Curt Cundiff counts on his truck for his livelihood. He counts on it to run when he has a client who needs a shipment across the country. And, as an owner/operator, he counts on the truck parts to be reliable and durable… for a very long time.
Curt got that and a whole lot more from his Delco Remy 22SI™ alternator. The 22SI – the manufacturer standard when he purchased a brand-new Peterbilt 379 in 2001 – ran well past what Curt expected. In fact, the 22SI lasted four times longer than Curt ever imagined.
“I thought it would go about 300,000 miles or so. That’s sort of the rule of thumb on alternators,” he says. “But this one ran and ran and ran.”
It ran—to 1,037,379 miles
to be exact!
For more than 11 years, the 22SI provided power to Curt’s Peterbilt as he criss-crossed the country, hauling hay, vehicles, steel, lumber, shingles and anything else one of his customers needed pulled on his flatbed.
A family tradition
Curt was familiar with Delco Remy products long before he purchased the Peterbilt. His father, who also owned a trucking company, taught him that quality parts in a truck were crucial to his ability to meet customer demands.
He remembers his dad trying other brands and coming back to Delco Remy. “I learned that Delco Remy products were worth the investment because you can count on them,” he says. “I need an alternator I can depend on. If it’s not running, my business is down.”
And for Curt, his reputation for reliability is everything.
“I make sure I do what I say I’m going to do,” he says.
He expects the same thing out of the products he purchases. Needless to say, the 22SI more than met his expectations. In fact, Curt was so impressed with how long it lasted that he stopped by the Delco Remy booth at the Mid-America Trucking Show this year to share about the alternator’s amazing feat. He walked away from the booth with hats, t-shirts and the promise of a brand-new 36SI™ brushless model.
“Randy Andis [Director of Aftermarket Operations] asked me if I still had the alternator and told me if I brought it to Remy, he’d give me a new one in its place,” Curt recalls. “I’d had no bad luck with the first one, so I was definitely interested in another.”
Hoping for another record
Recently, Curt picked up his new 36SI. Passing through Pendleton, Indiana, where Remy is located, Curt and his wife, Cristy, and two stepdaughters visited Remy headquarters and exchanged the old 22SI for the new 36SI.
In addition to receiving a new alternator, Curt was excited to accept one that was brushless. “This is obviously new for me and it sounds like it will be really good,” he says.