FEEDBACK NEEDED: Crash Attenuator Trailers to Protect Your Drivers and Equipment

[Natalie Rudrud]

Hello TowForce Community,

 

My name is Natalie and I work with Street Smart. We are headquartered in Minnesota with offices nationwide. We rent and sell traffic safety equipment.

 

One product that continues to increase in popularity due to the ever-increasing rise in distracted drivers is our crash attenuator trailers.

 

These trailers have been trusted by DOT professionals for many years, and the requirement to use them is being mandated by more states each year. 

 

Having sold these trailers for nearly 20 years, we've taken countless phone calls from customers that share real-world testimonials of lives saved after an impact. 

 

These devices are made in America, readily available for rent or purchase. I've included a few images below of trailers that were hit/saved lives. Here is a link to a short video demonstrating how these trailers react when hit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsuUvDxSzTs 

 

Feedback Needed: Due to equipment/employee availability, I realize it would not be possible for towing companies to deploy an attenuator as part of every call you receive, but I'm wondering what type of response we would get in trying to market/promote the rental or purchase of these trailers for towing companies to have in their fleet for use in longer duration lane closures (i.e. major crashes requiring longer duration of work recovering vehicles on the highway). 

 

I'd welcome any discussion on the perceived pros and cons from this community on the use of these trailers. 

 

Thank you for your service, and please stay safe out on the road!

Natalie 

 

 

 

[goodmichael]

I have long advocated for the use, implementation,  as well as well as passing the cost of safety equipment on to the end user, be it the private pay customer, or motor club. I always consider the fact that extra equipment, properly used, properly billed out as a line item,  only needs to save one life to prove itself worthy. We as an industry are our own worst enemy. Many cut corners on safety, both employers as well as employees. We look the other way when safe operating procedures are ignored, as long as that operator is bringing in the revenue that allows that unit to turn a profit. Many companies do very little or nothing at all to promote a safe working environment. Some are excellent, some outstanding, at promoting a safety first attitude. 👏 Here I San Antonio, Texas an operator can call the HERO program and they will make the scene of a breakdown on the side of a highway and provide a blocker for you to safely do their job. Free of charge. It boggles my mind to see operators hooking up roadside taking a chance they will be one of the sixty that will die roadside due to a distracted or impaired driver. Your company sells a great product. It saddens me that you have not received the response you deserve. No amount of money can replace a life lost.

[Towman92266]

I would love to deploy a "Crash Truck" on every job if I could. Unfortunately I don't think the industry will support it. Regular customers won't pay the extra fee that it would entail. We could probably get away with it on a big accident but the state handles it.

[ESC]

3 hours ago, Towman92266 said:

I would love to deploy a "Crash Truck" on every job if I could. Unfortunately I don't think the industry will support it. Regular customers won't pay the extra fee that it would entail. We could probably get away with it on a big accident but the state handles it.

I feel the same way.  I would love to, and I see it happening more and more.   I dont get enough crash volume to be able to put a crash truck in service and employ a driver for it.   The other trouble comes on the billing end.  Adding that onto the bill on a customer pay job would cause all sorts of issues.  I am totally in support of it, but how to get the bill paid on a non insurance job is going to cause all sorts of problems at the moment.