GRUMPS The Towman

I really surprised they responded back to you. Guess I have to give them a little credit. Most journalists these days would down right refuse to admit that what they wrote was "inaccurate"

I hear that. I give guys like you running towing businesses during these times a TON of credit for keeping your men working. Me, being such a small outfit ( just me and my partner ) I dont have any employees to speak of and at this time, I am glad I dont. If it wasnt for getting a decent recovery and some storage once a month on some wrecks My business would be in real trouble.

Super happy to hear that your business made out well on the job. For me, those types of big jobs are the ones that help bump the profit margins a bit. And big time kudos to you for being sure to take care of your crew with a little 'extra". Thats a real business man move. Like my old man always used to say " your men ARE your business. All your rigs and equipment are nothing without them"

Rest easy Operator.. Your shift is over... So, If I have read this right, The operator was towing one drunks car off a CLOSED road with Law enforcement present on scene and was hit and Killed by another worthless drunk, again, on a CLOSED ROAD WITH L.E. PRESENT!??!?!? What kind of half-a$$ed police agency was handling this?? Its painfully obvious there is an excessive drunk driving issue in Anchorage, and Anchorage P.D. apparently cant close a road properly or catch the drunks BEFORE they wreck out... I may be jumping the gun a bit but I feel Anchorage P.D. might have a part in blame on this..

If your strapping it properly using quality rigging then your just over thinking it in my opinion. Drive accordingly of course as well. Take it as easy as possible and use good equipment and she wont go anywhere.

AMEN !!! Spread the word of caution To all the Operators you can, co-workers and competitors alike. Lets all watch our backs out there and try to make this the safest holiday season for tow operators EVER. Prove the statistics wrong and do all you can to Not lose even one more brother this year.

That is Awesome !! I am a HUGE military history buff, and this is right up my alley. Thanks Mr. Resch. Btw, that appears to be the remains of an american "rabbit". I could be wrong on that, but that is what first comes to mind.

Flat towing with the wheel lift in my opinion is a non-starter. It is not designed for it and its dangerous. Some guys will argue and say they do it all the time, Just go slow and make wide turns, have the driver steer the casualty, blah blah blah.. Bottom line is, your banking on the slim chances that the truck will follow you properly, Not turn the steer axle all over one way or another and that the cresting and waving of the road as you travel doesnt put any excess downward pressures on your rigging, wheel lift, etc... If you cant pick it safely and keep a little weight on your nose then like they said in the movie Jaws,.. "Your gonna need a bigger boat ". I would much rather turn down the job than tear up my truck and gear or worse, Kill somebody..

I recall seeing the still images of this wreck here on tow force a couple months back. I tried to find them but i may not be looking in the right place on here. It was labeled as tow truck struck notification if I remember right.

This has been my first full year of not having any motor club contracts and have only been dealing with 2 of them on a cash customer basis. They are: 1= Quest 2= NSD Both are C.C. up front, full regular rates. Both have been fairly easy to deal with and pay right away, Quest goes first for sending a bit more volume my way than NSD.

Rest easy Operator Scheerle. My heart goes out to Chuck's family and friends.

I have learned that most of these systems are designed to be " idiot proof" so the knuckle dragging morons of the world dont leave their vehicles in drive or neutral when they get out of it. Some of those "auto brake" systems on the newer GM vehicles can be overridden by holding the button for the release for 5 seconds with the door opened and your foot on the service brake, the selector in neutral and with the ignition in the accessory position. As far as the Chrysler products like the Durango's the easiest way to by pass them is to use the pa rk pawl over ride cable with the ignition power completely off. Attempting to put the trans in neutral with the ignition on accessory will only cause the auto brake to engage or automatically put it back into park as soon as you take your foot off the service brake. The Durangos for instance have a pull strap located inside the console near the hinges for the arm rest. Pop the hinge cover off and there is an orange nylon lanyard attached to a plastic handle. pull up on the orange lanyard while moving the lock with a small screw driver or your pocket knife. Pull it up till it locks in place and you will feel the transmission go into neutral. The Ram pickups and most other Chrysler vehicles with the electric style knob gear selectors, the same orange lanyard system is located behind the panel in the dash just below the headlight switch near the D/S door. To re-engage it when your done, simply pull up again on the lanyard, release the lock again and set the handle back down where you found it. tuck in the lanyard and pop the cover back on.

All the right gear, Excellent work. Looks like it was a real nasty one.

Thanks Richard, They are certainly worth the price and the possibilities are endless with a little common sense and a well thought out plan. I too have had issues snapping them together after they get worn down a bit. I have taken a quick hand file the the teeth and cleaned out the grooves with a sharp knife here and there to help ease locking them together as they wear. The one I am holding in the pic is one of my oldest pairs and they are about 5 or 6 years old. As you can see they are very sun faded from riding on the headache rack of my old truck. The other pair in the pic ( in the tool box )are about 3 years old.

Beautiful rig. Even for a Ford. 😀 Just kidding. Congrats on her.. Looks awesome.

And here I am thinking I'm all festive by putting a wreath and bow on the grille of my truck for the holidays... Lol As always, Team Ed's knocks it out of the park.. great job !!!!

If it is not equipped with a front suction or discharge pipe, you should be able to frame fork it with ease. Not to jinx you, But I have had 50/50 results with fire apparatus through the years. Some are as simple as any other rig and others have caused some serious grief for me.. As far as airing it up, I cant for the life of me remember what brand of apparatus it was but there may be an access panel inside the drivers door step that has both air connections on valved glad hands behind it. Might of been the old Mack cf series.. I cant remember,,, sucks getting old... LOL Good luck with it, Hoping it turns out to be a drama and B.S. free deal for you.

It will probably be air braked and a auto trans being that vintage so caging will definitley be needed unless it is aired up or you can start it of course. There isnt really all too much to grab ahold of in the rear due to the step, water tank and booster reel in the back so you will probably be better off getting her from the front. Now depending on how far you have to tow it to the ferry at what speed would determine if I pull the shaft or not. inside 5 miles at less than 30 mph I would grab n go then maybe pop it out during the ferry ride. Anymore than that I would pull it right away. I will say this is the first time I have heard of a fire truck being impounded. Lol

Hoping for a quick and full recovery for Derrick. I send my best to the whole Eaton towing crew

I think you will like them. As you can see, I use mine quite often, I am not very nice to them and they have stood up to the abuse. lol

That had to have been one hell of a mess. The last one I hit, got mangled by both the front and rear axles then ended up wadded into the space between the wheel lift boom and the inside of the tail light boxes/ d.o.t. bars of my roll back.. I pulled it out in 6 pieces... Lil bastard took out a fog light, front grille, a front hub cap, front and rear mud flaps, the rear bracket and 2 hydraulic lines on the wheel lift boom and bent the front bumper. This happened during the biggest snow storm of that year, we were busy as all hell, and my partners truck had gone down earlier in the evening with a blown tranny line.. That was a rough night for me... Oh and did I mention my truck was only 3 months old?? I was not impressed by any means.. lol

I'd say he "Failed to negotiate the turn".. We call moves like that "running out of talent" here.. lol Excellent work as always from team Ed's.

The truck looks amazing !! I really like the flag on the hood. Now, I know it wouldnt really fit your color scheme, But maybe a yellow stripe added in the middle of it would really set it off.. You know, TOW LIVES MATTER !!! Lol

Great job. Now I gotta say, I have been in, around, upside down and sideways of the trucking / towing industry my entire life. I was born into it, raised on it And have done everything from over the road, local trucking to heavy recovery and technical work in the shop. I have hit a thing or two in my day. Nobody is perfect including me. NEVER EVER have I not realized something was a miss to the point that I dragged something over a MILE down the highway... I hear about these types of things happening quite often these days... Are the people driving today really that ignorant? Now, My educated guess is that he knew it was there, and instead of stopping and calling for help,( Cause you know, he would have to admit he made a mistake ) he CHOSE to keep driving with the hopes it would just walk out from under his wagon and at that point it would no longer be his problem. Then, it becomes the problem of the texting teeny bopper blasting down the highway at 70+ mph....

If the stars align for me, the plan is Baltimore, Ny, And Tenn. for 21.. I would love to go to the Florida show, but I dont think I can get it to fit in the schedule.