Find Parts Fast or Cheap Parts

When I decided to become a PartsPimp, I thought I would be helping folks find parts for less money. Everyone wants a deal. Something that surprised me is that more important than cost is "how fast can I get it?"

The truck parts business is tough. The saying, "You can't sell from an empty cart." applies to truck parts even more. Everybody wants their truck fixed and back on the road ASAP. If you don't have the parts in stock, the trucker, repair shop or fleet MUST go elsewhere. No parts, no sale. Therefore, the parts companies have to stock thousands of parts so this doesn't happen. It is very expensive to stock the parts, track the parts and house the parts. This, in turn makes parts more expensive.

Anyway, for finding heavy truck parts fast, try TruckPartsInventory.com.

Insurance Adjusters

The PartsPimp had a sit down with some insurance adjusters. I have to admit, I didn't have much respect for them until I understood what they're up against.

Adjusters are under tremendous pressure from the company to reduce payouts. (Let's face it, big insurance does it's best to pay you as little as possible in the unfortunate event you have an accident, while pouring the pickle to you on premiums. It's all about profit...but that's another rant...)

Adjusters are also getting beat up by some clients who are looking to cash in. While most people are fair the adjusters mentioned they always have to be on the lookout for someone trying to take advantage of the situation.

Lastly, adjusters are under enormous time pressure from both the insurance company and the client. The company wants it off their plate and the trucker wants to get back on the road.

Well, so why is the PartsPimp talking to adjusters? They wanted to know how the yours truly could help them find parts faster. I told them they can always email me for parts but I also gave them some of my resources for finding parts:

http://www.truckpartsinventory.com/ - you can search by hood or whatever you're looking for, then call the guy who has it.

http://www.partseek.com/ - you enter a form and submit it. When I'm looking for parts, the incredible thing is, someone gets back to me in minutes.

I'm not sure how these sites make money but they are free to use. The next time I talk with the adjusters, I'll fill 'ya in on what they think of these sites.

Cell Phones

Well the PartsPimp wanted to upgrade the cell phone. My cell phone came over on the Mayflower; one of those fancy brick phones. It was time to go digital. Text'ing and all that jazz. Turns out it is not easy to upgrade phones...at least with the provider I have. Apparently, I have a contract that ropes you into a 3 year contract and doesn't let you go. Then, I wasn't eligible until next year for a phone upgrade, in which case would've made the phone cheaper. Understanding all this, I made several trips to the mall, called the 800 'customer service' (it should actually be called 'customer disservice') and everyone I spoke to gave me different prices for the phone I wanted. 5 People, 5 different prices, same company. What a circle jerk! I went to the mall where they offered me the cheapest price. So now...I'm officially wireless. Yeah.

Now onto the parts...
These guys out in Ohio have the goods. One of the biggest inventories I've ever laid my eyes on. I use them for quantites (truckloads) of parts and older military or suplus drivetrain. Anyway, check them out at http://www.adelmans.com/.

Do I Have to Know That??

In partman circles the running joke is the guy who calls and asks for a part; like a flywheel housing. When you ask him what engine he needs it for he doesn't know. When you ask what truck its for he doesn't know the model number. Finally the partsman says, "What color is the truck?"

I recently took a call from someone who wanted to know how much a charge air cooler was. When I asked him what truck it was off, he said, "Just tell me how much they are!!" How can I tell him how much they are without knowing which one he needs??

Here's a tip for you when you call for parts: at the very least you'll need to know the year, make and model of the truck. Depending on what you need, you'll need to know the engine, transmission or differential make and model.

Having to send a part back because it isn't right is NOT A GOOD TIME. Make sure you give your partsman all the info he needs so you GET THE RIGHT PARTS.

Your Friendly Neighborhood PartsPimp

The Travelling PartsPimp

So the PartsPimp went on a trip. The travel agent booked me to Grand Rapids. So I'm in the airport and they are calling out, "PartsPimp, PartsPimp" from the ticket desk. I thought, "What are the odds. Someone else has the PartsPimp name..." Also, I didn't think too much of it because the ticket desk said Grand Rapids, MN not Grand Rapids, MI (where I was going.) Just to make sure, I went up and verified indeed I was booked on the WRONG flight.

I explained this is the wrong flight. I can't fly up there, how would I get to Michigan? The ticket agent said, come with me. He walked up to the small turbo prop plane, climbed onto the wing and opened the cargo hatch. "Come up here and tell me which bag is yours!?!?!" he shouted over the airport noise. So I climb up, in my fine PartsPimp garb. Its 95 degrees and 90% humidity while I'm pulling my suitcase out of the cargo hold of the plane. Meanwhile, everyone on the plane and in the terminal is staring out wondering why I'm out there.

The air conditioned terminal was a welcome relief. The PartsPimp doesn't sweat under pressure but in hot sunlight, yours truly was melting. It was also a relief to have the other ticket agent offer to take my bag. "Don't worry sir, we'll get this on the right flight." He said. When I get to Grand Rapids, MI guess what? My bag is sitting in Grand Rapids, MN. It took 3 days for me to get my clothes. The old PartsPimp was pretty ripe to say the least.

Onto the parts! Going through my tickle truck of knowledge, I ran into this nugget. For medium duty truck parts, check out http://http://www.activetruckparts.com/. Its tough finding Isuzu and Fuso parts but these guy have 'em. They also have pickup and semi truck parts too.

East Coast

Well the PartsPimp went fishing in the Keys. He sunk the line out with a pin fish. The pin fish was taking my line out when ALL of a SUDDEN, boom, the line hit. As usual, I was in my PartsPimp 'calm, cool and collected' stance. Had I been prepared, I would have been in my '200lb monster hitting my line' stance. Anyhow, the boys snagged my feet as I was rapidly being pulled out of the boat. They kept shouting, "Let go of the rod! Let go of the rod!" The line ended up snapping but I'll tell you this, the PartsPimp doesn't let go of the rod until the job is done.

Now onto the parts...
If you need mechanical parts (transmissions, differentials) in the Northeast go visit my friend: John at A&A Truck Parts.

Letters

BOY, I'm sick of getting these Nigeria scams claiming they will give me 10% of $34 million for my help. I get at least 5 of these a day. Can't they find something better to do??

Anyway, onto my favorite subject: truck parts. We get hundreds of calls a month for chrome and stainless products. Sometimes salvage yards have good used but I usually steer them to www.4statetrucks.com. Its the best site for finding what you're looking for.

Gettin' ir Done

Well the PartsPimp is getting an education on landscaping. The outside of my house looked like a garbage dump so I thought I'd make look better. Holy smokes its expensive! Try buying some rock. They charge you by the pound! Anyway I'm getting it done. I'll be glad when the holes in my pocket can be used for something USEFUL instead of a leak for money.

I added a widget called Blogrush today. Check it out. It's a neat concept.

What I Do

I was over at the neighbor's house the other day and he asked me, "So what is it exactly that you do?" I told him I find heavy duty truck parts for truckers, insurance adjusters, repair shops, etc. Either people don't understand what I'm doing or I'm not quite as glamorous because I work in the transportation field. Oh well, in any case, I love what I do.

I'm still on the hunt for trucker blogs and ran across this guy: http://lyndon001.blogspot.com/
Interesting story.

New to Blogging

I'm new to blogging so I decided to check out how other people blog. There isn't a whole lot of truck parts bloggers but there are a few truckers blogging. I ran into a cool one today: http://truckdriverblog.blogspot.com/

Hilarious Video

Ok, for all you in the truck repair business this may not be that funny but for truckers this will be hilarious. Take a look at this funny video:
http://www.partseek.com/fred.aspx

Or this different funny video:
http://www.partseek.com/fred1.aspx

Best Websites to Find Heavy Duty Truck Parts

As a PartsPimp, you need sources and to find them you need resources. It depends on what type of parts you are looking for: recycled/used, new, aftermarket? I broke it down below.

New Parts
New and aftermarket are fairly straightforward because you can buy it right from the dealer. Anything you are trying to find new, you should have a part number.
1. Search the part number right in a Google search.
2. Search the part number on www.TruckPartSurplus.com

Recycled - Used Parts
When looking for used parts, it depends on whether the part is an assembly (cab or engine) or a small piece (speedo or cam shaft).
1. www.TruckPartsInventory.com - I use this first because it tells you right away who has the complete assemblies. Sometimes if the assembly is common, the company will have core units you can pull smaller parts off.
2. www.PartSeek.com - If the part is smaller or I can't find it on TruckPartsInventory, I'll fill out a request on this site. The companies call you back shockingly fast.

Important Point: Something to keep in mind. If the part is not worth much, go to someone you know to get the part. These companies are not going to send a $20/hr guy to pull a $5 part off a truck.

Sourcing Parts

Finding parts is easy for the PartsPimp. The reason: I know who has what and who specializes in what. Huh?? I'll break it down. Let's say I'm looking for an aftermarket International 9300 Series hood? I know my friend Rick Goodenough in Wisconsin has tons of good quality truck hoods. So there it is, I'll be giving up my secrets here. If you're looking for heavy duty truck parts, email me. We WILL find it.

Putting Your Back into Parts

Well the PartsPimp's back is messed up. It must have been when I was rooting through piles of heavy duty truck parts to find that axle. Should've used the forklift. At least now I've recovered enough so I can sit at the computer and search the net for items.

On another note, the hardest parts to find are the antiques. Anyone who still has old heavy duty trucks doesn't typically have anything computerized. A recent request was for an old Diamond Rio hood. The guy was from Brazil so there language barriers to deal with. We found it for him and the parts company who had it was pleased to get rid of it.

Just another day as a PartsPimp.

Why am I a PartsPimp?

I became a Partspimp for heavy duty truck parts because I wanted to help people. I was reminded of that a few days before Christmas a trucker called me (frantic) from Memphis. He was at a engine dealer (I have nothing against dealerships) and they were holding him and his truck for ransom. They wanted $18,000 for an in-frame on an older truck with a 3406B Cat! The truck was barely more than they wanted for the in-frame. Anyway, the trucker was from Dallas and wanted to get home. In a few calls I found him a cherry Cat truck engine for $4,000. The guy was almost in tears when I told him. He must have thanked me 10 times.

So that's me, a Partspimp. That's how I roll.

The PartsPimp Begins

I'm the PartsPimp. I find heavy duty truck parts (mostly used) for repair shops, fleets, municipalities, truckers and insurance adjusters. I have to clearify, if your truck says "Heavy Half" or "Heavy Duty" on the side of the box, I'm not your man. We locate commercial truck parts like Kenworth, Peterbilt, Freightliner, etc. BTW, a friend handles used light duty truck parts at JunkYardDog.com and he's a good guy.

So why PartsPimp? It's not like I'm renting out the parts in some seedy back alley. Why not PartsPusher, PartsProcura or PartsFinder. Well, I thought pimp sounded better.

I'll be sharing my insights on finding truck parts and the adventures I have along the way.