GRUMPS The Towman

That was a HARD impact. Trees dont give too much. That operator is lucky to be alive.

Got a call from a customer around 1130 pm stating his son had gone off the roadway on a seasonal road and rolled his 2500 chevy pickup. This particular road goes up a steep hillside into the back country where a lot of local hunters venture. Upon arrival I noticed the entire roadway leading to the casualty was sheer ice. I made the decision to walk the 3/4 of a mile up the hill to take a look at it. We brought spill containment supplies and straps and chains to secure it and prevent it from sliding down the hillside any further. After securing the casualty and insuring there were no fluid leaks We decided it was best to leave the casualty vehicle there for the night and have a go at it the next day after it warmed up and the road was passable. At 11 am the next day my partner and I got our equipment up the hillside and performed the recovery. Using both trucks we were able to slide the casualty forward about 5 feet to clear a tree stump, up-righted the vehicle and winched it right up the embankment and on to my roll back. Total time including the night prior was 1-1/2 hours The scene was cleaned up of all debris and the the truck was towed to the customers home.

I pray that for your safety and the safety of those who are around you that this is a joke or something you found online.. If your willing to abuse your equipment like that for a photo op then all i can say is I will say a prayer for your business.

Well deserved accolades to a REAL hero !!!! In a society that holds singers and tv personalities as "heroes" this man is the true meaning of the word.

Sadly, they got you. As time goes on you will get a feel for these situations. MUST get a cc up front and run it for at least what you would get for a goa before saddling up and heading out on it. Explain to the customer there will be two separate charges on their card at the completion of the service totaling the amount agreed upon. Explain that this is done to cover your expenses for dispatching your resources. If there is no cc available then its better to cut bait and walk then risk sending your man power and equipment out for nothing. The only towers rights you have are your own. Keep that in mind.

Welcome aboard and congratulations on the start up of your business!!! If your like most of us on here, then you like long hours, cold rainy and snowy nights and cold leftovers. glad to have you 👍

hoping i got this whole picture posting thing figured out. otherwise this post wont make much sense. lol. Had to flop this one back over and get traffic moving again.

Welcome aboard Johnny. Take your time and look all around these forums. you will find plenty of good info on dealing with the clubs as well as LOTS of experienced and dedicated operators with good ideas and procedures for your business.

Great job to Jerrys Towing!!!! And that is one sexy machine you got there.

I am guilty of not doing the DR thing till theres something wrong. My wife always says to me " your constantly doing maintenance on your trucks and gear, Going to the Dr is maintenance on you". Of course shes right, but i cant tell her that...

Horrible. Rest easy Operator. Your shift is over. As a side note, I pray that this scum gets the gas chamber. Even that is too good for him. You took a mans life because you cant pay your bills. A man who was just doing his job.And from the sounds of it, you have devastated and destroyed a thriving business. There is NO lower life form on this planet than you. Maybe my words are harsh, but I am disgusted by people like this

Growing up down in NYC and in this business I can attest about how it takes a special breed of man to be an operator down there. Especially as a city enforcement operator as this man obviously was. Rest easy Operator, your shift is over now.

Couldnt agree more with George. This forum has been a very valuable asset to me. I have learned a lot. Even being in this industry my whole life and doing it professionally for 24 years now I dont know everything and will never claim as such. every day is a learning experience and there is mountains of valuable information from plenty of highly trained and educated operators on this site. And as far as the tower down posts and count, although tragic and painful to see it , it does make me think my motions through and be much more mindful of my surroundings. This is a dangerous profession and the possibility of leaving for a call and not coming home is a reality for each of us on here. as corny as it may sound, there is plenty of information on here that may one day save your life or the life of your customers. i suggest this site to all my local friends in the towing / recovery business, especially the green guys. Things in this industry need to change, thats for certain. but having the knowledge and experience contained on this site is useful.

right on towzone!!! I want detailed descriptions and diagrams of the supposed damage that may possibly be caused directly from BMW.. not some dealership or some service writer, the actual engineering department that says it cant be done. and if this is exactly the case then the required equipment needed to tow these things will be billed out accordingly and there will be a specific and inclusive waiver signed by the person handing the casualty vehicle over and the person accepting it at the other end. this procedure as well will be billed accordingly.

rest in peace operator... your shift is over.

Ive been with Agero for about 5 years. There are 6 other companies around here and i know for a fact that 4 of them also work with agero. They are a good chunk of our business these days and us being the smallest yet oldest company in town, we have been they're "preferred provider "supposedly..They can be a pain to deal with but i must say majority of the work is pretty straightforward. i dont pay any attention to the weekly performance rating they send out each week. bottom line is, if i can do the call i do it, if i cant then i cant. they have never said boo to me about a bad week when im just too busy to take any work from them. It can be a pain when they call non stop with a call thats 2 hours away n needs to go 3 miles. i just tell them its out of my area and to look at a map and see if its profitable for me to go all the way out there n do it. it is like they just start calling providers until they get someone to bite. there is one guy in town here that chases anything they send him. im waiting for him to finally realize hes not making any money. this particular person has a deep history of failed ventures around town (bars, diners and a contracting company ) and this towing thing is headed down the same tube for him. he has that volume = $$$ syndrome. but in all i cant really complain about agero. negotiate a good contract with them and you will make $$ if you play smart n watch what work you accept from them.

Having lost our shop to a fire 2 years ago I know exactly what they are going through... Its the worst feeling in the world. Unlike this situation, we did not lose any trucks. I hope they have good building and property insurance. We, did not at that time and lets just say, lesson learned. the new building finally went up this fall and we are a long way off from being back to where we were. This shop looks as though they do repair work as well as towing. our shop was strictly for our equipment and toys so thank god we didnt have any customer vehicles in there.

Hello Mr Fischer. Welcome to TowForce!!! I would be interested in speaking to you about working with your club if your in my area. Email me @ RYANSTOWRECOVERY@GMAIL.com and maybe we can exchange phone numbers. I look forward to hearing from you.

I have one in my old 97 super duty wrecker, the electronic style and it still works flawlessly although the old girl doesnt get out too much these days. i have considered looking into installing ones in our newer rams (2012 and 2017) but, im concerned about causing issues with the fancy abs, proportioning valve systems and whatnot... truth be told i have only had passing thoughts about it and havent really put any research into it. they still sell the systems so one would assume it wouldnt cause any harm.

the frame cradles in the rear of most of those pusher/ coach bus chassis are "floating style" and designed to carry the weight of the drivetrain/engine centered and balanced over the drive axle. Never in a million years would i pick one aft of the rear axle especially from the hitch. If it cant get picked with a wheel grid from the rear then its on the landoll. If this particular operator had an uneventful, damage free tow then i think the tow gods were on his side that day.

Im all for it. Joey Fischett Ryans Towing and Recovery Ithaca NY 14850

Get well soon Operator Cortez. It certainly seems to be open season on tow operators lately. Its getting ridiculous. DOT and Law enforcement agencies really need to do something like ENFORCE all your B.S. move over laws. we are getting killed and maimed out there by the handful every month But if a law enforcement officer gets hit its headline news. At least this is what i see around my region. I know of 4 local instances of operators or their equipment getting hit in the last 3 weeks n not one word is mentioned in any news outlet. A troopers vehicle was struck by a semi the other day and its been all over the local news. All of this is of course my personal opinion and we all know what thats worth to anyone... sorry to vent but its frustrating... Again get well soon Operator Cortez.

I agree. Thats the way i interpreted what the initial report stated. it seems to me he may have been lying in front of the casualty, possibly attaching his bridle between his lowered deck and the casualty vehicle rolled forward towards the deck and over the operator.

Another horrible tragedy. We all must be more careful and aware of our surroundings while we are out there. it seems as though Operator Hernandez might have been rolled over by the truck while attaching his bridle. Gotta make sure your casualty vehicle cant roll away on you while your under there rigging up.Not to be brash, but We have enough operators getting wiped out by lazy, discourteous and inattentive drivers, we cant make mistakes on our own end that cause us to lose more brother tow operators. Rest easy Operator Hernandez.

Thats horrible. It's wonderful to hear that the officer will be ok. Now, on to the situation. From what i can see from the photo's, The winch line is still connected to the casualty and run up the length of the deck indicating that the line did not break and the operator's rigging held. So it is safe to assume the winch disengaged and free wheeled. Being a piece of machinery, sometimes there is failure. We all know that. My concern is with the operator's actions during the loading procedure. If the vehicle was up in position on the deck then why wasn't a safety strap or chain thrown on to prevent a roll off? when i load a vehicle the first thing i do when the vehicle in in position on the deck is connect a safety strap just to catch it if something should fail. Next the operator obviously did not have control of his scene by letting the officer into the path way of the casualty. It's imperative to keep bystanders from the pathway of the loaded vehicle for just this sort of situation. Just my 2 cents on the situation. The officers injuries could have been easily avoided. Even with the best maintenance schedule and top equipment, mechanical machinery sometimes fail. we have to be prepared for those situations as professionals.