GRUMPS The Towman

i agree 100 % that a wheel lift / dolly tow can be performed quicker than a flatbed tow in a non consent tow situation as we have been using for discussion. 20-30 seconds to load is a ridiculous claim. i guess possible if one was to drag a vehicle up on the deck, not bother to secure it because you know, its in park with the electric e-brake on so wheres it gonna go?? ( No, i dont do that and NEVER would but i have seen it done ). a flatbed non-consent tow can be performed in MOST cases for me in an efficient and proper manner was all i wanted to get across. of course there are situations where its just not possible. depending on your areas demographic, it may not work in most cases. being a small, 2 truck operation in a somewhat small city my partner and i have been able to cover each other ( i run a flatbed and my partner a self loader ). as to your long distance dolly tow issue, what we have done in the past is remove the vehicle from its confined space with the wheel lift truck then load on the flatbed for the stretch trip. before i get bashed about cost effectiveness, i completely understand the " must be towed" situation and will do what needs to be done to perform the tow properly, safely and above all keep that customer or law enforcement agency calling me for their non consent towing needs. you cant just not tow them. business owners do in fact get fed up... and start calling your competition.

as far as i know, there is no bypass for those electric parking brakes. possibly some manufactures do have some form of bypass for them as they do for electronic transmission controls. i perform plenty of towaways for police and private property customers (with my flatbed most times might i add) and i NEVER open a towaway vehicle for any reason. it just opens the opportunity for the vehicle owner who is already peeved because their car was towed to claim that there is additional damage or there is something missing from the vehicle etc... Our industry is laden with all types of equipment to perform these tasks. you just have to charge accordingly when you can. and yes i agree that most city/police towing is regulated (as is mine) and its not possible to charge extra for additional work/materials. its sadly part of the deal. our area hasn't had a rate increase in over 20 years despite numerous requests, hearings and such. it certainly doesnt take all day to do one tow as was mentioned above. have the right equipment, know how to use it.

In new york your warning lights are to be used ONLY when loading or working on the side of the roadway or causing any traffic deviations ( blocking a lane,,etc). and in my opinion it makes sense to use your lights as little as possible. people see them on all the time and they begin to get complacent and not pay any attention to you or your lights. its also illegal here to use your warning lights in place of your tow lights when you have a vehicle on the wheel lift /underlift.. like someone stated above, with the inexpensive technology of wireless tow lights there is no excuse for not using them. even if you still run hard wired tow lights, it takes 3 minutes to set them up!!! you can never be that busy to not run your tow lights. with my drivers, there is no excuse. i dont care if your going a mile down the road. straps, saftey chains AND tow lights are to be used