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I have a suggestion that I believe could promote a safer work environment for all that read this forum. Would it be possible to start a forum entitled, "Today I made an attempt to be a safer operator by...… This will allow those people who practice safety and proper procedure to share their experience, knowledge, education, and training. One of the suggestions just might prompt someone out there somewhere, to do something different, to put another tool in their mental toolbox, to zig where they normally would have zagged. Who knows, just one person implementing a safe practice or procedure could save someone, somewhere from getting seriously injured, or from someone from having to make that phone call everyone knows that they might have to make, but cringes at the thought of having to make the call.

I sold trucks some time back for Miller, er one of their dealers that is. The reason that dealers do not add prices on the equipment is because they kind of paint themselves in a corner if they do. Some people shop a particular sales person, or a dealer for their equipment. They do not price shop, or as Dave Ramsey says, "read the menu from the right side to the left." Meaning that they are not motivated primarily by price. A dealer can add a few hundred to a few thousand dollars to a deal with their "A" customers, and they will not yelp like a puppy whose tail was stepped on. If they see the same truck advertised, and want a carbon copy, they will also want the same price that the truck was listed for. Please also be advised that there is not a huge margin in truck sales. It is very competitive, and very cut throat. While your decision to purchase should consider price as a factor, your main concern should be the quality of the build. There are some butchers out there building new trucks. It is well worth paying a few thousand for a truck that is built by a knowledgeable, educated, experienced, and trained individual(s), than to get a truck built by a butcher or a clown. I would like to see a section dedicated here on people rating dealers for their quality of the build they produce.

This should really perform. Stiff legs, 12K winches w/ air freewheel, and wheelbase for days.....LoL

I had the opportunity to participate in our local police department’s Citizen Police Academy. The Academy was created to give the public a working knowledge of their department’s organization, personnel, policies and procedures and as an opportunity for the police department to build a rapport with the citizens they serve. All participants had to complete a questionnaire and application. Participants in the class I attended had many diverse backgrounds. Each of us was excited to learn more about the police department and how, after our graduation, we could be an advocate for them throughout the community. To say I learned a lot would be an understatement. There were 11 sessions and each one was not only educational but was hands-on. The presenters were professional and eager to share their expertise in the departments they worked in. All questions were answered with diplomacy and patience. We got to meet the police K-9 and his handler, learn defense and arrest tactics, firearm safety, visit the fire department and meet detectives specializing in areas such as drug enforcement, crime scene investigations and crisis negotiations. We even were able to try our hand at using radar and dusting for fingerprints. The technology used in investigations today was fascinating. The men and women working in police departments face many dangers each day. While they may know they are being sent to a traffic violation, they are unaware of exactly what situation they will encounter when they get there. While a situation may seem routine, they will often need to rely on their extensive training to assess and hopefully diffuse a situation – not unlike incidents the towing industry faces daily. Yes, the members of any police department do much more than write traffic tickets. Members of the towing industry work with law enforcement every day, and I know my experience and what I learned going through the Police Department’s Citizen Police Academy has helped me become a better citizen, and an advocate for the police department and all they do. The post So Much More than Writing Traffic Tickets appeared first on Tow Times Magazine. View the full article On TowTimes.com

Hello sir, I can't find the post that has your question you posted yesterday (12/25/2018), so if you see this I can answer it here unless Ron or Chris finds it and moves this. You asked, " also are you required to log if you cross state lines and medical card is still needed even if non cdl trucks." Re: the medical card, yes you have to have a medical card in you operate a commercial vehicle (defined over 10,000 gvwr, blah, blah, blah) so yes, you definitely need it. Hours of service records are also required, not necessarily a log book, a short haul 30 day time sheet can be used locally, just notate on the time sheet you're using a log book for that day, and vise versa. Have 7 days previous on hand. Among other requirement, use a log book if you travel over 150 "air miles" from your home base location, not necessarily a state line. You can google maps that. Time Sheets are available online, or I can eMail you a blank one. Ask me at jeff@swsatlanta.com I hope this helps, I didn't have a lot of time to go into it deeper, but if you need help just let me know and I'll do whatever I can.

As found on the Tow Industry Week Page: Merry Christmas! 'Twas the 'Two Cents' before Christmas And all on this page There were eyeballs a-starin' At the thoughts of this sage The words were collected And written with care Of sentiments he felt And thought he would share (with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore) And my thoughts this Holiday Season is to thank one and all for the support you've shown Tow Industry Week, American Towman Magazine and our three trade shows in 2018. We look forward to your continued support in 2019! Before I retire my pen, I'd like to say "hats off" to the towing companies that will offer free rides for "the inebriated" this Holiday Season. It's a great service to the community you serve, and it shows that you're concerned with its safety. Of course, it's also great public relations. To one and all, have a Merry Christmas! http://towindustryweek.com/

Yea I think the big winches & leggs will make this truck very versatile.... I got a lot of plans to fine tune it into an Ed's Truck....Stay tuned!

Why is any club still using fax? Why is any tower still accepting tax. So yesterday, I get aggravated when someone say can you fax that. No, give me an email and I'll send it to you. I get silence. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Ron change is always hard to accept but the more we use the site the more we gain from it I also don't think you need to worry about the numbers as its not quantity it quality zip code 94536

32-Years V1T-4E7

I've been in this industry since the day I was born, 29 years ago. I've been on my own in the truck for 11 years so far.

40 years "playing with tow trucks" as my wife puts it. Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

58 years and still learning every day happy Christmas to all John.

41

I was born in 1983, my dad started the company in 1989- So I figure Ive been around it all for 30 years

30 something

28 years 73644

I can understand why an owner would mandate that his drivers not stop and block traffic for another operator. In the event of an accident, they do not have a leg to stand on. If your vehicle gets hit, who is going to pay, and who is going to be charged with the accident? If a situation is deemed unsafe by the operator, they should make the call to request that law enforcement assist in blocking traffic. If they refuse to assist, then the call should be refused. It is far better to refuse the call rather than put your staff as well as equipment at risk. It is not the towing companies fault that the driver or operator is in distress. You, as an operator, are in no absolute duty to respond to a request for service if you believe it will place you in harms way. You should have the mental capacity to initiate a plan of attack to mitigate the risk and proceed with a justifiable risk to complete/clear the call. I always like to play the what if game. What if the Dodge is sideswiped by a passing vehicle. What degree of pure comparative negligence is that driver, of the Dodge, responsible for. If he gets hit, and is staged over the white line, he will get dinged for factors contributing to the cause of the accident. Even with the police car behind him. Unless he has one on the hook. If the police vehicle is blocking traffic, what is the purpose of having another vehicle, another set of flashing lights, and another soul at risk on the side of the road? What If someone slides into the operator who is engaged in some sort of activity in the traffic side of the roadway? This is the kill zone. This is where you are the most vulnerable to becoming the next operator to die. It does not appear that you have arms long enough to reach over to secure the vehicle on the deck in this picture. Why do we continue to place ourselves in vulnerable situations and predicaments? all it would take to initiate a chain reaction in this case is for an inattentive driver to make a sudden lane change and pit out a vehicle to their left, and start the chain reaction collision. I feel that complacency is the number one killer of operators in this industry. You as an operator are solely responsible for your safety. The move over law is not going to stop a careening hunk of pig iron and plastic. Operators making sound decisions based on experience, knowledge, education, and training will quite possibly save your life. Believing that a police car blocking a lane does indeed mitigate the risk, but it does not give you a free pass to be in the kill zone and expect an absolute excemption from physics if things go bad.

1. Geico --pleasant dispatchers who really seems to care about motorists, fast payment, easy invoice submission, decent rates 2. AAA (NCNU) --When we were part of MountainWestAAA and that was great, now it is Northern California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming and nothing is the same. 3. Agero --commonly confused about location and destination (a common one has been closed for 6 years), complex procedure for requesting extras, short pays not uncommon, poor communication, commonly lies to us and to motorists about the covered distance. Only 6 jobs so far this year with any other motor club.

Time and place to settle who's the G.O.A.T. of wrecker drivers. Sound like a reality show. It might become an olympic sport. Count me in! Not wanting to be a jerk. Its not conceded. Although it is true. The Lord has blessed me with enough smarts, ability, luck, and amazing people. So I am confident, and seasoned all my life to know its a lot of hard work with lots of struggles that returns a job well done, is the payback that keeps you doing a good job, call by call. As a towing company owner it falls on me when difficult situations arise. So far we have always been capable of doing what was needed for our customers and fellow brothers in the business. We are the best towing service you can get. without a doubt. I wouldn't ever say that out loud but I feel like it. We help people and we profit since our customers recognize dedication to service. and to be honest its all we have ever used, to advertise. Its people, committed, continually wanting to get to be the best at what they do and a love for the job and company working as one. Our employees are between 17 years to 1 year being the newest hired. No I may not be the best at anything, I fall short sometimes. I just call for a longer chain and keep a pulling till its done. F.L.I. "Lord you have blessed me with the capabilities to handle what is put on me and I am thank full it has been satisfying as well as humbling to know I have brought love to those in need. glory is yours, mistakes were mine, thank you for every time. Amen" Who else works for a company that they deserve to be called the best?

The "4 lights always on" design of the new front end probably makes a lot of people think your high beams are on. I do find most of them (as tow trucks) do appear excessively bright, but I've also noticed that the truck builders around here never seem to adjust the lights after they add the weight of the wrecker bed. I've adjusted the lights on several new trucks in the past few years...so you might try lining it up on a nice blank wall and do some adjusting, especially compared to a normal light duty truck (non-wrecker.) Richard

Hello everyone, new to the forums, I'm from westchester county NY, drive a chevrolet c4500 rollback for a Kubota dealer here in town. It's seen it's better days, trying to keep the aatac bed together with tape, screws, etc.

well, its to put myself in your shoes , but I have had some of the same experiences , I had to make a hard choice, I gave up 80 -100 calls a month because of non payment of a lot of po's they refused to pay for the po's that were completed and dispatched for. I refused further po's , they keep calling and sometimes I get the call and credit card, and sometimes I don't it was hard choice put my head into the work and found different sorces for revenue. just don't tow haul equiptment, freight, scrap cars, move sheds. don't lose any money any more ,still do motor clubs but on my terms , but everybody get excellent severice from me. I work harder sometimes for my money.

Well its not really like the way you seem to explain. our area rep is a young cocky punk and we they switched we got screwed. I used to have great rates and did 20 calls a day for them and they changed area reps he took my primary because he said he can get it done alot cheaper by not having me as a primary provider and pay my premium rates so he hacked them by a ton and said we take them or leave them. So It was pretty much he was doing it either way so i stopped taking there calls except when i have time or i cherry pick them because they refuse to give us what we originally signed on at. so its not really something i can control. Let me be clear here, im talking about 10 bucks a hook and .75 cent a mile each way less money. I said ok make us non contracted provider that gets a cc when you call. He refused and said too many providers in my area he don't need any non contracted. so they went from top of my list to bottom.

what I don't understand is your statement about rates, how do you complain about low rates? did you not negotiate rates with them? if the rate is low why do you take the calls? not tryin to bust your onions, but if you gave low rates for work then you need to "own" that issue and change it till it suits you. In my opinion you have to know all of your expenses and how much you wish to make for wages including "workmans comp" and don't forget to figure in a percentage of profit for your company, once you have that figure (your rate) the most you afford to discount is 20 % for volume. just my opinion.