goodmichael

Richard, that is probably going to vary with the manufacturer. Some are controlled through the PCM, some work on less than 12 volts, as little as 5 volts. I am attending a training on the 6.7 Ford diesel next month in your stomping grounds. I will ask a lot of questions as they pertain to FOMOCO.

Have a blessed and safe Christmas.

AAA should not be telling anyone how to run their business. Until people tell AAA how things are going to be, and charges them accordingly for services rendered, they will continue to bully this industry.

Thanks for the info.

If I were the homeowner, I do not think I would want that home. That caused some major damage,

Grow your business slow. People, overall, are not getting smarter, more patient, or doing a better job in driving. There will always be work, you have to decide whether you want to work to put money into your pocket, or work for the bank, which is what you do when you finance equipment. Education is what will establish the future of this industry. The week long course as well as the RBU courses will greatly enhance your knowledge base as well as your profitability. Once you have completed the week long, I believe that you can host a course as well.

Grow your business slow. You are doing a great job,

Do not, I beg you do not, make this leap because of what is "promised", especially from AAA. You are a prudent business person to price on the high side. The heavy market is a totally different animal. These toys eat dollars, as in twenty and fifty dollar bills, not singles.

Also when things break, and they will break, you are looking at thousands of dollars rather than hundreds.

Grow slow with a landoll and a sixteen ton.

You will sleep much better, I guarantee it.

50 minutes ago, brian991219 said:

Do you plan on doing heavy recovery at first, or simply towing and minor winching? The reason I ask, you can get a whole lot more truck for less money if you don't need the full recovery capability. Also, it usually takes at least two heavy wreckers to qualify for police work and it is always a good idea to have a second heavy as backup when you are doing recovery unless you have a real good working relationship with another local heavy tower.

 

You may want to look at a new tractor, something with a longer wheelbase and a detachable tow unit like the Zacklift, NRC or Miller DTU. The newest versions of each of these are very capable and will tow motor homes and coaches easily. You also will be lighter overall allowing more weight to scale, if you are in an area that wreckers have to scale legal on their drive axles. Plus, you can also get a Landoll type trailer and use the same truck to pull both, greatly expanding your options and offerings, especially with many motor coaches in the area.

 

If you do want the full recovery capability, or at least most of it, you can look at 20-35 ton units with only two winch options an shorter booms, this will save quite a bit of upfront costs while still maintaining good usability. You really can't go wrong with any of the major brands, although since I work with many Jerr-Dan dealers I am partial to them if you want a traditional wrecker. Jerr-Dan does not make a detach unit, although I also work with a Zacklift dealer. Whatever you buy, if towing motor homes and coaches is a primary objective make sure it has the best reach you can afford, many coaches have long setbacks on their axles and no where good to hook except the axle. They also have low ground clearance and usually require extensive modification to tow with anything that isn't specifically designed to fit under a coach. A wireless underlift controller is also a must have so you can see what you are doing under there.

 

As for your question about the 16 ton, that was always our most profitable truck in the fleet when I ran wreckers. It can easily respond to cars, light trucks and even tow bobtail tractors. It is also a great stepping stone to learn about heavier vehicles without the full commitment, and if the heavy towing doesn't work out it can still be profitable serving your light/medium duty business.

 

My personal opinion would be to buy a 16 ton first, see how you like dealing with the extra labor involved in prepping true medium duty trucks and tractors for towing, the driving of larger trucks and such before dropping upwards of $300k on a brand new 35 ton unit. Also, the 16 ton will make a good backup/support truck if you do start with only one heavy duty.

EXCELLENT,EXCELLENT advice. Heavy duty towing is a big green monster. It stays green because it eats cash.

I really like the suggestion to get a sixteen ton. I think the sixteen ton and a versatile Landoll trailer would allow you to test the waters as well as provide a very strong return on investment.

In the coming years, there will be major issues for people who purchased 4500 as well as 5500 chassis for roll backs when they go to trade them in or sell them and find that they do not maintain the equity that the customer was expecting. It is my opinion that a 550 or 5500 chassis is not going to give one the performance that a F650 will give. We are comparing apples to oranges.

There is no perfect truck. The manufacturers are concerned mainly with putting you in a new truck regardless of whether it is the right truck or not. A salesman is generally only concerned with getting you to sign the paperwork so they can post the sale to qualify the commission. Vehicle sales are a ruthless, cutthroat business. And the quality of vehicles is going down as the prices continue to rise. It just makes no sense to me, no sense at all.

The police department here in San Antonio utilizes the fire department to block off traffic with a fire engine. while I respect the intent of an operator blocking off a scene to assist, I believe that if the truck does not belong to you personally, you need to collaborate with the units owner before you put the equipment in harms way. I would like to see this industry detail the parameters of when it is allowable for an operator to say, "No, I am not working that incident because it is unsafe." Many years ago, I was dispatched to a rotation call for a single vehicle crash. 3am, white Chevy Blazer impacted a power pole, driver fled, downed wire on the ground, no buzzing, just a downed wire, could have been a phone wire for all I knew. Police officer directed me to move the Blazer and clear the scene. I asked if power company had made scene. Officer stated not to his knowledge. I asked if they, power company, were called to respond, officer stated that they were aware of a downed wire. I informed the officer that I would not go near car or wire until I personally spoke to power company representative who would be giving me the authorization to proceed. Officer responded in a hostile manner, directing me to move the casualty. Officer was a FTO, field training officer. I told the officer that if he wanted me to move the blazer, he would have to go pee on the downed wire. I told him if he lit up, I would not move the Blazer, but that if he did not light up, I would be happy to move the Blazer. Officer declined the Line Pee Challenge. Lineman for power company arrived about twenty minutes later. When he, lineman, was informed of the line pee challenge, he informed the officer it was a good idea he did not do it, because it was a live line.

People in this industry, new, old, tenured, and greenhorn, need an open discussion on when to say when. And it needs to be a serious discussion of when it is acceptable to say, F this, my life is worth more than 27% of this ticket. If PD will not come give me a protected lane, I will not do it.

My first impression is that this is a double fatality just waiting to occur. No tire changes on the side of a highway. Period. Absolutely not. My life, and the life of others is worth more than the price of a 200.00 Michelin. My Australian Shepherd cannot feed himself.