Russell Built

Today's Thoughts 12/10/11 Russell Built

It's finally done and she's purring as pretty as a kitten. As many of you already know I've been shut down since before Thanksgiving because after one point four million miles on my engine, she went to loosing water to fast for comfort. It was time to take her over to Russell and get her rebuilt. I know that three weeks seems like a long time on a rebuild. But if you think about it, the first week was spent on the Holiday and Holidays are family time and I would have been home that week anyway.

So only the last two weeks have been spent in the shop getting the work done. That shop and the work they done is what I want to talk about today. It's so hard out on the road to find a shop that is as interested in you getting a job done well as they are in you being able to take your truck when they are done and be able to go make a living with it. Finding a shop and a mechanic where they actually take pride in the work that they put out. Not only in how well will the repair perform for you, but how it looks under your hood when it is done. Adding the personal touch you might say.

Right up front I want to tell you that I was not asked to write this article. Nor was I paid or asked to take any of the pictures that are now on my FaceBook profile. This was my own idea, and the reason I came up with it is what you read in the first paragraph above. As an Owner Operator it is very important to me to know about a shop with these values and expertise and I thought I would share my little secrete with the rest of my friends so they could maybe stop by and check out for themselves this little jewel of a find. So let's fill in some of the blanks so you know who's who.

Bobby Allen, aka Blinky is the shop manager. Blinky drove trucks himself for many years so he knows by personal experience just how hard it is for drivers to get decent work done out on that highway. I spent a little time talking with him and watching him interact with different customers and I have to tell you, I think it would be hard to find a person that conducts business more honestly then Blinky does. "You have to be honest with your customers and explain to them exactly what needs to be done and why" Blinky told me. "So spending a little time talking with them is something that I always do"

That’s Blinky in a nutshell. As you talk to him and explain your problem, He will from years of experience explain back to you the most probable cause and exactly what it is that will fix your problem. You will walk away from that conversation or at least I did, more educated about just how it is your truck runs and what it needs to run properly. I think the thing that impressed me most about Blinky and his shop is the fact that when other major shops in the area cannot fix a truck or their mechanics mess up the repair, they tow the truck down to Blinky to get the job done right. Last week a major trucking company towed in a truck that their mechanics replaced the kingpins on the steering axel so well that the wheels would not even turn. After a lot of effort was made to tear down what they had done, Blinky called in the shop manager from the trucking company and went over piece by piece what his mechanics had done wrong. Then Brian and Slim did the repairs as they should have been done in a couple of hours and returned the truck to the company.

Russell is the mechanic that rebuilt my engine. The pride he takes in a job well done is something that I believe is hard to find in this world anymore. Russell learned his craft, and I call it a craft because as you watch Russell work and see the pride he takes in every step, it can be called nothing less; but he learned his craft the old fashioned way. Not by going to school and sitting behind a desk but by growing up in the trucking industry and from a very young age working besides mechanics on actual trucks as they worked in the real world. It's this years of real world experience that has giving Russell his unique ability to pin point with great accuracy exactly what needs to be repaired and the knowledge and skills to do the repairs.

"I've built so many truck engines that you could bring me any engine in a box and I could take those pieces out of that box and build that engine where it sits." Russell told me one day. "A customer needed his truck back one time. I had it torn completely down, nothing but a block sitting in the frame. John and I completely rebuilt that engine over night and had it ready to roll first thing the next day." Russell told me and to my knowledge, that engine is still running today.

But that’s not the way Russell likes to work. Each piece is methodically removed and positioned around your truck so that he knows exactly where it is when it is time for him to revisit it. Every bolt, every washer, every nut and every part is removed, cleaned and inspected before it is painted and replaced. After the tear down the shop area is cleaned so that no dust is present as he builds your engine back. Old bolts in certain key positions or thrown out and replaced lowering the possibility of a parts failure. Your head that comes in completely assembled is torn down and inspected by Russell, then reassembled to Russell's standards before he installs it on your engine. In fact for me to go over each and every step and explain the TLC that Russell takes and the pride in his work would take up a lot of space here. Let's just suffice to say that it is not uncommon for Russell to hear back that one of his engines just passed the million mile mark again. And the normal time a shop takes to rebuild an engine is about half the time that Russell takes. The thing about that last statement is that the price is usually about the same if not cheaper. The little extras that are usually found are thrown in to make sure the job is done right, not used as a ploy to jack up your bill. Remember that honesty thing I was talking about?

Besides they great rebuild job that I'm sure I received as many of my friends currently run Russell Built engines, I also received one heck of an education about my engine and what makes her run. I have a much better understanding about how things work and even how to fix them myself now. Russell is a natural teacher even if he does not know it. That in itself was worth the time and money I spent these last couple of weeks. My new found knowledge will serve me well one day out on that highway.

Well, I guess that’s all I have to say for now. I hope that someone out there that has been looking for an honest someone to help keep their truck on the road with expertise will find this information useful. I want to thank Blinky and Russell for the great job they did, and for making me feel like I was one of the family while I worked beside them out in the shop. The pictures of Russells work and the pride he takes can be found on my Facebook profile. And if you are thinking about giving these folks a call, here is their number. Just tell them Jeff sent you.

"First Diesel Service, Attalla, AL, 256-538-1911
Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
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