Congrats Sean.  A lot of hard work and sacrifice in those 75 years! 

We turned 85 on February 9th

Rich

Guy's Oil

The local cbs station (wfsb) had a quote from the fire chief stating the flatbed swerved to avoid a wrong way driver.

Brian - good advice.

We went from doing it all - even won an Ace Award at one point - to rarely working for clubs and just focusing on a couple segments of our local market.  We have less trucks, less employees, and less headaches.  It's not all roses, but better than running the wheels off for little reward.

Brian & Randall

I would guess most towers agree with you regarding picture taking.  I am one of them.  The problem is not picture taking.  I am disappointed that you chalk it up to towers being averse to change.  The app companies touted more jobs closer to you, no more phone calls, better information, and easy billing.  From my experience, they have failed to deliver.  Here are the frustrations I have and have heard from others.  

1.  Loss of control over dispatch.  The apps want to dispatch directly to drivers and don't always have a way to redirect the call to another driver.  Drivers have different experience levels and abilities.  I may not want a certain driver to deal with a $200,000 Mercedes stuck in park.

2.  Our signed rate agreements are pretty useless with "take it now prices"

3.  The use of GPS was supposed to give us calls closer to our drivers.  Most of the calls we are offered are further away than pre GPS.  

4.  Lack of correct information regarding the breakdown.  If the breakdown is on a highway, very often the location is spotted to a different roadway.  Most times the call does not specify the nature of the breakdown, number of passengers, etc.

5.  If you decline a call for being out of area, the call comes back numerous times or the club calls constantly.  Even when a driver is signed out and off duty, the app will still push calls through to the driver.

6.  Drivers are paid to provide services and take care of customers.  Now they have to decide what calls to accept, if they have the skills or experience needed to complete a particular service, and they have to call customers to get correct information.(All dispatcher functions) On top of this they are responsible for company profitability when they have to decide if they should accept the "take it now" price. (Management function)

We aren't averse to change for the good, but the changes happening are making our lives more difficult.  In addition, drivers are expected to service increasingly complex and expensive vehicles with very little information on correct procedures available, thus increasing the chance of causing damage.  Oh I almost forgot, always for less and less money!

AW Direct Protective Wheel Cover

It's an awesome recovery truck, definitely get the stiff legs.  We mounted ours on a regular cab Dodge 5500.  Would love to have a super cab but the truck is long with the tunnel box.  Even with a tunnel box there is never enough room for equipment.  If you are doing mainly recovery, a tunnel box is a must have imo.  

You are right on about the highway situation.  Every highway call shows as the closest street address to the actual highway location.  You think that's bad... we're on the CT shoreline and they call all day for calls on Long Island, NY.  Their mapping doesn't recognize water so we are 15-20 miles swimming distance but driving is about 200.  The best part is we rarely get any calls from them in our town or the other towns surrounding us.

Watch the beginning of the video right above my comment.  How did the reporter not get run over or soaked?

I thought GM's were the only cars that get zapped by gas station electronics.  

Even scarier is the number of people in this industry that would look at the picture and say "what's wrong with that?"

To my fellow towers,

Please stop falling for the "you will be able to do more tows per hour" line.  We all know how the story ends.  

I just wanted to clarify about dollies.  It is just certain years and series that dollies shouldn't be used.  Also I think BMW strongly suggests that the dealer not accept a car so they do not get blamed for damage.

7 hours ago, someotherplace said:

Curious as to your information source?  When manufacturers make claims like that it always makes me wonder how lifting a vehicle from the same wheels that support it on the road can somehow lead to damage.

 

Richard

BMW manufacturer guidelines from Allstate Motor Club.  Dealerships are not supposed to accept a car towed in by wheel lift and dollies.  You are allowed to w/l it out of a parking garage or move it to an area where it can be skated onto a flatbed.  Be careful with a flatbed too.  The only approved tie down method is 8 point straps over the wheels.  If you put a strap through a wheel and scratch it or damage it you will have to buy four new wheels.  The paint can't be matched or something crazy like that.

How about cars too?  BMW doesn't allow you to use dollies.  When one is stuck in park, you are expected to skate it.  Yes it can be done damage free just like those nifty tow show demonstrations.  In the real world, how often is the car perfectly centered right behind the bed with the wheels facing straight?  This is especially fun on the highway, in a short driveway on a main road, or a tight parking lot.  How about when you go to drop.  Not every dealership or shop has a huge lot with plenty of room to drive out from under the car.  I've noticed they never show how to unload a BMW in the training videos.  

The story as originally posted has been updated in the resource link.  The tow truck was loading a vehicle and the tractor trailer sideswiped the tow truck.  Tow truck operator Everett York is in ICU with serious injuries.

When I was a kid my dad took me on a no start call that didn't end well for a cat.  I can still picture what it looked like when he opened the hood.