Customer beware: predatory business. Urgently seek other options.
The following occurred on 11/27/2025 , Thanksgiving day.
This company is actually based out of Odessa, TX but they have a service network all over the country. My guess is they sub-contract out the work to random mechanics and collect profit off of their heads. In this case, my truck was broken down in Cuba, NM and the service technician came out from Albuquerque, NM. Options for roadside help are already limited in a tiny place like Cuba and it was Thanksgiving day so I had to branch out further to find someone.
My team broke down in Cuba with a severe air leak and they could not move the truck anymore. I contacted Rapid Rescue out of Albuquerque after finding them on NTTS Breakdown and they informed me of the following charges:
1. Call out fee of $180
2. $195 an hour labor with a 2 hour minimum
3. Mileage from port-to-port is $3 per mile to cover the technician's travel/looking for parts/etc
I agreed to all of these things as I wanted to get these guys home. The issue ended up being the main air compressor hose from the compressor to the air dryer has rubbed through on a spot. Although I OK'ed it, the technician did not feel safe just rigging the hose together with layers of duct tape and zip ties so he ran back to Albuquerque to get a replacement hose. He returned from Albuquerque and replaced the hose with generic bulk braided air hose and hose clamps, as he could not acquire the genuine OEM hose with fittings on it. Not a problem. Drivers were able to build air to cut-off pressure and take off and return home. This whole event took approx. less than 12 hours, which is long but understandable given the holiday circumstances and distance the tech had to cover.
My final bill for replacing an air hose on this 2024 Peterbilt 579 was $4,489.58, so lets break down the cost:
- 11 HOURS of labor at $195 = $2,145
- 380 miles @ $3 per mile: $1,140
- Call out fee of $185
- $689.33 for parts. Which were 4 feet of generic braided air hose and 2 simple hose clamps, so approx. $25 in real world cost
- $325.25 for "shop supplies"
Here are my problems with this bill:
- Even for a novice mechanic, the hose job takes 30 minutes at the worst. Even on the side of the road. Not in the same planet as 11 hours.
- The OEM part from the Peterbilt dealer is $315 after tax and it comes fully ready to install with the fittings and everything. They charged me more than DOUBLE for just plain braided hose with no fittings. They had to use 2 generic hose clamps to attach to the dryer and compressor.
- There were no shop supplies involved in this repair. The $325.25 charge is pure greed
Arnold Gomez was the service advisor for this job and he informed me that the 11 hours of labor for the hose job was actually labor for the technician driving around "looking for parts" so you actually pay both mileage and labor for this which was not explained up front and is just pure, unhinged greed from Rapid Rescue. After explaining my concerns with the bill I ended up getting it down to $3,500 but not without hearing very unprofessional statements like "Ohhh man, jeez, we really won't make any money from this" or "Yeah we're definitely the cheapest in the area so this is a good deal for you". Disgusting.
With the current trucking industry climate as it is and many smaller firms/owner-operators toeing the line between breaking even and losing, this kind of bill can very easily put a guy or company under. Absolutely will never do business with Rapid Rescue ever again in any capacity and shame on the ownership and people that work for them