GRUMPS The Towman

Wishing for a speedy recovery for both Operators involved. The rising amount of truckers not following the SDMO laws is very concerning to me. Truckers out of all drivers out there are supposedly professionals and should be taking this very seriously. What do all of these recent incidents regarding semi's and commercial vehicles say about the current state of their industry?

Is there a T-intersection where this driver "left" the road?? From the pics, I cant fathom how he ended up on that curb fast enough to up root that tree like that.. Nice work

Poor guy... At least is wasnt really stolen.. lol. Nice work on the recovery. Did it sustain any damage on the way down? Looks to be in one piece from the pics.

Nice work buddy. I cant Imagine that this guy is still gainfully employed... How in the hell do you just drive into the ditch like that. From what I can see in your pics, The road doesnt look all that bad and you can see his tire tracks on the right side in the snow where he just drove himself right in there.... Idiot... But hey, Idiots make us easy money.. LOL

AMEN to that !!!! Lol. To this day, I get at least 1 call a week from some bozo asking for "Jack " or Mr. Ryan ( the founding owner of my business ) because they are "good friends" and he always gives them a discount on towing.... I then have to inform them that their "good friend" hasnt owned or had anything to do with this business in over 20 years and he passed on about 11 years ago... Guess they missed the funeral... Then theres the real smooth ones that simply ask for Ryan. When I say there is no one named Ryan and then they are like, "The owner..... His name is Ryan, right?... I forget his last name but we go way back".......

Lol. I know how that is for you. I grew up on L.I. and remember how finkled winters could be there. The roads here are actually clear. We havent had any precipitation in about 10 days. Just been super cold and the fields and such are still covered with frozen snow and ice. This particular inebriated driver was going waaay too fast for the country road he was on and ran out of talent when the road took a sharp right turn.

I pray that you Mr. Robert, NEVER see the light of day again...

Took a call from the county dispatch tonight for a vehicle that "left the roadway and slid into a yard" on a back country road. On arrival, I found this 5 day old 2020 Audi A3 about 75' into a field, slammed into a row of pine trees. The car left the road on a sharp bend, aproximately 150' off the other way, Just missing a utility pole and another row of pines. It then spun through some open field before crashing drivers side first into the second pine row. The left front ball joint was snapped and the wheel assembly was wrapped around a tree. The rear wheel was bent inwards and the tree it hit was broken at the ground, under the car. I decided to attack from the shorter distanced side along the tree line to prevent causing further damage to the property and prevent putting my truck in the tight space between the pole and first row of trees where the car went in. After backing up close to the edge of the slight ditch, I stretched my deck across the ditch to the yard and ran my line to the front of the car and pulled it forward a couple feet to dislodge the front wheel and also get the rear wheel to clear the broken stump. I then rigged to the rear wheel and using the tree at the front of the car, I "pivoted" the car around backwards and away from the pine row. From there I reeled it in and up the deck. As I walked the scene picking up all the debris, The deputy informed me that the driver was going with him for dwi.. He also told me that the driver had just purchased the car 5 days ago. The pictures with the arrow signs is the point where the car went in. The last pic with my truck out behind the trees looks out the direction from where I recovered the car from. Sorry for the poor quality pics. I was trying to work quickly. It is around 12 degrees out.

Seeing this car reminded me of the one and only car I lost off a roll back while loading ( Because of my negligence ) was a Plymouth Reliant way back in my rookie days. You guys may recall that the oval tow points in the front subframe on these turds were oddly wide. Well, I used an R-hook on my bridle in them for some ungodly reason ( give me a break, I was a rookie. LOL) and halfway up the deck they decided they didnt want to stay in those big oval holes. And away she went.. Thankfully, nothing got hit and no one got hurt.. LESSON LEARNED...

LMAO..... So, the plot thickens.... He ended up calling one of the local fly-by-night, bozo companies who apparently tried in vain to load it on a F550 roll back, but after calling in a wrecker to assist with loading it because it kept stalling his winch, the clowns then couldnt close the deck up without taking the front wheels of it off the ground. I am told they tried picking it in the wheel lift of the L.D. wrecker also, but that didnt pan out either.. So, the "pickup" owner ended up biting the bullet and called The other reputable towing company in town who happens to be friends of mine. They went and got it with his medium duty Peterbilt roll back. According to the rear suspension air gauges on that tow truck and a quick bit of math figures that F350 "pickup" weighed in around 13,500 LBS.... The pinion is sheared off in the rear I am told... I cant fathom why that is....

It does sound like some hack or scam type thing going on. Personally, if all your numbers are right and none of these supposed contested charges are actually being withdrawn from your account, I would start ignoring these messages your getting. By you Opening the links and such that the scammers send you with these messages is how they "unlock" the door so to speak to get into your accounts. I would do a bit of digging to see if there is some way to speak to an actual human from Square. Also, call the bank or financial institution you have your Square linked to and let them know of these weird messages your getting. They may be able to help with ensuring your software security with Square. I have been using Intuit Quickbooks program on my tablet with the swipey thingy for a few years now. Its linked right to my bank account and I havent had any issue with it. You can put the app on a phone too. I just preferred the tablet.

Nice looking truck. I always loved the rounded body lines of those trucks. Looks to be all there and solid. If I remember correctly, 65 was the first year that Ford used the "Super Duty" moniker on their commercial chassis. Back then, It actually meant something. The super duties had double frames, beefier suspension, axles and different gearing. Nowadays, it is just a name they slap on any truck to boost sales.

So... A friend of a friend calls me the other day and asks if I would do him a big favor and tow his Ford pickup to his house for him. He states that something is amiss in the rear end or driveshaft. There is no particular rush as it is safe in a parking lot at a local grocery store. "Just grab it on your way through when ever you can" He asks. This is what I come across when I pass through.... Needless to say, I passed on doing this particular "favor for a buddy"...

Received a call from the City P.D. this morning for a 2 car collision at one of the city's frequent accident intersections. This Saturn Vue rolled through the stop sign and was T-boned square in the passenger side doors Which whipped the suv around, up and over the curb, through the one way sign and smashed it, Drivers door first into a utility pole. Amazingly, The driver was not seriously injured. The curtain air bag certainly did its job as you can see from the photo's.

Thats great news Tow Zone. I much rather prefer to buy and use products from this sites sponsors as opposed to certain other suppliers... As long as their products are quality of course.. 😁

I use and equipped my roll back for recovery work which is why I ended up trying it out. I run with 100" on the drum too which I think may have also added to the wind up issues I was having considering the truck came equipped with only 50'. It comes in shorter lengths too I believe so that may offset the cost a bit if you dont want 100' on your roll back.

Welcome to the forums Sir. I too am a 3rd generation tower, and like you tried some different things to try to get out of it, ( I joined the Army ) But In the end, towing is in the blood. Although I complain about it constantly and moan about how I want to sell out and retire, I still to this day deep down inside still love what I do. This is my 28th year. Enjoy the site Sir. Take a look around.

Picked this "Vintage" Dodge Dynasty up for a customer this evening after it died in the middle of nowhere on him. When the customer called, I was having a hard time understanding him due to poor reception and all I could get was 93 dodge and a roundabout Idea of where he was. Now, personally, I haven't seen one of these "K-cars" on the road since I was a teenager. I was really surprised to see what it was when I pulled up. It is probably one of the last ones somewhat road worthy in the north east region considering these things were complete turds that liked to randomly burst into flames way back when they were new. LMAO

Super Swedge... Thats it!!! Thats the one I use too. for the life of me, I couldnt remember what it was called last night when I wrote the first post. lol. It is a great wire rope, Strong as hell, definitely kink and crush resistant, but very very stiff and can be a pain in the A$$ sometimes. The super swedge line is a 7/16" line that is re-swedged into a 3/8" line. Its a lil pricey, but worth it in my opinion.

I am the same way with having some sort of release from the owner or title for any vehicle I am going to scrap, regardless of what condition it is in. I personally have never gotten jammed up, But like you I have heard the horror stories. Not to far back, Another local company here had this Toyota Tacoma pickup that was a bit older but in great shape from a traffic stop. The only info he was told by law enforcement was that the registration was suspended. They made No mention of the Owner/driver. It had been in their yard for 5 or 6 months with absolutely Zero contact with the owner, driver, family, nothing. He had "assumed" that the truck was just dumped on him. So he proceeded to remove and sell the stereo system, and some other odds n ends from it. He then gave the truck to his 14 year old son as a "Woods truck" who then beat the bejesus out of it on the trails and mud pits in the back 40 of their property. Well, wouldnt you know a few weeks later, the owner was released from county jail where he has been since the traffic stop on a warrant..... He wanted his truck back...This all ended up making the local news and everything.. Talk about some negative publicity..I think that whole thing is still going through the courts.. If you dont have a title, then your going to sign a detailed release and provide a copy of your i.d. for proof you turned the vehicle over to me.. There is NO WAY I will ever go through that.. I cant see my competitors business ever recovering from that mess.

I use the heavier rated, steel core wire rope on my truck and they can be a pain to keep wound at times. A few things I have done to minimize those issues are 1= wind it on tight ( like you stated you do) 2= keep your wire rope oiled well. I use PB brand chain and cable lube. I pull my line out, re-spool it and oil each layer on the drum at least every other week. 3-= try running your winch a just a bit slower. You get the same pulling power even at "half throttle" so to speak. This was a big one for me. I have a pretty fast winch and it would wind up so fast the line would skip all over itself at full blast. 4= Try not to pull your line off too fast. Just yanking it off makes it slack off just a bit behind the tensioner because the drum is again, spinning too fast. When I am pulling line, I hold it against my hip and simply walk back from the truck so it pays out at my walking speed. Most will grab it with one hand, and rip on it one arm length at a time while walking back. ( keeping it well oiled and wrapped properly makes it pay out like butter ) 5= try to only pull the length you need. winding back 20' of line with no load causes it to wind up loosely which then allows the line with weight on it to get pulled in between the looser wraps. Next thing you know, bird nests and kinks a plenty.. I know most of this sounds like common sense, but if you really pay attention to how your using your line, you will notice that these are the things that are causing you grief. Believe me, I did.. Hope some of this helps.

I should of worded my response a bit better too. I usually charge $100 + the title. Like ESC stated, the unpredictable scrap rates, on top of the prep work for scrap takes a bite out of what little you end up getting after all is said and done. The bigger recovery jobs I try to get more of course with mixed results. I really try not to let on to the customer but in most cases, I am just more than happy to be able to get rid of the heap easily and quickly. The longer I have to babysit it, the more I add to my "disposal fee" too. I will give someone a few days to figure out what they are gonna do, But I have my limits. There are of course some people who I can see are just getting by and I will usually let them slide if they are willing to just hand over the title. A customers overall demeanor is a factor in how far i am willing to work with them. Sometimes, I will end up with one that is worth throwing a few bucks at and repairing for re-sale. Last one was an 05 Expedition hit in the right front. It was a low mileage, rust free southern truck So, a Fender, headlight, lower control arm ( all bone yard parts of course )and a wheel alignment. Turned around and sold it for $3,200. Had about $400-$500 into it. You would be surprised how many people run around with the bare minimal of insurance. I had a 2017 Land Rover over the summer that hit a fire hydrant. I took it in and stored it for over a week thinking its insured, Then finally when I hear from the clown that owned it, He states he doesnt have coverage. This guy thought I was gonna feel sorry for him. Turns out, There's a Dr. in front of his name as well... He paid full rates.. Glad to see I am not the only one out there who tries the "possesion bluff" Lol

I am very happy to hear that your enjoying the industry. AAA towing can be somewhat mundane at times, but it is all seat time and experience. As a new operator, it can sometimes be difficult deciphering what methods and procedures are right, wrong or in the middle. Especially if you dont have any real experienced operators to discuss situations with. You on the other hand, have Tow Force. You also have a military background which I know gives you that extra level of "thought" so to speak. Us military guys always seem to think things through pretty well. sometimes too much. LOL. Keep learning, And remember, Learning never stops. 26 years later, I still learn something new almost every day. Stay safe and watch your back out there.

According to the member statistics counter on the left side of the main page, 87 people have joined up here in the 22 hours since I made this post.. Not a one of these new members have anything to say/show or ask?? How about an Introduction?? Tell us about yourself. What are you looking to get out of Tow Force??

Sounds as though your L.E. dispatchers and mine may have taken the same training courses. Give as little information to you as possible and the little info they give MIGHT be accurate.. I had one a while back that did a skate boarder style grind up a guard rail. Same deal, car is just puking raw fuel everywhere and the officer left it running. When I asked him why he didnt shut it off, his response was " I didnt want to get any gas on my shoes".. What a mess that was to clean up..