sure do, even if I only write about trucks.
      TMC and its fleet and supplier members comprise my single best source of information about truck equipment and how it works in real life. And while any organization has its issues, TMC is among the best-run groups I've seen (and I've worked in the association business).
      I'm pleased to be a member.

–Tom Berg
Senior Equipment Editor