Tow411

Found within a topic reply by Dave Lemke on Tow411 in 2009: Image taken during the 2009 Matjack Factory Air Cushion Class @David.Lemke do you recall what Scooby found so amusing?

Topic Originally Created by Jeff Martin aka Jeff98970: A few pic's taken from a couple of Scooby's training classes I've had the good fortune of being able to attend. P.S. The second photo contains a guest appearance from canadiantowman. Scooby said: In the fifth pic down, the one of me in the car (you can clearly see I'm not too amused) and the bees attacked me........and things went south from there, when I went into panic mode.......and it really became an emergency to get me out as I was trapped in the car.....lol and that tech got in the car that's next to me there in the pic to try to "settle" me down ah that was classic!!!!!! I can't stop laughing to myself about that, but it clearly wasn't funny at the time I do have alot of fun at these classes, I'm most fortunate to have been given this opportunity in life to be able to do this PGhirst said: Nice to see our class that was held in Hubbard, Ohio! Well worth the time invested... take care Jeff and Scooby! BLKWILL said: feel bad for the poor car with SCOOPY trying to get in it.

This Topic was started on Tow411 by Eds Towing back in 2012: Got a call this afternoon from the County Dispatch to respond to a scene where a man was trapped & pinned under a vehicle. I expedited with the 12 ton and found a guy pinned on his chest & head when he was changing the oil in a van using a scissor jack. There were ambulances & cruisers in the way to get to the front so we felt it was quicker to just get my jack and lift the car off the person. Once free, he was removed & transported to a ball field to be air lifted to a trauma center. The guy was laying on the cardboard and the front had to lifted since his arm was pinched under the tire. It was tight to get the front but I could of reached it with access. Regardless we had him out in a minute or so. I haven't heard how he made out but hopefully he will be ok. I'll tell ya your heart goes 300 BPM when you get a call like this. I have lifted vehicles off of a dead person before but this was a first where we had an opportunity to do some good! https://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120308/NEWS/120309719/-1/NEWS miracle 1 said: Pretty awesome feeling I know...Had one several years ago where I had to assist fire and rescue lift a truck up a embankment secure on it's side(as it was at the bottom) and help perform a dash roll using a tree as a dead man cause the cab and frame where partially seperated...In the end a 13 year old boy was saved from certain death and his father was DOA...I never really gave it much thought until some time later when the kid and his mom approached my wife and I at the grocery store and thanked me for helping him...Until that point, I was met with all kinds of resistance from my wife about being involved with the Towing and Recovery industry..I've not heard a peep since...Congrats on your save,It does the heart good when you can use your skills and common sense to assist others preserve a life... wreckerman05 said: Good job Mr Ed--its funny how we react so quick when in a situation like this--good training and skills show up and we dont even have a second thought about putting ourselfs at risk sometimes during a recovery like this----Hope the guy is OK-- mooresbp said: You are the man Ed!! Kelly Neal said: I know what you mean Ed. I recieved a call for a dog trapped under a car. The people didn't call the police but called us and I drove over and lifted the car off the dog. Kelly Randy1 said: Congrat's on being in the right place at the right time ,as well as having the know how of what to do . As far as the 13 year old , I could not imagine what that child went through as well as how it has changed his life forever .When they came up to you and thanked you it would make a person feel like a king EdsTowing said: Thanks for the comments. I was glad I could help. I noticed today the paper updated the incident and stated how the police, fire fighters & ambulance personnel were able to lift the van and free the man....Like Bob from BWR always says - we don't get any recognition! https://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120309/NEWS/203090367 mushspeed said: Ed ...........You are a Diamond !!!! Commonsense and logic prevailed when the chips were down for the guy and you got it done..... Over the Years..... just like you, I have done numerous extracations including several life saving lifts, but the fire and rescue service always get the recognition !! The media seem to always forget about the Recovery Man. But We Know Better !!!! Wade200 said: Good job. I was about to say before you posted that other link...don't expect any form of compliment, we usually don't. Of course in a situation like that, who cares. Rodney P said: Thanks Ed, job well done.

This topic was originally created on Tow411 by Lake Erie Lenny back in 2012: Been Towing Now For 25Yrs.,Received A Phone Call From A Vetrenarian Requesting If I Could Transport A Dead Horse To Cornell University In Ithaca New York,I Paused For a Moment,Replied I Guess,She Told Me That It Was No Joke, That A Owner Of This Race Horse Wanted To Have An Autopsy Done To See The Cause Of Death, She Offered Me A Great Payment For This Service So I Flatbeded It To The College. I Guess I'll Do Just About Anything To Make a $$$$! HAMBURG, NEW YORK JustAnotherHooker said: Guess you can't beat a dead horse ! miracle 1 said: Dispatched to one several years ago, a sheriffs office rotation pulled up in the Century 612 and there was no car at that point I see the dead horse...Until arriving no one mentioned it being a horse...I jokingly asked the deputy if he'd like it at their impound lot for investigation....I had no back up to call so, I transported it with the boom and strapped off to the wheel lift for the tow to the landfill for burial.....Got the strangest looks when I zip tied the tow lights to it....Out here your likely to be called to anything at any given point....... EMETOW said: One of the first loads carried by a car carrier in the state of Rhode Island, by the only one in existence at that time, was a buffalo that had escaped from the zoo and died from exhaustion from being run across Rt. 95 through traffic. (early 70's) DodgeTowGuy134 said: JustAnotherHooker beat me to that joke....hahaha doingitall said: I too do a few of those a year, not always horses but larger farm animals. Sometimes after an escapee gets hit, and sometimes someone just needs the animal moved to another location for burial and has no other way to get moved. The ones that are hit are sometimes a real mess, but usually get it done without incident. If I know the call is for an animal, I usually load up my smaller tractor/loader and take it along, makes the job a lot easier to unload. annettemcd said: Does TowSpecs.com have tie-down points for horses and cows? When we run our conventional boom truck, since many of our collisions are vehicle vs. moose, we sometimes had to clear the moose off the highway and occasionally considered using the boom to hang the carcass while doing the butchering. KirbysTowing said: A few times a year we get a horse or a cow struck by a vehicle that has to be taken back to the farm. It's usually a messy situation that I don't much care to do, but it pays just as good as an accident with a car does. interstow said: I once had a request to move a dead whale for the state museum system. They wanted to move it to a farm and bury it so they could come back to reclaim the skeleton. They said it was approximately 25 ft. long. I told them my bed was only 21 ft. long and they replied, No Problem...we just cut the tail off and strap it on seperately... No Thanks... I think one of the local city depts took care of it. sheridan said: We have hauled dead horses to from the city corals to the landfill. Did it with our heavy duty with cables around its feet. Even had a AAA card pulled out for doing this once. Someplace I have a picture about this one. rlc4523 said: we've gotten a couple to get horses out of the mud but unfortunatley they were to far off the beaten path for us to get to them. njChuck said: Sad, but as long as the CHECK clears, then off you go. rlc4523 said: exactly what njChuck said.........you load it, tarp it, strap it down, and only you and the customer know what your hauling. Catfish4206 said: I used to manage a restaurant and one day a wrecker with a dead horse on it stopped in to get a bite to eat! Funniest looking thing I have ever seen. I told them to immediatly leave. I know they were hungry, but I didnt need people thinking I sold horsemeat. I laughed about that one for a long time. dragonwaganII said: theres a number of cattle farms around here but only had maybe 3 or 4 over many years picking up live stock . Worst was an amish farm , 7 work horse got out on a main road , they were between guardrails when a medium duty truck hit them . Killed all 7 , 1 went through the windshield of the truck . Roof went up , doors out , looked like a bomb had went off in the truck . Driver survived . When i pulled up i was thinking WTH happened here , there was blood washing down the road like a small river . I dealt with the truck , county rd commision sent out a loader and dump truck plus the fire dept washed down the road . Trying to hook up that truck made a garbage truck seem like a bed of roses . Hvywreckerw900 said: We hauled one years a go for a friend. I didnt go. I would if I had to but if I have a choice it is umm no thanks. Jr In Memory of Towing Grandfather who said: Years ago one of our drivers had put a large black bear on the flatbed after it caused a accident on the NYS Thruway Both car and bear came in on the flatbed. FMS Mike said: 1st Company CT Governors Horse Guard had one die on them one day and we hauled it back to their barn. Odd but it pays!

Topic Originally Created by Brian Riker in December of 2006: I am not a Texas expert by any means, but maybe since they are only transporting vehicles on behalf of their own dealership group they are not subject to Texas tow truck rules. I know here in New York and New Jersey they have tow truck rules that do not apply to my 2 and 4 car carriers because I do not do any non-consent towing only transport work (I am in the car haul industry). I use tow truck type equipment since I get a mix of running/driving cars as well as non-running cars, but NY and NJ look at them just like the Feds do, they are only freight unless and until I try to tow one off the side of the highway. Once I do that I need the NJ tow truck insurance decal and NY DMV numbers. Funny thing, in my home state of Pennsylvania I need to register my tow trucks with the Public Utility Commission because I don't "tow" with them but rather only transport. Do the car haulers that use tractor trailers to transport used and new units to/from dealers need TDLR numbers in Texas? I would think unless Caravana is also towing cars back to their service department for repair they would be covered under the same rules as the companies that haul new cars into dealers and wholesale cars to/from auctions. Tomtexan said: t has always been my understanding that any and all tow trucks must have a permit to operate on the roads of this state. https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/towing/towinglaw.htm#2308101 Someotherplace said: Now try getting TDLR interested. They already won't go after pirate operations because they have no teeth to enforce with. If you're already not trying to play by the rules, then they can't deny you TDLR registration for your business, trucks, or operators. Almost makes you wonder why anybody else pays... (heavy sarcasm) Richard goodmichael said: And I am still waiting! For someone to tell me a benefit of TDLR being involved in this industry in this state. (I should stop as I am about to update my stature to IM.) saw one of their trucks today in San Antonio delivering a car. Yes they should be TDLR compliant. But........., TDLR, the People's Republic of Austin tick, is too busy sucking the blood, and marrow out of the souls of those working class dogs who work for a living. It was a pretty cool looking truck. I am not waiting any longer, because I have known the answer all along. tomtexan said: I can assure you there has been no benefit for me. I could certainly live without them. They have done nothing but cost me more money than ever just with the ridiculous yearly licensing fees and the totally unnecessary drug tests. goodmichael said: TDLR does nothing to enhance public safety or to make anything safer for the industry. In fact, they assist in giving those in this industry who want to be mean spirited and spiteful a venue to turn on others in the industry. There sole purpose is to inflict another needless tax on the law abiding, overtaxed, overburdened souls that already support parasitic politicians as well as the deadbeat population as well. For those who have drunk the Kool Aid, who believe that they accomplish anything productive, all I can say is you let the government screw you again. I want the government to fill pot holes, pick up trash, and keep the roads clean. I do not have any desire for the government to protect me. I am perfectly willing, capable and able to complete that mission on my own. https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/towing/towinglaw.htm#2308101 dwh824 said: This subject came up the other day in the office about picking cars up in our VSF because one driver didn't have a TDLR card or TDLR # on the truck. I was advised that it was in fact a prearanged transport and didn't qualify as a tow truck (were talking about a rollback with a winch and wheel lift and amber over heads which were on when he left). I was trying to find the rules but haven't as yet, but I did find this... https://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/84R/analysis/pdf/SB01820I.pdf I figure it is somehow related. And yes, I agree, TDLR is a waste of money. Every time I have to renew my license, and the lack of support from TDLR on various situations we have come across. But if you slip up, they are all over you. dwh824 said: Maybe this is it.... 202.001, Property Code, to use a parking space. (14)AA"Peace officer" means an individual described in Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure. (15)AA[(8-a)]AA"Private property tow" means any tow of a vehicle authorized by a parking facility owner without the consent of the owner or operator of the vehicle. (9)AA"Property owners ’ association" has the meaning assigned by Section 202.001, Property Code. (16)A[(10)]AA"Public roadway" means a public street, alley, road, right-of-way, or other public way, including paved and unpaved portions of the right-of-way. (17)A[(11)]AA"Tow truck" means a motor vehicle, including a wrecker, equipped with a mechanical device used to tow, winch, or otherwise move another motor vehicle. The term does not include: (A)AAa motor vehicle owned and operated by a governmental entity, including a public school district; (B)AAa motor vehicle towing: (i)AAa race car; (ii)AAa motor vehicle for exhibition; or (iii)AAan antique motor vehicle; (C)AAa recreational vehicle towing another vehicle; (D)AAa motor vehicle used in combination with a tow bar, tow dolly, or other mechanical device if the vehicle is not operated in the furtherance of a commercial enterprise; 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 H.B.ANo.A3265 4 (E)AAa motor vehicle that is controlled or operated by a farmer or rancher and used for towing a farm vehicle; or (F)AAa motor vehicle that: (i)AAis owned or operated by an entity the primary business of which is the rental of motor vehicles; and (ii)AAonly tows vehicles rented by the entity. (G)AAa motor vehicle that is owned or operated by a person licensed under Chapter 2301 and transports vehicles during the normal course of a transaction in which the entity is a party and ownership or right of possession of the transported vehicle is conveyed or transferred. (H)AAa truck-tractor as defined in Section 621.001(8)(B), Transportation Code, and used solely to transport motor vehicles as cargo in the course of a pre-arranged shipping transaction, or for use in mining, drilling, or construction operations. This exception does not apply to truck-tractors used for the transportation of one or more motor vehicles under circumstances that would otherwise constitute a nonconsent tow. I guess IAA and Copart are gonna save lot's of money in permit fees, not to mention the drivers. Someotherplace said: What happened to the old TXDOT rule about no unlicensed tow trucks or operators inside a licensed storage facility? Surely TDLR did not do away with that. Richard tomtexan said: It is still the rule, found here Vehicle Storage Facility Administrative Rules https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/towing/vsfrules.htm#t85709 Vinny 8660 said: Copart is doing it right now with the blessing of TDLR. The trucks are registred in Illinois and have US DOT numbers on them. No TDLR cab card or numbers. 1 of the drivers I've seen had a TDLR license. tomtexan said: The very few Copart pick ups I have, because I am in a very rural area, are contracted wrecker services that have all the cab cards, licenses and TDLR truck numbers. I haven't seen actual Copart trucks in a long time. goodmichael said: I just got my parasite renewal letter today. Thanks, whomever bestowed this yearly extra tax upon the backs and souls of those who work for a living. I hope you are very proud of yourself. Because I am REALLY angry at you whomever you are, be it individually or your whole little merry band.

SOLD on Tow411 within a few days by Austin Hinds Motors in 2012: 1991 Pete 377 Series 60 Detroit 350hp 10-spd All New Virgin Rubber Paint about a year old 25 Ton Aatac 2- 25000ib Tulsa Winches Wheel Lift Hydraulic Stiff Legs Ready to Work!!

Topic originally created by Danny Cassello in June of 2010 from a Utah Auction: 1952 international with a detroit 6v53 diesel and 23,000 original miles.

Phillips Towing 202 Created the topic in August or 2006: This is the second time in less then a week Andrew has had to tow this thing. First time was for a very minor problem but this time it's cause the turbo is gone!! As Andrew said "Just another day at the Fayetteville office". Truck2 said: Just curious, and not meaning to put s**t on your job, but has anyone done a scale comparison of front axle weights with the crane in the front and rear positions? Phillips Towing 202 said: Mark, I spoke with Andrew the driver of our 60 ton. He said that by swinging the boom to the front not only does it add around 2000lbs to the front axle but it also moves the boom out of the way of the nozzle on the end of the ladder!! Truck2 said: good-o thanks for the answer, was just curious as we don't see rotators down here. Dallas Horton said: easy money and nice photos!_______________________ Dallas Horton

Topic Originally Created by Timjohn in August of 2006: This was an older bus that I towed the other day. It had been sitting for ahwhile. The owner tried to shift it out of park and the handle broke off in the column. The owner of the bus was proud to let me know it "starred" in an adult film or two a couple of years ago. But after seeing the plush interior, I thought I recognized it from somewhere... BLKWILL said: Tim, You rear end grabber' Nice tow Will Cain Silverhawk said: My mind wasn't thinking what ya'lls was. I thought it was X rated because it caused a lot of cussing during the job. LOL dudewhereismy50ton said: the title is a good hook nice tow what movie did it star in it must be a weird fetish Darryl Burrell said: Good Job.

In 2008 Foxtow asked for next generation tow ops to respond and these members replied. Are you on the list and are you a next generation that should be on a new list? Foxtow82 Capptow Myerstowing Wade200 Dallas Horton Recovery Inc. aka Chris Fontaine timjohn CustomCruzr45 Checkerwrk2 ExpressTowAaron nullstowing PaulsTowing DodgeMotorsports DixieTowgirl 88 DHook488 BobjrV60 Andys08Towing deperone DavidV

Topic Originally Created by Larry Searles in April of 2011: As I was reading the latest of seemingly endless notices of yet another downed towing professional, I was reminded of a reoccuring question that I ask my self from time to time. What attracts us to towing ? I think a lot of us are just men who just never got over playing with trucks. But, besides being able to drive on the wrong side of the street and block the intersections at rush hour, isn't part of the attraction the danger involved? Maybe I'm just speaking for myself, but I cant deny that I get a rush when I'm loading a car in the fast lane shoulder and the cars are flying by two feet away causing my pant legs to rustle from the wind. And when I'm under a truck disconnecting a drive shaft, seeing the traffic coming towards me at what looks like a hundred miles an hour! Just like race car drivers, is there something about flirting with danger that gives this profession appeal? Anyone else share these thoughts? miracle1 said: Nope!!! The appeal to me is that I can do what many can't.... The danger aspect I could care less about...I take every safety measure, I can take to assure me of going home safely at the end of the day. Kenny twinbulls said: I like to help others ... I like trucks...I like flashing lights,, I like to get dirty, I like to take cars that dont belong to me (repo), I like what we do.. all of it.... And yes some things are dangerous just do your best .and be safe... brostow13 said: I'm with Kenny I could care less about the danger aspect .If I could hook up all vehicles in a parking lot I would be perfectly content.I also agree with Tim ,I like trucks ,flashing lights and I like what I do ...Towing and Recovery. Mark towgodess14 said: It's not about the danger. I love that I can do what a lot of men can't/won't do. I enjoy the look on their faces when they see the Tow Truck Driver is a GIRL. LOL I enjoy the fact that every day, every tow is different. I get bored really easy. I love rolling up on a recovery and wondering how the he** they managed to do that, and how am I going to undo it. There are risks involved in the job, but it's a part of me now and I have a hard time thinking of anything else I would want to do. Charlie Rittenhouse said: for one hate working the highway with trucks flying by. it even makes me made at times how fast they go passed with out as much as a brake check. As far as your orignal post you may have a death wish. DragNTow said: If I didn't like danger, I wouldn't have gotten married 3 times!!!!!!!!! Then again maybe I am just a slow learner. Happy Haulin....................DragNTow Kyresqtow said: Why do I stay in it..... because so many times I have done what "everyone else" said couldn't be done... so many times I showed up in my 1 ton to bring a car out to have the police tell me that 2 other companies said it couldn't be done with that size truck... and yet there I was at the end... with the car.... I could care less about the every day towing... it's the recoveries I like. Graciesdad said: We got a suv out one time that everyone on the scene said would take a HD to get, we did it with a little 12 ton. They remember that, and are not afraid to call you for the next odd, difficult job. For some odd reason I love camper / travel trailer wrecks. They are always a challenge to get up-righted without falling apart. I only have a MD truck so its a lot of outside the box thinking involved. Lots to clean up too. Lot of guys whine about clean up, I love it....all the way to the bank. As for the danger aspect.....I hate it, for my crew and myself. That's why I'm a safety nut and get on the guys often about safety issues. I have fired guys before because I didn't want to have to call their family and tell them something bad. They just were scary lazy with safety. Some people don't need to work in this business....... Jay Indiana durrstowing.com quigma1 said: Your always going to have the danger factor. Working the job site, if its not the danger of hooking the vehicle or the recovery it the moving traffic. Move over laws are a joke unless the law is being enforced by your police departments. I've been brushed and bumped by mirrors several times by moving traffic over the years. It's second nature to me to keep an eye on traffic. In all honesty, It's the biggest fear to me, being taken out working a job on the highway. But I don't let it stop me from doing my job. I got into this profession doing police towing, then branched out into the other side of it. Commercial, and private towing. Working side by side with law enforcement was the line that hooked me. Being real close to the action, not only involved in the towing part, but involved in other stuff with them as well. Like sitting in on stakeouts, waiting for the bad guys to show up, so you can hook the vehicle and go, hauling stolen goods that they can't fit into the patrol cars, and more. It's better than watching it on TV. The challenges of the accident-recovery and then hearing through the grapevine, that so and so said thank goodness Steve is here. Do you ever hear the stories from your friends in law enforcement about your fellow towers and how l o n g it takes them to do the same job you just did and how you make it look soooo easy? Isn't that a good feeling that they know the difference between you and the other guys? GregTowzIt said: Interesting topic for sure!!! I'm in my 20th year in this industry still at the same place I started. I love this job!! It is challenging, ever-changing and I love changing the way people percieve towpersons. Being professional with even the most menial job and treating the customers respectfully helps to change the way they view our industry and helps our company grow as well. There is always the exception to the rule, but I have found that most customers are glad we are there and appreciate not being made to feel stupid because of the situation they are in. The dangers of the job are a part of it and I think that most people should not be on the side of the road attempting to change a tire, etc., without safety training. Not many people carry safety vests to protect themselves anyways. Where I live I would like to see signs informing motorists about the slow down/move over law. Most people do not know about it because it is not widely publicized. To all my fellow operators, stay safe out there and take care!! nvtowing said: you should try skydiving instead. Its safer! nbacdon said: I guess the whole flirting with danger is a part of this job that I like. But come on people how cool is it that we get to go to work every day and play with trucks. I used to (like 9 years ago) work in a garage installing plows and and truck accessory's but I dont think I could ever go back to working inside. Donny Swenbeck Bills Auto Clinic Salem MA (978)-745-2087 wm050915 said: I used to get a small adrenaline rush when working on the side of a busy highway. Now ever since my accident that could have just as easily taken my life I have constant nightmares. I am still sidelined with my injuries, but each time my better half has to go do a call on the highway, I feel sick untill she clears the call. The move over laws are definately under advertised, and under enforced. The attending L.E.O.'s on my accident did not even know about the law. I had to look it up for them in the HTSA, for them to tell me it would be too hard to convict and too much paper work. Advertising the laws in drivers ed, and in the registration offices would be a good start. More signage on the roads too. But for the most part it is all pointless unless Law enforcement agancies are willing to enforce the laws. As for why do we do it if it is so dangerous? I enjoy helping people. I enjoy the look on a little kids face as you pull his parents car out of the ditch, or unlock a cherished pet from a vehicle. When you pull up in a clearly too small truck and perform a magic act cause the guy didn't think you could do it that way. The challange, the opportunity to make a bad situaton better for someone in need, the chance to be a big kid playing with even bigger toys. The opportunity to keep learning new things each and every day with out fail. That is what keeps me doing this. It is a lifestyle not a job. If you do this only as a job, you should be pumping gas or scrubbing porta potties or something. Both of which tend to pay better, and have better hours, and working conditions. Towing is a way of life. In Memory of PlanBTransort who said: I love begin outdoors, in all types of weather, stopping and trying new places for lunch, meeting new people, going to different places, being challenged everyday, its never boring, seeing new and classic cars, seeing others in the industry, body shops, dealerships, mom and pop repair shops,the conversations while under tow, peoples houses and boats and properties when you arrive, defineately not your 9-5 M-F job. HeavyD said: The whole flirting with danger is a part of this job that I like. I got hit 5 years ago by a honda doing about 70 the a$$hole didn't even stop . I was ready to get back in the truck the next day even though I could not sit or lie on my back. Who knows the next time could be the last .Now I get a littel nervous hooking up on the freeways hear in LA but I always keep an eye on traffic . HEAVYD WWW.BOBSTOWCA.COM "The Views Expressed Are My Own and Do Not Necessarily Represent Those Of The Staff, Management, or My Employer."

Art of Dispatching - Advisor Article - Part 2 of 4 by FTI Groups (from 2006) Just wanted to share Part 2 of this article from the Advisor that is currently arriign in member mailboxes. THE ART OF DISPATCHING - Part 2 of 4 MOTIVATION Compliment your driver staff. It will motivate them to perform. Yes, I wrote “your” driver staff. The old adage “if you live by the sword, you will die by the sword” could be rewritten for the dispatcher. The dispatcher’s version would read “if you live by the driver, you will die by the driver”, and believe me, a dispatcher lives by his drivers. In other words, the dispatcher is so dependent on the driver staff for the success of his job, that he will only be as good as the drivers to whom he assigns calls. A well-timed “good job” on the radio goes a long way toward motivating a driver to a repeat performance in the future. A note in a driver’s office mailbox is not just a way of saying “thanks for handling that mad customer”, but it provides something for him to take home and show his family. A quick message over the mobile data terminal or his Nextel to say “thanks for the way you handled that last call” will encourage the driver in his 10 hour day of fighting traffic and rude drivers. A while back, Campbell’s Soup ran a series of television commercials warning viewers –“Never underestimate the power of soup.” While you scoff at the idea that soup has some power, I bet you remember the commercial, which is the whole idea isn’t it? Likewise, never underestimate the power of a sincere compliment, a thoughtful thank you for a job well done, a simple word of encouragement that someone’s effort is appreciated. It will not only brighten the driver’s day, but it will foster loyalty, build trust, and strengthen work habits. It will make everyone more productive. Be moved to motivate. A dispatcher does not assign calls to drivers…he sends people to serve other people. CONFRONTATION Do it quickly. Do it correctly. Do it consistently. The need for the confrontation of a driver performing his job poorly, being insubordinate or acting rudely is absolutely critical. As a dispatcher, you are a supervisor. As a supervisor, you have the authority and responsibility to confront your fellow employees. The key to the confrontation lies in the goal. If the goal of the confrontation is for the company to provide better service to its customers, or for the company to provide a pleasant working environment for all employees, the encounter is well founded. However, a power hungry dispatcher with the authority and responsibility to confront, who is having a bad day, is a dangerous animal indeed. The necessity of confrontation cannot be over emphasized; however your ability to confront will determine the success, as well as that of the one whom you are confronting. It can be painful, but it should always be kept positive. Confrontation is a means to an end. The end is to aid in making the driver successful, thus making the dispatcher successful. So be careful to measure personal involvement and emotions in any confrontational situation. Do it quickly… Nothing can be more effective than a well-timed word of confrontation. Asking a driver about a situation while it is fresh on their mind is essential to a meaningful resolution. It will enhance the drivers’ ability to provide an accurate reason for their action, which will enable the dispatcher to make sure that he has the big picture and all of the facts. Conversely, waiting too long to confront a driver about a situation may result in forgetfulness, resentfulness, and may work to de-motivate that individual. Do it correctly… Trying to hit a Nolan Ryan fast ball with a toothpick would be a futile at best. Even if you were fortunate enough to hit the ball, the toothpick would burst into pieces, or even more likely, flames! Likewise, confronting someone without knowing how to do it is usually detrimental to the productivity of both parties at best, and more likely, grounds for a fist fight! Know your company policies regarding employee counseling. Always confront a person’s behavior, and never the person! It is a serious matter, so if you do not know how to do it, ask for help from your supervisor or from someone with personnel counseling experience. Winging it will probably leave you frustrated and angry, as well as leaving the one whom you confronted bewildered and mad. While many tout their enjoyment of confrontation, few know how to do it correctly. When I was a child, suppositories were a common prescription for someone suffering from nausea. While it was necessary to cure the ailment, the means of treatment was most unpleasant. So it is with confrontation. Do it consistently… Nothing is more demoralizing for a driver than to be corrected for doing something, and than to hear someone else commit the same mistake and escape with no punishment. Failure to provide statuses, inaccurate or incomplete radio responses, inappropriate comments about customers, dispatchers, or fellow employees must all be confronted…no matter who makes them! Many times, the biggest abusers of policy and decorum are those people who have been exposed to them the longest. In the old west, these people were the gunfighters and bank robbers. They were unwilling to submit to the laws of the land, and rather than abide by the established rules, lived a life of confrontation. Many times, their life ended early because the one whom they confronted, was better at confrontation than they were! Remember, confrontation is only a tool. Used correctly, it is a constructive instrument. Used incorrectly, it will inflict harm and resentment. To see Part One, it is on TowForce at The Art of Dispatch - Part One Hope you enjoy the article... More to come. -Jeffrey Godwin

Originally posted on Tow411 in July of 2009:

This customer has less than 20k in this whole truck. He purchased the chassis 2006 F550 4 door from an auction. Found a 1989 Challenger Aluminum 19ft Bed w/ a Tow Bar. He asked us to Stretch the Frame, Install a bigger gas tank, New Light Bar, New Wear Pads (which we couldn't buy - we had to make ourselves), Re-Wire the entire truck, new winch hoses & 7wire (We used our Tracking System for winch hoses. It's a less expensive alternative to the Jerr-Dan Winch Hose Track Kit I will post pics of it soon), and convert his Tow Bar into a Wheel Lift. We used a Jerr-Dan Valve Section and Control Hood & Handles. We retro fitted the Jerr-Dan Parts onto his Challenger Bed. When we finished his total cost for eveything, Truck, Flat Bed & Our Labor was well under 20k. Not bad for an 06. We charge $1400 to install Equipment! Frame Extend Part 1: Frame Extend Part 1.5: Frame Extend Part 2: Frame Extend Part 2.5: Frame Extend Part 3: Frame Extend Part 4: Frame Extend Part 5: Re-Wiring: Wheel Lift Part 1: Wheel Lift Part 2: Wheel Lift Part 3: Part 3.5 Installing Bed: Part 4 FINISHED!

Topic Originally Created by BGtow in December of 2007: Here is a job that we do quite often- about once a month here lately. Dixie Industries is a company that manufactures some of the equipment that is used in the towing industry such as hooks and clevises. These are made with huge mechanical hammers hitting on hammer bases. Sometimes these bases need to be replaced or sent out for repair. Dixie contacts Doug Yates Wrecker to move these bases in and out of the building. The first one you see is approx. 63000 lbs. It was inside and needed to be moved out to the yard so it could be sent out for repair. Please understand- we realize that there some limits that are pushed in this particular job. This is the type of job that Doug Yates excels at and always overcomes all challenges. Thanks for looking, Brad Grow Doug Yates Wrecker Service Chattanooga, TN. Brett Holcombe said: How much does this unit weigh?? your truck.. Yates Towing said: full of fuel about 70,000# john fenshaw said: awsome lift and walking job. i walked some heavy pieces out of a fabrication shop too. thanks for posting yates towing keep those pics coming. Brett Holcombe said: Thats pretty impressive!! in pic # 2 is that guys right foot under the weight? just kidding don't get bent... BGtow said: You know that is actually very funny from my end. I am going to play a little trick on you here in the next few days- stay tuned!! Brad Grow Doug Yates Wrecker Service Chattanooga, TN danielswt said: hope them jobs pay very good. seeing stuff like this makes me confident that i wont have problems on my little bitty truck walking stuff around. wreckmster said: That is very impressive. The tires on the rear axle are screaming...that's one hell of a move. rotator60 said: That's what you call taking care of a customer..Very impressive..but I'm not surprised..Thanks for sharing.. Eds Towing said: That's an impressive move. I would be curious how do you bill for something like that? There are only a few pieces of equipment that would be capable of a move like that around. The Pete probably still has 10K on the steering... That's a bad ass truck. Brett Holcombe said: now Im curious ? been playing with a PC450 in my yard lifting it . cant keep the front wheels on the ground & im only lifting one side of the machine???? it weighs about 105000 lbs.. 2 snatch blocks no way then 4 lifted it maybe 6 inches then stood up the front end so this is getting more impressive to me.. Eds Towing said: If he put the lift axle down it would take weight off of the steer. If it was in the back then it would be grossly overloaded & probably just bottom out. Some guys that chose to put the axle in the rear like Waffco had the axle modified by adding another air bag (3) to help. This is "iffy" but it seems to work for them. yates towing said: Our 60 ton with Reyco suspension actually moves this load better than the 70 ton with Hendrickson suspension and the 60 ton is 14" shorter The pivit point on the Reyco is better suited for this move but we have a trick we now use on the Hendrickson that makes them about equal. I would be afraid to put that kind of weight on a lift axle in the rear fearing busting the air bags. This is example why we dont have air ride on our rotators for jobs like this. Most of Millers spec rotator chassis come with air ride and its just a difference in opinion we have with them. We have had tremendous luck with spring suspension. If we put our front lift axle down it takes about 6,000# off the front end. Brett Holcombe said: Good info to know.. Thanks rotatorman said: brett that truck is about 4 feet longer than yours and it has hendrickson suspention and that makes a huge differance daneilswt said: at what point is enough " enough" ? i keep looking back and saying wow to myself. i was thinking the same thing mike.looks like there was a little bit of a dip there.

Topic Originally Created by jhook5230 in December 2007 wrote: 12-16-07 myself and GENERALTOW were called to for an owners request for a drill rig that had rolled over off a mountianside about 12 miles west of Searcy,Ar.Luckly it had landed back on its wheels .We talked with State police and DOT and it was decided to shut the mountian down at nine AM 12-17-07 for the recovery. I called my buddy Tad Bokker from White Mtr Co. in Forrest City Ar to bring his 60 ton tator to back me up. Our first order of business was to cut the derrick off since it was trashed and wieghed 45,000pds. We sat up and brought the derrick up to the road and loaded it onto a flatbed for transport. After the derrick was loaded and out of the way we started the recovery of the 95,000pd chassis. The front suspension and steering was torn loose and that made for a hard pull all the way up to the road. Once we had the chassis on the road we loaded and loaded and loaded pieces. I hooked it behind my tator and towed it to our yard with DOT escort as it was about way over width. The job went smooth but I can tell you we were sore from all the walking up and down the hillside pulling chain and cable. Equipment on scene was two 60 ton rotators and one 5230 just in case. Personel was myself.,GENERALTOW, and Tad Bokker who is also my counterpart in the PTRAA training program. Total time for the recovery and tow to our yard was nine hours. Allenstowing said: you guys made that look easy. nice job!! talk tad into joining 411. WheelLiftWarrior said: very nice work......teamwork goes along way nice to see so many companies working together. BigWheelRecovery said: Louis thats what I call a real recovery job,an very well executed I must say, when you play around with one of those Drill rigs you got to have the right equipment an people ,calling in another company to assist was a smart move, everybody looks good an a job well done , BOB john fenshaw said: that was a extreme recovery. awesome show of team work and power. i tow one like that a lot down in Florida i always flat tow them but they are very heavy stay safe Ian Tomei said: Wow !trucks really earned their pay on that job! rotator60 said: Well thought out and executed recovery..Thanks for sharing.. jhook5230 said: John(pacman06) every aspect of the rigging and game plan was a collaborated effort between myself,steve(generaltow) and tad on the other hand how tad platformed his truck was not my decision to make but I can tell you that my tator had all outriggers in place throughout the recovery.Thanks for the reply. Louis General Tow Said: That job was a total of nine hours, time out, time back in the yard. The operator walked away but the people in the suv that it did a full roll over the top of did not. Very tragic accident. A well taken point here is that advance training and preparation are essential to these kind of recoveries. This job could have been accomplished with our conventional tow trucks but would have taken much longer and time is always important when a major highway is closed. The two tators made for a much smoother recovery, but still a lot of work. Thanks for the comments. General Tow "STEVE" jhook5230 said: To answer the question about how hard the derrick was to remove......It came off without a hitch. We cut the support legs on the back of the rig,one side high at the derrick and the other side low at the chassis. We the hooked to the high side of the derrick and basically rolled it onto its top and brought it up the hillside and swung it into the road between out trucks then repositioned to load it onto the flatbed. Louis

Topic Originally Created by DodgeTowGuy134 in November of 2011: Let me start off with a little about our company policy and then I'll ask my question/opinion poll at the end of the post: Our company policy on any jump start call is to first test the battery to ensure that it isn't totally dead, to make sure that the battery isn't bad with and dead or inverted cells and make sure it still had fluid in it and covering the tops of all the plates (in batteries that still have the caps that you can check)...We have this policy as a safety matter to protect our drivers from attempting to jump start a battery that is bad and that could pontentially fail/repture/explode due to off-gassinig + a spark = Boom...Secondly, it's also hard on the equipment if you try to jump a bad battery and that subjects your equipment to overstressinig durinig the jump attempt also, besides the #1 issue of safety. So, our policy is that if a battery tests BAD, then the customer can get their car towed, buy a new battery from us (we send out a service truck with batteries for sale) or they can have us do no further service and the customer can get a new battery on their own to install themselves or whatever, but if the battery tests bad, then we do NOT attempt to jump start it... So, my question is: How many others have a similar policy to ours regarding this matter, that you do not attempt to jump a bad battery? .....I'm just looking for a poll of how many others feel this same way as we do about this safety issue..Thanks for your replies. Blue Stripe aka Chris Flynn said: If customer wants a jump, we will attempt the jump. If unsuccessful, they need towed. Its hard enough to get people to pay for a jump start service call, let alone extra labor for testing the battery. Even if the battery is completely dead, the car will start when jumped, and stay running provided their alternator is working. We give no warranty on how far they will make it after the jump. Maybe I look at it differently since we don't sell batteries. Too many parts stores around here that do free install of batteries at such low prices, there is no money to be made with batteries IMO. (at least in Youngstown, people will just go to Auto Zone and buy a $69 battery that will be installed free of charge) There is no such thing as someone paying $100+ for a battery to be installed on location. I'm sure we could sell batteries to be installed on location for the same price, but I'm not going through the trouble just to make 10 dollars over what I paid for a battery. I'd love to know how AAA gets people to pay big money for their batteries. Chris Flynn, WM 091008 BlackAutoload said: If someone wants to pay for a jumpstart , I will gladly let them. If it doesn't work, I waive the jump fee if I get the tow. If not , my truck stays blocking their car in ... Jumper cables are plumbed by pass door. OCTOWMAN said: Advise the customer that the battery is bad and let the know that damage may occur if jumpstarted and driven. if they still want a jump, and it's a club call I call the club and have them put it on record that it was not recommended(AAA will record call) and have member tell them that "they" would accept all liability. almost got burned by this earlier this year on a caravan.battery was shorted and member wanted to drive to wallyworld and get a cheaper battery, when I removed the booster box it started overcharging and fried the BCM. member wanted me to pay damages, AAA found me not at fault. It's all about CYA everyday now Tim concordtowing said: I check the battery fluid level and overall condition of the battery,if the cables and clamps are nasty I don't clean them too big of a risk on messing up the clamps.You called for a jumpstart that's what you get,if I feel the battery is in too bad of shape to jump start I have the vehicle owner attempt to start the car with my booster pack hooked up and nothing happens,well guess you need a tow to the auto parts store. I use about the same rules as you do dodgetruckguy for battery service. Santiam01 said: Who would of thought tow trucks would carry battery testers.......... DodgeTowGuy134 said: idk what auto part stores charge in your area for a battery, but around here by us, then are usually around $90-100 with a 2-year warranty on them,.....so, you asked how we get someone to pay $125+ for a battery installed on location, well: Battery quality battery with a lot longer warranty, it's also easier for our customer to get the problem fixed onscene to save they any more time of having to get tower to another place to get a battery. We have a battery truck and we do well with it. and we do make more that a $10 margin on all of our battery sales! On the other hand, someone commented about the AAA batteries and their program: We get ALOT of those batteries as bad and so the customer requests for us to install a new battery from interstate. AAA drives their battery program to those who believe that AAA is the best on earth and that you cant live without AAA, kinda like people who think NAPA is the best, but in reality they (napa) just marks up products and sticks their brand on it, thats capitalism and commercialism.... OCTOWMAN said: Dodgeguy, I will agree that the previous AAA batteries made by exide are/were poor quality which is why they changed to DEKA/EastPenn brand the older ones were numbered as XX-36, the new ones are XX-C or XX-H the program has worked well for us since the changeover and warranty rate have dropped dramicly. One thing everyone who does any type of battery service has to do is learn to "read" the customer. if customer says vehicle sits alot it will ruin ANY battery,it also helps identify any precluding issues. we get a lot of snowbirds in our area who go south for the winter and have a second vehicle there, so that their vehicle here sits for months. I recommend a battery tender for them so they don't have any issues. testing the electrical system also catch's problems before the before battery replacement. Santiam, we do not send out Towtrucks for road service. It's more economical to send a service truck, non dot driver, better fuel economy, easier to get around traffic and under buildings. DodgeTowGuy134 said: Yeah, "OCTOWMAN" you're right about reading customers and asking them questions about if they have any idea why their battery went dead...That's part of our dispatch/call taking protocall and also gets asked by the driver who arrives onscene for service. Our service trucks that carry batteries also carry tenders for sale also and we do a good sale of those too... As for the changeover of brands for the AAA batteries, I can only say that we get ALOT of AAA customers who call us wanting a new battery and mad at AAA for their battery being bad already. We do use an actual battery tester to confirm that a battery is bad and not just connect a booster jump-pack but not turn it on and tell the customer to try to start it and of course it dont start, we actually use a real tester... Now, back to my original pst..... I was asking how/what others do when to asked to jump a BAD battery. as "sunshine" pointed out, I also have seen others have batteries explode due to unsafe jumping... So, I guess it comes down to this second question: How many people actually TEST a battery BEFORE attempting to jump it? We do and it's for safety and also to let the customer know whats going on with their battery. As someone pointed out, a bad battery can cause other damage to the vehicle and about CYA too, so we do test batteries,..... Do You? (do you test batteries or just connect them and go by the, "well lets see if it will start up now" motto) twinbulls said: We offer jump starts .... and if the car runs we let it roll.... if not we tow it with a little discount going toward the tow... We offer batteries installed starting at $125 and up >>>> Interstate Batteries....Seems many are just minor problems lose wires corroded and whatnot.... basic road service starts at $75 and up... When asked to test battery we test it... as for safety ...... be safe ..... Dont jump frozen batteries.... Our jump boxes read the battery and will tell us what was going on ..... harrys said: Sounds like some of you need to learn how to hook up jumper cables properly so that you dont run the risk of the battery exploding. You DO NOT put both cable clamps on the battery. You attatch the positive cable to the battery first then you DodgeTowGuy134 said: I'd take a guess and say that alot of those here already knew that... but, thats NOT always a battery explodes!..just some food for thought! and attempting to jump start a BAD battery has the potential for the battery to fail and it's doesn't have to be because of a spark from connecting the cables... annettemcd said: We have two situations with batteries. 1) Because of our long distances, we always try to determine why a jump-start is needed. No one is going to be happy if we send a service vehicle 80 miles to do a jump-start only to discover that the battery is BAD or the alternator has failed and the vehicle needs to be towed. Not only would we have 160 miles of driving and 3 hours of time for which no one wants to pay, but we have delayed getting a tow truck there by 1.5-3 hours. We ask a number of questions on the phone. If we decide to send a tow truck, we do not spend a great deal of time on scene testing the battery, inspecting the cables, or even attempting a jump-start because if we do get the vehicle started, people and motor clubs do not want to pay for the tow truck being sent and there is a possibility that the jump-start will not get them to where they need to go, so a second call results and again no one is happy. So, we send a service vehicle is we are fairly sure that a jump-start will solve the problem and we send a tow truck and tow them without spending much time messing with the battery if we do not think that a jump will work. The other consideration which we have relates directly to the original question about BAD batteries. This time of year we get many calls for jump-starts. Usually it is -20 to -40 degrees, the vehicle has not been winterized and/or has not been plugged in for more than one hour, the battery is old, tired, and weak, and the person has tried repeatedly to start the cold engine and has drained the battery. With these parameters, a jump-start is not going to start the car; the engine is too cold. But the other consideration is that if the battery has been drained, it is possible that it has frozen. A frozen battery can be badly damaged and will not take or keep a charge, but also runs the risk of exploding. There is no way that we will dispatch someone to jump-start a battery under these conditions. There are a few choices: tow the vehicle to some place warm and park it there until it warms up; plug the vehicle in for a few hours until it warms up; after either one of the these events, it still might be necessary to buy and install a new battery. If the person or the motor club still insists on a jump-start, we usually refuse the job.

KirbysTowing asked the question in January of 2012: My rollback has a Lodar wireless remote for the bed and side- puller winches, It will work intermittently for about 2 seconds at a time. I have changed the batteries checked the connections etc. I am at a loss, and I use my side-puller all of the time, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. eastendtow66 said: We have the same sym on our rollbacks when your sil valves have bad coils the lodar will kick out the power so you wont burn out the power box. Orcas Tow said: Mine was doing a similar symptom, I noticed that the Lodar would pulse on/off, drop out rhythmically & was in time with my hazard lights flashing, found out the Towmate wireless tow light transmitter was on the same frequency as the Lodar. Towmate gave me a different frequency transmitter & all was well. KirbysTowing said: Now that I think of it, both occasions I have had my wireless transmitter for my tow mate lights in. I will try it without and see. Thanks!! DMHansonWrecker said: try reseting the code that fixed mine.

Palmettostatewrecker asked this question in July of 2017: Does anybody use 2 way or fixed radios in their rigs. I am looking at adding a few to ease dispatching. I don't need a cb to talk to other states, but also need something decent to communicate with drivers throughout the area. Jefftow said: No we don't anymore, not for several years.This will be an interesting topic to watch, I hope. I sure miss the days of talking into a mic, either in the cab or in the office. I just don't feel like I'm talking on a radio if I'm using an two-way app on a smart phone. When radios went by the wayside, I kept several. They're mostly good for nothing but bookends anymore, but one day they may make a comeback. I also still have a programmable 16 channel mobile for the 100 something mhg range and a a couple of hand helds that operated on a repeater but had talk-around. I tried selling them a number of years ago, but they don't even have salvage value. One day I'll be glad I kept them. Thanks for the Topic. Roach901 said: In 2013 the FCC mandated the change in business radio equipment that required most users to purchase new radios. The "old faithful" radios that had been in many trucks over the years were worthless and illegal to use. This caused many operations to re-evaluate using cell phones. Phones were already being used and most businesses just switched to using the phones rather than paying for a whole new radio system. In SC most law enforcement looked at moving to the existing SCE&G trunking system that was already in place. Great coverage over all of South Carolina for a low monthly cost. Many businesses followed the same move. Anyway, two-way radio is still alive and well. Look at the cost per unit and the monthly service charges for repeater system usage. Might be surprised at the deals that are out there. Good Luck !! MrsHook said: We do. Most recent upgrade almost created the need for us to put up a tower and set up our own system, but a local company stepped up. New radios were expensive, but crystal clear. Coupled with towbook, we have great coverage now. Palmettostatewrecker said: Thanks for the replies..... I was just curious on the topic. I figured grabbing a radio and keying the Mic would be 10x faster at relaying messages verses text message or an actual phone call. TowZone said: Two way radios went to the wayside when Nextel became popular. The Groups feature on Nextel was a very good alternative. I my opinion nothing has been as efficient since, some will agree and some will not. I prefer the team to be on the same page, otherwise half the dispatchers out there waste time, money and fuel running trucks around in circles. Even the best software will not assist a dispatcher just trying to get rid of the runs. I find this to be a major reason Motor Clubs want access to the company GPS within the software. In Memory of NationalAutow who said: I will be following this for sure and I am curious of those that are currently using systems, what are you using? Does anyone own their own repeater and or tower? Will there ever be another Nextel equivalent? MrsHook said: We have a local communications company with a series of towers and repeaters....new technology, looks just like old school, sounds incredible, range is amazing. As a plan b, in case their grand plans didn't materialize, we priced towers with repeaters at our locations. I can't remember specifics now....just recall that prices didn't completely scare us off (we were having to upgrade all radios anyway, so anything was going to be expensive). It was nice to think of communications costs with an end in sight ... But knowing there's never really an end, i wasn't looking forward to learning and tracking another set of rules, regulations, and mandatory updates. We use smart phones and text and dispatch software including software chat....but I'm very glad to have radios for quick check-ins and especially for coordinating several units getting to and from large incidents. Ed Johnson said: I figured grabbing a radio and keying the Mic would be 10x faster at relaying messages verses text message or an actual phone call. Palmettostatewre: You were right when you said "I figured grabbing a radio and keying the Mic would be 10x faster at relaying messages verses text message or an actual phone call". We have used tow-way radios since we first started business over 36 years ago. We currently use Motorola radios that operate on a repeater system on the 460 megahertz range. Our primary repeater gives us coverage with a radius of approximately 20 - 25 miles (1,200 square mile area) and the second repeater slightly doubles the range. Modern two-way radios use a scan feature that allows them to receive any message that is transmitted through either of the two repeater towers. Two-way business radio allowed all our drivers to hear all dispatches and in many cases a driver who was closer to a call could hear a dispatch and offer to take it which resulted in faster response. Due to changes in radio regulations, we were originally on the 450 megahertz frequencies, then 800 megahertz, and then 460 frequency range. We were not forced to make these changes, so we could plan for them. When changes were made, we received better radios and the prices of them were lower. Originally, we paid for a service contract on our radios and the radios usually needed adjustments about every six months. The quality of radios became much better and our system provider told us that service contracts were not worth the cost. We went onto a new trunked radio system in January 1999 and the price of new radios was very low and the coverage range was greater. Trunked radio meant that our communications were private and competition could not hear us. It also meant instant communication, faster than a cell phone. Since we bought into the new system, we have replaced one radio and have had only two serviced. Service is also instant; the technician plugs the radio into his computer which has our settings memorized. The computer instantly deletes all settings on the radio and reprograms it immediately. Total time to reset a radio is less than one minute. A few years ago, I stopped hiring drivers (I was tired of killing them and then finding a place to dump their bodies) and decided to cut back to more normal hours. My wife receives calls by landline telephone and dispatches on a desktop base station radio. The truck uses a mounted mobile radio. Although very low watt radios would cover the same range, we use 40 radios because they are able to cut through areas were obstacles could interfere with radio signals. We also have two portable 4 watt portables. While I have a cell phone with me at all times, the two-way radios make communication faster. When I forget a detail or want more information, a simple press of the mike button makes it possible to make contact. When I talked about going to cell phone use a number of years ago, my wife did not like to idea and I could see many reasons why to keep the radio system. Radios that use a repeater have tremendous range and clarity (clarity that is better than cell phone). A number of years ago when hurricane Isabel hit our area, cell phone use was spotty for about three days but our radios kept going. A new mobile radio, programmed and installed would cost up to $600. A base station would cost about $100-$150 extra for the base pack. A portable radio would cost about the same thing but effective range is usually much reduced. In almost all situations I would suggest mobile radios for each truck and a mounted base unit. Portables are good most of the time when you are away from the truck. Monthly fees for use of a radio repeater tower vary considerably from one area to another but I think you could get service for each radio for about $20 - $25 per month. For about $300, you can add an uninterruptible power supply that would keep the base station powered for several hours during a power failure. I hope this long discourse is a help to you. dperone said: We used radios from the time we opened in '48 til around the early 2000's. The Nextels cut down on our radio usage, and then our 100' tower got struck by lightning twice and blew out our phone, internet, and a couple computers each time. That was the end of our radio era, as we cut the tower down. I miss the radios, especially as mentioned above during a town wide power outage where the cell towers sometime go down. DodgeTowGuy134 said: We own and operate our own radio system that includes base, mobile and portables. Our radio system in a tri-band system that operates on 3 different bands and allows users to talk to any user on the system (cross-band operation). We even added wireless WiFi to our repeater towers, so we have pretty good coverage for Wifi around the city in our trucks. We have found that owning our own system, including the radios, the repeaters and tower site was a worthwhile investment to allow our business to expand, while keeping everyone in touch at the push of the mic. While it may be some decent $$$ upfront, we feel that it has benefited our operation. Our coverage of the radio system allows us to communicate with any of our truck mobile radios in all of our surrounding counties. The portable/handheld radio coverage is great in our county, and then somewhat gets spotty in surrounding counties, due to the terrain/area. Our radio system includes both "repeated" and also "direct/simplex" channels. We can also "page" our drivers/trucks utilizing the same method as the volunteer fire departments do...our drivers all seem to really like that feature. CandDtowing said: We used to use two way radios before cell phones were even a cost effective option. When nextel direct connect became popular we decided to switch. Those radios were great, but nextels phone service was horrible! We currently use Zello for radio communications. They work very well, but are tied to cell towers. For the most part the service works without any problems. We supply cell service for our drivers, but they pay for their phone if choice. I just can't justify paying for cell service & radio service when our current setup works so well. rlc4523 said: We use radios daily makes it easy to get calls and to let dispatch what we are doing w/o having to call in every time to the office on our phones. also makes it very easy to communicate when we are going to a multi vehicle accident or if we are taking more than one truck on a recovery to coordinate on the way. ProTower said: Does anyone remember the old AM two way radios we had in our trucks in the 50's and 60's. They were huge boxes with vacuum tubes in them mounted to the dash. My dad would talk to people hundreds of miles away on a clear summer night around 3 am. yoBdaBenO said in 2018: Is anyone putting radios back in their trucks?

After more than 15,000 views on January 9th and over 200 respectable replies other than one from Jamie Dougherty where he would Fire both drivers. On January, 9th 2008 Cliff responded with: I can't believe 5 pages. I hope everyone has learned from this post. Just a note though, walking this would do you no good, unless you weigh 58,000 lbs., remember the ground would kick up dust as you walked on it. Very hard ground(for the first few inches). Never saw it coming! Maurice Trevor Andrews responded: Cliff take the "shoulda woulda coulda" with a grain of salt. The folks that know of you and the operation you run knows that you would'nt go out there knowing that was beneath the surface and like you said, unless you weigh 58,000 pounds you would have never seen it coming either. An Unknown Member responded: I am just speechless by what happened here. As someone who works in the excavation business, I have never seen or heard of any ground situation like this ever. It reminds me of the lava flows in Hawaii, hard crust on top that takes considerable force to break through... but when you do, throw out a life ring cause your gonna sink fast. Also remided me of what happens when someone breaks through the ice on a frozen lake. WOW 100 post and 15000 views. Cliff, your sacrifice of pride by displaying these photos and telling the story has paid dividens in the education of others about potential dangers. I commend you for posting these and want you to know that you should be proud that you touched so many people with your thread. Tims Truck Service responded: That makes for a Super bad Week !!! Thanks for Posting the Pics. ..... It gives us all Something to Think about & gives us all a new Perspective before taking a Piece of Equipment off Road again......TIM DJ The Tow God responded: I show this to the boss anytime we have an incident. He then begins to realize that his problems aren't quite that bad. Just imagine the actual cost of recovering those trucks. Then add to that the repairs and cost of recertifying everything. Really puts things into perspective. Brian Bell responded: LOL I guess it could always be worse... The " Incident Plan" TouTube video has views in the millions. This topic was Bumped last in 2017 and was one of the most viewed topics on the old message board system.

Topic Originally Created by cliffwm10069 in November of 2006: This was a recovery one of our drivers responded to with our 1060 stick. While driving in he was throwing up dust (that should tell you how dry the road was). and then it happened,the road gave out from under us. truck #2 responded and got within 1/2 mile of the red truck and it fell in. Eppler towing and a cat d-7 w/winch was brought in to help retrieve the 2 tows and the bobtail. NOTE; the black cloud over our head for three days, we took the picture of it 5 miles away. did i mention it took 3 18 hour days and a bent boom on the yellow 4024 eppler truck before it was over. this is what we were heading for. there's the d-4 with a winch we thought could help my pickup bringing in supplies(or so i thought) this should have been a sign! This is what we did after we were done. and then company meeting to follow!

THE ART OF DISPATCHING A TOPIC ORIGINALLY CREATED IN NOVEMBER OF 2005: In this section of the Advisor we will examine dispatching as what it is… an art form. From the level of focus required to the finesse of the intricate dance known as dispatch we will cover this critical component of every towing operation. This article is the first in a series which will appear in every edition of the Advisor. Dispatching is tough. It requires total concentration, a superb memory, good problem solving skills, common sense and an ability to handle numerous tasks that all need completion immediately. It is no job for a wimp. A good dispatcher needs two types of abilities. I will classify them as technical abilities and artistic abilities. The technical abilities involve, among other things, knowing the correct key strokes to make in order to view drivers, assign calls, and read and send messages. It includes the ability to learn and remember the streets and landmarks of the area in which the dispatcher works. These abilities can be taught, with time, through repetition. These abilities are not contingent upon the times of day, the volume of calls, the specific customer, or anything else. In order for a dispatcher to assign a call, he will need to strike particular keys or make specific mouse clicks in a certain order to achieve success. If a dispatcher is deficient in a technical ability, it is usually apparent, and further instruction can be suggested or demanded. Because technical abilities are learned, a dispatcher who is willing to ask questions, experiment, and do whatever it takes to be successful, can normally overcome deficiencies in this area. For this reason, I will focus on the other facet of dispatching – artistic abilities. The artistic abilities are more problematic for most dispatchers because many of the traits within this area are inherent. A person is usually born with the ability to handle many tasks at once, or not. A person is usually born with the ability to work puzzles, or not. An argument could be made that dispatchers are not made they are born. A dispatcher can be likened to a painter. A dispatcher can be compared to with a chess champion. A dispatcher can be equated with a football quarterback. All of there comparisons are legitimate, but inadequate. Why? Because a dispatcher not only has to be the painter, he has to create the picture with no input on the colors of the paint. Because a dispatcher not only has to win the chess match, he has to play several games at once, with only limited control over the movement of his pieces. Because a dispatcher has to march his team down the field to score a touchdown, as well as kick the extra point, provide the strategy, call the plays, and motivate all those with whom he competes. A dispatcher has a mind-boggling job that few are able to perform well. It is with this realization that we explore the formula for success as a dispatcher. The list of ingredients is endless. Therefore, we will focus on a few of the more significant aspects of The Art of Dispatching. CONTROL Control the things over which you have control. Realize the variables that are within your ability to control and work hard to maintain control over those things. Leave the uncontrollable issues alone. Here are a few items that are within the dispatchers’ control: • A driver who does not provide accurate statuses. • A driver who repeatedly shows up 10 minutes past his scheduled start time, inflicting the dispatcher with 10 minutes of daily agony. • A driver who never answers on the radio when called. • A driver who is rude. • A driver who habitually breaks company policy. • A driver who struggles with routing. • His or her own temper. • His or her own level of performance. • His or her own commitment to excellence. • His or her own attitude. • The configuration of his or her own workspace. • Customer expectations. Here are a few items that are outside the dispatchers’ control: • The weather. • The volume of business each day. • The attitudes of fellow employees. • Traffic conditions. • The boss’ attitude. • Customer expectations. Yes, customer expectations secure a place in both lists. Many times, a customer calls with an unbelievable request for a job. Instead of feeling aggravated or inconvenienced, it is the job of the dispatcher to do everything possible, in a safe, legal and honest manner, to accommodate the customer’s needs. The dispatcher must be able to communicate and negotiate with the customer so that the customer is satisfied with the performance and integrity of the company. Each time the customer has a positive experience, the expectations of the customer are changed. If a dispatcher fails in his job due to habitual, inaccurate statuses by a driver, the failure is due only in part to the driver. The dispatcher must assume blame because he has failed to correct the problem. Corrective actions open to the dispatcher to correct many driver problems include training, motivation, confrontation or reporting of the problem to the driver’s supervisor. This is not to say that a dispatcher is responsible for every inaccurate status or late arrival on a call. However, the dispatcher is the only person with the ability to connect all aspects of a successful job – call entry, call assignment and arrival to the call in a timely manner. That is why a dispatchers' job is not just call assignment. Dispatch is the command center of the company. It is the place where hundreds of decisions are made each day that determine the success or failure of a towing company. Because it is the command center, it demands that the dispatcher be in control. Make a list of 25 things that you confront each day that are within your control. Your list will include some of the items detailed above, as well as many others that are unique to each dispatcher. Do not allow these things to pass without comment, instruction, or commitment when they arise during your shift. Dispatch demands that the dispatcher maintain control. -Jeffrey Godwin DennisMHDT said: Good to see us dispatchers finally getting some credit in this industry. Brooklyn, We Go Hard. acuranut said: i have gotten alot out of these articles. helps keep things in the front of my mind that normally make their way toward the back. thanks to towpartners for providing them. Greg PGhrist said: Dispatchers are VERY overlooked, usually our dispatchers are mentioned when something has wrong on call. I usually never see them being praised? "Don't ask me... I'm just the driver!"

Tow411 Topic Originally Created by firemedic in December of 2007: I pretty much understand how to figure your costs and what it costs you to run your truck. How do you translate that into an hourly price. I haven't been able to understand that. doingitall said: What I did was keep track of my times per call port to port, and figured out what my retail hook and mileage rates figured out to per hour (it varied per call of course but not by a huge margin). Since I was happy with what I was getting for my retail rates, I translated that into an average hourly rate for local calls, rounded to the nearest $5 mark, and that is my hourly rate. Works out in my case to a little less that my usual hook and mileage rates, but most customers like it better because it is easier to understand, I like is because it's easier to bill! I still charge extra for special equipment, anything that is accident related is more per hour (sharp stuff, glass, etc.), winching is extra, and the rate is higher after hours. It was pretty easy for me as I am a one man show (mostly), so I did not have to take into account the variation in drivers efficiency, or try to collect the information from several sources (drivers). Overall I am very happy with switching over to mostly hourly rates, has worked well for me! Andy - A+ Towing ncoast said: I use what it cost me for the previous 12 months, total paid out, plus what my truck payment was (its paid now) plus a little. Then I add what I want for wage and profit. I look at this every month. I divide this, by what I consider a reasonable number of billable hours in a year. 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year. Due to the reality's of pricing in most areas, mine included I can't always charge this. But in some cases, like winching, equipment moves or anything out of the ordinary I charge at about 20% higher. I also try and charge after hours at time and a half based on this rate. I'm also a one man show, and my hook and mileage works out about the same. Sometimes more sometimes less. I have found that knowing this hourly number and dollar amount per. day keeps me motivated to charge enough. Its also helps to know this so you can pick and choice MC calls. Even with a decent contract alot of MC calls won't come close. Wade200 said: If you know your costs it should be simple. Just get an average of how many hours you work each week and divide it out. I have mine figured as if each truck ran 50 hours per week they would need $XX per hour to pay all costs or $XX to pay all costs and make a profit. Once you get an average it's pretty easy to adjust things to figure it more accurately. FLCOWBOYINIRAQ said: we tried that by the hour stuff on regular tows but we were losing money. the only time i tell the customer there will be an hourly rate added to the tow is if they want to send me to orlando on friday night or when ever i get stuck in traffic for a long period of time. all recoveries are by the hour port to port that includes if i have to clean my truck or any equipment port to port till my truck is ready to run the next call. when i do have to charge by the hour on a tow i normally just charge what the hook up is. john fenshw - lakeland fl - tikrit iraq ncoast said: Remember even if your truck is paid for, it still needs to be figured in. And some added to go towards replacement cost. And I use 4 hours a day not because that's what the truck runs, but because it also needs to earn enough to cover time spent on paper work, truck maintenance, cleaning and everything else that goes along with a business. My main customers are Monday - Friday 7:30 am to about 6 pm I don't do police towing or very much MC work. So as a result I do very little after hours or weekend work. I don't keep track of time spent on calls every time, but I have in the past, if I use that to figure my hourly, it comes out lower than by using hook and mileage. And even thou I do use hook and mileage a lot, having an hourly rate works better on some calls. Say I run 50 miles down the interstate to bring a car back, 2 hours and I'm done. But what if I have to run 50 miles and its on back roads, I could spend 4 hours on the same distance. Lets hear some more ideas doingitall said: That is exactly why I like to do most of my retail hourly - if the weather is bad and slow driving, I still am covered, customer gives bad info and tow/recovery/locating customer takes twice as long, covered, need to include equipment cleanup, covered. I just quote and bill hourly - 1 hour minimum, then 1/2 hour intervals from there. Andy - A+ Towing Wade200 said: In my opinion, the only real down side to hourly rates is inconsistent billing for customers. Today it may take 1 hour to complete the job and tomorrow (with traffic or weather) it may take 4 hours for the same job. I have found that our good shops don't like variable rates like that and some have quit using us due to rates that vary more than a few dollars for comparable tows. You can't please 100% all the time, so whatever works for you is what really matters. anaron said: Daniel, I understand what you are saying but you can bet the shops do exactly that on their repair work. They will give you a bid for a valve job but if they find a crack in the head, it's going to cost more! Not their fault, not your fault - called extenuating circumstances. Everything I do is calculated by the hour but I never quote a job as $xxx per hour. Too open ended and you will lose most of the jobs. I have done this for so long, I pretty much know within a few dollars what the total will be for most everything I do so I give a total "estimate". How much will this cost? "Sir, Based on what you have told me, it's a simple hookup and tow, etc. - should run about $XXX if we do not run into any problems." You have given them an estimated price and left the door open for any unforseen problems. Sometimes they want an explanation of what problems might be encountered, most the time they don't even ask. Should I run into any problems that would significantly increase the cost the customer is immediately advised and given the option of declining my service. I have never had anyone decline the service after I arrived on scene and explained that this job was going to cost $xx more because of whatever. Weather issues should not be a problem because you should be quoting rates based on the weather conditions anyway. Most traffic issues should not be a problem as most the time we know what the traffic situation is at any given time and should quote accordingly even going so far as to suggest a better rate at a better time. You might be surprised to see that most customers understand that a 3 mile tow in a blowing blizzard is going to cost them considerably more than the same tow on a nice sunny day. Jerrys Road Service said: All tows should be charged hourly port to port.yes Daniel your right abought consistency but i tell them theres lots of trafic NOW if you wait till say 7pm it will be cheaper your call Jerry's Towing -Santa Clarita ,Ca - 661-857-6828 ncoast said: his post has gone from how to figure an hourly rate to should you charge hourly, still a good post. Hourly is for out of the ordinary stuff, not run of the mill hook and book tows. When I quote a price or write a bill its total only, I never break it down. But do use hook and mileage alot. When people hear xx + x per. mile they freak and think the worst. I did a tow last year where the customer followed me to the drop, while unloading he said I called xxx and man hes hi, he wanted xx + x to do this. I laughed and said well this was only x miles he woulda been cheaper. He ended up tipping me anyway. Isn't WFG an approved pricing method Towman26 said: Daniel, I to understand your concern on the differences in prices but what about the guy that has several trucks towed from one location to another & you do it with different trucks & drivers, I bet if you did 10 trucks you might get 5 or 6 with same milage but i know that Dustins truck odomiter is on the mark, but the others we are constantly having those adjusted. Hell on my wifes Navigator when we go to her surgon in Tampa (which we do every other month for the last 6 yrs & sometimes more) but in my pickup & Dustins pickup the mileage is tow miles different, that could be from were you exactly pushed the button, but in her Navigator, going the same way same speeds, it is 32 miles further!! yes I said it is further & no Tampa didnt move. In town it is fine, right on the doy, but at highway speeds it starts adding miles, & the faster I go the more it adds, once when we had to rush over I satyed at about 110 & it was 44 milesmore. So back to what you were saying about being inconsistant there is problems on both ways Unless the call is at your front door, every call would be over one hr. I would love it if the companies on the FL east side would get into that type of pricing. That is what is going on the west side in tampa, sarasota area, but unfortunatly if 20companies all got together & said we would go to hourly, 2 or 3 would go behind the others back & try to snatch up the customers. I think it is the best way to make it simple for the customer, they know it takes xxx amount of time to get there xx amout to get back, drop & then back to your shop or even stop when you drop, it still is better. That way they dont have to get a long list of things, hook up, mileage, drive line, air, fsc. etc etc. it would be 2.5 @ xx = xxx that it! Like I had stated in another post when you have company's that will do rotations for as much as possible but then turn around & do accounts for as low as they have to to get the customer, like box trucks for $60 & 3 or even $60 flat rate in the county or $70 &3 for loaded t-t. When you have to deal with this its very hard to get change but i still have hope. lol Warren Driscoll --- 877-KW TOWS U FLCOWBOYINIRAQ said: put a bid together for a local allison shop. how i did it was he told me the furthest he went for trucks in all directions so i towed a few and kept track of the mileage. he really needed a flat rate so he could bid on jobs. so what i did was took the furthest point away added the miles then x by what we were getting a mile rr drive shaft plus air hook. now we towed them there broken down and towed them back to the customer when they were repaired. on the ones going back as long as he had another unit coming back for a repair i would tow the repaired one back for half. and i did not have to remove the shaft on the tow back to the customer. that hourly stuff is only good on heavy tows i actually tried that and wrote the bill both ways and hook and mileage was better, unless towing a crane or big motor home stuff like that. one thing is what do you do if you have an expirenced operator that can hook and tow very good and safe and then you have one thats not so good and you do the same tows diffrent days diffrent drivers and his bill is more then the others. we tried that with waste management and the bills were very incosistent. they had 5 bills from the landfill back to there shop and all 5 were diffrent. john fenshaw - lakeland fl In Memory of BROTHERSANDSONS who said: I've been following this for a little bit, because its one of my favorite subjects. I notice a lot of you saying that Hook up + mileage comes out higher than hourly........that bothers me.....what it says to me is your off on your hourly rate..If your charging, for instance....100 for the hook up and 5/mile( lets leave the shaft out of it and tow it from the rear) and your going 20 miles thats 200 dollars. easy hook and fly thats a 90 minute job to drop, half hour back to your yard... 200 @ 2 hrs .......thats 100 per hour??? Maybe a better cost analysis is in order ( even if you jump up to 150/6 its still only 135/hr) some costs are constant.some are dynamic..without going into to much detail a straight heavy with a quality driver is in the 220-240 range.depending on a few things. thats 440-480 for the same tow........much closer to reality of cost( at dollars/tow.dollars/day is another subject). Specialized units are more, of course.but costs are costs. as far as the inconsistencies of time and pricing ( traffic ,weather, stubborn drivelines, Texas bumpers etc etc) It ain't my fault or the customers.they are just a fact of life...I give a rate that reflects my costs , not based on what the market is doing.and YES it makes it tough when you have potatoes out there dropping their drawers just to get cash flow. If I had my way we would all have breakfast once a month and decide what the going rate was and everyone would have no choice but to pay it......then some previously mentioned potatoe would undercut us all and we would have to slay him....its something that can be addressed by some standards.....including standards for compensation......I can see it.but, I can't figure out how to make it work. In regards of how to figure it, I take my monthly costs and divide them by 121.6 ( 30.4 days in the avg month x 4 hrs per day ) and thats even a little low because of the day off factor of drivers.but its close for me. Thats just to pay the costs ( dollars per tow) profit comes into the game when you build up the tows per day to the point of stretching yourself thin and needing another truck..its a constant re evaluation process....fuel, insurance, drivers wages, etc etc............takes up a good amount of my time each month and how do you calculate that into the overhead???? lol....its worth it to be serious about it.it does show up where it counts.in the bank Towman26 said: Ya I cant see were hourly is less than hook & mileage. Weve done both & everytime hourly is more. I just did one today 40 miles $490. paid hourly. Like I have said I wish we would all go to it . Warren Driscoll --- 877-KW TOWS U anaron said: I agree with Jan, if your mileage/hookup rate total is more than your hourly rate total, some immediate attention needs to be paid to your hourly rates. Back in the early 80's, I charged $25 hookup and $0.75 per mile round trip and never gave it much thought until I gained a new customer, 8 mile round trip that took 1.14 hours to complete for $31 - opps! Got a problem here! That's when I began taking a good look at my rate calculations and found that over 30% of my tows were losing money because of the time differentiation - started calculating my rates on an hourly basis - problem solved.I calculate my rates on light, medium, heavy, jump starts, lockouts, everything is by the hour. Here's some figures from my data base for a 10 mile simple light duty tow from 5 different locations. These times are an average for each location and I do them on a weekly basis- .58, .66, .68, .72, .75 For simplicity, use $50 hookup and $2 mile round trip for a total of $70. You get $70 for .58 hours and you also get $70 for .75 hours. Now something's wrong with that picture! For simplicity, use $100 per hour - $58, $66, $68, $72, $75 - looks much better as I get paid for my time involved. The problem with hourly is that most companies have no idea how long it takes them to do a tow job. How long did it take? Oh, about 45 minutes when in reality it took 48 minutes. Geez, 3 minutes! That's really nit picking! Back when towing was $25 hookup and $0.75 mile, 3 minutes did not make a lot of difference but at the rates we should be charging today, it makes a huge difference especially over the entire year. Not charging for 3 minutes on each tow adds up to 1500 minutes or 25 hours for 500 tows. Calculate that with your rates! The hookup/mileage would work great as long as you could keep every call at .66 hours or less but we all know that's not going to happen. Now several have commented that hourly rates would be confusing to the customer and your right but so is hookup/mileage. Some companies charge $XX hookup and $X per mile loaded, some round trip, some 1/2 round trip and no telling how many other ways. We should never quote "$XXX per hour" or "$50 hookup and $2 per mile". Your miles and his might just be totally different - kinda like the motorclubs paying mileage based on THEIR charts! We should calculate what we believe the total to be because that is all the customer is concerned with, not how we calculate our rates. How much will this cost? "Sir, Based on what you have told me, it's a simple hookup and tow, etc. - should run about $XXX if we do not run into any problems." You have given them an estimated price but at the same left the door open for any unforseen problems. John brought up a good point - "we tried that with waste management and the bills were very incosistent. they had 5 bills from the landfill back to there shop and all 5 were diffrent." I firmly believe that this is a problem but it's our problem and not the customer. In my entire career, this has never been a problem for any of my customers. I tow for an electric coop from all their branchs to their repair shop and no two bills from the same branch office has the same total. I have a dirt company that I haul their trucks from their pit to the same repair shop, bills are never the same. No two tow jobs will be identical in time even if locations and mileage are identical. If you are trying to get you invoices to show the same dollars on each tow, you either have to base your rates on the highest invoice which is not fair to the customer, on the lowest invoice which is not fair to you or work out an average and hope you do not get too many tows that end up above the average! firemedic said: Appreciate all the info. A few questions: 1. When you do port to port as I assume most do, do you just figure the time to drive to them if you are not at office and to drive back from point of drop off? How do you figure that? 60 miles would take an hour? How do you calculate for traffic, weather, etc? 2. I am assuming that once I figure what my hourly rate should be, how do you figure out the difference from light, medium, heavy? I normally adjust my hookup based on weight and difficulty of hooking up. On medium and heavy I understand where hourly would be better, i.e. that driveshaft that just won't come out when you normally say $XX dollars for driveshaft removal. Light duty by the hour would be ok, it's just confusing I guess. I heard of someone giving a class at one time about figuring costs and charges, wish I could go. I don't want to undercut myself, I want to make that dirty word "profit". LOL!! I also don't want to rip anyone off, so that is why I ask, please excuse my ignorance if I seem like "I just don't get it". anaron said: Glenn asked: When you do port to port as I assume most do, do you just figure the time to drive to them if you are not at office and to drive back from point of drop off? Yes How do you figure that? My calculations are easy as the info in my data base consists of all the towing jobs (recovery and accidents are not included) done over the last 15 years showing total mileage, total time, pickup location and drop off location for each job. When I first started, I took the last year of hookup/mileage total revenues and divided that by the total time for the year. Now this will only work if your hookup/mileage rates were calculated on actual costs and profits. It creates a good starting point that can be fine tuned as you go. 60 miles would take an hour? This is a good way to estimate your travel times but 60 miles in an hour is almost impossible on local towing. I do not do long distance towing anymore but back when I did, it pretty much averaged 47 miles in an hour. My 15 year data base for local towing shows that I average 31 miles for each hour. Your average may be different depending on the factors of your area. How do you calculate for traffic, weather, etc? Fortunately traffic is not much of an issue in my area. Based on experience, I generally know if I should add x amount of time due to heavy rain, traveling thru construction zones or whatever. I am assuming that once I figure what my hourly rate should be, how do you figure out the difference from light, medium, heavy? Your hourly rate will need to be calculated on each light, medium & heavy. You cannot use one to calculate the other as each is in a world all of its own. Gerry Sienk said: First question i ask is what did it cost you by the hour to run your light, medium and heavy call? You need to know your cost to calculate a price. I have used an hour meter for service on my trucks, which was recorded monthly. Using the yearly total per truck, and dividing the cost to run the truck for the year, including labor or in case of owner driving the salary I would want per hour, into hour to find out what it cost me to run it last year. Because regardless of whether it was idling to warm up in yard, or on a call, that is what it cost to run the truck per hour even if I was not getting paid, the money had to come from my business to pay that cost! That hourly cost is what you needed regardless of whether you were getting paid that amount. And yes there are some "if, ands and buts" to this figure. As far as how you bid calls, you should have a basic knowledge of how long calls take, on most jobs you can either give a price that will "fly" with the customer and you still make a profit, leaving you open for getting more, or less, it is just of matter of how you communicate with them. But If you know your cost, you know if you made money or not.