| I began looking for the single most important item for
my company in the fall of 2003, the bucket truck. These are not the type
of item you go down to the local use car lot to pick out the one you
want. I knew nothing of what to look for or functions and features. I
began looking on the web. I quickly discovered all different sizes and
functions of bucket trucks. There were small ones mounted on light
trucks that would be good for trimming trees and huge ones that would be
"over kill" for most jobs. Of course there is also a price range
associated with each one as well. The trick was to find something that
was right for what I thought our company needed and could afford yet was
in good running condition. I scoured the internet for several months
having decided on a truck that had a bucket that could reach at least a
50', cabinets to stow gear and a jib to lower branches with. It
became obvious that I was not going to find anything I liked in the
immediate area and needed to look at the internet to purchase. This
created a big problem as the internet is not a trustworthy place to
shop, especially for a $20k item used item.
I found many possible solutions to my problem, but when I called I
based my first opinion on the trustworthiness of the business I was
dealing with. Many dealership made a comment such as "That truck was
sold, but we have..." or "I'm not familiar with that truck, perhaps it
is an old one we had, but we have plenty of other ones I am sure are
better you would like.". These are the types of comments that terminated
the conversation quicker that I dialed the phone. To me these sites were
just doing what I call "chumming". Throwing images of trucks that look
good on the website to get phone calls then they pull the old "bait and
switch"... now that you called let me show you the real junk we have to
sell. Even if the "real junk" is better, if they don't take the time to
update the website, then I don't trust them to do a fair business with
me. Another point that raised a red flag was during the conversation it
many times became obvious that the salesperson had no clue what the
vehicle looked like or what the history was. They simply made it all up
as they went... conversation over!
Eventually after about three months of looking, I found a truck on
the web being sold by "Gordon's Truck and
Equipment in Plymouth, MI" (as a note: I have not been able to locate
them lately so they may not be in business anymore). When I called the
salesperson ask for the ID and proceeded to give me the complete history
of the vehicle, I asked about other trucks on the site, each one was
still for sale and each one he pop off the complete history immediately.
I asked him if the site was all up to date and he told me each day they
update the site. FINALLY I found a place I thought I could trust. I told
him I was interested in a couple of trucks but lived in Minnesota and he
told me he would check out the trucks and let me know if he thought it
was worth me driving from MN to look at it. His report back confirmed
exactly what I thought, the truck I thought was right he suggested and
thought would be sound enough to drive back. So we went, we bought it
and we drove it home. Before leaving our salesperson spent a couple
hours showing us all the bells and whistles of how the use the truck, it
features that make it unique.
 The
trip home was uneventful until I pulled into a rest stop just inside the
Minnesota state line. Pulling out a DOT officer sat a watched me as I
waived several people through the stop sign but did not move to stop me.
Instead he waited until I pulled out and came behind me. We were on the
bluffs of the Mississippi and no shoulder. When he approached I asked
"Do you really want to do this here?" to which he replied watching the
traffic zoom by "I'll met you at the bottom of the next exit". He got in
his car and left! My nephew (following us) and I drove to the next
exit and sure enough he was waiting.
The DOT officer was a tall thin man and came sash-saying over and
said "I can make this easy with one question, Do you have a medical
card?" This guy really had a sense for the situation. "What is a medical
card" was my reply. All the information on the internet about starting a
company, the information provided by our SCORE (Small Business Startup
Advisement Group) in Rochester provided, but nowhere has it been say you
need to get a class "B" license to drive a big truck or a medical card
as well. Again, the DOT officer surprised me; he said "I'll met you at
the DOT office 3 miles down the road" and got in his car and took off.
My nephew and I drove in the direction he disappeared in and sure
enough, down the road, there he was. We
spent the next 2 hours looking over the truck and learning all there was
about the new found aspect of small business... DOT. Come to find out,
there is no place to find out about it. Even the manual they handout
does not have all the information in it, there is no website, no
notification system and they continually change the regulations. Your
just in violation and find out when you are pulled over I guess! This
officer was GREAT! He spent a lot of time showing us all he was doing,
explaining the rules and helping us out. It was worth the money I paid
for not having a class "B" license... that is all I was tagged for. I
came back the next day and picked up the truck with a driver that had a
class "B" license.
After that it was time to repaint and ready it for service.
|
