Your Turbo Solution for a Lower Cost per Mile
Learn how Turbo Solutions can help lower your total cost of operation with their products.
Episode 194: We are in Orlando, Florida at HDA Truck Pride’s Annual Meeting. In this episode, we talked with Turbo Solutions and discussed the products that they were highlighting at the show, and how they lower the total cost of operation for fleets.
My guest today is John Ferry the Vice President at Turbo Solutions.
John is a returning guest, you can go back and catch some turbo talk in episode 33 and learn how to diagnose turbo failures by the color of the exhaust in episode 119.
Guest Website: TSReman.com
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Transcript of Episode:
Jamie Irvine:
You’re listening to The Heavy-Duty Parts Report. I’m your host, Jamie Irvine. And this is the show where you get expert advice about heavy-duty parts that keeps trucks and trailers on the road longer while lowering cost-per -mile.
We’re in Orlando, Florida at HDA Truck Pride’s Annual Meeting, and I’m here at the Turbo Solutions booth. Now, John Ferry, you might recognize him, he’s someone who’s been on the show before. So Episode 33, we talked about Turbo Solutions and reman, a subject that’s dear to both of our hearts Episode 119, we talked about diagnosing turbo failures. So if you want to check out those, go back, the links will be in the show notes, but today we’re at HDA Truck Pride. John, welcome to The Heavy-Duty Parts Report, third time on the show. You’re entering a special club.
John Ferry:
Thank you. It’s a really exciting day, you know, get to see a lot of friends in the industry and it’s a great event.
Jamie Irvine:
So when you’re talking to the members of HDA Truck Pride, these are independent owned part stores and sometimes they’re service shops. And you’re talking about turbos, what have you been talking to them about specifically at this show?
John Ferry:
Well, you know, obviously everybody knows that the global supply shortage has put everybody in a tough position and the fact is that the trucks still have to roll. And we take that very seriously. We did a lot of overtime work and making sure that remanufactured turbo we had available in stock. And I’m happy to say that we’re shipping material and we want to be part of that solution if the customer can’t get it from their primary supplier.
Jamie Irvine:
So the trucking industry, unless you’re in it, you don’t necessarily understand the full scope of it. There’s what we call over the road, that’s what maybe someone sees when they’re driving down the highway. Right. But there’s so many vocations, right? There’s so many industries. So what applications, let’s just pick a couple of them and talk about how you reman your turbos to specifically meet the needs of that vocation.
John Ferry:
That’s right. Yeah. I mean, what we specialize in is variable geometry technology. So VGT turbos, you know, there’s a lot of turbo suppliers and a lot of them do a great job, but we made a decision that we were gonna concentrate on the VGT turbos. And they’re used in a variety of applications, you know, whether it’s trash trucks or municipal trucks or even over the road trucks. The fact is it’s a very complicated due to engine after treatment product. And our people do a great job keeping up to date on what the latest reasons why they’re turbocharger might fail. So that’s where we put our focus.
Jamie Irvine:
Right. And I know that you do a lot of work with your distributors. You only sell through distributors. So you’re doing a lot of training, when you’re trying to help a parts tech become more proficient in turbos, what’s the kinds of steps that you put them through. What kinds of information do you share with them?
John Ferry:
Well, you know, one of the things that we try to do is everybody realizes that none of these people, including me like to read instructions, so what we’ve done is we’ve put together a sheet that’s in the box and it actually has a QR code so that the technician can play a two minute video. And what we find is after watching the two minute video, not only do the technicians maybe learn something, but it really reinforces what they already knew. And maybe they’ve developed some bad habits. And if you install a turbo charger and you’re not installing it properly, you’re going to have a problem.
Jamie Irvine:
We’re gonna take a quick break. We’ll be right back. Don’t have a heavy-duty part number and need to look up a part? Go to parts.diesellaptops.com or download the app on Apple or Android to create your free account. Looking for high-quality fuel injection for heavy-duty applications? Having one supplier for fuel injection allows you to better serve customers by providing them with a complete line, which increases your sales and profitability. Learn more at ambacinternational.com/aftermarket. We’re back from our break. And before the break we were talking about TS Remans program, Turbo Solutions, Tsreman.com. You’ve got a great product line. You’ve been on the show to talk about that before. Let’s shift gears a little bit. We’re at HDA Truck Pride. It’s really one of the, I would say the heart of the independent service channel here in the heavy-duty trucking industry. So over the last couple years, it’s been tough for everyone, but how has your company stepped up to support the independent service channel during that time?
John Ferry:
Well, what we’ve done is we’ve opened up a new shipping point, uh, uh, to get the inventory closer to our dealers, our distributors, and, uh, we want to make the, getting the product, uh, uh, easy. So we’ve done that. We’ve opened up. We’ve also increased our inventory in a time where everybody’s struggling. One of the benefits of being a remanufacturer is that you’re able to control your own destiny to a degree when it comes to inventory management. Uh, we’re carrying a lot of inventory right now. I think it’s needed. Uh, and it’s really paying off because when I hear some of the chatter in the industry, it’s nice to know that my team is shipping product.
Jamie Irvine:
And that’s, I mean, I don’t think we could understate how important that is, because the reality is we’re hearing stories at The Heavy-Duty Parts Report of trucks being down not days but weeks because they’re waiting for one part, right? So the fact that you can get that part out to them, that’s a big deal. As you look forward, what are some of the things that you see coming in the industry that’s gonna affect the independent side of the business?
John Ferry:
Well, you know, there’s a lot of talk about electrification and a lot of things that are gonna happen in the future. To me, it’s really about the independent channel became popular and strong because they listened to the customer and they were able to give them things that they necessarily weren’t getting from the dealer channel. And, you know, they have to continue that listening to the customer firsthand and understand what their needs are, is the most important thing that anyone can do in management today, in my opinion.
Jamie Irvine:
And, and you know, a lot of times it’s hard not to talk about the problems, but let’s end on a positive note. When you look forward, what gives you reason for optimism for first of all, our industry as a whole, and second of all, the critical part of the independent service channel that supports the trucking industry, what gives you optimism?
John Ferry:
Well, I mean, there’s a lot of passion, you know with the independent channel and, you know, their idea is even if I don’t have the part, I can find it and I can get that guy’s truck up and running. That will never end. And it’s very important for them to make sure that their customer always gets the service and gets that part. Even when others say that it’s not available. So that passion is what has driven the independent industry. And I believe it will continue.
Jamie Irvine:
You’ve been listening to The Heavy-Duty Parts Report. I’m your host, Jamie Irvine. We’ve been with John Ferry, the Vice President at Turbo Solutions. To learn more, go to TSreman.com. That’s where their website is. You’ll see some great videos on there that you can learn more about their company and what they do, head back and check out those previous episodes if you haven’t had a chance. John, thanks so much for being back on the show.
John Ferry:
Thank you.
