dperone

I mean, people don't routinely park of the side of a highway, they typically only do so in an emergency. Therefore, the truck who responds to the call from the motorist would be tending to their emergency? If that didn't constitute an emergency I'd hate to see what would in their eyes.

I've never had one break but I've had a few that if I kept going I would have. I always load a tree slowly so you can get an idea of it's going to work with you or against.

This is where it pays to have a network of fellow towing companies. If someone calls me for a service that's 2.5 hours away, I will first suggest one of our friendly competitors who are much closer than us. If you word it correctly the customer understands that you are looking out for them and their wallet and many times, especially if it's a good customer, you'll find that you'll still get the job and the customer won't shop around while you're en route. Worst case scenario is they use a company you're on good terms with and they'll usually reciprocate and send jobs your way in the future. Too many in this industry are scared to call the other guy, no matter how far from you he is. Many times we get calls from companies an hour or more from us that need something pulled up locally to us, and many times we call on guys to bring us vehicles that are hours away. Networking with towers in my own town has even lead to a lot more tows for us, as everyone gets busy and needs a hand picking up slack. I guess my point in this is next time don't drive so far for a 3rd party with a history of price shopping and cheap customers. Refer the call to the local guy and build a profitable relationship for the both of you.

That's a badass ride. It always amazes me when people pick the worst weather days to move cool stuff like this.

I like the wording on that sign. Here in Jersey they just say authorized emergency vehicles without really explaining what vehicles are covered by that vague description.

Gotta love the can opener jobs

Lucky! Every time I get one out of a garage it's completely surrounded with no space to maneuver and everyone and their brother is trying to get down the aisle I'm in.

I don't think this one is as bad as it seems, as said above. Most of the weight I'm assuming is behind the rear, at least that's how most of the van fronts I've seen are. Those promasters are pretty light in the engine department, so your not picking up the dead weight of a 460 or 454 like you would have been in the past. Without really knowing the actual scaled weights, I'd say this is one of those borderline tows that you do in a pinch with no problem.

Very well stated sir, thank you. I tell all my guys that we don't wear high viz for the motorist, we wear it for the lawyers.

We received a call from our local PD for a single vehicle accident. A young lady on her way home from college was coming around a bend of our lake, about a hundred yards from our shop, when her tire decided it was done with the trip and took off. Her car veered to the right, away from the lake but right into the guardrail. The red spot is where her ride ended I winched the car back off the rail then turned around and pulled the front back towards the road so I could load it on my wheel lift. No action shots because I was blocking a lane. After cleaning everything up, myself and the 2 cops still on scene walked around for about 10 minutes but never found where the wheel went. I did find a lug nut in the middle of the road though.

I wish I could be there but unfortunately I'll be back at work. I am attending the TIM class again to refresh but your class sounds like it's more information to the tower.

I put mine on the outside tires and only when we're getting over 10 inches. Anything less and they're more a hassle than a help. When I put mine on I put them on inside the shop where it's warm and dry.

We were with Winant Bowmack for years, they're great people to deal with. The only reason we switched away from them is AAA partnered with another ins co that gave us a quote that blew everyone else's prices out of the water. I'm not sure how they are for new start up, but we never had any problems with them.

This bar is awesome, it's brighter than the other bars we have and the charge time is incredible. We're definitely switching to these as we replace older lights.

We still dispatch mostly by voice unless the driver's are at the shop when the call comes in. Usually if they're out we shoot them a text to say call when you're clear, meaning either when you're at the drop location of your current call or when you stop somewhere. When they call in we give them the basics of the next run then follow up with a text with all the details. It's worked for us for many years and I don't see us changing to all digital unless we add more drivers.

Thanks, those 4 part lines use up 150' of line pretty quick but you can't beat how it pulls.

We received a call from a traffic control company to winch one of their crash trucks out of the sand on a rural road about 20 miles away from our shop. I happened to be on another call about half way between our shop and the location so I was dispatched along with our heavy to give him a hand with traffic and pulling cable. I arrived to find a truck about 50' from the road way buried on to the axles front and back. Being as impatient as I am, I started rigging my little winching monster to pull the truck to the roadway. I ran a 4 part line to the truck and started pulling. Once the chocks got a good bite the truck came right out of the hole it dug. I winched it all the way to the road then repositioned to get it to jump the 6 inch lip back onto solid ground.

I have no problem doing minor things road side. I take it as a case by case basis, but most times I can have a spare on a car faster than loading it on a bed, even with taking the time to check the inflation. I'm all for using the method that gets me off the road the QUICKEST, even if it's not towing it off the road.

I was going back and forth recently on replacing the line on our 16 series bed with synthetic. In the end I kept the steel on it. The primary driver is as old school as it comes and I'm not confident that he'll always look after the rope and not let it touch anything abrasive. If I was the only driver of the truck I'd replace the steel with synthetic in a heart beat, but I know how well I take care of stuff vs. others.

Tell me about it. I only use a bed when I'm bored and the cars run lol.

I agree with you on motor clubs, we've been with AAA for 70 years so far and a preferred provider since they unveiled the psp program. Agero, on the other hand, has a history of bring difficult to deal with and Jill said she spends a ton of time chasing payment. If we start new companies with the impression that running for a loss is not worth it and clubs that are hard to deal with pay accordingly the industry as a whole will benefit. We as an industry need to move away from the idea that working 21 hours a day at a loss is good and make sure every call we get is profitable. At the end of the day we as a whole have the power to ensure this, as we're the ones with the trucks not the clubs.

I wish you the best. My take, however, is that if I have to spend any time at all on the phone chasing even a dime then you do not get wholesale rates. In fact you pay higher than retail because my time chasing money is not free. Add to that the fact that if you are not making a profit on every call, or worse not breaking even, than 21 hours a day just makes you broke and tired faster. I would rather work the 3 hours a day to make the same money the club is paying for 21 hours and not have to spend another 21 hours chasing MY money. And running a truck constantly without pm servicing at low rates means that when the truck wears out prematurely from the constant abuse and no maintenance, there's no extra money in the bank to replace it. Ultimately it's your business, but I would think twice about running my tail off for a company that places no value what so ever on what you bring to the table. If someone else buys a truck tomorrow and under cuts you by a dollar is agero going to stick by you? Not a chance.

I've worn red wings loggers for the better part of a decade and they're the best I've found yet. I have been looking at some pull ons but I can't find a pair that I like yet.

I've done a ton of rear tows lately, mostly on big vans owned by the State. Here's a few o managed to get pictures of

That is awesome, thank you!