In response to several of the statements here:

1. I am not saying that our industry copy cats the automotive industry at all, obviously we are a completely different industry. What I am saying is that we tend to follow behind them (which makes sense due to the volume differences that there is between ours and theirs) but we "typically" still end up being held to the same standards (usually because of the government) such as emissions control etc. so what I mean is that it is almost inevitable that some day someone will cause a big enough stink because of a lawsuit or that the manufacturer has gone out of business and there is no longer support for or whatever reason that we will end up adopting the same "universal" type of diagnostic plug as the automotive industry.

2. You can say all day long that you do not need the diagnostic software, cables etc. to repair 95% of certain manufacturers machines and in some cases that is true but I am not talking about just the software I am talking about going to that make/model of machines dealer/manufacturer and attempting to purchase whatever "equipment" is necessary to repair/diagnose that machine and them telling you they won't release it for whatever reason they think sounds good that day. Here is an example: for the veracitor series you do not need a computer, cables or whatever to do 95% of the needed repairs, but I would like to see you fix it at all without the password or if you can fix it you usually cannot reset the codes so you go to the dealer and they say that they will not give you the passwords and they will not sell you any of the software etc. needed. That is what I am talking about I don't care one bit how a manufacturer sets it up as long as they make it available to anyone for a reasonable price.

3. To clear things up I am not an independent "trying to steal business" I am actually a dealer for multiple manufacturers and I currently have the software, passcodes, handsets, cables etc for 95% of the manufacturers out there but that isn't the point, the point is that I have had to waste countless hours and who knows how many thousands upon thousands of dollars to acquire these items.

4. You would like me to state exactly what I want our industry to do with this, and I say the entire point of this is to come to an agreement as a whole (or at least the majority is satisfied) I am not in a position to say what exactly this industry has to do or anything like that I believe that no one here should be able to decide that by themselves. But if you read my posts above you will see that what I do want out of this is for it to be fairer to the end user and to us as dealers/independents etc. As I stated in previous posts I am getting this topic going because I think that no one dealer/manufacturer should be able to tell anyone that they can or cannot work on their machine because they decide they will not sell the needed "equipment" to do so and that they have to use them for whatever reason they decide.

5. You say that the end user should be purchasing more of the equipment that is not held captive and I agree if our industry will not make a change the problem is that most end users are not as up-to-date as we are on the complications they are going to have when purchasing any make/model of equipment and we all know that typically most salesman of that make are not going to advertise "hey this is a great truck but if you ever feel like we are not treating you fairly, that is probably too bad because we are the only person in this entire territory that can fix it, so you are stuck paying whatever we decide is fair and being treated however we decide you should be, and waiting as long as we decide you should to get your machine repaired."

As I stated before I want this to be something that is at the front page of the industry so that we can all come together and everyone will "play by the same rules", If you can honestly say that you think the way we are doing things is the best way to do them then I question what you are doing in this industry or what rock you have been hiding under or what customers are you afraid you are going to loose because of the change.

If you are taking care of your customers they will stay, and if someone out there is better than you and takes them, well... then I guess you better step up your game!