Owner-Operator Keeps Refrigerated Loads Moving with Customer Center
Aug 4, 2009 | Categories: Company News, Customer Stories 
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following release features the PACCAR Customer Center and owner-operator customer, Don Needham, based in Alberta, Canada, and is written for publications whose target audience is owner-operators. If you would like to have an accompanying sidebar, which features a long-time customer specialist, to use with this story, please send an e-mail request to SiefkesPetit Communications. Be sure to include “PACCAR Customer Center sidebar” in the subject line of your e-mail. Another version of the following release is available for publications whose target audience is fleet managers and owners.
RENTON, Wash., Aug 4, 2009 — For 10 years, PACCAR Customer Center specialists have provided owner-operators rapid roadside assistance through Kenworth PremierCare(R) and Peterbilt TruckCare(R) roadside assistance services.
The PACCAR Customer Center, operated by PACCAR Parts has changed a lot since the center began its 24-hour, 365-day operation. When the center first opened in May of 1999, a crew of eight customer center specialists worked in three shifts. Several months later, specialists were fielding about 375 calls per day.
Today, the PACCAR Customer center handles about 1,500 calls each day from customers across the United States and Canada. The center serves mixed fleets and all makes of trucks giving customers access to more than 25,000 service providers in the United States and Canada, including more than 700 PACCAR locations.
Don Needham, an owner-operator based in Alberta, Canada, offers a perfect example of how important the center’s rapid and knowledgeable response can be to truck operators. Needham’s fleet of five trucks — one Kenworth W900 and four Peterbilt 379s, constantly races against time, particularly when hauling produce, meat and other refrigerated loads from Alberta to the United States.
“The folks at the PACCAR Customer Center take good care of us and they’re aware of how important it is for us to be back on the road,” Needham said. “Their relationship with service providers across the United States and Canada makes it easier for us to get priority service when we really need it.”
The center uses leading-edge telecommunications and computer technologies to accomplish that goal. A specialized phone system at the center’s main facility in Renton, Wash., manages the large volume of calls. A roadside assistance system allows specialists to easily log all aspects of the call, said Joe Hutchins, center manager. Owner-operators can then access that information through online customer profiles they create through Kenworth PremierCare or Peterbilt TruckCare.
“A custom mapping system allows our service specialists to locate dealers and independent service providers nearest to the truck’s location,” Hutchins added. “They can also call up the dealer’s hours of operation and contact information; saving the owner-operator the hassle of trying to find an open service facility should the truck have to be towed.”
Center specialists can access a database with digital illustrations of all truck components. This allows them to reference which components may need to be fixed or replaced when communicating with the dealership or service center before the truck arrives.
The center has Spanish-speaking specialists available to answer calls around the clock, and French-speaking specialists during its hours of heaviest call volume. A language line also provides dependable translation service around the clock in French, Spanish, Punjabi, Vietnamese, Korean, Russian or just about any of a wide variety of more than 150 languages.
“By providing specialists with the latest technology, PACCAR gets more than two-thirds of truck drivers who call in back on the road within six hours or less of the time the dealer or service provider accepts the job,” Hutchins said.
About PACCAR Parts
PACCAR Parts operates a network of parts distribution centers worldwide, which offer aftermarket parts sales support to Kenworth, Peterbilt, and DAF dealerships around the world. The company offers seven quality brands that not only meet OEM specifications, but also customers’ expectations regardless which major manufacturer makes their trucks.
EDITORS NOTE ON PHOTOS: If you would like the image that accompanies this news release, please visit the PACCAR Parts press photo page:
PACCAR Parts-CustomerCenterSpecialist
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