Chuckud

Still here!

I know what you mean.  Our old International 4300 ext cab is the same way.  This is a sprinter 3500 extended & is pretty heavy & our cougar handles it like a full size fwd car.  Wow, I just realized this truck turned 21 years old last week!

Well done!  It’s always good to have competent fellow operators to help when you need it.

Hyundai & Kia. Both are apparently pretty easy to steal.  We pick up ALOT of both.

A Hyundai that’s not stolen,  what a surprise!

Transported this 62 Impala to the shop to get it running.  Been in the garage not running for several years.  Surprised it was a rust free car.

Looks like fun in the sun!

Usually I get those calls once it really starts raining with thunder and lightning.

Still here in Maryland 

Collins carrier dolly,  it’s been invaluable on calls like this.

An interesting job one of my top guys did the other day.

this Subaru WRX has air suspension & the right side was completely deflated & unable to inflate. He used the carrier dolly system & race ramps to load & unload this car.

The customer was extremely grateful the we were able to complete this job without damaging his car.

I transported this 1942 military Jeep for a customer  today.  He just had the engine rebuilt & it ran great.  Just something a little different.

It was great to be doing something other than wrecks & recovered thefts for a change.
This is on an older Chevy 350 RV chassis & has taps for kegs installed on both sides.  

Still here !

FYI,  you can lessen the angle of the pull on the tow eye by using a snatch block off the tow eye and the other end of your winch line back to the front of the bed to the side of the tow eye. I have used this method many times without a problem.
I believe I saw this method on the old “tow411”  years ago.

I am not a fan of tow eyes as you cannot assess the structural integrity of the eye or the threaded connection in the bumper.

Happy New Year!!!

Merry Christmas. I’m in too!

Got a call early this moring to tow a Ford Transit off the side of the beltway.  Upon my arrival, I asked the driver what had happened.  His reply was that he heard  "BUMP" and the van stopped moving & cut off.  I smelled gasoline to took a look under the van. Tailshaft sheared off trans & took out brake lines & fuel line.  

Fuel surcharges should be added to ALL invoices the same way shop charges are added to a repair order.

Percentage or a flat fee, it is the choice of the company owners.

We chose the "flat fee" on a tiered system per invoice depending on "miles traveled" & total cost of service.  It hasn't completely offset the soaring price of fuel, but has helped.

Update:  this is the heaviest & largest load thus far.  96 F 350 Long bed 4dr diesel, (dispatched as a F250 pickup).

Our F550 handled the load well. I wouldn't want to go through winding mountain roads with it, but on a short flatland tow was no problem. As I have stated before, I wouldn't make this a everyday practice, but I have no reservations about loading one of these once in a blue moon.

We have found that 1 pair of go jacks can be handy when not getting our carrier "straight in line" load position with the disabled vehicle. The biggest thing is to secure the carrier dollys to the wheels of the vehicle.  Also, we carry some 36 inch pieces of luan plywood to assist when loading on non ideal road surfaces.  

Truth is stranger than fiction!

This is a 37 Ford Street Rod I took to a shop 120 miles away for a fuel problem.  Pretty sweet ride!

Tracker is a towing company specific software that we started with in 1992 ( wow, that is forever ago) & have been with them ever since.  Try looking them up at Trackermanagement.com

They are based in Ohio & we have found their support to be excellent.  We are using their cloud based software & have found it to be very user friendly .

We moved to digital dispatch thru Tracker about 8 months ago & we could not be more pleased.  The ability to send the driver ALL the pertinent details as well as directions from their location to the call has been a HUGE win for us.  The drivers love it & it allows the pre hook & post tow pictures to be uploaded to the invoice as the job progresses.  The ability to email an invoice directly to the customer is also a great help to our overall efficiency.  We too are a small company &  were reluctant to try digital dispatch but it has worked out VERY well for us.

We store the crossbar on the headboard of our carrier & the 4 wheel set in a 60x18x24 deep toolbox.  We have only used it on motorcycles a couple of times & it seems to work ok.