Serving a market with ever-increasing demands for faster service and greater transparency, Daimler Trucks North America’s Aftermarket business launched several new initiatives to elevate dealer support and customer experience with the ultimate goal of offering a 24-hour service turnaround.
Aside from catastrophic failures, engine rebuilds or major accident repairs, about 56 percent of Freightliner dealerships consistently achieve a 24-hour service turnaround, and 80 percent of repairs throughout DTNA’s entire service network are done within 24 hours, said Stefan Kurschner, DTNA’s senior vice president of Aftermarket.
“Our customers have diverse products and businesses, and we want to help them be successful by providing solutions that create efficiencies and value,” said Kurschner. “We believe [24-hour-or-less turnaround] is a feasible goal, but we need to make it nationwide,” he said, adding customer expectations of “Tell me more, tell me sooner, fix my truck faster” will require “communication, transparency and the right tools.”
A key part of DTNA’s service strategy is its parts distribution network. The opening of its ninth parts distribution center last month in Des Moines, Iowa, allows DTNA to supply 80 percent of its dealer network with next-day parts delivery. Kurschner announced DTNA will open its 10th PDC next year in Phoenix, bringing its next-day delivery coverage to 90 percent of its dealer network. The Phoenix facility will be the fourth new PDC in DTNA’s network in the last two years.
“Having and delivering the right parts for our customers when and where they need them, as quickly as possible, is essential to uptime and achieving the 24-hour or less repair turnaround time,” said Kurschner. “Our expansive service network and strategically located parts distribution centers are critical to that goal.”
To help achieve its 24-hour turnaround promise and improve customer communications during a service event, DTNA debuted Service Tracker, the latest component in its uptime management software suite that also includes Express WriteUp, Uptime Pro and Uptime Performance.
Coming September 1, Service Tracker is a web-based (and mobile-friendly) application that integrates with its fellow software components to provide transparency to the customer as to the status of a truck repair throughout the service process. Kurschner said 90 percent of all trucks in DTNA’s service network will be visible.
