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