GRUMPS The Towman

Being just my partner and I, we dont have any employees other than ourselves. But i remember back in the day at my fathers shop, He had 7 employees. ( 3 towers, 2 truck technicians, a helper/apprentence and a dispatcher/receptionist ). Everyone got yearly bonuses + raises, good benefits, and lunch was always on dad every friday. either they all went down the street to the local italian restaraunt or pizza and wings were ordered. I remember it was always the same crew there all through my childhood. Dad always took care of his employees well. with the exception of myself and another guy my age, everyone there retired with the business after dad passed. Dad always said that your employees are the lifeblood of your business and they must come first. IF ( and it is a big IF ) I ever do expand I hope to come up with some good people who are worth treating the way dad did.

That is a crazy story.. A perfect example of you get what you pay for. i cant help but Wonder if Mr. Mayor earned himself another term in office with this big a monkey on his back. lol

Thank you for the update Val. I send many thanks to all the rescue personnel and searchers who worked tirelessly to find our fallen brother operator so he can be returned to his family. Rest easy Operator Ellis, Your shift is over.

Both are considered 10 ton units and are considerably similar as far as strength really. It would more or less be a matter of preference of operation. One main point is the Vulcan has two seperate hydraulic valve bodies. One controls the wheel lift and the other the boom and winches. Vulcan equipment is super popular here in upstate NY for some reason. Seems like everyone has at least one Vulcan equipped rig. One thing guys claim they like about them is the way the up/down on the wheel lift is angled giving you a couple extra inches of reach when stretching out to hook up. And of course there is the "Strappless L arm grids " that are standard gear for the Vulcans. I have a Vulcan 880 on a 96 International 4300 And it was always a good unit. It has been off the road for a couple years now but when I used it pretty regularly the only thing I really remember being an issue was the control levers and linkage would sieze up and need constant cleaning and service to free them up. This could be caused mainly because i didnt use this truck every day and it sat more than it was used.

A Very tragic situation.. I am praying that the water rescue team finds our missing brother operator so he can be returned to his family. Sadly, At this point the likely hood of finding him alive is not very realistic. The reporting on this incident is a joke. Its like " DEPUTY INJURED IN SERIOUS WRECK..... Oh and by the way, some tow truck guy is missing and presumed dead too...As far as the excessive L.E. on scene, If it wasnt one of theirs that was injured I could bet that not even HALF of the L.E. presence there at this point would be there

Different states / counties have different laws. Here most Officers will do a visual inventory of a vehicles contents ( meaning if it can be seen looking through the window or open door they will notate it in their inventory list / report ) before a tow operator takes a wrecked vehicle to their yard. If that is not the case in your situation It will more than likely become a case of he said-she said between you and the tow company. I m not saying All tow operators are honest. There are some dirtbags, But there are also some dirtbag vehicle owners who always claim they had " $1,500 cash or a gold rolex ETC... "in their car thats now conveinently missing because their car was towed away or a non consenual tow was done from a crash. Now keep in mind, The burden of proof lies with you in proving those items were in the vehicle if you decide to go to court over this. Good luck to you.

Nice job. I remember when I won my vocational schools high honor award. I received a Snap-on 2 bank roll cab and a $1,000 tool truck shopping spree..It was one of the greatest days of my life That young man who won your sponsorship will remember that for the rest of his life.

Your employee's snap response of "I will have to think about working here" is of concern to me. It shows his defense mechanisim is that of "fight or flight".. he chose "flight" on this particular issue by saying that instead of "fight" which would have been to respond to your ultimatum with "I will work harder and better at dealing with my issues and pay attention to my job while working". I feel his decision making is obviously clouded, that is my concern. This of course is just my opinion on the matter looking through a very small window. I hope for your business and your employees sake that it all works out with no problems.

Beautiful!!! The truck isnt too bad looking either😁 !!

Welcome aboard Sir. Congrats on your business purchase. I myself am a" little guy company"with just myself and my partner. We also worked for our business's previous owner for many years before we bought it from him. It is the greatest and the worst feeling in the world all wrapped up in one having your own slice of the pie. Good luck to you and your partner.

A beautiful tribute to honor a fallen brother operator. Well done !!!

NasCRAP has been on a down hill slide for years.. They ruined the sport, turned it into a total circus of low talent clowns driving the same exact cars. it feels and looks alot like WWE wrestling where the outcome is always decided in the board room long before the show starts.. Nobody watches their crappy races anymore. And now they are trying to use any and everything they can find to drum up a buzz and get people taking about them. This whole racisim thing is going on now so they will exploit their one and only bi-racial driver and use that however they see fit to make a buck. Must be a democrat/socialist run business.. Nascar is a dead horse they just cant stop from beating. Let the sport die with a little bit of dignity and the memories of the real racing that happened many years ago.

Beautifully written Mr. Resch. Your memories of your father remind me of growing up with my military / tow dad. It is funny how as kids/teens we can think how our fathers were hard, unforgiving and intrusive into our know-it-all lives.. I sit back now and think back to those days of the stern talks or the " what were you thinking" swat to the back of the head. I get it now Dad..And I thank you for making me the man I am today.... I hope I have made you proud Rest easy Master Sgt. Clyde(Frankie) F. Cermak, SOG-MAC-V / RECONDO 82nd airborne - US Army 10/15/47- 12/20/01

I wouldnt charge the same storage rate as say a toyota corolla which would be $50 a day. Here It would be considered a M/D tow and storage situation so it would be $125 a day for the truck and trailer. Unless your handling and storing each individual vehicle then you cant charge per vehicle. They are on a trailer so they are only taking up the room of said trailer. All the rates I just mentioned are regulated by my county/town This being a police impound if it was here those are the rates I would be allowed to charge.

What a horrific collision.. Prayers to all involved.

Army bases are tough enough to get in even without the covid deal going on. Fort Drum up here is a nightmare to get in. I get it though. our military installations need to be kept secure. Like you stated, complete backround check, all documentation on the truck is not only looked at but fully verified and a full dot style inspection and search. Then due to having tools and supplies on board that could be used as weapons, I had to have an MP escort go with me on base. just to go into a parking lot about 500' inside the fence. Even being a retired combat vet didnt get me any leeway for entry to pick up a disabled vehicle. I am actually surprised they allowed you to take the picture. I wasnt allowed to remove my phone from my pocket.

Happy fathers day to all the hard working tow dads out there.

Glad to see the Boss was there to keep you guys in check on that one.😃 Good work.

between 25% and 45% of my impounds/wrecks get dumped on me. Thats the city, county and state. The city used to hold an auction about every 4 months so we could get rid of them but starting about 2 years ago they changed their law stating now we can only use their auction to sell off city towed vehicles. The county/state was supposidly going to start holding their own auctions but havent as of yet and they dont look like they will be anytime soon. So, yeah I have about 11 cars as of now that I have been stuck with for over 2 years.

You did it right by towing it and not driving it. I have had PD tell me on impounds before that the driver was the issue, not the truck and to "Just drive it" But how do you justify your charges if you just hop in and drive off? It opens the flood gates for the guy to complain you charged him to tow his truck and you really didnt. As far as what bushwacker said for storage charges, I can see doing that if they came along and only wanted to pick up one or two vehicles off the load but if they came to get the whole rig I dont think I would charge for each piece. I would charge for the apparatus that actually is on the ground ( truck and trailer). I mean, do you charge for every package or pallet inside of a semi you have in storage if it is still in the trailer?

Awesome pictures of a beautiful fleet. You have some real good looking gear there.

Gave what I could to help lay a brother operator to rest. Rest easy Operator Marbury.

That is a nasty one.. The driver is extremely lucky.. I have seen very similar deer strikes cause fatalities around here

If you have spring hangers grab it from there. the closer you get her in to your tail board the more weight you will keep on your nose. If your still having issues picking it then in my opinion you simply need a bigger truck. Although I loved my 25 ton I always had to remind myself that it is in fact just a 25 ton. shes a baby. If that is not a possibility then if I was you I would cry uncle and pass on the job. I would rather lose out on the job than tear up my equipment overloading it or worse causing a massive accident and possibly killing someone. I was never one to flat tow. and I most certainly wouldnt have someone riding in the towed vehicle, EVER... I personally feel it is unsafe.

Nice work. Given the current situation down in your neck of the woods, i can understand the urgency to get in and get out swiftly. Being a very hilly area here we get those types of calls all the time.