The Walkaround

Spring Fever

Dennie Ortiz Publisher

For most of the country spring is usually the time of life resurfacing from winter’s dormancy. In the towing industry, spring is the season that welcomes the emergence of thousands of towers with plans to travel to industry trade shows—and the ATShowPlace-Las Vegas is timed perfectly for their arrival.

Be sure to visit us, at the South Point Hotel Casino on May 16 & 17, to meet with over 130 towing sup- pliers, attend one-of-a-kind conferences and enjoy American Towman’s legendary hospitality, and that of Las Vegas too.

Are you looking right now for information on suppliers that you can trust and help your company succeed? Well, go ahead and peruse the Buyers Report section on pages 49-63, where towers give you their own opinions on a multitude of services and products to support your business.

You’ve read it before in these pages, and you’ll read it again this month—the importance of being an active industry advocate. Brian Riker, Towman’s legislative guru, runs down the accomplishments achieved, and important congressional connections made at the recent Legislative Action Workshop, presented by TRAA in Washington D.C. Brian breaks down the issues that are currently developing which you need to keep your eyes on.

For readers who care to delve into the recovery side of the business, Terry Abejuela’s article in our new Hands-On Tech department will not disappoint. Terry addresses various anchoring techniques which will lead you to successful recovery jobs.

The photo featured on our cover showcases tower Eduardo Martinez, battered by rain as he secures a recovered casualty on the side of a busy California Freeway. Be sure to take pleasure in George Nitti’s retelling of this challenging job.

If you are towing and storing damaged electrical vehicles, then you must read Part II of Ed Grubbs EV coverage. Not only does Ed shares many critical precautions to be taken in your storage yard, he also warns of the additionally high costs associated with EV towing you could incur.

Hope you enjoy reading this issue.

As always, be safe out there!

Electric Wreckers?

Steve Temple Editor

American Towman magazine hosts three towing industry trade shows each year, we also attend other events. Recently the NTEA show covered a broad array of commercial vehicles and equipment, including a big emphasis in recent years on electrification (EVs). The EV trend is rapidly expanding for both passenger cars and commercial trucks (and poses some challenges for towers as noted in our Electric Storm follow- up article in this issue). We have yet to see, however, an electric wrecker. Electric roadside service vans or final-mile medium-duty delivery trucks that run in a closed-loop route are conceivable applications. But limited driving range is still an issue for all types of electric trucks, especially when towing or hauling a heavy load. We did note some improvements in rated mileage, and technology will likely continue to advance in this aspect. In the meantime, however, for tow businesses there’s simply no substitute yet for the pulling power of a conventional internal combustion engine that enable towmen to get their jobs done safely and efficiently.

Dennie Ortiz

Steve Calitri

Steve Temple

Randall Resch

Terry Abejuela

David Kolman

John Borowski

Mark Lacek

Brian Riker

George Nitti

Henri “Doc” Calitri

President Editor-In-Chief Editor Operations Editor Field Editor, West Chassis Editor Safety Editor Repo Run Editor

Contributing Editor

Contributing Editor

Contributing Editor

Editorial Board

Tommy Anderson

Roy Carlson

Debbie Collins

Belinda Harris

Bill Johnson

Kurt Wilson

Dallas, Texas Saint Paul, Minn. Las Vegas, Nev. Greensboro, N.C. South Hadley, Mass. Creve Coeur, Ill.

American Towman Staff

Anne Ruzsilla

Dennie Ortiz

Ellen Rosengart

Henri Calitri

Peggy Calabrese

Ryan Oser

Emily Oz

Art Director

Advertising Sales Mgr. Senior Account Exec. Customer Service

Regional Advertising Sales iMarketing Manager ATTV Producer

American Towman Media Headquarters 2 Overlook Drive, Suite 5, Warwick, NY 10990 800-732-3869 or 845-986-4546

President Editor-In-Chief Editor Subscriptions

E-Mail: dortiz@towman.com scalitri@towman.com stemple@towman.com subscriptions@towman.com

AT’S Digital Edition AT’S Website AT’S itowman.com americantowman.com towindustryweek.com americantowmantv.com Weekly ATTV

Copyright ©2023 American Towman Magazine is published 12 times a year by American Towman Media, Inc.

Subscription: Single Copy: $10 1 yr: $60 – 2 yrs: $110

All material published through American Towman Media (AT), to include American Towman Magazine, iTowman.com and TowIndustryWeek.com, including advertisements, editorials, articles and all other content is published in good faith. However, AT accepts no liability for any errors or omissions, and does not endorse any companies, products or services that appear. AT does not test or review products submitted for inclusion in its publications. AT does not accept responsibility for the accuracy of content, warranties or claims made or implied by its advertisers. The views expressed are the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of AT. The act of mailing or delivering a letter, email or article to AT shall constitute permission to publish that letter or article or any portion thereof. AT reserves the right to edit any and all material submitted. No part of the magazine or websites may be reproduced without prior written consent of AT. AT reserves the right to not publish advertisements that disparage competitors or call into question the integrity of a competitors product or service.

2023 | Towman.com

Ford Patents Repo System

Ford Motor has devised a system that will aid in repossessing a vehicle, having filed a patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that details a self-repossessing system along with other repo-related effects.

Using computer technology that can potentially involve a lending institution, police authorities and repo agencies, a vehicle can be locked down to prevent an owner from accessing or using it. The patent filed details processes of recovery.

At first, the vehicle owner is notified of being late on payments. Then, if there’s no response to the messages, Ford’s repo system escalates to disabling vehicle functions such as air-conditioning, cruise control, power seats, power windows or radio. Additional measures including playing irritating or incessant sounds through the stereo system, or even locking out the vehicle owner.

If autonomous systems are present, the vehicle could be moved to a location for a tow truck to pick it up. Commands could be sent to have the car drive itself to a repo lot, bank, and even a junkyard if the car is deemed to be not worth the cost of the repo.

Sources: caranddriver.com motor1.com

Philadelphia Towing Plateless Cars

Philadelphia’s Parking Authority (PPA) has authorized towing vehicles with missing license plates and obscured VIN numbers.

“Is your vehicle parked on a public street without a license plate?” asked a read a tweet from @PhilaParking. “You might want to change that ASAP.”

The PPA, under the new leadership of executive director Richard Lazer, says its aggressive approach is in response to a “dramatic increase” in the practice in neighborhoods throughout the city.

Lazer said parking on a public street without a license plate is a violation of the Philadelphia Traffic Code, and covering the VIN “signals a clear intent to prevent our parking enforcement officers from issuing a parking violation.”

Source:inquirer.com