Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

[bogieboy]

[cheesy]

Looks like we aren’t the only incompetent outfit out there. Our Canuckistani branch bought four very complicated specialized trucks from an outfit in BC. They sold one to an equipment leasing company in Ohio, who in turn leased it to Canadian Pacific. It ended up in my neck of woods.

The truck worked for less than one day. Because it is in my backyard it became my problem. Sh!t.

To make a very long story short, some dipshit, in a cost cutting move, replaced a NEMA weatherproof electrical box with a European style box that wasn’t weatherproof. The clown that wired it ran all the cables in from the low side of the box. No real issue there, but the cables went into the strain reliefs only up to the compression seals instead of a 1/4”, or so,
past the end of the strain reliefs. The box filled with water and froze, damaging all the cables in the process.

Guess who was elected to fix it. I’ve been raising hell about that.

The engineers are pissed at me because “I have a bad attitude.” The customer is pissed and wants to send the truck back to the leasing company. The leasing company is screaming at the Canadian branch, and the Canadian branch is threatening to sue the manufacturer. Add to this, there were at least three entities involved in the build and all have taken shortcuts in one form or another,or tripped on their own dicks and caused more delays in getting this thing fixed. Apparently, all four of the trucks are suffering from the same issue.

BTW, I am in the Send It Back camp. I think that may give some upper management types the kick in the nuts they need.

[Sport Rider]

Consistency is a positive trait, isn't it? :o

[cheesy]

Holy cow, someone got serious! I actually got an engineer to come to the US for this damn truck.
After trying to remotely diagnose the problems, the manufacturer agreed they needed their own eyes here as Jason and I are way over our heads on this stuff.

I got pissed at the whole lot on a conference call Friday as I’d had enough of “check this” and “check that”. Finally ended it with “It’s your goddam truck, you fix it.”

[minimac]

I keep waiting for this saga to end with you telling them finally "I'm Outta Here".

[Sport Rider]

I suspect it will be more flame-riddled than just that!

[cheesy]

Well, I for one am chuffed at the outcome of this truck nightmare. The engineer that came from Quebec was very good and it took us about two hours to suss out the problems and another four hours of testing to give the truck our seal of approval.

I learned that di-electric grease is a no no for CAN system connections(I didn’t use it, but I found it on all the CAN connectors), I have a strong dislike for Deutsch plugs(it sucks to pull them apart with frozen paws), and it was good to have someone thirty years younger to climb all over the damn truck.

[Bruces]

Did you learn any good French swear words from him Cheesy ?

[cheesy]

Originally Posted by Bruces

Did you learn any good French swear words from him Cheesy ?

None that I didn't already know.

[Bruces]

I always laughed my ass off when working with French people ,especially when something goes wrong and the cursing is in full swing .

[cheesy]

As I’ve worked with French, Italians, Finns, Brits, Aussies, and South Africans over the past two decades, I have developed a deep repertoire of swears.

[cheesy]

Oh boy, I’ve heard rumors that my boss, Old Weird Harold, is throwing in the towel and retiring in May. Glad for him, because this cluster has taken a bigger toll on him that it has on me. I’m just wondering how I will handle my last year and a half; a solo act, forced to report to someone I have no respect for, or give them the middle finger and present them with a list of my consulting fees.

[cheesy]

JHC, I got into it with the manager of CS today. I got a request from one of the CS drones yesterday to call a customer who wanted to know what the alternator voltage output was on his machine. I handled it because I know customer. But then I sent an email to the CS manager, Old Weird Harold, and the COO, basically saying,”Really? Your people couldn’t look this up?”

The response from Harold was that we are here to help. Harold doesn’t like to rock the boat. The COO so far has been silent. The CS manager, though, attaches a copy of the manual in a reply and challenges me to find that information in 173 pages.
Within two minutes, I listed six pages and one schematic with the information. I also replied that every one of these machines have been 24v since 1997. I think Harold was miffed, too, because he replied with a sales brochure that also lists the information.

The CS manager replied back that he had searched ‘alternator’ and got no hits. He also stated that if he had taken that call, he would not have searched through the 173 page manual for the answer and would have passed it on to the field guys.

That royally pissed me off. I think I found the source of a major problem. I am going to make sure that his email goes to every European manager in the company. I can’t trust the US ones to do more than scratch there asses.

[Bruces]

You are living the dream .......not .

[cheesy]

I wish it was a dream.
I don’t mind helping out with legitimate query. Hell, I have more experience on most of this equipment than anyone in the outfit. I can rattle off part numbers from the top of my head. If I can’t, I know where to find it. If it truly isn’t in a manual, and it happens, I’ll find that answer.

But, dammit, actually try looking first before asking me. I work in the ‘Field’. Which means I may be on track where I can’t even touch my phone or I am being drenched in hydraulic oil and I don’t need the interruptions. It may be hours before I can respond.

I didn’t have the benefit of search engines when I started this gig and the manuals were in ‘almost’ European English. I had to physically read and sometimes translate into North American English before what I read made sense. And in the process, I learned, and what I learned, I retained.

The mouth breathers in CS are just using up my air.

Rant over. As you were.