Complaint Review: Fleet Maintenance.INC

My name is Mircea Vasile Dumitru numbered corporation 2290479 INC,12 East 35,Hamilton,Ontario,L8V3X6,I am an owner operator working for TST Truckload Express,5425 Dixie Road, Building B, Mississauga, Ontario,L4W1E6.

On Aug 27.2011 my truck ,a Freightliner Columbia VIN nr 1FUJA6CV86LV48663,automatic transmission, Meritor 12 speeds, was towed from I 90 south into the Freightliner dealership in West Seneca,67 Ransier Drive,New York,14224,reason was that the truck despite the fact that was in drive mode  was not moving, the error showing up on the display was SM-E37-3A.

When I got to the dealership I explained to Kim Ansel what exactly happened with the truck, that I tried to place the shifter in drive and the truck is not moving, engine and everything was running.

She wrote down what I told her and she told me that unfortunately because is Saturday  they are too busy and they dont  think they will have somebody to look at the truck until Monday morning, fact that actually happened, latter on they told they got no chance to look at it and I got to wait.

I left West Seneca and I went back to Hamilton Ontario where I am living, Monday morning I called West Seneca, especially Kim Ansel to get any news about the truck, I  have been told by Kim that they will call me back when they know something, and that they are waiting for a phone call from Meritor Manufacturer because they do not know what the fault mean and they need directions from Meritor to go any further with the repairs, same think happened Tuesday and than Wednesday when I called Kim Ansel she told me they are still waiting for Meritor to call them back.

Later on Wednesday I got an e-mail from Kim Ansel telling me that after those three days Meritor called them back and told them that TCU Unit on the truck might not work and the transmission need to be taken out in order to check that TCU Unit, estimated repairs price : TCU Unit-1353USD ,Labour -2331USD,Part Shipping-200USD I called them I gave them my credit card and I agree to go ahead and do the repairs on the truck so I can start working after so many days.

On Sept.02.2011 I received another e-mail from Kim Ansel telling me that the part that they received is the incorrect part and is got nothing to do with my TCU Unit that is on the truck, I talked with her on the phone and she told me that she is going to reorder the parts.

I agree with that I told her to do it right away, she told me to wait on the phone while she is going to reorder the new TCU Unit meanwhile she told me the price changed from 1353USD to 3649USD I told her is ok ,I gave her the credit card number again and I was hopping that they are finally going to solve my problem ,the surprise came 2 minutes later when they told me that they could not find the TCU unit anywhere in the United States and if I want they can give me the part number so I can start looking for the part in Canada.

I got the part number and the next day I start making phone calls, I called Meritor they check their system and they told me they got the part in stock, I ask them where are located and they told me Illinois, I called Kim Ansel  back and I told her I found the part and where, I gave her the phone number so she can order it for me through Freightliner, in the same time I asked Kim if it is possible to check the air tanks because the pressure was going up to high 150-160 psi, she told me she will have the mechanics checking on that.

On September.08.2011,two weeks after I left the truck in service to be repaired I talk with Kim on the phone and she told me that the truck is ready to be picked up, and she also told me that the truck was drive tested.

I got some friends driving me back to US to West Seneca, I talk to Kim and I asked her if they check also the air tanks for that high pressure issue, she told me that the technicians were driving the truck and they drove tested and they did not find anything wrong with it.

I was about to leave, I start up the truck and I realize that the issue with the pressure on the tanks is still there, I went back asking them if they can check that for me again.

They start to check the problem I described and an hour later they told me that I am right is a problem with the air tanks, air drier and some valves, they solve part of the problem but they told me that they are not going to be able to repair it properly because one of the valves can not be taken out and if they brake the air tank they dont have any replacement for it in stock.

In the same time they assure me that I should be ok to drive like that and replace the valve later.

I decided to drive back to Canada I told my dispatch at TST Truckload  Express that the truck is repaired and I am heading to Mississauga Ontario, they send me a load assignment for Illinois, I start driving and 45 minutes after I left West Seneca Freightliner dealership when I was at the Canadian Customs in Fort Errie my truck start acting the same as before I could not drive anymore, the fault came back,SM-E7-3A.

I start turning on and off the engine hoping that the fault will reset, meanwhile I called Freightliner dealership in West Seneca and nobody answer I left a message for Kim Ansel telling her that I got the same problem again despite the fact that my truck was in the Freightliner dealership for two  weeks and I spend 7114.8USD on repairs, I got no call back.

After twenty minutes of turning on and off the ignition the truck start it back on and I was able to leave, I  was hoping that even if the fault is coming back I might be able to reset it with the risk that might take 20 minutes, so I decided to pick up a trailer from Mississauga and go to Illinois and then to get the truck checked again in the Freightliner dealership.

I start driving toward Illinois USA at the customs in Port Huron when I was waiting in line same fault came back, despite the fact that I tried to turn on and off the ignition to reset the fault the fault did not go away.

After one hour the US authorities called a tow company and I have been towed to the Canadian side in the compound where I tried to start the truck for another hour but I was unable.

After couple of hours of sleep  around 9.00 am I called Kim Ansel in West Seneca and I told her what happened to me, that the truck stop and I got the same fault again, she new already because it was a message on her machine but they did not care to call me, she told me that she does not believe that is the same fault and she said ,,no offences but can be anything because you dont know much about the truck and what the dealer that sold you the truck did to it  and that was pretty much all the explanation, I told her that I will go to the Freightliner dealership in Sarnia to see what is wrong with the truck and we are talking after.

I got towed again at the Freightliner dealership in Sarnia, where the truck was checked again, their technicians where consulting meritor for the faults that they found they call them couple of times in twenty minutes not in three days like West Seneca did and compare to the other dealership they were able to give me the report with what is wrong with the truck.

The problem found was the clutch actuator travel spec that instead of three to four inches was travelling only one inch.

They also said that a new clutch might be needed. 

As a fact all the problems were coming from the clutch actuator and possible clutch but nothing to do with the TCU Unit that was replace without a reason in West Seneca.

That is the reason why I am writing you this letter because  I do not consider that is right for me to pay for repairs valued as much as 7114.8 USD and then have the exact same problem forty  minutes later,is not right for me to pay for towing caused by misdiagnosed problems made by Freightliner dealership estimated at around  600 USD, and for a lot of time lost when I did not work so I was unable to work,Aug.27.2011 to Present.

I am writing you because all the mistakes caused by Freightliner cost me a lot of money and time and may lead very soon to the fact that I am going to be unable to pay for the truck payments, credit card payments and line of credit payments due to the fact that after all these money I spend my truck is still not working.

The actual cost for the repairs that are required for the truck at this moment  in order to replace the clutch actuator and the clutch, are around 6000 CAD for parts and 3000 CAD for labour, money that I dont have them anymore because West Seneca dealership make me spend this money on a TCU Unit that was not supposed  to be changed on my truck.

I hope that you are going to be able to clarify this matter and that I am going to get my expenses back for those unnecessary repairs that were done on my truck, also I am hoping that those facts are happening rarely on the Freightliner dealership because I am still hoping I can trust your service.

Attached you will find copies of all the shop reports, fault reports, towing receipts, e-mails, if you need more information please contact me.


I am looking forward to hear from you

Thank you