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Ed Johnson

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Everything posted by Ed Johnson

  1. Login but have no idea where I am or what I am doing - typical for a tow driver.
  2. Whenever a tire change is performed, it is a good idea to spin the spare tire while the vehicle is still on the jack. If the installed wheel spins freely, you are Ok but if there is any resistance you have a problem. The problem may be the lugs are too long or that the rim the spare is mounted on is incorrect for that vehicle and was probably one someone bought without checking to see if it actually worked on that vehicle. I have run into both problems over the years and spinning the mounted spare by hand before lowering the car will show you if you have a problem. It also gives you the opportunity to see if the rim might be warped. Whenever a tire change is performed, it is a good idea to spin the spare tire while the vehicle is still on the jack. If the installed wheel spins freely, you are Ok but if there is any resistance you have a problem. The problem may be the lugs are too long or that the rim the spare is mounted on is incorrect for that vehicle and was probably one someone bought without checking to see if it actually worked on that vehicle. I have run into both problems over the years and spinning the mounted spare by hand before lowering the car will show you if you have a problem. It also gives you the opportunity to see if the rim might be warped.
  3. One of the big complaints of tow operators is that drivers will not "SLOW DOWN & MOVE OVER". Tow truck operators should never depend upon approaching motorists to slow or move. This is the primary reason that many states have courses in Traffic Incident Management. TIM is taught free in Virginia by the Department of Transportation. A tow truck is not an effective or safe vehicle for traffic control. A police car is not much better, but the lights on a police car do communicate authority while amber tow truck lights do not communicate anything more than a road maintenance vehicle, a tractor-mower, a dump truck , road construction equipment, or many other vehicles. That is why in incident management, many cities and states have gone to the use of fire trucks or truck mounted attenuators (crash barrier) to protect accident scenes. Fire trucks are parked so they cover two lanes of traffic and at an angle. If a vehicle drives into the accident scene, it will hit the fire truck and the angle of impact will help drive it away from the working scene. An attenuator truck has a collapsible barrier that can be lowered and it is parked directly in the lane that has been closed; if it is struck, the barrier collapses and absorbs impact. Neither approach is perfect, but they both greatly reduce the risk of serious injury or death. As mentioned, a tow truck's lighting means nothing to approaching traffic and for this reason it should not be used as part of traffic control. In TIM training, tow trucks are supposed to park ahead of the barrier vehicles and off to the side until they are cleared to remove damaged vehicles. Once the hookup has been made, the tow truck is to leave the scene. Incidentally, this is a good moment to remind tow drivers to NEVER get behind a disabled vehicle and push it out of the road. If the average inattentive motorist slams into him, he will probably have both legs cut off or be killed.
  4. In Virginia, that vehicle violates the over height law, but that does not mean police enforce that law. Several years ago one of these ran into and over a car in Hampton, Va. - a fatality for car occupant. There is no way I would have anything to do with towing this truck. Straps would not fit it and chains would not keep it on a wheel lift. I have no interest in harming other people or damaging my truck.
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