Did you know that the commercial truck repair industry consists of almost 35,000 businesses? This should make it easy to find a truck repair service when you need one.
But you should not simply Google “commercial truck repair near me” and hire the first company you can find to help you. Doing this isn’t always going to point a commercial truck driver to the best truck repair shop in their area.
Instead, you should scope out the local commercial truck repair businesses and look for certain things. It should help you land on the right business in no time.
Here are 12 things to look for when you’re in the market for a commercial truck repair company.
1. Location
As we just mentioned, you’ll be making a mistake if you search for “commercial truck repair near me” and pick the first business that pops up. But it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do it to make sure you’re only considering local companies.
The last thing you want to do is get stuck waiting on the side of the road forever because a commercial truck repair company has to travel an hour to get to you. They should be conveniently located in the same city where your truck is at the moment.
2. Experience
The more experience a commercial truck repair company has, the better off you’re going to be. An experienced company will know how to perform all the services you’ll need and get your truck back out on the road fast.
For this reason, you should look only at commercial truck repair companies that have a wealth of experience within the industry. Ideally, you’ll want to work with one that has at least a few years under their belt.
You should be able to find out how much experience a commercial truck repair company has by poking around on its website. You should also be able to find out more about the history of a company and the person who started it.
All this will shed light on what you’ll be getting yourself into if you agree to have a certain company come out to your truck to fix it.
3. Expertise
You might be under the impression that any old auto repair shop will be able to fix up your truck. But this isn’t usually the case.
Rather than relying on a regular auto repair shop, you’ll need to have a commercial truck repair shop in your corner. They’ll know the ins and outs of working on commercial trucks and will be able to set you up with the specific services your truck needs.
Many of these companies will also be able to work on things like:
- RVs
- Horse trailers
- Flatbed trucks
- Commercial trailers
- And more
Don’t be afraid to double-check with a commercial truck repair company to make sure they’ll be able to deliver the services you need. It’ll help you avoid the frustration of having a company come out to your location only to discover that they can’t actually help you.
4. Reputation
Reading online reviews for local commercial truck repair companies is one of the most effective ways to figure out which ones will be your best options. It would be worth spending a few minutes skimming through reviews for each of your options.
Your goal should be to track down a company that has pretty much nothing but positive reviews. You’ll know you’re in great hands when you find a company with lots of five-star reviews.
You’ll also know you should avoid a company when you see that they have tons of negative reviews. You won’t have to waste your time communicating with a company like this that doesn’t have its act together.
5. Services
Prior to reaching out to any commercial truck repair companies, you should figure out what might be wrong with your truck.
Does it have a dead battery that needs to be replaced? Is it in need of a new belt or hose? Or does it need to have a new tire put on?
Not every commercial truck repair company is going to be able to provide the same services. It’s why you should attempt to get a sense of what’s going on with your truck so that you can find a company that can help with that specific problem.
Most commercial truck repair companies will have their services listed right on their websites. Your job is going to be to find a great company that has the services you need.
6. Products
Commercial truck repair companies will offer more than just different services. They’ll also offer different products to those who need new batteries, belts, hoses, and tires.
With this in mind, you shouldn’t be shy about asking companies which products they’ll be able to provide you with. You need to know they’re only going to put high-quality parts into your truck.
If, for example, you need a new tire, you don’t want a tire repair service to provide you with a tire from a no-name company. You want them to set you up with a tire from a well-known brand like:
- Michelin
- Bridgestone
- Firestone
- Falken
- Continental
If a commercial truck repair company uses a low-quality product while making a repair, you might be forced to make the same repair again soon. You can avoid having to do this by using only the best products in the business from the beginning.
7. Roadside Assistance
If there’s something wrong with your truck, you might not be able to drive it to a truck repair shop. You’ll need a shop that can send someone out to you to provide mobile repair services.
Fortunately, most commercial truck repair companies won’t have a problem doing this. But there are some that won’t be able to provide you with the roadside assistance you need.
As a result, you’ll need to go out of your way to ask commercial truck repair companies if they offer roadside assistance. If they don’t, you can automatically cross them off your list.
You can also cross a company’s name off your list if they aren’t going to be able to send a mechanic out to assist you ASAP. As a commercial truck driver, time is money. You aren’t going to have all day to sit around waiting for someone to show up to help.
8. 24/7 Availability
There is really no telling when you might run into issues when you’re working as a commercial truck driver. You might have your truck cause problems at 9 a.m. on a Monday or 11:45 p.m. on a Friday.
Because of this, you need to search for a “commercial truck repair near me” that can extend 24/7/365 roadside assistance. They should be more than happy to send a truck out to help you at any time of the day or night.
Lots of companies will claim to offer 24-hour emergency road service. But they aren’t all cut out for the job. So if you have a tough time getting someone from a company to pick up the phone in the middle of the night, move on to your next option right away.
9. Cost
In a perfect world, you would have enough time to shop around for the best prices on commercial truck repair services. It could save you a ton of money when you’re making mobile truck repairs.
You probably won’t have the time to conduct a full search for the most affordable commercial truck repair companies. But you should be able to get a sense of which ones will offer the best prices through their reviews.
If you have 15 minutes to spare, you might also be able to call a handful of companies to get quotes from them. This will prevent you from getting someone to come out to your truck as quickly as you might like. But it could lead to you saving money in the end, which seems like a fair trade-off.
10. Warranty
What is a commercial truck repair company going to do if they make repairs to your truck and they don’t stick? Will they stand behind the work they did and make things right for you or ignore your calls and refuse to take the blame?
You might be surprised to hear that some commercial truck repair companies will wipe their hands clean after working with you. They won’t offer any kind of warranty on the work they did.
It would be great if you can find a company that will extend a warranty to you. This way, you won’t have to worry about paying to have repairs made to your truck again in the not-too-distant future.
You should also look for companies that use products that come with warranties. It’s another reason why it’s so important to find one that only uses name-brand products since they will usually have great warranties on them.
11. Customer Service
It doesn’t matter if you call on a commercial truck repair company for help in the middle of the day or the middle of the night. They should take your call and provide you with excellent customer service from the start no matter what.
Some commercial truck repair companies are going to make it sound like they’re doing you a favor by taking your call and arranging to help you out. It’s important to remember that you are the customer and that they’re simply going to be doing their jobs by offering you roadside assistance.
If you don’t feel like a company is providing stellar customer service, you’re always welcome to politely end a call with them and take your business elsewhere. There is no reason to continue to work with a company that clearly doesn’t care about treating you with respect.
12. Business License and Insurance
This should almost go without saying, but you shouldn’t ever agree to work with a commercial truck repair company that isn’t properly licensed and insured. You’ll be asking for trouble if you do.
A business license is going to let you know that a commercial truck repair company is legit. It’ll indicate that they’ve taken all the proper steps within the state of Texas to secure a license to work on commercial trucks.
A business insurance policy, meanwhile, will protect both you and a commercial truck repair company in the event of an accident. If someone is injured or if your truck is damaged during repairs, you won’t have to worry about footing the bill for it.
When you’re in a huge hurry to repair your truck, you might not think to ask a company for proof of a license and insurance. But you should do your best not to make this mistake.
Every good commercial truck repair company is going to welcome the opportunity to share their business license number and insurance card with you. It’ll put your mind at ease and let you know that you’ve found the right company to assist you.
Start Searching for “Commercial Truck Repair Near Me”
If you Google “commercial truck repair near me” and hire the first company you can find, you might get lucky. That company might be able to deliver the services you need.
But you might also come to regret your decision. You’ll wish you had put more time and energy into searching for the best local commercial truck repair.
We would love to show you what our commercial truck repair company can do. From battery replacement to commercial truck tire retreading, we can do it all.
Contact us now to take advantage of our mobile mechanic services.
