TowZone

For years I avoided steel toe boots due to an allergic reaction to the metal. When composite toes came out I was still not convinced and then finally I broke down and got a pair. Every tow operator should be wearing this type of work boot during the normal course of their day and at least have them in the truck during other hours of service. Foot injuries like this can likely be avoided.

Addressing the SDMO should be no different from the efforts made to get motorist to wear their seat belt. While every life matters, those not wearing seat belts are killing themselves. Those not slowing down and moving over when possible are killing others. The exact number of signs about Click or Ticket should be up for SDMO or pay a Huge Fine! These fines seem to range from $300 to $2000 across the country, yet in many states not one motorist cited has paid that citation fine. They all have appeared in court and plead ignorance to the law. Claiming it's a new law and they did not know. My reply is "You have a drivers license, it is your responsibly in maintaining that privilege to operate a motor vehicle is to keep up with changes and laws".. So many do not feel that is their responsibility, just as it is not their responsibility to slow down and move over when they see emergency/warning lights.

If I did not update this in another topic, $150.00 was donated to the Survivor Fund. Not nearly as much as we would have liked to have sent this year. However, with the way things have been this year it's a start towards a better number in 2021. I'll try to do it again in the Spring and Fall of 2021 with the hopes of raising a goal of $200.00 each time. I remember in the early years raising 5 and 10 times this amount. We need to get back there. In fact from now until the end of the year I will make this offer. Any first time TowForce Gold, Gold Plus or Platinum Sponsor 50% will be donated to the Survivor Fund. This offer absolutely ends Dec. 31, 2020. and the 50/50 will will not be repeated in 2021. Prospective New Sponsors! Thank you for your consideration.

Let's Ask the President of the CTTA he'll know the answer... Quinn Piening @WEDOTOWS or there are many other California Members that have made the jump to TowForce now.

You can attempt to be cool with them, it used to work in the past. But in today's world, all to often they find that as a way in or a crack which they will exploit. Ignore them and the more it happens the more you increase your level of professionalism in response. Many Tow Truck Operators have a desire to be a First Responder. Then when faced with situations such as First Responders are find themselves in the react much differently. This is not the Fault of the Tow Truck Operator placed in these situations, this is a lack of training and the rate of occurrence.

Thought it might be time to revisit the 2019 TOP TEN Motor Club Rankings before we begin the 2020 TOP TEN Survey in couple of weeks. More Information will follow as we get closer and for those new to these rankings Tow411 has dared to undertake this task for more than a decade now. Each and Every Motor Club should strive to be in the Top Ten, few seem to care and it shows. To the ones that do, they often get the least complaints throughout the year.

First Responders in Billings Honor 2 tow truck drivers killed in crash https://www.ktvq.com/news/local-news/first-responders-honor-tow-truck-drivers-killed-in-crash-in-billings

This could be a dangerous weekend in some areas if you experience higher levels of unrest during a Full Moon. Yes, I have followed Full Moons for many years and the number of calls to the police do increase significantly. What other factors can you add? 1) This is the last weekend Prior to a major US election and there is unrest in some arras. 2) Daylight Savings Time adds one hour overnight Saturday, early Sunday.for many. 3) Halloween and with all the Masks everyone is wearing you will not know who to trust. Do you have any other reasons to use added precautions this weekend?

I can't keep up with all the First Responders who have been Injured in the line of duty while keeping a watch for Tow Truck Operators who have been injured or killed. National First Responder Day came and went with what seemed to be little coverage unless you want to talk about the more than 30 officers who were injured in attacks in Philadelphia. Perhaps the Towing Industry can start to develop a plan to recognize First Responders in 2021. Police, Fire, EMS that we as Tow Operators both Support and Need to Support our safety on the roadways. Due to efforts t reduce Police Funding in many areas the level of support the industry has gotten from these groups has been cut as Police and Fire may be limited in their response times and time they can commit to the scene. We tragically lost two truck truck operators in one day due to a reckless driver and lack of traffic control provided by law enforcement. While these Tow Operators did everything right, nothing replaces a stationary barrier such as a Police or Fire Vehicle. By recognizing these groups of First Responders the Towing Industry is recognized for it's professionalism. By just adding Tow Truck Drivers as First Responders does not make a Driver a Tow Truck Operator which participates in regular training as do those First Responders being recognized. Now who has a Plan for October 28, 2021 This topic was in response to a topic on FB regarding NationalFirstResponderDay.

In response to a FB Topic "Who else keeps hand sanitizer in the truck?" I wrote: I have kept Hand Sanitizer in the truck for years. Only now there is a spray hand sanitizer in each door along with surgical gloves. A glove is worn when entering numbers at fuel pumps more these days then in the past. I am not a germophobe though I am aware of where germs live. After pumping the fuel at the station leave the glove on to open the door into the store. But don't stop be sure to have a paper towel or such to open the restroom door when you leave. Back to the truck hand sanitizer again prior to touching anything inside the truck, wipe the out side of the bottle down before returning it to the door panel. I sound like a nut, but I have done this for years and especially this time of year. It's Flu Season... Did you think the Flu would not come around because of the Chinese Virus. I surely miss not attending the various Tow Shows which take place this time of year. I fist bumped long before these Viruses, those that thought I was either weird or crazy what do think now!

It might be just me, however after years of watching rates these still seem low by today's standard. I would say the rate increase was successful if they had be 20 to 25 percent higher. Not sure how many would agree and of course those rates would still be to low in the northeast.

Topic Originally Created on Tow411 in September of 2005: What are the response times in your ares for Motor Club Tows? I heard last night that the average time to get a motor club tower to respond in my area is running 2 1/2 hours nearing 3 hours. Last year that was 1 hour, 10 years ago 30 minutes. We are now finding members stranded on our roadways for several hours as they wait out assistance. We do what we can for them as far as getting them to a safer location and informing the club. The families are the one you have to feel for as they have come to expect a certain level of service and they have little concept of why that service is not being delivered in a timely manner. I suspect that rate the motor club pays to be the main factor and the few towers per area. Meaning club towers are being given runs outside their areas. Elva said: 30-45 minutes in town (within a 10 mile radius) 45-60 for 10-30 miles out 60-90-120 for 30miles to ?? this is during the day with no adverse weather condition (rain, flooding, fog, etc) dnhtowing siad: we generally give 45 min to an hour eta.it also depends where its going and the time of day so the eta could be 90 min. Anaron said: Ron, about the same as your area. Have even heard of a few 4 to 5 hours. Due to the long eta's, law enforcement policy on breakdown assistance calls that request the Sheriff Dept to contact a motor club was to be told that the club had been contacted but due to the history of eta's, the Deputies could not stay with the breakdown until the wrecker arrived but would have someone drop by every couple hours or so and check on them. They normally stay with the people until the problem is resolved, not anymore if it is a motor club call.Ron Burnes T and B Towing said: 30 to 45 mins within 20 miles radius and 45 to 90 mins over 20 miles outside of the radius. my longest is two hours. Stevo said: give a realistic eta depending on the time of day. Traffic is the main factor. 10 am with 10 mile e/r can be 20 minutes. 5 pm same miles 1 hour. And thats local. On I95 going north at 3 pm no problem but getting back......double the time. Time of day = ETASteve Choice Towing & Recovery Fredericksburg,Va twinbulls said: I run 30 min to a hour mostly... I have done a few aaa cash calls and the customer says aaa gave them a 3 hour eta. On certain days Friday and Sat night aaa tells people no service in that area.... I like those calls $$$ the customer is so feed up with MC they just want to get home... TowZone said: Within this post I am just seeking Motor Club response times. Your's and what you have heard the response times of other motor club providers in the area. You know the ones where the customer says the Motor Club told them 2, 3 or 4 hours. If you do not do Motor Clubs then you may hear this more often, Mike said: Around here they are pretty good @ 30 min or less. The AAA usually advises 45 min. This area is fortunate enough to have several good sized companies that have been in the game for quite some time. Tom said: We usually try to give an eta of 30 minutes or less, but it depends on the distance to the member. We service 3 counties with a lot of gravel roads. Went on a call last Tuesday, gave a 15 minute ETA (about three miles), member told me that AAA told her an hour tohour and half. Bruce said: I had a CCMC jump start the other day. The motel just happened to be about 3 miles from me. To play safe I said thirty minutes cuase you never know what can happen. Anyway got there in about 10 minutes. Had completed the jump and was finishing the paperwork when CCMC called the customer to tell them it would be about an hour. WTF. I swear they need some management. I have given up a long time ago trying to figure out MC's. I just do the best I can and double check the statement. I no longer worry about scores or the like. If I can make a dollor with them fine when it gets to where I can't I have to droip them or go out of buisness..... Auto Rescue said: Up to 40 minutes in town (small town) in the winter time all eta's take a hit depending on weather and location with some calls being pushed ahead of others without regard to mc or cash status. mooresbp said: It is an hour or less most of the time. Very rarely will they give us the call if eta is over an hour. ExpressTowAaron said: Depends on the club, basically you get serviced as fast as I get paid. 2 months to pay me and I have to submit it 3 times to get 75% of what i'm owed...well you might be waiting a bit. Geico who is 75% of my club work gets 15-45 average ETA (depends on area we cover 50+zips) never more than an hour though. PGhrist said: Don't want to here AAA complain about there ETA's in Austintown, Ohio. We tried to become a vendor and was snubbed a couple times. We service AAA members on The Ohio Turnpike, but we're not good enough for city calls. I here of people waiting over an hour and I just laugh. Anyone with connections with AAA please pass our info along. Jeswald Auto Truck Service 6528 Mahoning Ave. Austintown, Ohio 44515 EdsTowing said: Our average is under 30min, many times quicker...sometimes longer. I see many times where USAC, CCMC will call us to take po's and we don't from them. Many times they call an hour later asking the same thing. I know it's a long time before they go through their vendor list till they call the first time.. We prioritize calls when busy like storms. Police calls & interstate break downs first. The member with a flat or lock out in their driveway may wait an hour or so depending. AAA understands it and advises members in these situations. I'm sure a large part of the extended eta's in this industry are directly related to payment amounts & procedures. You get what you pay for.... WheelLiftWarrior said: Police calls 15 to 30 mins AAA and all other motorclub cash calls and shop calls 45mins to an hour we end up waiting longer for the member after we informed AAA 20 mins and the member says AAA told them an hour and a half other then that during season we might go to an hour and a half especially when all the snow birds are in town. Diamond Towing said: n joplin 20 min springfield 30min John Marsee said: 30 minutes or less, unless were covered up! 90% 15 - 20 minutes but like someone said, after they have called a few others and cc you can tell by -05 instead of 01. Checkerwrk2 said: We try to always say 45 min when it's local, but when I know I have one of my guys free I usually say 15-30 min, but alot of the times we can even beat that! 🙂 I think it's crazy when I have to give a 90 min ETA and I am expecting them to freak out and they say wow really? I don't know how other people are but when I know they are going to have to wait 90 min I always call and tell them that I am getting someone to them as quickly as I can. I just hate the thought of people stranded on the side of the road. Which brings me to a new point. Unattended Tows... I will admit we do them because sometimes it's just easier, I don't know how some people are about them, but I haven't really ever had a problem with them. Jerrys Road Service said: 99% of MY eta's are "within 30 min" standard answer we mostly beat that time. annettemcd said: We usually give an ETA of drive time plus ten minutes. Most of our calls are stand-alone jobs, not combined with other jobs. I try to give a generous ETA so that we will not lose points on our score card for being late. I tell the dispatcher that my official ETA is XXX, but my driver should be able to make it sooner depending on traffic and conditions. I also make sure that the dispatcher understands that my driver is leaving immediately and though my ETA is long, it is drive time and no one can get there in less than one hour more. If they say that someone else might get them a shorter ETA, I explain that it is not possible and anyone telling them otherwise is not honest. I give the dispatcher our 800 number and ask them to give it to the customer. Then I always get a call-back number and try to call the customer myself. I tell the customer the actual ETA, the distance from our shop to them, and that my driver is on the way and will travel as fast as possible, and said that if they have any questions while they are waiting to call me and I will call the driver. I also verify information especially the location. I get the motor club out of the communication loop as soon as possible. Once the customer knows the distance we have to drive to get to them, most of them are understanding. If they are at a point of safety, I tell them to sit down, have a cup of coffee, relax, and call me if they want a status report. If it is 100 miles to scene, the customer needs to be prepared to wait and if I establish a rapport with them, it goes smoother. It also avoids GOAs for service calls because if they are not willing to wait 1-2 hours for someone to change their tire or give them a jump start, I know it early or I get a call as soon as things change. (Remember that I can devote more phone time to each job because we rarely have more than six calls in a day, but each job can take one to eight hours.) Rarely, usually with someone from an urban area, they do not understand why there is no one closer. They do not understand that even though our service area is 150 miles long, there are less than 3000 people living here and not enough work to have tow trucks available throughout the area. (Sometimes they cancel the call and then call a different motor club who then calls us for the same job, so they have to wait longer.) (Heck, in our service area, there are only four State Troopers and no police or sheriff.) Oh, for the local secure military base, I give an ETA to the gate, but I do not guarantee how long it will take to get through security. Myerstowing said: In Modesto CA we have an ETA of 30min on all calls but if a rotation comes in it is priority. All other areas and surrounding towns 45-60 min depending on how busy we are. STARWM050346 said: We can under normal conditions give a half hour to a hour but out of area one hour to two hours "over 30 miles" but we try to give a eta that we can at least meet if not try to bet by around 10 to 15 min.

rreschran said: Another cowardly act against a tow operator simply doing their job. I hope the shooter is captured in quick time. My prayers and sympathys go out to the tower's family and the company he worked for. R. JTRecovery said: prayers to family and tow company mooresbp said: Our thoughts and prayers cdntowgiy said: Deepest sympathies and condolences to his family and friends Steve in Ottawa 5towman said: Thoughts and prayers.

TOPIC FROM 2017: INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- A Saturday night shooting leaves one man dead on the south side, at the Capital Place Apartments. Police on the scene say the victim is a 47-year-old tow truck driver. When they first arrived to the 4000 block of Continental Court, at around 11 p.m., they found the man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The man was lying on the ground next to the tow truck and car meant to be towed. He was pronounced dead at the scene by medics. At this time, police are still trying to determine the circumstances leading up to this incident. "It is unknown at this time whether this incident escalated from the job he was on, or if it’s a totally separate incident that occurred while he was here doing his job," said IMPD Captain Harold Turner. "We don’t know if he was here to tow it because of a pass, if it was a repossession or if it was broken down and they called him here to have it towed." Police are still working on gathering witnesses and looking for suspect information. "This is one where anyone who knows anything, or has seen anybody possibly fleeing from this area or heard anything... it's very important for them to contact us at 262 tips," Turner said. They will not be releasing the victim's identity or the name of the towing company until family has been notified. There was a burglary just up the road on Burkhart Drive, but police say the incidents seem unrelated at this time. RESOURCE LINK

LA VERNE, CALIFORNIA - At 11:03 pm California Highway Patrol along with Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to a traffic collision with one person trapped at Damien Ave and E Juanita Ave. Los Angeles County Fire Department was the first on scene and located a vehicle on its side. The male driver made it out safely and refused medical treatment and was not transported. California Highway Patrol remained on scene finishing up the report and was having the vehicle towed, and the victim at that time was standing by for private transportation. CHP left the scene before the tow truck driver. Sometime after 12:30 AM the tow truck driver called 911 saying the victim, now the suspect, just pointed a gun at him and demanded to get his property from his vehicle that was on top of the tow truck. California Highway Patrol responded back out to the scene and located the suspect in the middle of the street. Officer made contact with the suspect who was not listening to the officers orders. CHP officers eventually took the suspect into custody with more officers responding to the location to searchfor the weapon. The tow truck driver told the officers that he pointed a gun at him and wanted to get his property from the vehicle. Then the driver said the suspect threw the gun somewhere in the bushes. California Highway Patrol requested an Upland K9 to come out and assist them with the search for the weapon.

Nicole Erin Buquet is killed after fatal crash in La Mesa Alpine woman dies in two-vehicle collision on Interstate-8 LA MESA, CA, (October 18, 2020) - Nicole Erin Buquet, 37, of Alpine, was killed early Sunday morning when the vehicle she was a passenger in struck a tow truck on Interstate-8 in La Mesa, according to the San Diego Medical Examiner's office. Buquet was a front-seat passenger in a truck traveling northbound on CA-125. As the driver of the car approached the Interstate-8 interchange, he veered onto the right shoulder and crashed into a stationary flatbed tow truck. First responders pronounced Buquet dead at the scene. FATAL CRASH INVESTIGATION NEEDED During its investigation, the CHP will try to determine what caused the crash that took Ms. Buquet’s life. As part of the probe, a forensic examination of both vehicles will be performed. In addition, photos of the scene will also be utilized to help investigators determine which party is ultimately at fault, whether comparative liability is assigned, or whether a third party is responsible for a malfunction or mechanical error. Several factors can play a role in accidents, including but not limited to impairment, reckless driving, distracted driving, road conditions, and speeding. Candice Bond, an experienced accident attorney, said that in cases such as this it is imperative to have an independent investigation conducted by a seasoned lawyer as soon as possible to preserve evidence. “An attorney can collect the proper evidence to help prove that a driver’s actions were reckless, which requires a variety of resources,” said Bond, Managing Partner of Bond Legal and national analyst for The Legal Advocate. “In addition to the diligent work of law enforcement, an attorney can re-interview important witnesses, analyze any surveillance video from the scene of the crash, and obtain phone and texting records of the liable party. Serving as an advocate, an attorney can help compassionately guide a family who has lost a loved one during this difficult time, protecting their rights.’’ WRONGFUL DEATH CLAIM Pending the investigation, the family of Nicole Erin Buquet may be entitled to a wrongful death claim. Family members of wrongful death victims may seek damages for loss of companionship, pain and suffering, and emotional distress following a tragic or catastrophic accident such as this tragic incident. “The stress and sorrow can be extremely overwhelming after losing a loved one in an accident,” said Stefano Formica, Of Counsel with Bond Legal. “We understand just what families are forced to go through, and having their rights protected is vital. A wrongful death lawyer will stay updated on the official investigation and help ensure that their legal rights and best interests are protected." If you or a family member have been involved in this incident or a situation similar to this article and would like to speak to our national legal analysts Candice Bond or Stefano Formica free of charge, please use the contact information found on this page (Candice Bond, Managing Partner, and Stefano Formica, Of Counsel, at Bond Legal, are the national legal analysts for The Legal Advocate. The Legal Advocate can and does use quotes from prior interviews with our analysts for our news articles. If you would like to contact Bond Legal to help you, please call 866-599-0297 or use the submission box found on this page. Legal analysts quoted may or may not be licensed in your state). RESOURCE LINK

I believe the signature line is for the tow operator completing the vehicle inspection. We simply initial the condition report rather than use our name. We also do not have reason to have anyone sign such a form that isn't a legal document. I see it as problem this way, since someone may find damage that was there prior to the tow and not documented. Although pictures can sometimes catch such damage, even a small flaw undocumented can be costly. So, it is best to take quick photos on scene then move to a well lit and safe location and fill in the condition report. I would likely remove the signature lines and do this instead. Reference Number: ______________________ Completed by: ________________ The reference number can be any number to identify the vehicle other than the description. Completed by will be the tow operators initials and those will be unique to that operator.

I tell everyone the most dangerous hours to be out on the roadways are 12am to 4am.