GRUMPS The Towman

About 13 years ago I had a towaway customer come after hours to my yard to retrieve his vehicle. I asked the man for his drivers license and he stated his wallet was in his vehicle. I opened the gate enough for us to walk in ( it is a large swing gate )closed it behind us and escorted him to his car where he promptly changed his demeanor, jumped in and started it. I stated kindly that he needs to come back to the office with me, finish the paperwork and pay the bill before he can drive out. He then told me in so many nice words that he wasnt paying anything and refused to get out of his car. After explaining to him that i was calling the police, I walked back to the gate, walked through it and let the latch swing down like I had when we walked in so the gate would not fly open. I then grabbed my phone from my truck and called the police. while waiting for the police the customer continuously drove forward and back towards the gate and never once stepped out of his car. When the police arrived he stopped the car and stepped out claiming I had locked him in the gate and refused to let him leave. I explained to the officer that he was free to leave whenever he wanted and the gate was never locked it was just latched so it would not swing open but he was not taking the car unless he paid for the tow. After a few minutes of talking with another officer, the first officer on scene walked up to me and told me to put my hands behind my back as I was being placed under arrest for unlawful imprisonment for closing the gate with him still inside of it. I bailed out a couple hours later. To make a long story short, 7 months and about $7500 in lawyer and court fees later the charges were dropped. To add insult to injury, after my arrest the officers let him take his vehicle without paying. Needless to say, I no longer let anyone in the yard for anything. If you dont have your I.D., then bring someone who does.

Jesus.... Sounds like a possible case of complacency and routine gone horribly wrong. May you Rest in peace Sir.

A couple things I do are 1) I try to not run the deck all the way out if possible. The more it is on the slide frame, the better. I try to keep the deck at the ground with most of the weight placed on the legs (d.o.t. bar) of the tilt frame. At least for the grunt of the pull. A lot of times with a roll over for instance, I will pull the deck back in as the casualty gets to the breakover point. It helps to keep the line at the same angle throughout the roll and also gets the deck out of the way if your rigged close to the casualty. 2) I lean against the side of the deck as I run the controls so I can feel through the truck how hard the pull is. If she starts moving around good style, I stop and rethink my angles or options.

We are in our 3rd year of the rebuild from our fire. The 2 main things that were a blessing to us is we are just a small 2 man band ( my partner and I ) and we didnt really do a whole lot of repair work for customers other than some odd ball brake jobs and oil changes for our elderly regular customers. One of my partners brothers worked in the shop a couple days a week and did not really rely on his income from the shop so we didnt have to worry about any employees being out of work. Our shop is primarily for our own equipment and personal toys. My truck was at my house as usual and my partner was out working with his truck the night of the fire. Being a cold snowy night, my partners truck would have been inside the shop if he wasnt out working ( Our big shop is at my partners house ). So by the grace of god, It was business as usual the day after the fire for us. The building, tools, lifts and equipment was a total loss

Untrained and incompetent. Guy says "this is what happens when you dont have good insurance" well dont worry, its covered by the tow companies insurance now...

I wouldnt touch the casualty untill I spoke to someone ( owner or police ) in person. I would respond to the site on a call by customer so long as the customer is going to meet me at the scene. In the past, i have come upon vehicles off the roadway, stopped to see if anyone was inside or saw there was yellow caution tape on the vehicle indicating there is no one in it and continued on my way. It is Illegal around here to just grab a vehicle off the roadway and tow it. it falls under this states predatory towing laws

What a terrible loss. I know exactly what they are going through. We lost our shop to fire 3 years ago this past december. lost everything but the trucks. ( thank god ) We are still in rebuild mode. Praying for their injured workers.

So, if I understand correctly, the owner of the van did not call this company ? P.D. did not call this company and the vehicle was left at the crash site by both the police and the owner? If thats the case, then did this company just happen upon it and take it upon themselves to recover the vehicle? If that is the case then it is an Illegal act by the towing co. Here in Ny thats considered soliciting and downright auto theft.

Well said Goodmichael!!!! Too many people in this industry play the tough guy routine and it needs to be almost the exact opposite. Firm but fair is what comes to mind. Speak intelligently with a normal tone, Eye contact and face your customer. You need to be the voice of reason in heated situations with customers. Being polite even when they are berating you and dont stoop to their level. Remember, YOU are the professional. Obviously you must defend yourself If the confrontation is physical But words cannot hurt you. In my 24 years Ive heard how a angry customer has "f---ed my mother," my wife is a tramp, I am a pussy, I am stupid etc... whatever.. you cant let it get to you. At least this has always worked for me.. Some apologize for their rants, Most just mutter off. I have had a ccp ( concealed carry permit ) for 17 years and I have never so much as had to think about drawing my weapon let alone actually do it. Maybe I have just been lucky or maybe my methods work.

My god... What a tragic accident. I cant begin to imagine what the operator is going through.

Yes, That ahould have the trans cooler lines plumbed through it for lubrication. The input gear of the P.T.O or flywheel as it is sometimes called gets lubed via the rotation of the trans gearsets.

Welcome. There are PLENTY of people on here that will have great advice and resources for you during your restorations. Spend some time and look through these forums. there are places in here that are geared towards the vintage equipment. I think I can speak for most on here and say we love checking out old school iron. I am curious to see what type of old vulcan you have. The holmes unit will be sweet when you get it done. So stop teasing us and lets see some pics of these beauties !!!! 😃

?????...... ITS A STRAIGHT, FLAT ROAD.... A bright sunny day...... HOW THE F#%K DID YOU NOT SEE THAT ???.... We are all doomed.....

Pedestrian, Tow operator, Guy on the side of the road whats the difference?? I am sure the victim doesnt care if he is incorrectly titled..Bottom line is that a man is dead, a family is tragically altered and the business he worked for is wounded emotionally and financially possibly forever. Why does society always seem to focus on the insignificant items of a tragic incident??

MY GOD !!!! What a mess..... That was the definition of freak of nature.... It appears to be down in a valley with maybe heavy storms at the higher elevations which of course would raise the water table.. Just guessing... But from looking at the first picture of the road, I would have drove right on in too.. It swallowed everything like quick sand... Amazing

CC chargebacks are exactly why all towaway ( ppi or lei ) payments are cash only NO EXCEPTIONS. Our city tried a year or so back to force all of us to accept credit for these services. We all told them to piss off in so many nice words and when they really pushed the issue, ALL the local companies on rotation refused to provide service and threatened to sue the city... Needless to say, towaways are still cash only. Sorry, I know this story was a bit off topic but my point is that people use chargebacks simply to screw businesses over. It is always in the back of my head when I run a card for services. Is there some sort of fee charged to the cardholder with doing a chargeback? I understand the reasoning behind being able to chargeback ( overcharged, double billed etc... ) but I myself have never had to do it. If there isnt there should be.. maybe people wouldnt do it so often just because they dont want to pay for your services.

Get well soon Operator.

Welcome Aboard !!!

Nice. i figured it was probably a short tow for you. I woulda done it the same way. for that type of disablement. The frame fork adapters will certainly change the game for you. Nice work

It is a good Idea if possible to get the land owners permission before strapping up to one of his or her trees. You do have to watch the tree like Orcas tow stated. It will let you know pretty quickly if it is not up to the task. The nice thing about it is usually if your in a situation using a holmes tree, your usually not in a high traffic area ( at least around here ) so you dont have to worry too much about looking out for that texting teeny bopper barreling straight through your work site.

Great stuff !!!! You have to work with at least a couple reputable companies out there around you. There is no point in being enemies with everyone. It just makes for good business for all. Being a small 2 man band, I rely alot on the network of friendly competitors we have built relationships with through the years. We all work together for a common goal. provide PROMPT, GREAT service to the customer and put a couple bucks in our pockets.

They do this around here sometimes during major storms. the occupants are removed, yellow caution tape is placed on the vehicle to notify others that the vehicle is clear then after the storm subsides, we all go out and start pulling vehicles. It is a ton safer and us tow operators are home warm and safe during the actual storm.

That is some scary stuff. Glad to hear it held up for you. Sometimes you just dont have any other choices and you have to roll the dice.

May I ask why you chose to wheel lift it as opposed to setting it on the deck? Your rig can certainly handle it ( And she is a beauty by the way ). I have on occasion grabbed a vehicle with my wheel lift for a quick move or positioning but I usually dont really tow on it unless I have another one on the deck not only for nose weight but so I dont beat up my bed locks.

Rest easy Operator Williams. Your shift is over. May you live on forever in the memories of your family, friends and co-workers.