What would you do "Safety Discussion 53"

[TowForce]

[GRUMPS The Towman]

All I can ask is WHY??? 

Under what kind of situation would warrant or justify loading that like that then taking off down the road? 

Ridiculous...

[EdsTowing]

5 hours ago, GRUMPS The Towman said:

All I can ask is WHY??? 

Under what kind of situation would warrant or justify loading that like that then taking off down the road? 

Ridiculous...

The answer is NONE!

[sweetk30]

Only time i did this was multi vehicle crash on interstate at night and raining . Cops breathing down our necks . Boss/ owner was 2nd tow to me and said load and go ! ...... we were 1 mile from shop and 3/4 mile from exit . 

 

Otherwise just take the time to load correctly ! . Most of the time my OCD made me try to be centered on the bed . 

[GRUMPS The Towman]

I dont care how much the Cops are breathing down my neck.. I refuse to break the law or perform my duties un-safely for ANYONE. That includes cops.. I am NOT treating someones vehicle like that no matter how tore up it is Nor am I beating on my equipment to appease some meter maid/traffic cop.. 

It falls back to my saying of  "I dont tell cops how to do their job, so dont tell me how to do mine" .

[TowZone]

Personally and Professionally I want to the vehicle fully loaded onto the bed. Now, a driver will get an ear full from me if they attempt a 4 point tie down while blocking traffic. Tie Down enough to move it to a safer location then complete the 4 point tie down. The reasons for this are too many. It could save your life, an officers life or someone back in traffic. What if you took 5 or 10 minutes longer and within that time a child in the backseat of a vehicle was severely injured because the distracted driver that would have entered to scene did not see the traffic stopped.

 

Other than that don't do this stuff as in the image, there just isn't a good reason I can think of...

[dperone]

I've said it before and I'll keep saying it, this industry will not see any respect from the general public or government agencies until we weed these idiots out. How any sane individual thinks this is a safe professional way to transport a vehicle is beyond me. Even if it was loaded correctly and rolled off while driving down the road, the fact that it moved at all tells you your securement process is severely inadequate. Take a class and get certified, it could save your life or the person's who's behind you.

[goodmichael]

The belief that I can make it or, should I say, "It will be all right" permeates this industry. It will take leadership in the motor club world, the automotive manufacturing and repair sector, and government, DOT as well as law enforcement to step into the arena and demand professional standards to effect change. As of now many shop from the right side of the menu. Safety and professionalism take a back seat to price. 

Edited April 1, 2021 by goodmichael
Misspells

[EdsTowing]

I have said this many times when someone tells me that "The police wanted me out of there immediately" or whatever... I assure you of one thing. If something goes wrong...and something ALWAYS goes wrong... That Officer will not stand on the right side of the Judge and explain that he told you to operate like that. You will be on your own...PERIOD. Personally I believe that most of the tension & urgency on an incident are self inflicted. Train & practice with your guys to do thing the right way. But don't lower your standards for anyone...

[GRUMPS The Towman]

 

21 hours ago, EdsTowing said:

I have said this many times when someone tells me that "The police wanted me out of there immediately" or whatever... I assure you of one thing. If something goes wrong...and something ALWAYS goes wrong... That Officer will not stand on the right side of the Judge and explain that he told you to operate like that. You will be on your own...PERIOD. Personally I believe that most of the tension & urgency on an incident are self inflicted. Train & practice with your guys to do thing the right way. But don't lower your standards for anyone...

True words of wisdom spoken by a true professional.

Like I have said many times This Industry Requires a Pretty moderate level of common sense to become a real professional operator. I whole-heartedly agree with tow zone when he stated doing a "Quick clear" Means securing at a minimum to get out of harms way. Now, I see that as get it FULLY on the deck, get at least one solid point of rear securement and get off to a safe area to complete your tie down. I do it all the time. I dont want to be out in traffic for a second longer than I have to be. But, there are others I know will think dragging it up, slamming it in park and taking off is considered "minimum securement". Or if it is severely damaged, Just pulling it on board and since the front end is blown apart, it wont go anywhere. I see this all the time. And the saddest part is I see this from other companies in town that have LOST vehicles off their trucks before. They STILL do it...   

Maybe it is just me, But I gotta say, the general tasks of our industry are not terribly difficult. Which is why I find it so baffling that there are so many out there that will take a job that is not out of this world difficult to do properly and STILL cut corners and screw around. 

[EdsTowing]

One of the things my son does with his self loader is he hooks everything and takes it out of the road. Put it on the shoulder...in a parking lot...just try to open traffic. That will take the pressure off the situation. They seem to like this, and it looks impressive. Many times we still have medical & fire on scene and they don't seem to care so much about time. We still try to work as efficiently as possible. 

[dperone]

30 minutes ago, EdsTowing said:

One of the things my son does with his self loader is he hooks everything and takes it out of the road. Put it on the shoulder...in a parking lot...just try to open traffic. That will take the pressure off the situation. They seem to like this, and it looks impressive. Many times we still have medical & fire on scene and they don't seem to care so much about time. We still try to work as efficiently as possible. 

 

Me and my little wrecker do the same thing. My first job when I get there, usually first, is to clear the road to the point that we can send the troopers home. It doesn't always work, but if I can open even one lane it makes the job a little less stressful. 

[GRUMPS The Towman]

My ultimate initial goal has always been to get or keep traffic flowing around the scene. I have always had a big thing about secondary accidents. I always will go out of my way to work from an off angle if necessary just to keep a lane moving. Usually, the first word out of the officers mouth when I arrive is "we will shut down the road" and my response is usually ( if it can be safely done ) is I will work it from here etc. to keep that lane open. Yes, It might take a few extra mins at times but it is worth it.  

[sweetk30]

A huge problem in my area is they call cops / fire / ems and .......................... ......................................................... then the tow truck of who is next on list and expect they to be there in 30 seconds.  . 

 

If thay would call and let us stage a few blocks away it would help 10 fold in speed and clean up and not make tow drivers drive so crazy to a cop call . 

[Old Tow]

On 3/20/2021 at 9:11 AM, GRUMPS The Towman said:

I dont care how much the Cops are breathing down my neck.. I refuse to break the law or perform my duties un-safely for ANYONE. That includes cops.. I am NOT treating someones vehicle like that no matter how tore up it is Nor am I beating on my equipment to appease some meter maid/traffic cop.. 

It falls back to my saying of  "I dont tell cops how to do their job, so dont tell me how to do mine" .

Exactly correct !!

[Old Tow]

On 3/19/2021 at 11:01 AM, EdsTowing said:

The answer is NONE!

Am I missing something here? I don't see any damage to this vehicle from an accident ! Maybe my 83 yr OLD eyes don't see so we'll any more ya think?? Just saying....

[silverhawk]

On 3/18/2021 at 1:50 PM, TowForce said:

That is NOT fitting.