American Towman Magazine - September 2014

A Sign in the Desert Funny Family of Towing Reefer Cleanup, Recovery towman.com

towmantv.com

towweek.com

Number 103 on Reader Card

First On The Scene

Since 1977

The cast of the fictional Bill & Sons Towing.

FEATURE CONTENTS

26

AutoReturn Q&A The third-party dispatch company’s CEO, John Wicker, answers AT’s questions about its business.

by Steve Calitri

35

Monsters in Baltimore Get all the lowdown you need on the Beast in the East: the AT Expo in Baltimore.

Departments Walkaround . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 News Share . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Tow Boss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Road Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

56

Bill & Sons TV Web-based comedy series about a family towing company is art imitating life.

by Brendan Dooley

Tow Engineer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

66

AD Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

Chinatown Bound but Down

Repo Run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Saving the produce and recovering a reefer from an icy on-ramp is all in a day’s work.

by Jim “Buck“ Sorrenti

Tow Americana . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 Towman’s Market . . . . . . . . . . . .70 My Baby. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72 Low Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74 Adventures of A.T. . . . . . . . . . . . .81 Work the non-traffic Side–Stay Safe!

TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • 3

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Survival Challenge Compared to other industries and vocations, towing is a relatively small industry and sadly it’s getting smaller almost every week due to the roadside deaths of more towers.

We should all know the alarming statistics by now … a tower dies every six days while working the roadside, three times more often than any other emergency personnel.

You’ve read about these terrible tragedies here in the pages of AT. You’ve also learned that there are safety practices, which you may employ to lower your risk of injury or death. Educate yourself and your drivers continually about the hazards of the roadways and pursuing the best practices to avoid them.

In July’s issue, we brought to your attention the need and specifically the availability of attending a free Traffic Incident Management class.

Safer Road Service

by Dennie Ortiz

This month, AT Operations Editor Randy Resch challenges you to attend a TIM class this year, (page 10).

“Attendees of the TIM course come away with renewed and heightened awareness of what on-scene responsibilities and survival techniques are available,” he says.

The word survival in his statement really hits home and I’m sure it does for you too. That is exactly what towers working on the roadways do each and every day—survive. Despite the frequent dangers you face, those that take the most precautions and apply the safest practices will be more likely to remain alive.

Here we all have the same goal—to live to see another day, to share in the love and joy of our families and friends. In order to reach this goal, we must be vigilant to roadway dangers and do everything we can to endure, including taking the class. So take the Challenge!

by Brendan Dooley

I recently helped a young couple change their blown tire on the side of a small street. I was looking for parking at one of Milwaukee’s downtown festivals and they obviously needed assistance.

As I was getting the lugs loose, they mentioned the towing company they called for help gave them a two-hour ETA, and that the tire initially blew out on the nearby expressway spur going into downtown. (I then recalled passing them on the off-ramp when they were on a tight shoulder.) They said a sheriff’s deputy made them drive on the bad tire the mile or so off the expressway instead of waiting.

I finished changing the tire and advised them all the warnings about driving on compact spares, and mentioned the repair bill would most likely include a new rim after the old one was ruined further by driving on it.

When I reflected on the scenario, it occurred to me that I didn’t think twice to pull over and help change a tire on a slow side road, but wouldn’t have felt the same on the expressway with festival traffic blowing by. I was instinctively following the objectives of the Tow First campaign, in doing non-emergency services away from high-speed danger. I think it’s a good cause; you can learn more and pledge to Tow First too, at www.thenata.com/towfirst.

6 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

First On The Scene!

Dennie Ortiz Steve Calitri Charles Duke Brendan Dooley

Publisher Editor-In-Chief Senior Editor Editor

Randall Resch

Operations Editor

Terry Abejuela

Field Editor, West

Jim “Buck” Sorrenti David Kolman Bill Simmons

Field Editor, Northeast Chassis Editor Safety Editor

Emily Oz

On Screen Editor

Mark Lacek

Repo Run Editor

Editorial Board Tommy Anderson Don Archer Roy Carlson Debbie Collins Belinda Harris Bill Johnson Ron Mislan Kurt Wilson

Dallas, Texas Jefferson City, Mo. St. Paul, Minn.

Las Vegas, Nev. Greensboro, N.C. South Hadley, Mass.

Warren, N.J. Creve Coeur, Ill.

American Towman Staff Ann Marie Nitti Dennie Ortiz Ellen Rosengart Norma Calitri Neila Smith Miriam Ortiz Henri Calitri Toni Vanderhorst William Burwell Peggy Calabrese Ryan Oser Emily Oz Steve Calitri

Page Layout Artist Advertising Sales Mgr. Senior Account Exec.

VP of Accounts VP Communications Subscription Manager Customer Service Publisher’s Assistant TIW Media Director Regional Advertising Sales iMarketing Manager ATTV Producer President

American Towman Media Headquarters 7 West Street, Warwick, NY 10990 800-732-3869 or 845-986-4546 E-mail: Publisher: dortiz@towman.com Editor-In-Chief: scalitri@towman.com Editor: bdooley@towman.com AT’S Digital Edition: itowman.com AT’S Website: towman.com AT’S Weekly: towindustryweek.com ATTV: americantowmantv.com Copyright ©2014 American Towman Magazine is published 12 times a year by American Towman Media, Inc. Subscription: $50–1 yr; $95–2 yrs • US $65 and $105 • International Editorial Policy: the act of mailing or delivering a letter or article to American Towman Magazine, shall constitute permission to publish that letter or article or any portion thereof. American Towman Magazine reserves the right to edit any and all material submitted.American Towman Media does not test or review products submitted for inclusion in its publications. All included information, specifications and abilities are as claimed by the equipment manufacturer who is solely liable for any defects or misrepresentations in its products.

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New Tow Rules Aiming to bring its regulations into compliance with state law, the Lawrence (N.J.) Township Council introduced an ordinance recently that provides for the licensing and regulations of tow truck companies.

The ordinance was set for a public hearing at press time.

Among the highlights of the proposed ordinance is extending the length of contracts from one to three years. All applicants are required to undergo a criminal background check, have a minimum of five years of experience and be willing to tow 24/7.

Light- and heavy-duty towers must obtain certification from a nationally recognized organization. Tow truck companies must have at least one light-duty tow truck and a flatbed wrecker. A tow truck company must have a heavy-duty wrecker to engage in heavy-duty towing assignments.

For daytime towing, the basic tow fee for light-duty towing may not exceed $125, and $150 for recovery if the vehicle is overturned or beyond the right-of-way.

At night, on weekends or holidays, it may not exceed $150 for towing and $200 for recovery. Source: www.centraljersey.com.

Semi Crashes Yard Police in Pittstown Township, Pa., arrested a truck driver who crashed into several parked cars to avoid paying a towing fee recently.

Police said Mohamud Adan’s disabled tractor-trailer was towed and Adan was unsuccessful in contacting his trucking company to pay for the $1,400 towing bill and slept overnight in the cab.

Towers told police the tractor-trailer was missing from the lot the next day and the tractor-trailer drove into a van and pushed a pickup truck away from the lot’s entrance.

Police contacted Blue Sky Trucking for the location of the tractor-trailer. The truck had front-end damage and fresh paint transfer that suggested a recent collision with another vehicle, police said.

Source:www.citizensvoice.com.

8 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

TV News Champions Towers It was refreshing to see a TV station champion towers in a recent segment on Move Over laws in Ind iana. Exce rp ts from their coverage is below. —Ed. The Call 6 Investigators in Indianapolis, Ind., have found many people don’t realize the Move Over law also applies to tow truck drivers.

“We’ve had two or three wreckers totaled and we’ve had to climb on trucks or run around them,” said JR Cook, owner of Cook’s Towing. “It’s actually scary. I’ve had them clip my elbow.”

Wayne Aughenbaugh lost his leg when a tractor-trailer smashed into the box van he was loading up on I-69 in 2007.

“I just happened to look up at the

last possible second, not even knowing the semi was coming,” said Aughenbaugh. “I didn’t have a lot of time to react. It happened in the snap of a finger.”

The crash cost Aughenbaugh his beloved career as a tow truck driver.

“I’d give everything I have back for that morning to have never happened, but that’s impossible,” said Aughenbaugh.

Police said distracted driving is part of the reason people don’t obey the Move Over law. Drivers are often talking, falling asleep and texting behind the wheel. Tow truck drivers said cracking down on violators might help, but they think the solution is educating drivers to give them more room.

Source: www.theindychannel.com.

City Tow Fee

Ruled OK The city of Springfield, Ill., has prevailed in a lawsuit that claimed that the city’s towing-fee ordinance was unconstitutional.

A man lost a lawsuit in state court where he had claimed that the ordinance under which the city towed his car was unconstitutional. At the time, the city charged motorists arrested for certain offenses a towing fee of $500, which was lowered last year to $250. The fee was on top of charges levied by towing companies for impounding and storage services.

“The court finds the $500 fee to be a reasonable fee given the expense the city incurs in the arrest and detention of the impounded vehicle’s driver,”

Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge John Schmidt wrote in his ruling. “Further, the city must care for the impounded vehicle and insure (sic) its safety. All these requirements cost money. … The $500 fee is not so high as to be strictly punitive in nature.”

The fee had generated at least $1.3 million for the city since 2010 before the city council last year lowered it to $250. Source: www.illinoistimes.com.

... I wonder how many times the NICB … has made unfounded claims of impropriety?...

48-Hour Grace Period Held A proposal that would give Richmond, Calif., residents a 48-hour grace period on towing and storage fees after their vehicle was stolen or vandalized was put on hold recently following dissent from tow companies.

The proposal came after victims of car thefts in Richmond complained they were victimized twice by having to pay to release their vehicle from tow storage facilities.

But at a Public Safety Committee hearing, tow company officials said the proposal would greatly impact them financially.

“We towers started our businesses because we are there to help people; on the flip-side, in order to run a business we have to make money,” said Mark Lenz of Civic Center Tow. Lenz pointed out that victims get a 15-percent discount on tow and storage fees.

Councilmember Nat Bates said while he can support waiving the storage fee, the process of towing a vehicle requires labor that comes at a significant cost to a business. Source: www.richmondstandard.com.

Illegal Tower Nabs Cop Car

Authorities in Salem, Ore., said they arrested the owner of Whoops Towing as he tried to haul off an undercover police car in Oregon.

Michael Alan Selmer, 35, of Falls City, was taken into custody after police got reports that a towing business was operating without a certificate, posting impound warning signs in parking lots, and using a spotter to generate tows, authorities said.

Police say they parked the unmarked vehicle as part of the investigation then arrested Selmer when he showed up in the tow truck.

He was booked on suspicion of failure to register as a sex offender and violating parole terms. The towing investigation was being reviewed by Marion County prosecutors. Source: www.mantecabulletin.com.

Work the non-traffic Side–Stay Safe!

Hampshire Towing Takes NICB to Court Hampshire Towing of Holyoke, Mass., filed a complaint in Massachusetts Superior Court against the National Insurance Crime Bureau and Amica Mutual Insurance Co. NICB and Amica Insurance allegedly conspired and “intentionally interfered” with the municipal contract Hampshire Towing had with the city of Holyoke, according to attorney Patrick Matthews, who filed the complaint on behalf of the towing company. The complaint alleges that NICB and Amica also solicited hundreds of other insurance companies in New England to assist them in finding instances of fraudulent overbilling by the towing company Hampshire Towing’s owner, William E. Johnson, said that as a result of his ongoing battle with NICB and Amica, he was removed from Holyoke’s rotation list for 18 months. The company was reinstated by Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse.

“I wonder how many times the NICB or an insurance company has contacted a towing company’s customer or municipality they work for and has made unfounded claims of impropriety. That is something I would like to know,” Johnson said.

Johnson hopes that his actions send a message to the NICB and the insurance industry.

“I hope this suit will help guarantee no other towing company will have to endure the financial and emotional hardship that we did.”

Towers to End Gridlock?

Mayoral candidate John Tory has come up with more ideas to combat the ever-worsening gridlock in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

He expanded on his Fighting Gridlock Initiative with four measures he said are “common sense.”

He promised, as mayor, to start towing delivery vehicles blocking lanes on major roads during rush hour; to have more parking enforcement officers focused on key arteries and fewer in residential areas; to have a committee coordinate construction projects; and to examine whether road work can be done around the clock, while respecting residential areas.

In April, Tory put forward other ideas to relieve traffic, including water taxis, better timing for construction projects, testing out new signal technology, parking enforcement during rush hour and express buses. Source: www.680news.com.

TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • 9

Challenge: Take the TIM Course

by Randall C. Resch

T

wenty years ago, I wrote “Every Day I Enter NoMan’s Land” in American Towman about the dangers we tow operators face working the world’s tow scenes. Today, we continue losing towers at an alarming rate because towers are repeatedly inattentive to roadside dangers when working outside their tow trucks. Why do towers choose and knowingly stand in areas that directly place them in harm’s way?

I’m constantly reviewing tower fatalities and find that many towers consciously chose to stand or work in the roadway’s traffic-side when they were struck. I’m reaching out now to stimulate everyone’s safety mindset.

Since 1998, I’ve written nearly 50 safety-specific magazine and online stories regarding working highway shoulders, truck placement, laying cones and flares, what direction to sweep, using non-traffic-side controls, transporting multiple persons, controlling roadside customers, etc.; narratives specific to working the non-traffic side. Why do towers repeatedly make the same fatal mistakes?

I’m weary of politely suggesting we towers take another (yawn) concentrated look at how we conduct roadside operations when we solidly know what gets towers killed. I’m numb to the excuses when know-it-all towers still say, “It hasn’t happened to me yet.” What an incredibly ignorant statement. Some so-called professional towers won’t pull their heads from the sand and agree that working the traffic-side places them in harm’s way.

Towers should be totally adherent to best practices and proper safety techniques before ever setting one foot inside a tow truck or at a crash scene. Accordingly, management has an immediate responsibility to mandate employees be adequately trained to industry standards that support best practices.

I demand change because old techniques aren’t working.

Free Training Out with the old techniques; in with a new mindset. The National Traffic Incident Management Responder Course is available in nearly all states … for free. The four-hour free TIM course is taught by professional instructors from various responder disciplines, including police, fire, rescue, DOT and tow personnel.

TIM instructors are dedicated to roadside survival. The course’s comprehensive material is intended to make towers and responders better aware and better prepared to 10 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

For trainers, the detailed information in the Train-theTrainer course improves your level of instruction and reinforces the safety practices you already teach.

understand the dangers of working roadside incidents. It’s designed to transform the way workers think about where they stand and work.

This course is not “death by PowerPoint,” but more an interactive session that provides TIM standards and best practices with its main focus on improving responder safety.

TIM Resources Katie Belmore, HNTB Corp.

425-450-2572; KBelmore@HNTB.com.

Paul Jodoin, TIM Program Manager 202-366-5465; Paul.Jodoin@dot.gov.

Kimberley Vásconez, Emergency Transportation Operations Team Leader 202-366-1559; kimberley.vasconez@dot.gov.

continue to page 14

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Check Out What’s NEW and HOT! Easy Maintenance Dolly In The Ditch Towing Products’ new SLS Speed Dolly features the new Speed Lube Spindle for easy maintenance. In the SLS system, grease is pumped directly into the spindle with a grease gun. The grease travels through and forces the old grease out of the SLS grease cap. This system allows easy lubrication maintenance to the SLS Speed Dolly and forces old grease out at the same time.

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www.intheditch.com Number 200 on Reader Card

Portable Tow Truck DVR New from Next Generation Tool is a portable DVR for recording what actually happens on the road.

It features high-definition quality, loop recording, motion activation, wide view area and a color screen. It is multi-functional as a DVR, digital camera and microphone. It operates on 12V or battery and has automatic on/off function.

Kalyn Siebert’s 55-ton Extendable Hydraulic Removable Gooseneck trailer deck extends from 26’ to 44’, has a 20” deck height at rated capacity, multiple rear axle configurations, 6” of ground clearance and a five-position gooseneck height.

Versatile, Changeable 55-ton HRG Trailer

www.nextgentool.com Number 201 on Reader Card

K GoJAK Adds Weight, Casters GoJAK, a combined foot-operated mechanical jack and car dolly from Zendex Tool Corp., recently added new load capacities and casters for several models.

• Model 4520 (replaces Model 4500) handles tires as wide as 20” and up to 36” tall, with weight capacity to 1,125 lbs. each (up to 4,500 lbs. with four units).

• Model 5211 (replaces Model 5000) is

designed for tires as wide as 11” and up to 34” tall, with weight to 1,300 lbs. each (up to 5,200 lbs. with four units).

• Model 6313 works on tires as wide as 13” and up to 36” tall, with weight to 1,574 lbs. each (up to 6,300 lbs. with four units). Accessories include wall and tow truck mounting brackets and weather protection covers.

alyn Siebert’s new 55-ton Extendable Hydraulic Removable Gooseneck trailer, model KSHRGEX-3-55T, is designed for a variety of heavy-duty payloads. The deck extends from 26’ to 44’ to haul short or long payloads. Two lockable stops at 18”, two at 24” and two at 60” allow the deck to be set to precisely the correct length.

The 20” deck height at rated capacity means the trailer can handle taller loads, while the 110,000-lbs. weight capacity in 12’ (closed) allows for more concentrated loads.

The trailer is designed for a 24” flip neck extension

to achieve a 132” swing clearance. Multiple rear axle configurations—3, 3+1, 3+2, 4, 4+1, 5—give operational flexibility.

“This trailer is all about payload diversity,” said Ryan Rockafellow, Kalyn Siebert managing director. “Customers can quickly adjust their trailer to handle just about any load.”

The Extendable model enables front-loading of equipment. A 6” ground clearance provides a low center of gravity for load stability, and the five-position gooseneck height allows the deck to be raised or lowered depending on the clearance needed.

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www.zendextool.com Number 202 on Reader Card

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Work the non-traffic Side–Stay Safe!

TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • 13

TOW BOSS continued from page 10

Distracted drivers are the ones who aren’t paying attention to the road; those are the people who are killing responders.

Root Problems The Move Over laws: do they really influence the way motorists view your roadside safety? Most towers know that Move Over laws are ineffective, because motorists generally fail to move over or slow down when approaching active crash scenes or work areas. While motorist response isn’t immediate, the legislation behind TIM and distracted driving is important because it provides the mechanism to enforce penalties on violating drivers. Education and enforcement have been lacking. To that point, I challenge law enforcement to step up whatever efforts it takes to educate and enforce Move Over to its fullest intent and prosecution.

“Move Over laws in some states, including California, do work for the attentive drivers that are aware of it,,” said Larry Wooster, Chief of Traffic Management Command Operations and Incident Management, Sacramento, Calif. “More and more, I see drivers changing lanes or applying the brakes as they pass vehicles on the highway with their emergency lights on.

“The problem is distracted drivers are the ones who aren’t paying attention to the road and/or are under the influence. Those are the people who are killing responders. While many Americans actually move over and slow down thanks to laws enacted in most states, they are ineffective when it comes to drivers that are inattentive or under the influence.”

The operative word in Wooster’s statement is “attentive.”

14 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

The topic of traffic-side safety isn’t exclusive to towers. In the early 1990s, as then-editor of “Police Magazine,” I covered the subject of non-traffic-side safety for America’s law enforcement community about traffic stops. Today, protocol for police-initiated traffic stops has mostly changed to approaching from the non-traffic side for obvious reasons. Towers could heed those valuable lessons.

My Challenge Here’s what I’m after: To all towers and owners, I challenge you, I dare you, to attend a national TIM course.

I challenge towers to increase your roadside safety awareness. Only you can make changes as to the way you work at towing and recovery scenes.

Drivers, if your company doesn’t send you, take the course on your time. TIM is an investment in yourself as well as your family and your community. If you’re not TIM trained, you’re oblivious as to the realities of distracted driving. I became a TIM instructor because I believe in the message it brings.

I challenge tow owners to attend (themselves) and send their operators, service drivers and dispatchers to a

This course may forever change the way you view working America’s roadways.

national TIM course. If you’re concerned about the safety and survival of your personnel, get excited about educating them in advanced roadside safety. If you’re still conducting service calls on the highways, you still actively place your personnel in harm’s way. Owners, don’t forget that a TIM certificate in your employee’s file is in your company’s best interest when protecting your liability.

I challenge professional tow trainers to attend the two-day TIM Trainthe-Trainer course and become a certified trainer capable of spreading the word. The detailed information gleaned from the Train-the-Trainer course improves your level of instruction and reinforces those best safety practices you already teach. It doesn’t matter what entity you teach for, or if you’re your own trainer, TIM reinforces best practices for professional towers.

I challenge state tow associations to extend a concentrated plea directing their membership toward the fourhour national TIM course with open invitation that non-member companies attend an association-hosted course. Because the power of membership is significant, associations have direct access to membership and could have substantial impact on increasing the numbers of TIM attendees.

Who Isn’t Vulnerable?

It’s my vision that all towers, regardless as to what type of tow niche served, attend this course and receive potentially life-saving information. If you’ve been towing a long time, you need this course as a reminder that you’re vulnerable too, even though you’ve got all that “so-called” experience.

This course serves all roadways and roadside disciplines assisting the motoring public; attendees come away with renewed and heightened awareness of what on-scene responsibilities and survival techniques are available.

Leaving your survival to the motoring public is an irresponsible—too often deadly—mistake.

In California alone, there are currently more than 300 TIM instructors now available to teach the course; get-

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It’s preferable to get your TIM certificate vs. your obituary.

ting into class isn’t difficult. What’s difficult is getting tow owners, tow operators and support personnel to take the course. Forget those excuses that have kept you from going to class in the first place. Get to class and reprogram your mind to a better way of viewing the enemy.

As of this writing, there were 43 states actively training; the remaining states are expected to have TIM Trainthe-Trainer courses by the end of 2014.

Information for your state is available by contacting your state’s training director. You’ll find that federal, state and municipal law enforcement agencies are soon to require that contract tow companies mandate their responding personnel attend TIM. (In California, CHP rotation towers are required to attend a four-hour TIM course by July 1, 2016).

Because there’s no cost beyond time spent, there’s no reason not to 16 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

attend. I’m challenging towers to get off their butts and attend and forget the excuses of the past. I’d like to see that (minimally) 500 towers from each state attend a TIM program by year’s end. That’s an accessible figure if everyone gets involved. Why not make it a state-by-state race?

I found TIM to be one of the best reality-based, life-safety courses I’ve taken in 50 years of a combined law enforcement, towing and military career. I want professional towers and industry leaders to believe there’s a better way for towers and roadway workers to possibly escape being killed.

This course may forever change the way you view working America’s roadways; that’s the intent of TIM. I’d much rather see you attain a TIM certificate vs. reading your obituary.

When you receive your certificate, email me a copy at rreschran@aol.com and tell me you’re TIM certified. I’ll

believe it when I see it. The time for change is now. This is an industrywide challenge; are you smart enough to accept it?

Author’s note: Special thanks to Katie Belmore, Traffic Engineer at HNTB Corp. in Seattle, Wash., and Larry Wooster, Chief of Traffic Management Command Operations and Incident Management, Sacramento, Calif., for their support and guidance in bringing this story to print.

Editor’s note: Statements made within this column are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of American Towman Media, the national TIM program, any auto club, training course or towing and recovery association.

Operations Editor Randall C. Resch is a retired California police officer and has been in the towing and recovery industry for more than 40 years as an owner, manager, consultant and trainer. He writes weekly for TowIndustryWeek.com, and is a 2014 inductee into the International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame.

Email Randy at rreschran@aol.com.

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Work the non-traffic Side–Stay Safe!

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TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • 17

Online Wrecker Auctions Debut To w L o t . c o m founder Joe Richard has created an online auction platform for tow trucks with Tow Trucks of America, a place for tow truck owners to buy and Joe Richard sell through a lightning-round online auction.

The TTA auction platform (TowTrucksofAmerica.com or onlinewreckerauctions.com) is different than TowLot.com, said Brandon Richard, president. Each auction will represent trucks from many sellers vs. just one company, he said. “As with TowLot.com, though, the buyer pays the seller direct and Tow Trucks of America is not involved in the sales transaction.”

There is a $75 fee for posting a truck, which puts the vehicle into an auction’s

18 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

virtual showroom, displaying photos and essential information. The seller only pays TTA a sales fee when the truck is sold at auction. The $300 deposit is refunded if the truck does not have a winning bidder, or if the sale falls through. The seller will also be billed a single-digit commission fee on the truck sale.

There is a $300 deposit to bid on a truck; TTA retains the fee from winning bidders, or refunds it to non-winners.

“The fee system screens out frivolous bidding and protects the integrity of the bidding process for the serious buyers,” Richard said.

Sellers are now able to post trucks at TowTrucksofAmerica.com for the inaugural auction on October 30.

Donation Leads to Fine Former Irwindale, Calif., Mayor David “Chico” Fuentes has agreed to pay a $2,000 fine after the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission found

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that he violated campaign finance laws in 2012.

The FPPC found Fuentes’ son solicited and accepted a donation from Royal Coaches & Towing, a local business who was under consideration for a municipal towing contract at the time.

Investigators found that Fuentes’ son, at the advice of a guidance counselor, solicited donations for his college tuition, according to FPPC documents.

The towing company gave him $1,000 towards his college tuition, which was higher than the legal limit that a company or person may gift to a public official in one year, according to California's Political Reform Act. Because Fuentes' son is between 18 and 23 years old, is a student, lives with his father when not at school and doesn’t provide more than a half of his own support, the FPPC determined the donation to be a gift to the former mayor. Source: www.pasadenastarnews.com

Miller Industries Gives $10k to Museum During a recent meeting at the International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum in Chattanooga, Tenn., Miller Industries’ Randy Olson, VP of marketing, and Sarah-Beth Camp, assistant marketing director, presented the museum board with a check for $10,000 towards the museum’s building fund (www.towingmuseum.com).

“We are pleased to present this check as part of our ongoing commitment in assisting the museum preserve the history of our industry and would encourage all towers to visit and become a member of the museum,” Olson said.

The money was generated from recent rotator seminars that Miller Industries (www.millerind.com) held at the museum’s Learning Center.

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TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • 19

Tire Service Tips

S

ervicing flat tires makes up a significant portion of the work performed by some towing companies. According to Chris Jennrich, Automotive Services Operations Manager for the Automobile Club of Southern California, the core clubs of ACSC handled 817,878 tire service calls in 2013, 12.3 percent of the year’s total service calls.

At the same time, tire service is becoming increasingly complex with the technologies being used on latemodel cars. Unibody designs, air suspensions, hidden and temporary spares, special lug bolts and special tools are common on modern cars.

Tow operators have to stay informed—and know where to get information when needed—to perform tire service effectively, efficiently and safely.

When information is needed, there are several resources available to the towers, including the vehicle owner’s manual, AAA Towing & Service Manual and an online search. If you have a smartphone or other device with Internet access, you have a potential wealth of information in the field.

some vehicles can be difficult. Some manufacturers have found creative solutions for maximizing space. If you are not sure where the spare tire is located, check the owner’s manual or AAA Tow & Service Manual.

Some vehicles have the spare tire stored under the body of the vehicle where it is exposed to the weather and can accumulate rust and dirt. A wire brush easily cleans rust and dirt from the rim before installing it on a vehicle.

Failure to remove this rust or dirt can keep the spare tire from seating properly and create an unsafe condition.

Make sure the spare tire has the proper lug pattern, is inflated to the proper air pressure and is safe to use.

Some newer vehicles aren’t equipped with a spare tire or a spare tire is optional. These may be

No. 1: Safety As with all tow and service calls, safety is the first priority. Make sure your customer and any passengers are in a safe location and that it is safe to change the tire where the vehicle is located. If the vehicle is in an unsafe location, move it to a safer location if possible. It’s generally safer to tow the vehicle off of the freeway before attempting to change the tire. When changing a flat tire near traffic is a must, always keep an eye on traffic as much as possible.

Once the customer and the scene are safe, before taking any of your equipment off of the truck, make sure the vehicle is equipped with a good spare tire. Finding the spare tire on 20 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

Plastic caps covering lug nuts require an Allen wrench to gain access to actual lug nuts.

by Terry Abejuela

equipped with run-flat tires or a tire sealant-inflation kit that may be able to fix the flat tire long enough to be driven to a repair shop. There may also be restrictions on maximum speed and distance when driving on a tire filled with sealant. If you are not confident that it is safe to drive on the tire … offer a tow. Of course if the flat tire is shredded, the vehicle will have to be towed.

Unsafe Spare If the vehicle is equipped with an unsafe spare tire, notify your customer and offer a tow. If your customer refuses a tow and requests the spare tire be installed, make sure to document this on your invoice. If the vehicle is equipped with a temporary spare, notify your customer of any distance or speed restrictions indicated on the temporary tire.

Check to make sure you will be able to remove the flat tire. Many vehicles are equipped with anti-theft locking hubcaps or lug nuts. Some vehicles require a key to remove the lock assembly on the rear bumper that restricts access to the spare tire crank mechanism. Make sure your customer has the key to remove the locks.

(They may not even know that a key is required—let alone where it is.) The key is commonly kept in the glove box

Aluminum race-style floor jack and 2-ton floor jack.

Philly Dispatcher Took $35k A former Philadelphia, Pa., police civilian radio dispatcher pleaded guilty to bribery charges, admitting she took money to circumvent the city’s efforts to try to curb notorious and dangerous tow truck “wreck chasers.”

Former police dispatcher Dorian Parsley admitted she was the wreck chasers’ inside connection, taking more than $35,000 in bribes.

“Miss Parsley admitted that she accepted cash bribe payments from tow truck operators in exchange for advance information on the location of accidents or wherever tow trucks were needed by Philadelphia police,” said a prosecutor.

Parsley subverted the police department’s rotational tow assignment program and used her personal phone to text the confidential information to towers who paid the bribes. Source: www.philadelphia.cbs.local.com.

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Number 161 on Reader Card Work the non-traffic Side–Stay Safe!

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TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • 21

Lift bags and wheel chocks.

Standard and metric lug wrenches, air gauges, hubcap tool and valve stem tool.

wrench, metric lug wrench, hubcap tool, air tank, wire brush, wheel chocks, safety glasses and gloves.

Other equipment that may be beneficial include an air compressor, impact gun, torque wrench, valve stem tool, air lift bags, hose reels, CO2 air systems, lug nut cap remover and hubcap and wheel lock removal kit.

Procedure

or spare tire’s tool kit. There are tools available for removing some of these locks when you don’t have a key.

Having the proper tools is essential to performing this service effectively,

efficiently and safely.

To perform flat tire service, a truck should be equipped with minimum equipment that includes a floor jack (minimum 2-ton rating), standard lug

Lug wrench used as a second-class lever to lift the spare.

22 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

Prepare the vehicle for the tire change by placing an automatic transmission in park and a standard transmission in low gear, apply the parking brake and place wheel chocks on the tire that is diagonally across from the flat.

If a vehicle is equipped with air suspension, most manufacturers recommend that the air suspension be turned off prior to lifting the vehicle with a floor jack. Be sure you find the proper procedures to turn off the air suspension; some just require that the key not be in the ignition when the tire is changed.

Make sure you are wearing gloves when changing a flat tire. Steel belts poking through the rubber or glass embedded in the tread can cause hand injuries.

Improper placement of the floor jack is a common cause of damage to the unibody. Make sure you use the proper jack point. Some vehicles are clearly marked where the jack should be placed. If it is not clearly marked, check a manual or on the label with the spare tire.

When placing the floor jack, make sure that no portion of the jack protrudes into a traffic lane. Place the floor jack in a way that it will roll under the vehicle as the jack is lifted without tip-

Number 110 on Reader Card

Number 213 on Reader Card Work the non-traffic Side–Stay Safe!

TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • 23

This air suspension turn-off switch is in the trunk.

ping to one side. Raise the jack just until it makes correct contact with the lift point.

Use the proper tools to remove the hub cap or lug nut caps. Some hubcaps are very expensive and can easily be damaged by improper tools. When the hubcap is removed, place it down in a safe place with the back of the hubcap facing the ground so it will not be damaged. If removing lug nut caps, make sure to place them someplace safe so they do not roll away.

Watch out for hubcaps that have fake lug nuts on them.

If you don’t check closely, you may damage the hubcap trying to remove fake lug nuts. Some vehicles have plastic caps covering the lug nuts and require a special tool in the tool kit to remove these caps. Some vehicles are equipped with a small cap that just covers the lug nuts and may require a special tool to remove.

Slightly loosen each lug nut with the proper tool before lifting the vehicle. Once the lug nuts are slightly loosened, raise the floor jack until the flat tire is high enough off of the

A tray for lug nuts is on the floor jack.

24 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

ground for the inflated spare to fit in. Roll the flat tire to a safe location until you’re ready to store it away.

Use good lifting techniques to lift the spare tire out of its storage space. Some spare tires can be very heavy and lifting them out of their storage location can put you in an awkward position and potentially cause a back injury. Likewise, use good lifting techniques to lift the spare tire into position to be installed on the vehicle. The use of a lug wrench, a pry bar or jack handle as a second-class lever under the tire will make it easier to lift it into position.

Start the lug nuts by hand and tighten them in a star pattern using a lug wrench or impact gun. Once the floor jack is lowered, the lug nuts should be retightened. I always recommend that the customer take the vehicle to their mechanic as soon as possible to repair the flat tire so they are not driving without a spare tire and to have the lug nuts on the installed spare tire checked with a torque wrench to make sure they are properly tightened.

Valve stem tool.

Some tow companies have a policy of not installing the hubcap on the mounted spare tire due to liability. I agree that there is liability and I try to avoid installing the hub cap if possible; however, I also believe in providing the best quality of service to the customer. I recommend that you follow your company policy. If there is no company policy on this issue, it should be discussed with the manager or owner of the company ahead of time.

On some vehicles the flat tire will not fit in the spare tire holder. The 2010-’13 Acura ZDX is equipped with a tire bag and securing strap. The flat tire should be placed in the tire bag and strapped in the cargo area using one of the tie downs.

Some vehicles may require specific lug bolts to mount the spare tire. If non-factory wheels are installed on the vehicle, you may need to locate the specific lug Terry Abejuela has 30+ years of bolts to install the light-duty towing-and-recovery spare tire. This is experience. He is also a light-duty level 1 instructor for the California common on some Tow Truck Association since 1998.

Mercedes-Benz and BMW models.

Number 126 on Reader Card

The

Hot Seat

by Steve Calitri

in Police Rotation

AT Puts Critical Questions to AutoReturn's CEO

M

ention the name AutoReturn to certain tow business owners and their blood begins to boil.

They feel AR has encroached on their business territory in a negative manner.

For others, AR represents positive change in the politically driven realm of municipal towing. The San Franciscobased company provides a third-party dispatch system and towing rotation management for police departments.

AR was the first company to enter this field, thus becoming the first middle man in the municipal towing business, 26 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

We went from relative obscurity a few years ago to a known entity because of our continued successes.

contracting with the city of San Francisco 10 years ago.

This interview covers where AR is today in the market and delves into the areas of controversy surrounding the company’s handling of police towing rotation. The following questions and answers between American Towman Editor-in-Chief Steve Calitri (AT) and AutoReturn CEO John Wicker (JW) are a result of both phone and email conversations.

AT: AutoReturn is creating quite a stir these days. Why is that?

JW: We went from relative obscurity a few years ago to a known entity because of our continued successes in helping municipalities and police successfully address their towing issues.

The issues are largely agency issues, trying to administer their towing programs.

The core capabilities of professional towing companies have been and remain at the center of this important service.

Some people think we are undermining that. Quite the opposite is true.

the towing business and reduces costs across many departments. We seek out local, reputable, professionally operated towing companies to be our partners and form a seamless fleet of tow trucks capable of handling the job. We manage all logistics from beginning to end, automating most of it with our world-class cloud-based systems.

Police and municipalities like our system because it saves them time, money and human resources.

AT: In which cities, counties, and highway authorities does AutoReturn now manage towing dispatch and rotation?

JW: We manage the municipal towing operations in San Francisco, San Diego, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Baltimore County and several counties in Pennsylvania as part of a pilot program for the state police. Our ARIES cloud-based software is used in Concord (Calif.), but police manage the dispatch using our tools.

We use all sorts of models including closest-to, closest facility, rotation, zone, rotation within zone, closest-to within

AT: Give us an example of how contracts may be different as to AutoReturn’s role in the towing and impound process.

San Diego vs. Kansas City, for example.

JW: We customize solutions for our clients based on their needs. San Diego and Kansas City are very similar from our perspective. In both, our technology and call center automate and expedite the towing process and the city pays us a $22-$23 fee per tow.

In San Diego, the AutoReturn program enabled new, qualified towing companies to tow vehicles to a smaller set of tow-company-managed facilities. The rates paid to the towing companies are set by the city and remain the same.

In Kansas City, all tows are delivered to a city-managed impound lot.

Before AutoReturn, low bids drove the rate paid to $40-$60 per light/medium-duty tow. AutoReturn worked with the city to set reasonable rates and now pays towers, on behalf of the city, $90 for light-duty tows and $175 for medium-duty tows. We pay much faster, too.

AT: What benefits does AutoReturn bring a city and its police department?

JW: AutoReturn takes cities out of Work the non-traffic Side–Stay Safe!

with the county to increase the rates paid the tow companies from $150 to $180 for a light-duty tow. Vehicles are towed to tow-company facilities.

In Indianapolis, prior to AutoReturn, towers bid against each other and pushed the referral fee to the city higher than the tow fee. We restored normalcy to that function and enabled the city’s goal of having more tow companies with the opportunity to participate.

I already mentioned the benefits to towers in Kansas City.

Every area has its own unique characteristics. AutoReturn benefits towers differently in each city, meeting their specialized, local, individual needs.

zone, and hybrid

AT: Describe the key features of the AutoReturn system that police departments like.

JW: Police departments like that AutoReturn creates a seamless fleet much larger than any one towing company can provide. The city gets a single, uncomplicated, point of contact and remarkable service levels.

approaches.

AT: What benefit is Auto Return bringing the to w ing ind ustry in each city it m anages?

JW: Every city is different.

In San Francisco, we nearly doubled the rates paid to the tow operators—from $42 to $80 today for the average light-duty tow, while measurably raising service levels to the city and citizens partnering with nearly all of the existing group of local tow operators. We collaborated with the towing companies so they got what they wanted: faster payment, no long waits at vehicle check-in, streamlined dispatch, open two-way communication to resolve issues.

In San Diego, we enabled the city to meet its goal of opening opportunities for new companies to provide towing and impound services. We didn’t pick the companies or set the rates there—the city did. Our logistics platform enables municipal and police agencies to meet their goals, whatever they may be.

In Baltimore County, we worked

AT: I understand with the AutoReturn system that the call is dispatched to the tower and tow truck nearest to the incident. Is that correct?

JW: Pure closest-to does not make sense in many cases for a variety of reasons. We do what our clients request and what makes sense in a given area. We use all sorts of models including closest-to, closest facility, rotation, zone, rotation within zone, closest-to within zone, and hybrid approaches. Sometimes we dispatch directly to equipment in the field and other times we dispatch to tow-company dispatchers and they make the determination of which equipment is sent. Often times, the tow company chooses how it receives dispatch requests—via smartphone, regular mobile or landline. In San Diego we launched using a rotation-within-zone system, but moved to closest-to within zone after the SDPD analyzed information our data scientists provided showing the change would result in reduced response times and a nearly identical distribution of tows amongst TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • 27

Founder and CEO of AutoReturn, John Wicker graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.S. in Computer Science. He started his career as a change management consultant for Price Waterhouse working with Fortune 500 clients. His consulting work exposed him to a variety of companies where he learned about different industries, professional management, and technology. Wicker then transitioned to become Vice President at Redleaf, a venture capital firm, where he learned how to create successful teams and successful companies. He has used these skills and perspectives to build the team at AutoReturn from both inside and outside the towing industry.

authorized companies. That shift reduced on-scene time by 4.6 minutes, left tow company revenue the same, while shorter trips reduced tow company costs and emissions.

AT: Describe the k ey features o f the Auto Return system that to w ers lik e.

JW: The features towers like include higher rates, flexible and more efficient communication methods, shorter hauls, less fuel, less driver time, and the consistent, fair access to law enforcement tows.

AT: One of the loudest criticisms heard about AutoReturn is that its contracts will pay a city a significant fee per tow at the expense of the tower. Is this a justified criticism?

JW: No. Some cities do want revenue from this service. As I have explained, it’s not at the expense of the tower. We are strong advocates for the towing service providers.

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28 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

AT: Yet, in the Q&A session of your seminar in Las Vegas, you took a lot of flak over the San Francisco contract. You stated that the tower is paid on average $80 for a light-duty tow there. According to the towing rates sheet published by the city, the motorist is charged $483 for towing and administrative fees. It seems that both the city and AutoReturn are taking an unjustifiable cut. Is this perception off base?

JW: This perception is off base.

Like many things in San Francisco, it is very expensive to do business here.

After the city gets its share to cover the fully loaded cost of towing enforcement and we pay our towing partner, we retain less than $130 of that amount. With this we operate two massive 24-hour by 365-day facilities in a hypercompetitive market for real estate and other services.

The important metric here is towers made $42 before AutoReturn and now they make nearly 100-percent more, $80 for an average light-duty tow. The average distance is less than

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Our contracts allow us to

ble, honest, professionally operated tow companies of all shapes and sizes.

We never select our partners based on lowest bid.

terminate for convenience, but we have never had this happen. two miles to the scene, takes 12.17 minutes (July data) to arrive on site, and clears quickly and efficiently at our downtown facility. We prepare payment every Thursday for Friday direct deposit for the tows performed during the previous seven days. We supply, on average, over 4,000 tows to each of our partners each year. There are other towing companies lined up to join our network. We, and the SFMTA and SFPD, are thrilled with the service levels our current network provides. As a result, we have not added companies since we started over 10 years ago, protecting this important revenue stream for our partners.

AT: Auto Return enters into fiveyear co ntracts w ith its client-cities.

What k ind o f security is o ffered to w ers? Fo r exam p le, can a to w er be term inated fro m the ro tatio n list w itho ut no tice and w itho ut exp ressed reaso n?

JW: Our client agreements range from one-year terms to five years, with agency options to renew, and most have “termination for convenience” clauses. We believe our security comes from delivering superior service. We look for like-minded partners. Our contracts allow us to terminate for convenience, but we have never had this happen in more than 10 years of operation. If you are honest and can live up to reasonable standards, you will have a long-term successful working relationship with AutoReturn.

AT: Ho w d o es Auto Return co llect its d isp atch and m anagem ent fees?

JW: Our admin fee is usually a fee item added to the tow bill. In other cases, the city pays it based on efficiencies gained by working with us.

AT: Another concern among tow business owners is that AutoReturn’s policy of presenting a city a program that puts significant revenue into city coffers from towing fees is bad business for the towing industry; that there is no justification for the city to encroach on towing services revenue, even more so with a third-party dispatcher managing rotation for the city. What is positive for the towing industry about this policy?

JW: That’s not what we present.

Governments everywhere are looking for ways to deliver services more efficiently to citizens. Some use low-bid contracts that pit tow companies against each other and hurt the industry. We are advocates for the towing community in every region we operate. Towing companies get higher fees and operate in a more efficient manner when we provide the logistics support for this important service.

AT: Are all towers paid the same rates in a particular city?

JW: Yes, rates are standardized.

Sometimes there are different rates paid based on geographic areas. But we don’t contract with one company at one rate and another company at another rate for the same geographic area.

AT: What q ualificatio ns m ust a to w co m p any have to be o n the ro tatio n w ith Auto Return?

JW: We choose to work with capa-

AT: There is a perception out there that AutoReturn is another kind of motor club. Why do you think that is and what is the difference between your business

30 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

AT: How does AutoReturn formulate the rates towers are paid from city to city?

JW: Most often, this is set by the city and we are not involved. We do go to bat for the towing community when the rates are low or haven’t been raised in a long time. Many times we are in a better position to get this done as we are advocating for our partners rather than ourselves.

model and a typical motor club’s model?

JW: We do have similarities but the differences are clear. The motor clubs came in and reduced rates paid to tow companies using their bulk purchasing power. We don’t do that. We never reduce rates paid towers, and almost always raise them. We are proud advocates for the towing community.

AT: Generally, are m o re to w ers o n ro tatio n w ith Auto Return than p revio usly, befo re Auto Return tak es o ver?

If so , w hy?

JW: As I’ve said before, every city has different needs. In some cities like San Francisco and Baltimore County, we work with roughly the same number as before where as in San Diego, Kansas City and Indianapolis, we work with more.

If the current set of tow companies can deliver good service to the agency, we do not go in and add companies for the sake of adding companies.

There should be a balance between tow volume, geographic area, and the size of the fleet. If we work with too few, response times can suffer. If we work with too many, our business may not matter to our towing partners. Our goal is to meet the goals of the agency while creating the least amount of change to the network.

AT: Can Auto Return gro w w ith a p ro gram that m ust either p ay to w ers less o r charge m o to rists m o re, if AR and m unicip al revenue is to be realized ? It w o uld seem that such a strate g y is f ra u g h t w ith p o litic a l land m ines, bro ught o n by either the to w ers o r the m o to ring p ublic.

We don’t contract with one company at one rate and another company at another rate for the same geographic area.

Number 101 on Reader Card

JW: Absolutely. It should be clear by now that in our model, we are not cutting into tow companies’ business—we are improving it. We’re doing things that the agency did previously, just with much more efficiently using better tools.

Governments are looking for ways to be more efficient and will pay for that benefit.

AT: In municipalities across America, established tow companies have longstanding relationships with city politicians and police chiefs. Does AutoReturn’s approach to managing rotation respect these relationships, or is it simply a fresh slate on rotation when AutoReturn comes in?

JW: If the agency says they are happy with the current set of tow companies, we do nothing more than take over the city’s administrative func-

tions and keep everything exactly the same as it was. For example, in Baltimore County we automated the same zone-based approach that had been used for years before AutoReturn. It does not serve us financially or operationally to make change for change’s sake. It’s the old phrase, “If it isn’t broken, why fix it?” We plan to do a joint announcement in the near future with several towing companies implementing our model in a new geography with minimal impact to the status quo.

The police get what they want. The towing companies get what they want.

It’s a win for everyone.

AT: Ho w m any cities and highw ay autho rities d o es Auto Return exp ect to be m anaging d isp atch and ro tatio n fo r w ithin the next five years?

JW: Based on what we are hearing in the market, many more than we are in today. We are excited about the future where we assist agencies and improve the livelihoods of tow companies in many new communities.

That’s what we’re all about.

Editor’s Note AT welcomes letters from tow business owners in direct response to the content of the above interview, for publication in the November issue. Please email the editor at bdooley@towman.com before October 1 for consideration, and put “AutoReturn Response” in the subject line.

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32 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

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Number 206 on Reader Card Work the non-traffic Side–Stay Safe!

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TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • 33

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AD INDEX Page # RS# AAA 31 101 Access Tools 51 102 Advantage Funding 17 106 Akins Body & Carrier Sales 25 126 Atlantic Emergency Solutions N 79 153 Atlanta Wrecker & Carrier Sales S 75 179 Austin Hinds S 78 184 Austin Insurance MW 77 105 AutoReturn 55 169 B/A Products 19 108 Beacon Software 53 136 B & Z Sales S 77 170 Century 4, 5 143 Chase Insurance Agency S 77 180 Chevron Commercial 32 154 Crouch’s Wrecker & Equip. Sales 63 177 Custer Products 58 128 Dan-Am/Sata Spray Equipment 61 164 Donnie Cruse Award N,S, W 76, MW 78 206 Dual-Tech 62 192 Dynamic Towing Equipment & Mfg. 83 165 Eartec 19 133 Elizabeth Truck Center 59 123 Equipment Sales & Service N 75 152 Extreme Toys 33 135 Ginn Carrier & Wrecker Sales 17 125 Hanks Insurance Group W 76 218 Insurance Auto Auctions (IAA) 23 110 Intek Truck Eq. Finance & Lease 21 145 Kavanaugh’s Towing Equipment MW 75 134 Landoll 28 174 Lift & Tow 34 139

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Fax to: 888-847-6035 Page #

Loganville Ford 60 MFR Express 23 Metro Tow Trucks N 75 New England Truckmaster N 79 North American BanCard 15 NRC Industries 7 Nussbaum Equipment N 77, MW 76 OMG National 54 Pacific General Insurance Agency MW 75 R.P.M. Equipment S 75 Santander Bank 2 Santiam Enterprise W 79 Savatech 32 Silver Star Award 33 Smyrna Truck Center S 79 Snappy Box 21 Sonetics Corporation 21 Specialty Vehicle 84 Synergy Truck Equipment W 75 The Order of Towman MW 76, W 77 TowBook 63 Tow Industry Week 33, 59 Towman Hero Award N, S, W, MW 80 Tow Truckers of America (TTA) 11 TowMate 18 Twin Cities Wrecker Sales S 79 MW 77 TwinState Equipment 29 VTS S 76 Wasatch Truck Equipment W 75 Worldwide Equipment 59 Zacklift International 54

September 2014

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207 213 137 171 109 111 168 215 193 205 103 141 118 206 113 161 172 195 117 206 115 206 206 122 191 138 157 197 162 151 121

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$100/$150.....................................................$ _________ One vehicle per class/three per company. Trucks enter Fri., stay in hall until Sun., 5 pm $100: ❏ Light (pre-2013)

❏ Light (2013-14) ❏ Med ❏ Vintage (Pre-1985) ❏ Service/Support Truck $150: ❏ HD Single Axle ❏ HD Tandem ❏ Rotator ❏ Carrier ❏ CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY DINNER & CONFERENCE Thurs. 11/20, 6:30 pm. Sponsored by American Towman Magazine, Renaissance Hotel; Surf ‘n Turf Dinner & Legendary Captains Long Table Limit: 2 per co. # of People ___ $75 PP ...$________

❏ A.T. WELCOME CRUISE Thurs., 11/20, 6:30 pm Board, Cruise 7 pm, Dinner & Show. # of People ___ $75 PP .....$_________ ❏ TOWMAN SKEET SHOOT Fri., 9 am, 11/21. Includes fees, lunch & transp. # of People ___ $75 PP ..........$_________ ❏ RECOVERY CONFERENCE Balt. Conv. Ctr., Fri., 11/21, 12:00 noon, Donnie Cruse Awards Luncheon.

All recovery specialists welcome. Co-Sponsored by B/A Products & AW Direct # of People ___ $35 per person ....$________ " ' # Sponsored by Savatech. Fri., 11/21: 9 pm # of People ___ $20 PP..$________

❏ CALITRI’S CUBA-VIP Passport

Passport includes: (1) Premium AT Cigar, (1) Premium Cigar & Special Gift from Savatech, (1) Premium-Aged Cognac Drink Ticket

❏ FESTIVAL NIGHT Dinner, Medal Ceremony, Howl at the Moon, Renaissance Hotel, Sat., 11/22, 7pm # of People ___ $55 PP....$________ ❏ AT SUBSCRIPTION W/EXPO BEER STEIN* Order: ❏ 1 year/one stein: $50 ❏ 2 years/two steins $100 ......$________ *AT Expo Beer Stein(s) must be picked up Friday through Sunday at the AT Store inside Convention Center.

❏ BULL & PIG ROAST-FREE ❏ INTERNATIONAL FEAST - FREE

HOTEL RESERVATION REQUEST

TOTAL $_________

at : Sponsor: Miller Industries, Fri., 11/21: 7:30 pm #_______ people Sunday, 11/23, 4:00 pm at Baltimore Convention Center #_______ people

PAYMENT INFO:

❏ Credit Card #:

Exp. Date:

Name on credit card:

❏ Check(s) Enclosed $______

Signature: (Registration, Event & Item fees payable to AT Exposition)

Make out separate hotel check to Visit Baltimore/American Towman if not using credit card (1st night amount only)

❏ Hotel check enclosed $_____________ ❏ Guarantee reservation to credit card above

Arrival Date:______________, 2014 - Depart Date: _______________, 2014

Special Requests ____________________________________________________________________________

Renaissance view

If reserving more than one room please list names for each room: # of Rooms __________ # of Guests in each room ___________ # of beds _________ Room #1___________________________________________ Room #2____________________________________________ Room #3__________________________________________ HOTEL CHOICE - Please write in your 1st, 2nd, & 3rd choice hotels below. You will be emailed your confirmation.

___Renaissance Harborplace Hotel • $179 Sgl/Dbl AMERICAN TOWMAN HEADQUARTERS HOTEL, 4-Star, rooms w/harborview, fitness center, restaurant/bar, connected to Mall. Two blocks from Conv. Ctr. CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY, FESTIVAL NIGHT AND TOWMAN ORDER CEREMONY TAKE PLACE HERE! GUESTS RECEIVE FREE INTERNET. SHOW YOUR BADGE AND RECEIVE 10% OFF FOOD / MEAL PURCHASES AT H OTEL RESTAURANTS AND ROOM SERVICE. ___Marriott Inner Harbor • $177 Sgl/Dbl One block from Conv. Ctr., fitness center, restaurant. ! & ! ! $ $ & " $& " ___Days Inn Inner Harbor • $127 Sgl/Dbl Across from Conv. Ctr., bar & grill, fitness ctr.

___Sheraton Inner Harbor • $175 Sgl/Dbl, $195 T/Q One block from Conv. Ctr. with a catwalk, indoor pool, fitness center.

___Holiday Inn Inner Harbor • $136 Sgl/Dbl One block from Conv. Ctr., indoor pool, fitness center.

___Lord Baltimore Hotel • $129 Sgl/Dbl Two blocks from Conv. Ctr., bar & grill, fitness center.

___Hilton Baltimore • $192 Sgl/Dbl, $209 T, $229 Q Next to Conv. Ctr. with a Catwalk, pool, fitness center.

___Hyatt Regency • $170 Sgl/Dbl, $195 T One block from Harbor and two blocks to Conv. Ctr., fitness center.

___Royal Sonesta Harbor Court • $169 Sgl/Dbl, $189 T 4-Star Hotel on Harbor. Two blocks to Conv. Ctr., fitness center, restaurants.

Views of Inner Harbor from Light Street location.

Number 102 on Reader Card

The Tears of a Clown

by Mark Lacek

S

omeone said to me the other day, “You cannot argue with stupid!” The full quote, widely attributed to Mark Twain, is “You can’t argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.”

Occasionally, in my line of work, I run up against some real “brain surgeons.” I would like to share with you a couple of those stories.

Sexy Corvette There was one guy who signed up for a beautiful red Chevy Corvette. His payments were three times what he paid for his double-wide trailer per month. In his defense, he made the first four payments. Then he was evicted from his trailer for not paying his rent.

When I received the assignment to repossess the Corvette, the debtor was long gone. About 10 minutes of good phone work and I located his new place of business at a sex toy super store about 30 miles from my office.

Thirty minutes later, I had a set of keys made and I was on my way to pick up Bob, my trusted assistant.

“Hey Bob, we have a red Corvette to repo; let’s go, I have keys.”

About an hour later, I pulled into the parking lot of the sex store and, of 52 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

You can’t argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. course, no Corvette in sight. Earlier I had called the store and asked for him and he answered the phone. I thought for sure this would be a quick grab (no pun).

Bob looked at me and said, “WTF—over. … What are we doing here?”

Bob is ex-Air Force; when he says, “WTF—over,” it sounds like he’s talking on a handheld radio back in Vietnam.

“You gotta go inside sex world and ask him for his Corvette—over,” I said.

Bob replied it would be a cold day in hell before he would go into this place.

“I’m not going in there Bob, you’re the assistant—over.”

Just about when I have Bob convinced to enter the world of weird superstore, up drives the red Corvette and parks right next to my Ford pickup, and there’s some clown behind the wheel. A literal clown behind the wheel! Orange hair, the nose and a real honest-to-goodness clown suit with a big bow tie.

“WTF—over,” Bob said.

I told Bob that when the clown jumps out and walks into the sex store, I’ll get in the Corvette and drive it out.

“You better wait a few moments just in case 10 midget clowns pile out—over,” Bob said, laughing.

After a couple minutes, the clown got out of the Corvette and walked into the store.

As I drove this red beauty out of the parking lot and onto the four-lane road, I noticed the clown shoes on the passenger side floor.

The debtor came by the next day to pick up his personal property, and the shoes. He explained he was working as a clown on the weekends and at the sex superstore during the week.

We still laugh about the clown repo.

Dead Meat A few years ago we had an assignment on two trucks and a 53’ reefer

trailer in a small town deep in the central Florida country. One truck was a Mitsubishi medium-duty truck with a stake body. The other was a full-size Freightliner.

It was about one in the morning when we reached the town. It was a very foggy night; you could barely see 10 feet. The address was on a dimly lit country road. As we drove by the address, I noticed two medium-duty Mitsubishi trucks backed into the building. These were the only vehicles at the address. It was clear the business was closed, so I thought I would investigate further. I pulled off to the side of the road about 50 feet past the address.

With the file in one hand and a small flashlight in the other, I made my way to the trucks to check the VINs and decide my course of action. The fog was very thick as I stumbled my way towards the trucks.

The first truck was a match. I decided to walk around the truck to make sure it was roadworthy. As I walked to the back of the truck, I suddenly felt something hit me hard on the forehead. I touched my forehead and felt it was wet; I looked at my hand and, to my surprise, realized it was blood. I turned and looked to my left and through the fog I saw two great big eyes staring back at me from about a foot away. I must have jumped a foot in the air as I fell backwards onto the ground. Once I regained my senses, I took a closer look.

On the back of the truck were three dead cows.

Apparently I had bumped my head on a dead cow’s bloody front leg that was sticking out of the side of the truck. The company was in the business of supplying “green meat” to alligator farms. Cattle ranchers often have cows die in the field and must have the cows removed.

I regained my composure and decided not to take a truckload of dead cows back to our storage yard. (I did however think for a moment about repossessing the truck and dropping the cows off at a friend’s front yard as a joke, and laughed at the picture of what face he’d make. I decided against it when I figured my joke would surely get me into some kind of trouble.)

I wiped the blood from the fresh new lump on my forehead and headed home.

The next day I returned to the business and demanded they turn over the trucks, which they voluntarily surrendered … without the dead cows. I did find a business card tucked between the seats that said “We buy your dead cows.” The floor had a suspicious amount of empty .22-calibre brass casings.

Sometimes in the repossession business we have occasion to laugh at ourselves and at the crazy situations that float to the surface Repo Editor Mark Lacek has more than of a very dan30 years of recovery experience and is the former editor of “Professional gerous occuRepossessor” magazine. Email him at pation. Be Mark@commercialassetsolutions.com safe and make smart decisions.

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TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • 53

Number 121 on Reader Card

Number 215 on Reader Card

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CAA Donates to Survivor Fund The Canadian Automobile Association made its annual donation to the Survivor Fund of the International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Late last year, Jason Schaffer of Accel Towing and Transport in Brandon, Manitoba, was killed while hooking up a vehicle on the side of the Trans-Canada Highway when it moved forward, rolling over him while he was under the vehicle.

“CAA understands the risks faced every day by tow truck operators,” said Mike Mager, president of CAA Manitoba. “That is why we are pleased to do our part to help the families of those who have lost a loved one.”

CAA donates $2,250 annually to the Survivor Fund (www.thesurvivorfund.com).

In the case of the Schaffers, CAA also matched the Sur-

CAA Manitoba President Mike Mager presents a check to Director Randy Olson for the Survivor Trust Fund in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Behind them are (from left) Doug McLendon, AAA; Stephen Chan, AMA; and CAA representatives Yvonne Blais, Dave Steventon, Frank Fotia, Kevin Lane, Chris Stamp, Ken Cousin, Carl Wilson, Thomas Bayer and Bill Willard.

vivor Fund’s donation to the family dollar for dollar.

CAA Clubs continue to work with provincial authorities to promote the need for “Slow Down Move Over” legislation to protect all roadside assistant workers.

Virgo Adds Website Virgo Fleet Supplies’ new mobilefriendly website, www.virgofleet.com, is a showcase for its thousands of products for your tow truck. The company still offers a free full-color catalog of parts and accessories as well.

The company stocks equipment for towing and recovery, truck accessories and lighting, appearance products and maintenance parts. The company said it can fill special orders for unique custom chrome and stainless accessories, wheel simulators, aluminum rims, exhaust parts and more, and that most orders are filled within 24 hours.

Stertil-Koni Launches Blog Stertil-Koni’s new official blog, Vehicle Lift Connection.com, will feature tips, tricks, product updates, news, features, interviews and other valuable content focusing on the heavy-duty vehicle lift community.

“We are pleased to announce the kickoff of Stertil-Koni USA’s official blog.

In the coming months, readers will learn more about the people and products behind Stertil-Koni and will get a chance to interact with us, not only as customers but as friends,” said Dr. Jean DellAmore, president of Stertil-Koni USA. Posts will share best practices and helpful information for the heavy-duty vehicle lift industry. Updates will also connect Stertil-Koni’s customers to the company’s staff.

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TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • 55

TV

Bill & Sons

Web Series Finds Humor in Family Tow Business

The main cast of the web series “Bill & Sons Towing” is (from top left), Jon Smith, Eric Toth, Tony Lombardo, Dave Brennan, and Nicholas Campbell, who portray the often-bickering Vanderchuck family.

by Brendan Dooley

W

hen it comes to towing, gallows humor is a big part of the game. Being first on the scene at most crashes and dealing with (often) irate customers takes more than a stiff upper lip—it demands humor and good will.

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We very much want to tell stories out on the road and towing people.

An award-winning web series from a comedy troupe in Canada is currently working on its third season about the trials and tribulations of a small family operation with its “Bill & Sons Towing” show (www.billandsonstowing.com).

The original series featuring “The Imponderables” cast focuses on the dayto-day life, from a humorous perspective,

of a Canadian towing company being passed from a father to his four sons. (Warning: The language in the web series, podcasts and web site is definitely rated “R.”) In a memorable scene from the episode “Angry Customer,” the guys all have different ideas on how to get an irate elder motorist to pay for her impound.

“I am not paying! … You may have stolen my car, but you are not going to rob me blind, you blood-sucking moron,” she says in berating counterman Dave (Dave Brennan).

Truly art imitates life sometimes.

The series’ co-creators are Mark De Angelis and Charles Ketchabaw. The two have a long history together; De Angelis is an accomplished television writer in Canada who Ketchabaw said “runs the writing room.” Ketchabaw also worked frequently with The Imponderables.

While none of the cast or writers has a specific towing background, “we’ve all had our cars towed,” Ketchabaw said.

Jon Vanderchuck expresses his disgust with half-brother Eric’s attempts to make the shop more professional through incessant meetings, requiring uniforms and other “nuisances.”

The production mainly takes place in a formerly working garage that creates a realistic set.

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TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • 57

The Imponderables sketch-comedy troupe (Smith, Lombardo, Toth and Brennan) have been together since 2000.

“I think Mark first had the idea of it being a tow truck company,” Kethchabaw said. “We wanted to do something that was a family business because we had four brothers [in ‘The Imponderables’ cast], and thought the tow company would be an ideal setting because new problems walk through the door every day. You always have a new scenario walk in.”

The ideas primarily begin with De Angelis, Ketchabaw and Imponderable cast member Eric Toth pitching ideas back and forth. (The other Imponderables are Brennan, Jon Smith and Tony Lombardo; the group has been together since 2000.)

At the end of the first season in “Bill of Sale,” competitor Stuart “Stewie” Sutherland offers to buy out the business. The boys bicker during a meeting with each other (and Stewie) and ruin the sale, creating a determined rival who wants to run the shop

out of business. Especially after their later prank on Sutherland Towing goes … awry.

The shows aren’t all just jokes though; several mine the touching moments in everyday life in dealing with chronic illness, death and percep-

Series Wants Your ‘Horror Stories’ The award-winning web series “Bill & Sons Towing” is seeking out towers’ “horror stories” and other crazy situations from the shop and street.

The link to relay your stories is http://billandsonstowing.com/ towing-talk/.

The group is hoping to use some of the stories in future Bill & Sons newsletters and possibly animated shorts.

Number 128 on Reader Card

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tions vs. reality. The show has dealt with the death of the company’s watchman, owner Bill Vanderchuck’s (played by Nicholas Campbell) ill health, in-fighting amongst the brothers on a plan for the company, increased competition from a hated rival and more. Many of the moments are primed for humor, but the writing doesn’t miss the somber true-to-life everyday moments.

“Once a draft is run, we’ll do a table read and a lot of great jokes will come from that as well,” De Angelis said. “All of these guys are very funny, and they have their rhythm with each other. … It can be as simple as just getting one new joke, but that joke is fantastic.

“They’re all scripted, but we give guys enough room during filming to play around and come up with new jokes. And we’ll often get new things on the floor as well.”

“We love going to that place; the more true you can be—even with the heartbreaking stuff—the funnier the comedy will be,” De Angelis said. “If you can play things real … if you can dip your toe in that water a bit, it makes characters more real. “[Towing] is a really tough business to be in I’d imagine and that’s what drew me to it,” said De Angelis.

“Every day these people wake up and—no matter what they do, before they start their day—they’re hated. …

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No matter what you try and do, you’re instantly not liked.

“It’s a really fascinating world to me.”

The crew is currently working on a third season—and money for a third season. Up to this point, the show has been primarily financed by the Independent Production Fund in Canada, “which administers privately held funds to support television and web series created by Canadian independent producers.”

With the right financing, there is hope that Bill & Sons can hit the road, though the garage has not held them back.

“We very much want to tell stories out on the road and towing people which is so much of the business and where many stories come from,” De Angelis said. “It’s unfortunate that our budgets don’t allow for it right now. … We made the decision to go more in the direction of the series ‘Taxi,’ where 98 percent of the show was set in the garage.

“It limited us somewhat … but forced us to explore a bit more of the clash of personalities that would be missed when they’re on the road as individuals.”

Ketchabaw added that the cost of shooting outside would deplete their budget quickly, and they “lucked out” finding the former working garage they are able to use as the main set.

“If someone wrote us a big fat check, I guarantee you we’d be doing more stories out on the road,” De Angelis said.

Are they looking for the series, a winner of multiple LA Webfest awards including Best Series, to break into cable TV? “That’s the hope,” Ketchabaw said.

Switch-N-Go Adds Sales Rep Switch-N-Go added Jim Kraffert as a commercial and distributor sales representative for the southeastern states; he was a Florida distributor for the company (www.powerdecks.com). He brings several years of commercial truck experience from manufacturing, outside sales, fleet sales and dealership sales.

Council Launches Propane Site The Propane Education & Research Council has launched a new website, Propane.com, as a source for information about propane safety and newly developed propane-powered technology across the fuel’s markets.

Propane.com, managed and produced by PERC, consolidates information from the Council’s other previous sites.

“Propane.com gives our industry a chance to showcase the versatility of propane, and the economic and environmental benefits of using this American-made fuel across top performing markets,” said Roy Willis, president and CEO of PERC.

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Fastest Wrecker Given to Museum In August 1979, two-time national stock-car champion Eddie Martin drove a 1979 Chevrolet equipped with a Holmes 440 wrecker around the Alabama International Motor Speedway (Talladega) at speeds in excess of 130 mph. Official NASCAR equipment recorded an average lap time of 109.330 mph and the unit entered the record books as “The World’s Fastest Wrecker.”

The proud Holmes 440 toured automotive events for several years before going on display at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. After a number of years it was moved outside to make room for new displays where several decades of neglect took its toll.

In 2006, Miller Industries purchased the unit to return it to its home in Chattanooga. Twin Cities Wrecker Sales restored the unit to its original character in time for Holmes’ 90th anniversary and to be placed on dis-

Cheryl Mish (left) receives the title and keys for the World’s Fastest Wrecker from Miller Industries’ Randy Olson and Sarah-Beth Camp.

play in the International Towing and Recovery Museum and Hall of Fame (www.TowingMuseum.com).

“We feel the Holmes 440 has been a crucial piece of towing history as one of the most popular wreckers ever manufactured. Due to the racing history of this particular 440, it is essential that it is preserved for future generations of towers and auto enthusiasts to view,”

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said Randy Olson, Miller Industries VP. “We appreciate all of Miller Industries’ generous support of the museum in helping us preserve the industry’s history and graciously accept the Holmes 440 for our collection as we prepare for the industry’s 100 Years of Towing celebration in 2016,” said Cheryl Mish, the museum’s executive director.

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TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • 63

A Sign in the Desert

by Brendan Dooley

Standing with the new sign (from left) are Stephanie, Tori, Bekah, Shad, Bo and Donna Randall just after the American Towman 500 luncheon during Tow Industry Week at the AT ShowPlace-Las Vegas in May.

A

t the Towman 500 luncheon during Tow Industry Week at the American Towman ShowPlace-Las Vegas in May 2014, a cool thing happened with a hot new flame.

The Randall family used the opportunity to recognize its own founders and earlier generations by restoring one of the original signs for the business, Tex Randalls Paint & Body (now Randalls Auto Body & Towing of Apache Junction, Ariz.)

Third-generation tower Shad surprised his dad, Bo, by restoring, and updating, the torpedo-shaped sign that Bo had originally created and painted for his father, Tex, when they went into business together in 1967 along with Bo’s mother, Mary.

“My father, Tex Randall, was the founder of the company,” Bo said. “I built that sign originally for my father

64 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

in 1967 and it hung in the business for years. I’ve had it just in the back of my shop all these years since. … I had no idea my son was doing to it what he did.

“My father started the business in 1945 in Texas right after he got out of

the military; we moved to Arizona in 1960 and in 1967 he and my mother and I became partners. … Dad never really considered those years the beginning of the business. Dad considered the beginning of the business

The sign needed to be completely stripped down to repair rust spots before it could be repainted.

Count’s Kustoms in Las Vegas, Nev., did the hand-painting and lettering of original logos.

as him and I and my mother in 1967.”

When Shad found out that the business was going to be honored in Las Vegas as one of the Towman 500, he knew it was time to finally do something with the sign like he’d always planned to (and hopefully have it finished in time for the Expo).

Shad said the intent was to keep the sign original, but after 40-plus years of being moved around and hanging in the back of the shop, “it was too far gone.” They needed to strip and fix rust spots before priming and repainting.

It was during all this work that Shad’s wife, Stephanie, suggested adding the wrecker touches to the back end to make it look like one of his grandpa’s original tow trucks.

While the company started out with a few home-built wreckers, Shad said the “first official truck [Tex] bought was a Holmes 480.”

Shad performed all of the restoration work and scratchbuilding of the boom elements from scrap metal, but left the lettering and hand-painting of logos for Count’s Kustoms in Las Vegas.

“The logos are originals that Grandpa designed,” Shad said. And Randalls, no apostrophe, is correct, he said. After the company’s ad was “screwed up in the Yellow Pages for three years in a row,” Tex adopted the grammatically incorrect version on his trucks, Shad said.

Bo added that people started calling the company “Randalls” after he joined in 1967, as a plural. Shad said Tex made it into a conversation piece for all those people who came into the business to say, “You know, that’s not correct …”

The back of the sign, under the boom, even includes the building numbers 926, 1361, 822 and 110 for all the addresses where the business has been in migrating from Miami to Globe to Tempe and now Apache Junction.

The presentation of this special sign fit in with the theme of the Towman 500—American Towman’s recognition of those active family companies who’ve been working the side of the road for the motoring public since the beginnings of the automobile.

“I was flabbergasted that he did this,” Bo said. “I had forgotten about that old sign. … I didn’t even know it was gone. I had no idea he and his mother had done this. I can’t believe the talent the kid has in replicating that 480 Holmes on the back.”

The sign is now on a specially built shelf in Bo’s office, above his desk and proudly on display next to pictures of the restoration process with his Towman 500 belt buckle just below it on the wall.

The original torpedo-style sign that Bo Randall created for his father, Tex. Work the non-traffic Side–Stay Safe!

TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • 65

Chinatown

Bound, but Down Slick Roads Roll a Reefer

DeFalco’s forklift transfers the loaded pallets onto a reefer supplied by the customer so the load could be delivered.

by Jim “Buck” Sorrenti

A

t around 8 a.m. on Feb. 7, 2014, the New Jersey State Police called DeFalco’s Automotive & Towing in Chatham, N.J., to recover a tractor and reefer trailer that had rolled over on a ramp between state highways.

DeFalco’s is a 40-year-old family business owned by Cheryl DeFalco and William “Bill” Rempfer Sr. with locations in Chatham and Surfside Beach, S.C. Bill’s sons Billy Jr. and Adam run the Chatham location; son Sean also works there. All DeFalco’s drivers are trained and WreckMaster or TRAA certified.

“It was a cold Sunday morning and the roads were still slick from the snow and ice,” Billy Jr. said. “The driver hit the turn too fast 66 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

Loaded reefer trailer on its side after the driver hit the turn too fast.

DeFalco’s crew off-loads the cargo of eggs, chickens, onions and celery onto pallets.

and went over. The load was going to Chinatown in NYC.” DeFalco’s first trucks on scene were 2014 Internationals with Chevron flatbeds, some hauling forklift and pallets for the cleanup.

“We purchased the 2014 International/Chevron flatbeds and many of our other wreckers from Tommy DeCillis at Tri-State Towing Equipment,” Billy Jr. said.

Billy Jr. drove to the scene in his 2014 Kenworth T800/NRC 40-ton slider and his brother Adam arrived in their 2007 Kenworth T800/NRC 50ton rotator. DeFalco’s also dispatched Work the non-traffic Side–Stay Safe!

a service truck and a recovery truck with extra recovery equipment.

Operator Chris Saranovic drove out in one of the four 2014 International/Chevron flatbeds. He transported the floor jacks to support the load and helped with the off-loading.

Kenny Reinhardt, DeFalco’s Manager of Heavy Towing Operations and Recovery Supervisor, was also on scene. He is a TRAA Level 3, was awarded the title of Heavy Recovery Specialist in November 1999 (the second in New Jersey to receive the title).

Anyone that has done this kind of work knows that there are a multitude of variables.

Back on its wheels, the truck is secured to the underlift of the 50-ton NRC and on its way to DeFalco’s yard in Chatham, N.J.

“The cargo had to be off-loaded and transferred to another reefer trailer before it could be uprighted,” Reinhardt said. “At the request of the owner/shipper, we transferred the load to another reefer supplied by the customer.”

They had to first off-load the cargo of eggs, chickens, onions and celery before they could upright the casualty. The operators set the pallets at the end of the reefer trailer and started a relay system. With teamwork, they careful stacked the cargo on the pallets and then used the forklift to place pallets in the new reefer truck for delivery.

Once the load was transferred, Billy Jr. positioned the 40-ton NRC at the front of the casualty and Adam staged the 50-ton rotator at the rear.

Reinhardt, towing since 1970, does the in-house recovery training for the company. He did all of the rigging on this job.

“I am a firm believer in hands-on training. Anyone that has done this kind of work knows that there are a multitude of variables such as weather, road conditions, terrain, and the condition of the casualty itself,” Reinhardt said. “These are things you just can’t learn in a classroom situation.

“From the 40-ton we ran one line to the front axle pulling down and the other line set to catch. The 50-ton was in back with two lines to the trailer and an auxiliary line pulling down on the rear tandems. Then slow and steady I had them lift and roll it up and over back onto its wheels.

“I’m the quarterback on a recovery.

I direct traffic, give instructions to lift, winch, speed, etc,” Reinhardt said.

“Once it was back on its wheels, I secured it to the underlift of my 50-ton NRC and towed it back to our yard in Chatham,” Adam said.

The biggest part of the 4-hour recovery was in transferring the load, according to Billy Jr. But they were able to save enough for the driver to make his delivery to Chinatown.

Editor’s Note Jim “Buck” Sorrenti, a longtime editor of American Towman, has been our field editor for the past few years. He is a freelance writer and photographer with more than 40 years of experience covering motorcycle, hot rod, truck and towing culture.

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To Advertise In Towman’s Market Call 800-732-3869 Ellen Rosengart x 203 erosengart@towman.com Dennie Ortiz x 213 dortiz@towman.com

70 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

ORCED F N E G N I OW LL TIMES AT A

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TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • 71

‘Behemoth’ Rotator

by Jim “Buck” Sorrenti

This Century 1140S rotator is the flagship of Pinehill Towing & Automotive’s fleet in Port Royal, Va.

P

inehill Towing & Automotive in Port Royal, Va., is a family owned, Christian-based company started in 2005. Morgan Zwicker Sr. started the repair shop and towing out of his own garage, and from there has moved to the current location.

Pinehill offers local and long-distance rollback and wrecker service, heavy-duty towing and recovery, winching, off-road recovery, full roadside service and transport. They handle all major auto clubs and also provide automotive service.

Morgan Sr. and son Morgan Jr. work alongside each other in the family business. Both attended the rotator school in Tennessee this year with their 2012 Peterbilt 388/Century 1140S rotator. They are customers of Matheny Motors, and Miller Industries built the unit for them. Morgan Sr., said, “My son runs the light- and medium-duty wreckers and sometimes the heavy-duty when we need it,” Morgan Sr. said.

72 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

Tech Highlights Chassis: 2012 Peterbilt 388.

Wrecker Body: Century 1140S rotator.

Engine: Cummins 600.

Trans: Fuller 18-speed.

Winches: Dual 35,000-lbs. boom, two turret 15,000 lbs., 50,000-lbs. two-speed drag winch.

Builder: Miller Industries.

E q u i p m e n t : Two Miller spreader bars and strap kit, plus chains, snatch blocks, shackles Paint/graphics: Mark Long Graphics in Fredericksburg, Va.

“My dad has taught me well. I’m training to be Pinehill’s rotator operator. That has always been my goal,” Morgan Jr. said.

This rotator is the flagship of Pinehill’s fleet. It is equipped with dual

35,000-lbs. boom winches, two 15,000lbs. turret winches and a 50,000-lbs. two-speed drag winch in the belly. It is equipped with two Miller spreader bars and strap kit, plus chains, snatch blocks, shackles, and everything else they need to get a job done. A Cummins 600 engine mated to a Fuller 18speed transmission takes it through its paces.

Mark Long Graphics in Fredericksburg, Va., did the vinyl skin.

“My wife, Sharon, designed the artwork on our rotator to express our love for God and country,” Morgan Sr. said.

Sharon B. Zwicker had been his partner in the business. She was killed in a fatal car crash in August 2012.

Sharon had been the first woman deputy to serve on the King George County Sheriff’s Department, where she had served for more than 20 years.

Sharon was retired to a part-time position with the sheriff’s office when she was killed. She had finished her

shift and was heading to the shop when a vehicle struck her car and killed her.

“We call this rotator ‘Behemoth’ after a passage in the Bible,” Morgan Sr. said. Behemoth means kingly, gigantic beasts. The Biblical description in Job is, “Look at the behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. What strength he has in his loins, what power in the muscles of his belly! His tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are close-knit. His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like rods of iron.”

Morgan Sr. and his family pay tribute to their faith and his deceased wife on Behemoth and throughout the fleet.

Pinehill’s trucks all bare a blue ribbon in Sharon’s memory.

All the trucks in Pinehill’s fleet pay tribute to Sharon Zwicker’s memory, Morgan Sr.’s deceased wife who helped build the business.

Mark Long Graphics created Behemoth's vinyl skin.

Editor’s Note Jim “Buck” Sorrenti, a longtime editor of American Towman, has been our field editor for the past few years. He is a freelance writer and photographer with more than 40 years of experience covering motorcycle, hot rod, truck and towing culture.

Pinehill’s “Behemoth” echoes the passage in the Bible of the “kingly, gigantic beasts.”

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TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • 73

Municipal Madness

T

owing administrative fees charged by municipalities are a reality across the country.

Sometimes the fee, as high as $500 in some cities, (Alton, Ill., is one example) applies only to tows related to drunk drivers, drivers arrested for other felonies, abandoned vehicles and the like where the city feels justified in adding a punitive surcharge to the actual tow fee. Many cities are simply charging high fees for a basic nonconsensual tow. Scottsdale, Ariz., charges an “Administrative Towing Fee” of $150 for all tows, additional to the tow fee. The tower is receiving but $79 for actually towing of the vehicle.

San Francisco, Calif., charges $254 on top of the actual towing fee, which has been the subject of recent controversy involving AutoReturn, who is receiving way more than half of the $218 towing fee to cover costs of its impound lot management and dispatching.

I don’t know if AutoReturn’s cut in San Francisco is justified. However, AutoReturn is a private enterprise performing a service for both the city and the tower. Who would argue their right to make a profit? The city however is charging exorbitant fees; why? The police department is operating on taxpayer money. It seems to me that the city bureaucracy has only been opportunistic in taking advantage of the tower and motorist alike.

AutoReturn has marginally improved the tower’s fee since taking over towing management for San Francisco, but the tower’s take is paltry in the face of the city’s high-handed approach on its administrative fee. One would hope that someone in the city government would see to it that the

74 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

by Steve Calitri

company doing the most critical work would get the largest take.

Dream on.

The idea of a town cutting in on the tower’s action has always been a sore subject with me. I think it’s out-and-out extortion. John Borowski, the founder of Police Towers of America, has always advocated proactively offering towns a piece of the action as a tactic for achieving higher tow rates. But I think it’s the wrong strategy. If a city is more than willing to charge the motorist as much as $500 for his vehicle being towed, why are towers struggling to get rates increased to $100?

A town council will rationalize a towing administrative fee of $100 to $250 and pass the ordinance. One could say that’s smart city management. But why aren’t the towers being as smart and demanding rates above $200?

Surely the cost of the towing equipment and qualified operators along with other operating costs can justify that rate.

The towing industry has always devalued its services with the rates they either freely charge or acquiesce to.

Meanwhile, as towers accept low rates, cities are tacking on fees, making an angry motorist angrier than ever, and it’s the tower’s image, as usual, taking the blow as the bad guy—regardless that it’s the city in the car owner’s pocket.

Tow business owners need a strategy that holds city councils accountable to the interests of both the motorists and the tower, in a way that remunerates the tower for the true value of the services provided. We can’t be chumps watching the town politicians raking in for the town at everyone else’s expense.

American Towman magazine’s article on the Bill & Sons show may get you to check it out on either YouTube or BillandSonstowing .com. Granted, there’s ample cursing and vulgarities as one would expect these days from comedians, but the situations portrayed in each brief episode will hit home for every family towing business. Any of you still putting up with the old man who retired but still hangs around?

Any of you approached by a competitor who wants to buy you out?

Anyone have some difficulty charging a little old lady?

TowIndustryWeek.com

recently covered a breathtaking recovery performed in Vietnam.

Looking at the pictures of it you might think it’s an Indiana Jones film shoot, but no, it’s the real thing.

TIW continues to bring you challenging recoveries performed on its Road & Track page.

American Towman TV also gets into the act presenting video footage of recoveries, the good and the bad, like what can go wrong when the wheels of the victim vehicle are not secured, also found recently on TIW, with Emily Oz reporting.

The Repo specialist’s nightmare is happening in Massachusetts, as covered by RepoTimes.com. It’s bad enough repo people are dodging bullets, and sometimes not, without having the state make it almost impossible to repo a vehicle.

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TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • NORTH 75

Couple Steals Gas, Hides Under Cars For the Roger’s Towing driver in Flagler County, Fla., the call that came in just after midnight sounded like so many others: motorists out of gas on the Interstate 95.

The car, a silver Honda Civic, had Montana plates, and the driver was with a young woman. The tower gave the couple some gas. But instead of paying him, the two jumped into the car and sped off.

The driver called the Sheriff’s Office, and the Sheriff’s Office alerted deputies to watch for the car. One of them spotted it, empty, in the parking lot of a Hilton Garden Inn on Town Center Boulevard.

He ran the car’s tag number. It had been reported stolen in Montana.

The tower came to the parking lot and was just describing the two to the deputy when they came strolling out of a nearby restaurant and turned toward a Chevrolet dealer.

The pair entered the car dealership’s parking lot and were found huddled underneath a parked car.

They were both charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle and with petit theft, for running off with the tower’s gas, according to the report. Source: www.palmcoastobserver.com.

Fallen Tower’s Family Speaks Out A tower’s life was cut short in Louisville, Ky., but his life was filled with service.

“My son died an honorable death,” said Jenell Turner, mother of tower, Jewan Turner. He was killed by a suspected drunk driver recently when he was helping a stranded motorist.

“That she could leave and leave my baby on the ground dead and go on home, that floors me,” Jenell said.

She said she is also shocked by the number of tow truck drivers struck

and killed on the job by passing motorists.

“I feel that tow truck drivers don’t get the same type of security on the freeway as if they were a police officer,” Jenell said.

The Kentucky Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program is pushing for more increased awareness of the Move Over Law in the state.

Source: www.whas11.com.

Crackdown on ‘Predatory’ Towers It’s time to get tough on the predatory towing of vehicles, Monroe (Fla.) County Commission members decided recently.

“We have to put a stop to it. This is no way to treat our tourists,” County Mayor Sylvia Murphy said.

With direction from three commissioners at the Key West meeting, staff attorneys will prepare draft regulations for review at an upcoming commission meeting.

Co-Sponsor:

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS: Send in your Photos or Video of your Recovery. You will be contacted for your recovery details. Recovery must have been performed anytime in the years 2001-2014

Name:

Title:

Company: Address:

Phone:

City: Email Address:

State:

Zip Code:

Choose The Most Challenging Recovery Your Company Performed With Excellence Classes: Light-, Medium-, Heavy-Duty

Hosted by:

Note: Applicant agrees to give American Towman exclusive editorial rights on submitted material, text and photographs, for one full year.

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NORTH 76 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

“We’re having quite a problem on Key Largo,” Murphy said. “Islamorada took care of their [problem].

We should see if we can do something similar.

Islamorada’s law sets a base rate of $135 for a wrecker fee on most cars and trucks, and $3 per mile tow charge. The law bans a per-hour labor rate, and requires towers to release a car at the scene of the tow if the vehicle owners are present and pay a $67.50 drop fee. It also regulates fees for daily storage and afterhours release.

Source: www.keysnet.com.

Navistar Starts Refurbishing Program As part of larger strategy to help rebuild its U.S. heavy truck market share, Navistar is launching a new used-truck-refurbishment program dubbed “Diamond Renewed” for 2010 model or newer International units equipped with the company’s MaxxForce exhaust gas recirculation engines.

David Gerrard, Navistar’s senior VP of distribution, said the upshot of the Diamond Renewed program is to create a “sweet spot” for used trucks; Class 8 models that cost $50,000 less than a new unit, yet come with enhanced options in order to better support vehicle uptime. In short, he said the program aims to provide used truck customers with a “new truck experience.”

Following a 180-point vehicle and engine inspection process, eligible used trucks are then refurbished at Navistar’s Used Equipment Reconditioning Center in Indianapolis, Ind., including cleaning or replacing diesel particulate filters and diesel oxidation catalysts, EGR calibration software updates, checking and repairing brake systems, conducting major body repair, painting frame rails and more.

Navistar plans to sell its Diamond Renewed trucks through both its 15 International Used Truck Centers nationwide as well as through its dealer network.

Source: fleetowner.com.

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TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • NORTH 79

Official Winch sponsor:

Copyright 2014 American Towman Magazine. Characters and stories are fictitious; no resemblance to real life characters is intended.

Send your thoughts/suggestions on the Adventures to scalitri@towman.com or American Towman, 7 West St, Warwick NY 10990

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TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • SOUTH 75

Navistar Starts Refurbishing Program As part of larger strategy to help rebuild its U.S. heavy truck market share, Navistar is launching a new used-truck-refurbishment program dubbed “Diamond Renewed” for 2010 model or newer International units equipped with the company’s MaxxForce exhaust gas recirculation engines.

David Gerrard, Navistar’s senior VP of distribution, said the upshot of the Diamond Renewed program is to create a “sweet spot” for used trucks; Class 8 models that cost $50,000 less than a new unit, yet come with enhanced options in order to better support vehicle uptime. In short, he said the program aims to provide used truck customers with a “new truck experience.”

Following a 180-point vehicle and engine inspection process, eligible Number 197 on Reader Card

Co-Sponsor:

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS: Send in your Photos or Video of your Recovery. You will be contacted for your recovery details. Recovery must have been performed anytime in the years 2001-2014

Name:

Title:

Company: Address:

Phone:

City: Email Address:

State:

Zip Code:

Choose The Most Challenging Recovery Your Company Performed With Excellence Classes: Light-, Medium-, Heavy-Duty

Hosted by:

Note: Applicant agrees to give American Towman exclusive editorial rights on submitted material, text and photographs, for one full year.

Mail to: Brendan Dooley, Editor American Towman: 7 West Street, Warwick, NY 10990 Phone: 800-732-3869 x209 • Email: bdooley@towman.com SOUTH 76 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

used trucks are then refurbished at Navistar’s Used Equipment Reconditioning Center in Indianapolis, Ind., including cleaning or replacing diesel particulate filters and diesel oxidation catalysts, EGR calibration software updates, checking and repairing brake systems, conducting major body repair, painting frame rails and more.

Navistar plans to sell its Diamond Renewed trucks through both its 15 International Used Truck Centers nationwide as well as through its dealer network.

Source: fleetowner.com.

Couple Steals Gas, Hides Under Cars For the Roger’s Towing driver in Flagler County, Fla., the call that came in just after midnight sounded like so many others: motorists out of gas on the Interstate 95.

The car, a silver Honda Civic, had Montana plates, and the driver was with a young woman. The tower gave the couple some gas. But instead of paying him, the two jumped into the car and sped off.

The driver called the Sheriff’s Office, and the Sheriff’s Office alerted deputies to watch for the car. One of them spotted it, empty, in the parking lot of a Hilton Garden Inn on Town Center Boulevard. He ran the car’s tag number. It had been reported stolen in Montana.

The tower came to the parking lot and was just describing the two to the deputy when they came strolling out of a nearby restaurant and turned toward a Chevrolet dealer.

The pair entered the car dealership’s parking lot and were found huddled underneath a parked car. They were both charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle and with petit theft, for running off with the tower’s gas, according to the report. Source: www.palmcoastobserver.com.

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Owner Finds Stolen Tow Truck Chad Robertson of Loganville, Ga., said his custom tow truck "is not your average tow truck," so when thieves stole it from a local convenience store, he and some colleagues sprung into action.

Robertson called 911 and then his friends in the towing business started the search.

It was eventually spotted by one of his friends the next day, and Robertson gave chase.

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TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • SOUTH 77

"He was just out stealing cars with it, in broad daylight, with my name and phone number on the side of it.

I mean, dude was a fool," Robertson said.

After a wild chase with Robertson's friends in pursuit, eventually the driver was trapped and stopped—but not before he lost the load on back. Police arrested 29-yearold Russell McElreath and 45-year-old Robert Lowe, and charged them with felony theft. Source: www.cbs46.com

Fallen Tower’s Family Speaks Out A tower’s life was cut short in Louisville, Ky., but his life was filled with service.

“My son died an honorable death,” said Jenell Turner, mother of tower, Jewan Turner. He was killed by a suspected drunk driver recently when he was helping a stranded motorist.

“That she could leave and leave my baby on the ground dead and go on home, that floors me,” Jenell said.

She said she is also shocked by the number of tow truck drivers struck and killed on the job by passing motorists.

“I feel that tow truck drivers don’t get the same type of security on the freeway as if they were a police officer,” Jenell said.

The Kentucky Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program is pushing for more increased awareness of the Move Over Law in the state. Source: www.whas11.com.

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SOUTH 78 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

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TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • SOUTH 79

Fallen Tower’s Family Speaks Out A tower’s life was cut short in Louisville, Ky., but his life was filled with service.

“My son died an honorable death,” said Jenell Turner, mother of tower, Jewan Turner. He was killed by a suspected drunk driver recently when he was helping a stranded motorist.

“That she could leave and leave my baby on the ground dead and go on home, that floors me,” Jenell said.

She said she is also shocked by the number of tow truck drivers struck and killed on the job by passing motorists.

“I feel that tow truck drivers don’t get the same type of security on the freeway as if they were a police officer,” Jenell said.

The Kentucky Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program is pushing for more increased awareness of the Move Over Law in the state. Source: www.whas11.com.

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Couple Steals Gas, Hides Under Cars For the Roger’s Towing driver in Flagler County, Fla., the call that came in just after midnight sounded like so many others: motorists out of gas on the Interstate 95.

The car, a silver Honda Civic, had Montana plates, and the driver was with a young woman. The tower gave the couple some gas. But instead of paying him, the two jumped into the car and sped off.

The driver called the Sheriff’s Office, and the Sheriff’s Office alerted deputies to watch for the car. One of them spotted it, empty, in the parking lot of a Hilton Garden Inn on Town Center Boulevard. He ran the car’s tag number. It had been reported stolen in Montana.

The tower came to the parking lot and was just describing the two to the deputy when they came strolling Number 134 on Reader Card Work the non-traffic Side–Stay Safe!

TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • MIDWEST 75

out of a nearby restaurant and turned toward a Chevrolet dealer.

The pair entered the car dealership’s parking lot and were found huddled underneath a parked car.

They were both charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle and with petit theft, for running off with the tower’s gas, according to the report.

Source: www.palmcoastobserver.com.

Navistar Starts Refurbishing Program As part of larger strategy to help rebuild its U.S. heavy truck market share, Navistar is launching a new used-truck-refurbishment program dubbed “Diamond Renewed” for 2010 model or newer International units equipped with the company’s MaxxForce exhaust gas recirculation engines.

David Gerrard, Navistar’s senior VP of distribution, said the upshot of the Diamond Renewed program is to create a “sweet spot” for used trucks; Number 168 on Reader Card

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MIDWEST 76 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

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TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • MIDWEST 77

Class 8 models that cost $50,000 less than a new unit, yet come with enhanced options in order to better support vehicle uptime. In short, he said the program aims to provide used truck customers with a “new truck experience.”

Following a 180-point vehicle and engine inspection process, eligible used trucks are then refurbished at Navistar’s Used Equipment Reconditioning Center in Indianapolis, Ind., including cleaning or replacing diesel particulate filters and diesel oxidation catalysts, EGR calibration software updates, checking and repairing brake systems, conducting major body repair, painting frame rails and more.

Navistar plans to sell its Diamond Renewed trucks through both its 15 International Used Truck Centers nationwide as well as through its dealer network.

Source: fleetowner.com.

Download music on iTunes and Amazon.com

Co-Sponsor:

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS: Send in your Photos or Video of your Recovery. You will be contacted for your recovery details. Recovery must have been performed anytime in the years 2001-2014

Name:

Title:

Company: Address:

Phone:

City: Email Address:

State:

Zip Code:

Choose The Most Challenging Recovery Your Company Performed With Excellence Classes: Light-, Medium-, Heavy-Duty

Hosted by:

Note: Applicant agrees to give American Towman exclusive editorial rights on submitted material, text and photographs, for one full year.

Mail to: Brendan Dooley, Editor American Towman: 7 West Street, Warwick, NY 10990 Phone: 800-732-3869 x209 • Email: bdooley@towman.com

MIDWEST 78 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

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TOWMAN.COM - September 2014 • WEST 75

Fallen Tower’s Family Speaks Out A tower’s life was cut short in Louisville, Ky., but his life was filled with service.

“My son died an honorable death,” said Jenell Turner, mother of tower, Jewan Turner. He was killed by a suspected drunk driver recently when he was helping a stranded motorist.

“That she could leave and leave my baby on the ground dead and go on home, that floors me,” Jenell said.

She said she is also shocked by the number of tow truck drivers struck and killed on the job by passing motorists.

“I feel that tow truck drivers don’t get the same type of security on the freeway as if they were a police officer,” Jenell said.

The Kentucky Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program is pushing for more increased awareness of the Move Over Law in the state.

Source: www.whas11.com.

Number 218 on Reader Card

Co-Sponsor:

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS: Send in your Photos or Video of your Recovery. You will be contacted for your recovery details. Recovery must have been performed anytime in the years 2001-2014

Name:

Title:

Company: Address:

Phone:

City: Email Address:

State:

Zip Code:

Choose The Most Challenging Recovery Your Company Performed With Excellence Classes: Light-, Medium-, Heavy-Duty

Hosted by:

Note: Applicant agrees to give American Towman exclusive editorial rights on submitted material, text and photographs, for one full year.

Mail to: Brendan Dooley, Editor American Towman: 7 West Street, Warwick, NY 10990 Phone: 800-732-3869 x209 • Email: bdooley@towman.com WEST 76 • September 2014 - TOWMAN.COM

Navistar Starts Refurbishing Program

Crackdown on ‘Predatory’ Towers

Couple Steals Gas, Hides Under Cars

As part of larger strategy to help rebuild its U.S. heavy truck market share, Navistar is launching a new used-truckrefurbishment program dubbed “Diamond Renewed” for 2010 model or newer International units equipped with the company’s MaxxForce exhaust gas recirculation engines.

David Gerrard, Navistar’s senior VP of distribution, said the upshot of the Diamond Renewed program is to create a “sweet spot” for used trucks; Class 8 models that cost $50,000 less than a new unit.

Following a 180-point vehicle and engine inspection process, eligible used trucks are then refurbished at Navistar’s Used Equipment Reconditioning Center in Indianapolis, Ind., including cleaning or replacing diesel particulate filters and diesel oxidation catalysts, EGR calibration software updates, checking and repairing brake systems, conducting major body repair, painting frame rails and more. Source: fleetowner.com.

It’s time to get tough on the predatory towing of vehicles, Monroe (Fla.) County Commission members decided recently.

“We have to put a stop to it. This is no way to treat our tourists,” County Mayor Sylvia Murphy said.

With direction from three commissioners at the Key West meeting, staff attorneys will prepare draft regulations for review at an upcoming commission meeting.

“We’re having quite a problem on Key Largo,” Murphy said. “Islamorada took care of their [problem]. We should see if we can do something similar.

Islamorada’s law sets a base rate of $135 for a wrecker fee on most cars and trucks, and $3 per mile tow charge. The law bans a per-hour labor rate, and requires towers to release a car at the scene of the tow if the vehicle owners are present and pay a $67.50 drop fee. It also regulates fees for daily storage and after-hours release.

Source: www.keysnet.com.

For the Roger’s Towing driver in Flagler County, Fla., the call that came in just after midnight sounded like so many others: motorists out of gas on the I-95.

The tower gave the couple some gas.

But instead of paying him, the two jumped into the car and sped off.

The driver called the Sheriff’s Office, and the Sheriff’s Office alerted deputies to watch for the car. One of them spotted it, empty, in the parking lot of a Hilton Garden Inn. The tower came to the parking lot and was just describing the two to the deputy when they came strolling out of a nearby restaurant and turned toward a Chevrolet dealer.

The pair entered the car dealership’s parking lot and were found huddled underneath a parked car. They were both charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle and with petit theft, for running off with the tower’s gas, according to the report. Source: www.palmcoastobserver.com.

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