My Baby
Cream of the Crop
Elite Service’s Rotator is a Top-Flight Truck By Steve Temple
Photos by Megan Benoit and Steve Temple
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Steve Temple has many years of experience as an automotive photojournalist and editor of numerous magazines, both consumer and trade. He has a passion for diesel engines, and one of his personal rigs is a one-ton Dodge dually with an upgraded Cummins turbodiesel, often used for both towing and hauling.
hen you get a difficult recovery call, which rig do you want on scene? Well, for Elite Service of Lake Charles, Louisiana, it’s a 2022 Peterbilt 389, outfitted with a CSR50 rotator from NRC Industries. Why this one, out of the 17 trucks the company runs? “This unit is a specialty item in our fleet,” explains Adrien Benoit, Elite’s general manager. “It’s the cream of the crop, designated for a wide variety of recoveries.” One obvious benefit of a rotator is the ability to park in one lane for a recovery without
46 • January 2022 | Towman.com
blocking cars. “That’s huge, especially for commuters,” he notes. This rotator is not the first one Elite has owned, since it replaced another 50-ton rig. Painted bright red with yellow graphics to match the rest of the fleet, this new Peterbilt’s vivid color scheme was a real standout at the recent TowXpo in San Antonio, Texas. This was not the only noteworthy aspect, though. The towing equipment in the dozen bed boxes—snatch blocks, tow chains, shackles and frame forks—are clean, color coordinated and nicely organized for quick access on towing and recovery work. That’s a note of pride for Adrien. “We take time to go over the layout of all the