ProTower

We started out with AM 2-way radios in the 60's for dispatching; they were barely marginal; on a clear night we could talk to other countries but not across town. We went to FM radios and that was much better in the 80's and 90's. We also used voice pagers during this time and they worked fairly well. I remember when the phone company came out with call forwarding. Mom and Dad were no longer chained to the house after the shop closed at night and weekends. (the phone rang in both places so it was always answered.)

When the digital message pagers came out we thought we had the tiger by the tail but were still writing down all the calls on 2 parts paper books. Then along came cell phones and text messaging. They worked better and in more areas than the 2 way radios ever did; they were much more private (our competition was more interested in what we were doing than what they were doing- they scanned our 2 way frequency like russian spies).

The real game changer has been Towbook and i-pads. We now handle triple the volume of calls with ease. We issue every driver a company i-pad and also allow them to use their cell phones with Towbook. Our thought behind that is there is no excuse for not responding, replying taking photos etc, with our company owned equipment but they are allowed to use the cell phones as a convenience. We track every truck with Webfleet so the dispatchers can route the appropriate equipment from the closest available cutting down on wait time for the customers andless miles on our fleet.

We have seen the need for 2-way radios maybe 5-6 times in the past 3 years but thats not enough for the$10k outlay to get back in the radios. 

Call Wreckmaster and they can discuss it with you. What I understand is CTTA is more California situational centric while Wreckmaster is broader taking in scenarios you would see anywhere in north america. Give them a call- they are super nice folks and have always been great to work with for us.

nice looking truck everytime it was rebuilt.

Cell phones and text messaging by the drivers of other vehicles. These people should be dealt with more severely by the justice system too. Texting while driving is much worse than drinking and driving in my book; drinking impairs your ability to operate a motor vehicle. Sending text messages on a cellphone is making the decision to intentionally not look where you are driving. We need some Mad Mothers Against Running Over Roadside Workers.

just my $.02

Nice Job on covering so many trucks in this issue!

We are looking to deploy credit card machines to the field with our drivers and want to know what you all have and if you like it or not. We have used the cellular machines from the bank without much success; they are either dead battery or out of service area too often. They are also too expensive to deploy with each driver on call ($400 each) I like the Square Deal thing to plug into the iPads we issue to the drivers but don't know much about them. We use Towbook software so if it integrates into that it would be real nice.

Please tell me your thoughts. 

Mark

Thank you for being heroes!