Stubborn66

That story is absolutely ridiculous, not that the officers got hurt, as well as other people, but to sue the operator to the truck that was on scene helping the customer. This is another instance of too many lawyers in this country and what our country is becoming. I also did a bit of research and I cannot find any disposition of this lawsuit. I would hope that the operator was not found guilty of any wrong doing. Mr. Resch, do you have any further information on this article? I too tend to leave the trucks run alot when I am out, and always when I an running the lights.

I made some things up as we went along, not by the book maybe, but it works. I have two old 3/8 wire ropes that I have made ~80 foot extensions out of, they have the original hook on one end, and loop on the other. The loop end that I terminate with cable clamps is weaker that the factory end, so bear that in mind when using it. When using the loop end, I use a clevis, I don't just run a chain against the cable. They are a PITA to store, we wrap them around old wheels that we have modified to hold them. We also got recovery straps, the better ones have a good WLL and are much easier to store. We also got 30 foot lengths of recovery ropes, they can be run through blocks to double the rating as well. We are using soft shackles now too, I wasn't too sure of them, but as we use them I am getting more confident in them and their WLL is good When you get stringing stuff out that far, know what your resistance is and what your gear is rated for.

Good Morning, What do you know about this company? Do they offer on hands training in multiple areas? Thanks

Welcome, There is a Tesla forum on here, you might find some information there, good luck

Hi Guys, I had the demo with Tracker this morning. I don't think it is the best fit for our company. It has many of the features the other programs have but there are couple of things it does not have that I want. The most important to me is that they would need to host my QuickBooks and that is not something I would even consider. At this point, I am leaning towards towbooks but I am going to sleep on it for a day or two. Hope this helps someone else considering digital.

This one actually worked out, they had insurance. Pretty sure this guy was dodging a DUI and was all kinds of agreeable when he was allowed to come for it. I had it locked in a bay in shop until the officer released it, and he took a week before he would allow it to go.

Just as an FYI I just had the Towbooks demo. I have to say, I think the format was good. Maybe they have upgraded the interface since Animosus had tried it? It seemed to have a few more features than the Beacon product, some of which is useful, some we won't use. They claim their system is up 99.9% of the time. The down time seemed to be the biggest complaint I have seen about them. In reality, they may be up 99% of the time but when you go digital you are at technology's mercy and any amount of down time will be problematic. They want $40.00 per month more for their product versus Beacon. They will not offer any discount if we pay for a year in advance. I have one more demo set up from Tracker, that will give me three options to compare. At this point, we will go with one of them for a year and see how it works out, then decide if we want to continue. Thanks for all the input, it helps

Thanks for the feedback. What other programs have you worked with? I think any of these companies will work, it is just finding the best fit at an affordable price. I am working on getting a demo from Tracker which I hadn't heard of until I made this post.

Can you give me more information on this, is it a company or a version of a product. I have not heard of Tracker. Thanks

Hi All, Thanks to Animosus for the response, I was hoping someone had tried both and had a preference. I still want to come to my own conclusions as to what works best for us. We have always been hesitant to go to digital dispatch, based on the volume of our towing business. We also want our calls to come into our office, not to a driver cell phone. There are three of us in the shop, and my wife does most of the clerical work. Our towing business is to support our repair shop, we are not strictly a towing company. We have always had my wife document the calls so our guys could focus on doing the work. I had the Honk app on my phone for a very short time and found it to be a PITA and not offering us calls at our agreed to rates, that was another turn off for us. Ultimately, I agree that the industry is moving towards the digital platform, and I recently had a call with the club rep that we do the most work for and they informed me that they were going digital as well and asked me to consider it or risk falling to the bottom as far as getting calls. They did not want an app on a phone, simply, they wanted a digital way to get us the calls in our area to save having a person make a phone call. They are looking at it as efficiency on their end. Here is what I have learned so far. I have had one demo from Beacon and had two more scheduled from Dented, and Omani last week. Durning the Beacon Demo I learned that Beacon, Dented, and Omani are currently owned by Traxero But, each company maintaining their individual identities. I have another demo scheduled for this week with towbooks. The Beacon demo was good, there are a lot of good features in the software, some of which will not be useful to our company, but I would think they are to a larger company. Beacon will also interface with Quickbooks which we use. Beacon is also compatible with all of the motor clubs we service and can be used easily for our cash calls which is about half of our volume. Based on what I learned last week, the Beacon software is better suited to our needs. Dented, and Omani seem to be for larger companies that are doing a lot of impound work and managing inventories of lots. I have a demo scheduled this week with Towbook, which seems to be very popular. The research I have done seems to tell me that Towbook has more times where the site is down, and the user interface is not as user friendly as stated by Animosus. I want to see the interface for myself this week before I make judgement. Price is another thing naturally; it looks like either one is going to be about $150.00 per month to start. As I was told, that is only $5.00 per day, but it all adds up.

I too run older trucks that are in good shape, and I keep them that way. We run our businesses to make money, new trucks are nice but not a necessity. If you can run a truck that cost 30K and do the same jobs as a truck that cost 110K why spend the money? Maybe I was brought up differently?? As for being insulted, I think we all have guys running around our areas that are running beat up old trucks, not properly insured, cutting the rates to where a normal business cannot make a profit. Those guys come and go, in my opinion. As for working for Copart, it may good filler work for some, some it may not be, it all depends on the individual business. We do not do Copart, but we do club work as filler work for our shop. It is good that they are giving you pay raises, the clubs are tough to renegotiate with. I have an issue with the zones, personally, with the GPS capabilities, they know where the cutoffs for each zone is, why cant they just be fair and pay the mileages on each car??? They know that as well. They control the dispatch, so I have a hard time believing "it all levels out in the end". But that is just me. I agree 100%, if I was looking to get into buying a truck, I would know what all my other costs are up front before I decided who I wanted my customers to be, and I would be looking at multiple customers, not putting my eggs all in one basket. I would also be going to my local Copart facility to put faces to names. The original poster is looking to BUY a truck to haul for Copart. I would caution against that if he has no other customer base to rely on.

Has anyone used both of these companies and have a preference? We are finally looking at going with a digital program that will work for all the club work as well as our cash customers. We are a small company, 4 trucks and three drivers thanks for the input

If you carry enough equipment on it with the right driver, you would be surprised at what you can do with a carrier. As for "how hard can you pull", that depends on the situations.

Looks like they ran square into the back of the truck, hopefully no injuries. I80 is the scariest road we work, too many close calls out there

I like that you can put it under the wheel and "assemble" it. The Condor, you have to run it up into the ramp to secure it, if it has a flat front tire, that can be a challenge. But, I have never felt more secure loading a bike than with the Condor.

That is one hell of an expensive ice skating rink he was trying to make. Lucky to be safe

Our goal for this year is to increase our margins on the business as a whole, while maintaining or increasing our total annual sales. Last year we added tools to help us track the business better, this year we will use those tools to accomplish our goal. For Tow Force, I do not have a Facebook account, but I lurk on my wife's account on a "tow talk" group when I am not shopping of marketplace. I see many unprofessional posts in that group, but I would assume there are many people like me who watch it from time to time who would much rather a more professional setting such as here. Why not post a message on that group's page to see if it would generate any interest. Just a thought

Hi, Welcome to the group. There is a wealth of information here. If you take the time to read through the old posts, you will gain a lot of information. You will see a lot of negative experiences posted, but I believe much of it is dependent on the area and how much competition there is for club work in that area. Do your homework and find out how much competition you have in your area. As for your question. If the clubs are not getting back to you, they are likely saturated in your area. Sometimes you need to reach out multiple times to get a response, even if is to say they are not looking for providers in your area. My other suggestion would be If you do get them to the table, don't forget to negotiate rates that will keep you profitable. You need to know what it costs you to operate, that is not really as easy as it sounds. I would not expect any loyalty from the clubs, they are simply looking to get service to their customers at the cheapest possible rate. Good Luck

I just came across this post on another site, has anyone else had this type of issue? The purpose of my post is to create awareness over 1 cell phone and 1 man with 4 apps that track my location/alert me of jobs. I had to separate them to different phones to play nice with each other.

I have an older Jerr Dan industrial bed, it has an 8000 pound winch but the drum is a narrow one and the wraps build up fast. It calls for a 50 foot rope, I tried to put 100 on it but I could not keep it wrapping straight. I have 75 on it now and can keep it wrapping straight. I have D rings too so I can double the line like Ed mentioned. I like the extra rope but there is a downside.

I like the challenge in jobs like these. Don't be afraid to charge what it is worth.

LOL, Ed is right, once contracted getting a raise is tough Welcome to the forum. There is no "average" price we charge, it all depends on the competition in a given area. The more towers in your area the lower the prices the clubs will be willing to pay. Supply and demand in its simplest form. What you really need to know before you start negotiating with a club, or anyone for that matter, is what your operating costs are. To get to a true operating cost to run a truck or trucks, and your business, takes some real work, even if you are working out of your house. If you don't know what those numbers are, you won't survive. There are a lot of expenses involved in running a company that people miss when calculating operating costs. Then you need to figure out what your margins should be to get to a realistic profit that your area can support. Then, break that down to retail, private company, club, etc. Once you have that, read through the posts on here, and elsewhere, to get an idea of what it is like to work for a club. You will see a lot of negative comments about the clubs, but it really depends on your area and YOUR business model. If you are going to be dependent on club work specifically, you have a tough row to hoe. If you are in a competitive area, I would say it is very unlikely club pay will sustain your business. If you have other customers to work for and club work will be fill in, then, your chances of survival increase. Good Luck

Nice truck

It would be nice to know how he is making out.

Good Morning, Not sure what your point is. Whether I own the company or I am a driver paid on commission I want the wheels turning to get to the next job, unless I can bill for the time waiting. That is true of anyone working for someone else in ANY industry.