February 5, 2025 • 57 mins
What if your next towing operation could bridge the gap between emergency responders and tow operators? Join us as we unravel this season of Towing News with exclusive highlights from our sold-out heavy-duty class in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and the lineup for our next much-anticipated class in Alabama. We're excited to share our collaboration with the Florida Towing Association for a major trade show, along with our community’s heartwarming initiative to donate vehicles to Tunnel to Towers, transforming the lives of veterans.
Stay informed with our detailed analysis of legislative changes shaping the towing landscape across the nation. Missouri’s proposed bills, Indiana's new rate sheet requirements, and Connecticut's quest for uniform towing rates are poised to redefine the industry. We also spotlight a feel-good tale from Northeast Ohio, where King's Towing shines as a community hero. This journey through legislative reform promises to equip you with insights into the challenges and opportunities facing tow operators today.
Our episode takes a deep dive into the vital collaboration between tow operators and firefighters, featuring insights from retired fire chief Ron Moore. Discover how understanding large vehicle anatomy and cross-training can enhance roadside rescue operations. We explore effective vehicle rescue training techniques and the importance of teamwork, akin to a NASCAR pit crew, ensuring every emergency response is a coordinated effort. With plans for ongoing discussions and training initiatives, we aim to foster stronger bonds between towing, fire rescue, and emergency services, creating a united front ready for any challenge.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Today on Towing News.
Now we look at differentlegislation going on around the
country.
We also take a look atcross-training in depth with Ron
Moore.
That, plus all the towing newsaround the USA, be right back.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
For electric and other alternative fuel vehicles.
We have developed an app thatgives you all the manufacturers
411 for when that 911 happens.
Whether you are a fire tow orpolice, we got you covered.
To find the EV Clever app, goto your Apple or Google Play
store for a 30-day free trial.
We also offer the National Tow.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Operator Certification, an independently
sourced virtual testing programcovering light duty, heavy duty
electric and alternative fuelvehicles.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Welcome to the new season of Towing News.
Now You're going to haveindustry news, tech talks,
fantastic guests throughout thiswhole year.
Welcome to 2025.
This is DJ Harrington, yourco-host.
I'll now pass it over to thereal host of the program, april,
(01:14):
and Wes Wilburn.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Thank you, DJ.
As always, we appreciate yourkind words and your dedication
to this program and getting meinvolved in this medium.
Really appreciate yourforethought and looking forward
and convincing me this was agood idea because it really is
Got a lot going on, DJ how areyou doing, buddy?
Speaker 4 (01:37):
I'm doing excellent, my friend.
Excellent, excellent.
Speaker 5 (01:42):
Good to hear you say that.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Our first class, our high duty class that we're doing
here in Fayetteville, NorthCarolina, is sold out.
We can't take any more students.
Dj, we're absolutely filled up.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
Oh, that's a blessing .
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Excited about that.
Alabama's our next class on theschedule and that's not even
until March.
They're buying the tickets upfor that as well.
We always do get a good turnoutthere, alabama, you know we
work with CP Records, cody andHeather Post and Griffin and
Griffin, shell and Chuck.
But both of those two greatcompanies, two great teams in
(02:18):
towing.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
Wonderful people.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Yeah, so we're excited to be going back and
working with them as well.
And a week after that we'll bein Western North Carolina people
, yeah, so we're excited to begoing back and working with them
as well.
The weeks after that we'll bein western North Carolina.
So things are bopping rightalong.
But here's the big thing, dj.
After working with the FloridaTowing Association, professional
Wrecker Operators of Florida toput on the largest trade show
(02:43):
in the world for towing andrecovery, they were in the world
for tone and recovery First one.
You know they were the firstones to be doing it.
They have a show every year inthe spring in Florida, which is
the time which is a show thatmost manufacturers, if they have
something new, they introduceit at that show.
So we're excited to be goingback there.
We've done many things withthose folks over the years.
(03:06):
We're going to be doing aone-day heavy-duty school on the
Thursday before the show.
We're so fresh with this thingthey don't even have the website
set up to accommodate it yet.
Probably by the time this thingairs you'll be able to go to
their website and register.
It's a free one-day school, nofees.
(03:26):
You know, dj, at the Floridashow when you go there, the
money goes back to the DaytonaAssociation and everything they
provide there during the show isfree, free parties, free
everything they can provide.
As far as the show goes, theydon't charge for seminars, they
(03:46):
don't charge to attend.
Speaker 5 (03:49):
They give back to the industry, obviously, because
they use all that money forlobbying, but they also give
back to.
If you just want to come to theshow and walk around, you don't
have to worry about being outof your pocket as much, because
everything there is free to do.
So they think of everything.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
You are at a Florida resort now.
You get a snack bar.
There's nothing free, butthat's you know.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
It's really not free there.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Yeah, well, at any time you're at that convention
center environment.
Things are expensive.
The one thing I like about downthere in Florida is the folks
are nice to you.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
I appreciate you being there.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Very nice so we'll be there on Thursday before.
The registration will bethrough the professional record
operator at the Florida Toe Showwebsite.
We're working on gettingeverything up there and running,
but this is a deal we agreed tobasically 24 hours ago, so
(04:51):
we're excited about that.
Dj.
We're going to be down therewith you Friday.
Tell them what we'll be doingdown there on Friday.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
Well, I want to tell all our listeners we are giving
away two vehicles to Tunnel toTowers.
It was announced on thispodcast very first thing, and we
had a very generous guy donatea vehicle.
Steps Towing is one of thepeople donating it.
Another one's coming out ofColorado.
(05:20):
One guy in Colorado actuallydonated a Tun of the towers in
Denver, colorado.
But this is wonderful, on the11th of April at noontime West
in April and the whole team fromthe Towing News Channel will be
(05:41):
over there helping us give theway the vehicles to tunnel the
towers.
And you all see thosecommercials on television.
But this is to help eradicateveteran homelessness.
So the two vehicles are goingto veteran centers that help
eradicate homeless veterans.
(06:02):
So this will be a real fundonation and it's due to our
good listeners.
Wes, we started in here and itproceeded right along, yeah
we're really thankful to be apart of that.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
We can't thank our listeners enough for
participating as they grow theirprojects around the country for
the homeless, for the vets.
I'm sure we'll be able toconnect some people that want to
help some more.
It's a great project.
In case people didn't listen, Iguess it was last week we
talked about it.
But talk just for a secondabout the van size they're
(06:37):
looking for now.
I know before we were lookingfor the big, full-size 15
passenger type van.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
Tell us about that.
They're looking for six toeight-person vans, but it's vans
that they can take veterans todoctor appointments, to Walmart
to buy their toiletries.
What they're doing is they'retaking over hotels and on the
first floor they're going to beemployment centers, there's
(07:07):
going to be a PTSD center,there's going to be actually how
to get a job center, jobplacement, and then the second,
third and fourth floor of thesehotels are actually being
changed into little residencesfor these veterans.
So, like the one in Florida isgoing to take 96, one in Georgia
(07:32):
, atlanta, georgia 104 veteransoff the street and will be
living on the second, third andfourth floor of an old Western
hotel.
So it's started.
So we're looking for six toeight and some of the people.
If you don't want to, if youdon't have a van, of course, if
you have a van, just give us aholler.
(07:53):
You can give a holler to theTowing News Channel, which is
the same number as the AmericanTowing Recovery Institute
910-747-9000, or myself,770-301-4122.
Bill Johnson, up inMassachusetts.
(08:14):
He has turned around, had anold van that we could not use,
but he and his family just madea donation.
So you may want to make adonation towards a van which is
awfully nice too.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
Those donations are going to be very helpful and
instrumental and also in regardsto having the resources at
those hotels, slash apartments.
That's got to cut a lot of thered tape and a lot of the wait
times down for those vets,because I think that's one of
the biggest problems is the waittimes for appointments, and
just having the PTSD and havingsome of the medical things there
(08:57):
at that building where theyreside at has got to be a big
game changer for them.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
Yes, very true, april , very very true.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
Well, we are very honored to be a part of that
here at Tilling Needs now, andwe're grateful for you for
helping us to be a part of thattoo, dj.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
Well, you guys are good and it all started with.
You know, we said how can wehelp Tunnel to Towers?
And that's when that van ideacame up and they needing a van.
And of course, just like Wessaid, originally we were trying
to donate 15, 17 passenger vansand then we found out in certain
(09:38):
states, because they'rebuilding veteran centers all
over the United States, they'rebuilding one in Nashville,
tennessee, right now as we speak.
They just had a groundbreaking,but we found out that they need
six to eight-person vans.
So if you have one, by allmeans give us a holler, or you
(09:58):
have one that needs a littlework done to it, let us know.
We have body shops that willtake the van in, work on it and
have it ready for the nextcouple of months down the road,
because this will be an ongoingproject with tunnel-to-towers.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
That's right.
It will be an ongoing projectand again we can't thank you
enough for being involved andbringing us our attention and
letting us be involved with itas well.
Great job you.
You do the DJ credit.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
Well, you guys are good guys.
I'm proud to be part of thisteam.
I'm like Ron Moore I'm proud tobe part of the team.
Okay, good to meet you.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
We're lucky to have that.
So we appreciate all thefeedback we've been getting
about the new format.
We're serious about the newsboy.
There's a lot of news to coverthis week.
Four different states have donesomething with legislative laws
having to do with the towingindustry.
One of them looks to be kind ofa little bit of a positive to
(10:58):
me.
It's Pennsylvania.
A delegate has proposed a statelaw that allows towing
combinations, and the languagechosen is a little bit different
than I've heard.
It basically looks like it'schanging to give a little bit
more leeway to the owner of theunit where they want to tow to,
(11:19):
and it makes sense.
It's always been an issue inthe Northeast, especially with
towing combinations, and I saythe Northeast but maybe it's
been enforced more in theNortheast, especially with
towing combinations.
I say the Northeast but maybeit's been enforced more in the
Northeast than it's been allover the country.
In many cases you're onlysupposed to take the
tractor-trailer combination tothe safe haven, the nearest safe
haven, and that can be with noclear description of what that
(11:44):
is, so that can be a very vagueterm.
So it looks like they got somelegislation introduced to take
that in a positive direction.
Speaker 5 (11:51):
It says they're going to address toying regulations I
guess at least that one personattended anything that the
regulations are too restrictiveon the towers.
And then DJ earlier said not totalk about politics, but
politics permeates intoeverything.
Now, because this is, you'repassing legislation, that's
political.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Yeah, no, that's a good point you made there about
legislation.
Speaker 5 (12:11):
Yeah, it's very political.
There's no other way to look atit.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Well, I say good job, Pennsylvania.
It looks like you're beingproactive and getting some
telling laws working in yourfavor.
After the break, we're going tolook at what's going on in
Missouri.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Indiana and Connecticut.
We'll be right back For allyour reading needs.
Give us a look attowingequipmentdirectcom or
email us at info at amtowriorg.
Also, you can give us a call at910-747-9000.
Speaker 7 (12:46):
Information in this podcast is made possible by
generous sponsorship fromHenry's Wrecker, serving the
community with quality towingand recovery for over 40 years.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
HenrysWreckercom.
You have been listening toTowing News Now with Wes Wilburn
and April Wilburn, djHarrington, the Toe Doctor.
Every week.
We do our best to bring you thevery best we're available on
Spotify, itunes, pandora,stitcher, iheartmedia, amazon or
(13:17):
wherever you get your podcastsand Wes I'm going to turn it
over to you.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Well, dj as always, you're too kind.
We appreciate you.
Missouri's got what twodifferent bills going on April
yeah, two different ones one ofthem is Missouri Department of
Transportation would beresponsible for setting
procedures for non-consensualkilling practices related to
removal of commercial motorvehicles from roadways.
(13:45):
Oh boy, I don't know wherethat's headed.
What's the other one, April?
Speaker 5 (14:00):
That sounds very to me vague.
What does that mean to you?
Wes that?
Speaker 1 (14:05):
sounds very, to me, vague.
What does that mean to you, wes?
It means that they're tellingyou how to run your business.
To me, per pound pricing hasbeen around for decades.
Done fairly, it's a method thatcan be used to price recovery
jobs.
They're saying you can't do itthat way and that's for the
benefit of the trucking industry.
I don't think that's fair.
(14:25):
I don't think they should beable to dictate that myself.
Was it release of vehicles?
Was that worded about the?
Speaker 5 (14:31):
release.
Yeah, it's the release ofvehicles.
The fees are disputed.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
So if you dispute a fee, then and was it they had to
pay a percentage or was it a?
Speaker 5 (14:39):
I'm trying to look through here right now.
No, the next thing it says isadditional per pound charges for
non-conventional tows will beprohibited.
So I don't think it says thatand maybe if we read the actual
bill itself it would say that.
But I do know that there is athing called a tow and recovery
tow and recovery review boardand that sounds Creating one
(15:02):
correct.
Creating one.
It's going to be a seven membertow plater's something that
represents towing on there.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
And you know you talked about politics being a
part of everything, at leastfrom the Trucking Association.
The independent owner-operatoris what they're called.
Speaker 5 (15:16):
Yeah, that's very political.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Now that we have a proactive trucking government,
we've got to be ready to gettowing reform in Missouri.
It also basically encouragesthem active trucking gun.
We got to be ready to gettowing reform in Missouri.
The officer basicallyencouraged them to be ready to
how did he word it?
Ready to visit the statecapital to testify and support.
And they're getting aggressivethere and I don't even know why.
Missouri has great towingcompanies that operate very fair
(15:40):
businesses.
From what I've seen, in thatpart of the world the
organization is headquartered.
Fair businesses.
From what I've seen in thatpart of the world, the
organization is headquarteredthere.
I think that's a piece of thesituation when do?
Speaker 5 (15:52):
they got going on in Connecticut.
Well, Connecticut, I hadIndiana first Go ahead.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
You go with Indiana and I'll do Connecticut.
Speaker 5 (16:04):
Indiana has two bills of note.
The first one would require atow truck operator to provide an
owner vehicle with a rate sheetif the owner is present at the
time of the tow.
I know that those tows can gojust different ways depending on
situations, but I don't knowhow you assess that price sheet.
The second bill covers theinvoices and our process to
(16:24):
address towing companies.
So a verification will berequired on invoices of actual
towing charges assessed by atowing company that all
equipment billed for wasnecessarily necessary and used.
I don't know if I disagree withthat.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Oh, in theory nobody disagrees with that.
Yeah, in theory you should bevery the point that I would
question is that that's going tostart people questioning.
Did you need this piece here todo?
The job that's not healthy atall so basically it's an audit
of every invoice that you dothat every reputable
organization.
(17:01):
I know the towing industry.
We include ourselves in that.
We always advise our clientsand always recommend and always
suggest that you be very carefulto build on it for what's used.
People will tell companiesthey're already sensitive
without being asked about it.
Speaker 5 (17:19):
Yeah, build for everything that you use.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
But don't build for anything you don't use.
Speaker 5 (17:23):
Yeah and then help us out across the board, even with
insurance.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
And it's just a pride and reputation thing.
Connecticut is working on abill to address non-consensual
tolling.
The bill would establishuniform rates and charges and
consider the cost involved.
The proposal is intended toensure appropriate rates and
(17:50):
charges for non-essentialtelling.
Cost and overhead expensesincurred by a telling company
would also be accounted for.
That's a healthy thing.
If they're looking at it from afairly logistical standpoint of
what things cost, what it coststo do business, you can't ask
for better than that.
It's when the emotions getinvolved, setting rates in the
(18:11):
towing industry that arechallenging, and also
interpretations of it too.
Speaker 5 (18:17):
I would think Like how?
Speaker 1 (18:19):
you interpret something.
Speaker 5 (18:21):
There's a joint presentation committee and again
there's something that we'relooking at the community on that
joint committee.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Interesting.
We'll be here at Telling NewsChannel this program in
particular the Telling News Nowprogram.
We'll be following this closely.
We're also thinking about doinga special on the Tony News
Channel about the differentlegislative efforts going on
around the country.
Stay tuned, we'll give youdetails on that.
(18:51):
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Speaker 3 (19:28):
From the American Towing and Recovery News Desk.
Here's Wes and April Wilburn.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
Now here's a really positive story out of Northeast
Ohio.
Way to go.
King's Towing Good job.
Speaker 9 (19:41):
Perry Village has honored a local business for its
willingness to give back to thePerry community.
Members of Village Council andMayor James Jessick signed a
proclamation that expressedgratitude to King's Towing and
Recovery.
The business is owned by DakotaSanders and his wife, Katie
Sanders, who reside in PerryVillage.
They purchased King's Towingand Recovery who reside in Perry
(20:04):
Village.
They purchased King's Towingand Recovery, which is based in
Perry Township, in 2021.
Under the ownership of theSanderses, King's has
demonstrated its support forPerry Village in a variety of
ways, according to theproclamation.
One example cited in thedocument is the assistance that
King's provided to Perry Villageduring the severe and prolonged
snowstorm that startedThanksgiving night.
King's towing was instrumentalin keeping Perry Village's plow
(20:28):
trucks on the road, includingpulling plow trucks out of
ditches during the height of thestorm, all at no cost to the
village, the resolution stated.
In addition, the documentstated that Kings' towing and
recovery has proven helpful tothe Perry Village Police
Department by arriving within 20minutes on most calls for
service and to assist withtraffic control.
(20:48):
King's Towing and Recoverycontributes financially to
support the annual Perry FallFestival.
The business also has donatedcars to Perry High School for
its mock crash demonstrationsand to local fire departments
and the Auburn Career Center fortraining purposes.
The resolution added that PerryVillage's mayor and council
(21:08):
members recognize the remarkableservice of King's Towing and
Recovery and offer theircongratulations on a job well
done.
Councilman Elias Koss read theproclamation during Village
Council's January 23 meeting andpresented it to Coda and Katie
Sanders.
The couple attended the meetingalong with their sons,
three-year-old Grant andsix-month-old Parker.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
This story tells us about something positive that
came out of a very tragicsituation.
I wish more states would takeaction and allow towers to use
these type of lightingsituations.
Speaker 10 (21:43):
House Bill 115.
If passed, it would allow towtruck drivers to turn on blue
lights when responding to acrash.
Wkyt's Maggie Rigoby shows uswhy tow truck companies across
the Commonwealth are backingthis bill.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
If he can get killed, any of them can.
Speaker 11 (21:59):
Tow truck driver Bubba Johnson is the man behind
House Bill 115.
He says current safety measuresfor crash responders are not
enough.
Even with Kentucky's slow downmove over law responders are
still getting hurt.
Others have been killed.
Speaker 4 (22:15):
The solution I have a blue light in operation while
they're sitting there workingthat scene, but they're
prohibited from using the bluelight when they're sitting there
working that seam, but they'reprohibitive from using the blue
light when they're traveling.
Speaker 11 (22:25):
But Representative Richard White filed House Bill
115 to change that.
Supporters of the bill say ablue light would encourage
drivers to slow down.
For many this bill hits home.
Troy Caldwell was struck andkilled on the side of the road
while he was working on I-64 inBath County.
This truck behind me was his.
(22:46):
Jerry Cantrell worked with Troyfor five years.
Speaker 12 (22:51):
We were like brothers.
We spent more time togetherthan we did with our wives.
Speaker 4 (22:55):
He came in every day with a smile on his face, he
left every day with a smile onhis face and everybody loved him
.
Speaker 11 (23:01):
When Troy died, Johnson decided to take action
in his honor.
He calls House Bill 115 Troy'slaw.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
I think this might not fix everything we've got
going on, but it will reallyhelp, and if it'll save one life
, then it was worth doing.
Speaker 11 (23:18):
Johnson's advocacy has gained the support of tow
truck drivers across Kentuckyand beyond on social media.
In Rowan County, MaggieRickerby, WKYT.
Speaker 10 (23:30):
Johnson says, the day House Bill 115 is presented
to a committee, tow truckdrivers plan to gather in
Frankfort to flash their yellowlights in honor of Troy.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
This next story comes to us out of Portland, Oregon,
as a follow-up to a story we didlast week.
Speaker 8 (23:48):
This hour, the man accused of stealing a tow truck
with the driver hanging off theback has been found guilty.
You may remember we showed youthis terrifying video of Eric
Streitzel driving off with thetow truck.
The truck's actual driver,Travis Christ, immediately
jumped on the back of the truckand hung on through downtown,
(24:10):
hit a few cars on I-405 beforethat tow truck crashed into a
semi and finally stopped.
Christ was seriously injuredand Streitzel has been found
guilty on several charges,including assault, reckless
endangering and hit and run.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
The hijacker was found guilty on many different
charges and is scheduled forsentencing on February, the 21st
.
We will report the outcome ofthat hearing.
Here's a story we've beenfollowing out of Canada.
Apparently, the violencecontinues in the Ontario towing
(24:46):
community.
Speaker 12 (24:48):
Shooting involving a tow truck in Scarborough last
night.
Police say a tow truck driverwas shot on Markham Road north
of the 401.
He then drove himself to a gasstation at Kennedy Road in
Progress and was found justafter 7.
The man was taken to hospitalwith serious injuries.
No word so far on suspectsPolice, though asking anyone
with information to come forward.
The shooting, of course,follows the recent launch of a
(25:08):
new Toronto Police Task Forcefocused on tow truck violence.
Earlier this month there werethree shootings in Scarborough
in a 24-hour period involvingtow trucks.
Police have said the ongoingviolence is tied to turf wars
always.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
We will continue to monitor this story for any
updates and further developments.
You're up to the date on towingnews now.
Stay tuned next week for moretowing news.
Speaker 5 (25:31):
We're going to be right back after this break and
we're going to have some moregood things to talk about.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
The American Towing and Recovery Institute is your
home for great, up-to-datetraining supplies to keep your
business in business and thelatest information in the towing
network.
Now with today's guest here isApril Wilburn.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
We have a great guest with us today, Ron Moore.
Hey, Ron, introduce yourself.
Speaker 7 (26:02):
Thank you, Ms April.
I'm Ron Moore.
I'm a retired fire chief fromNorth Dallas, and my specialty
has always been the fire serviceand emergency medical.
I'm learning, though, thatthere is a great similarity
between the tow operators andthe fire service in their
(26:22):
community, whether they'recareer or volunteer.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
I used to work for a tow company a long time ago and
then, just going around with Wesa little bit to these classes,
have noticed there's a lot ofcrossover with towers working
for fire departments, either aspaid or voluntary.
So not only is there acrossover in what happens on the
side of the road, there's acrossover sometimes in actual
(26:46):
personnel as well.
Speaker 7 (26:49):
That's a good point.
And then one of the things thatI see as a firefighter is that
the tow operators possess thingsthat are of little value,
minimal value in the towindustry, but they are.
They have firefighters in thelocal communities drooling over
(27:10):
them.
Cars, for example, is and, andand firefighters are human as
well, so they they don't like uh, classroom as much as they like
the hands-on skills.
So I see, I see the fire, thefirefighters drooling to to
begin to work with the, the towoperators.
So in a community where the towand the fire department already
(27:33):
work together, that communityis that far ahead of the game,
in my opinion it's a much better, uh, working condition on the
side of the road.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
The handoff goes a lot more fluently, the
experience, even if you'reinvolved still as far as being a
person in the car or somethinglike that it's just a much more
professional handoff when thathappens.
Speaker 7 (28:01):
And as a responder, I remember watching a rookie tow
operator and and watching thefirefighters were at the scene.
When the tow operator shows upand the and the firefighters
just shrug their shoulders andhold their hands up in the air
Like, oh my gosh, we got thisguy, this guy again, yeah, and
and I want everybody to be toconsider themselves responders
(28:25):
and consider themselvesprofessionals also if you can
also think of it as a team, andeverybody has like that position
to play.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
You know when we, when we get there, when the
towers get there, that thoseplays are already in motion, so
to speak.
So you have to respect what'salready been done and some of
the things that you don't evenknow that has happened before
you got there to take into thatconsideration.
Sometimes, like you said,everybody's human, so that might
(28:56):
be not as easy to do sometime,but I think if we could just
stay in that frame of mind itwould be a lot better.
Speaker 7 (29:03):
I think if we could just stay in that frame of mind
it would be a lot better.
I remember hearing and seeingas a responder myself back in
the day.
I remember hearing and seeingthe teleoperators come on scene
that are truly thinking ofthemselves as professionals and
they're well-trained andwell-versed in their equipment.
And they're well trained andwell versed in their equipment.
(29:24):
And then I remember in my mindI still have the vision of the
rookie that shows just a goober,but we're all human.
So it can happen within thefire service as well, as it can
happen within the tow industryas well.
But, april, what you saidworking as a team that's the key
.
That's what's going to reallybenefit the community.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
You know, if I could just jump in for a second, the
team analogy is great.
On the Federal Highway Timsincident management video they
gave the example of the NASCARpit crew and how everybody has a
job.
You know everybody has the samegoal but they have different
jobs, different things.
They do to make it happen andthey show you that pit crew with
(30:06):
the safety guy watching the.
You know the top level NASCARpit crew and that truly is
poetry in motion.
And when you get a policedepartment, a fire department, a
towing company working together, I've seen some of the same
poetry in motion and sometimesI've heard a tune that wasn't so
good, if you know what I mean.
Speaker 7 (30:27):
One of the things that does happen on that video
is you have the pit crew go overthe wall.
So we're not saying, Wes and Iare not saying that you should
be timing yourself.
We're not saying that you'rerunning a race per se.
But when you do go over the wall, you are committed and you are
(30:47):
working as a member of a team.
Everybody knows theirresponsibilities.
Everybody knows what's comingup.
So if you have 14 seconds,you're going to lose the race.
If you have 12 seconds, you'regoing to potentially win the
race.
If you're're Formula One, yougot 21 people in a pit crew with
two or three seconds ofstopping.
But one thing that reallyimpresses me is everybody that's
(31:10):
over the wall, that's on thejob, that's doing something, is
professional and they are a partof the team and focused.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
absolutely.
Good point too about the time.
It's the fact that they'refocused and each one's got a job
to do and they're focusing ondoing that job with safety of
everybody in mind.
But that's a great point.
Speaker 7 (31:33):
One of the things I wanted to mention to the tow
operators that are listening isabout what can we do to bait in
the fire service in your localcommunity?
What can we do to bait in thefire service in your local
community?
One of the baits that they justcan't pass up is to say that we
will offer you props that areessentially junk to us in the
(31:56):
tow and recovery and storageindustry, that they are hard to
find in the fire service andstorage industry, that they are
hard to find in the fire service.
So the teleoperator says to thelocal fire department we will
provide you with an acquiredvehicle, a junker.
Once a week or once a year orwhatever interval is appropriate
(32:16):
for that community, we willprovide you with whatever Class
1 or Class 2 vehicle you need,which is essentially up to
10,000 pounds.
The fire departments if thefire departments are smart they
will take advantage of thatoffer figure out a way to have
the acquired vehicle, the junker, brought in and removed.
(32:40):
They will do everything theycan to preserve that
relationship.
In the meantime, the towoperator for that community gets
to know the fire serviceresponders in that community on
a face-to-face basis.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
So just right there, ron, I totally agree with all
that and one of the things thatthe towers need to think about
and we're not accountants, ofcourse, but a lot of times they
can write off donating that car.
Dj, you can tell us a lot aboutthat, can't you?
Speaker 4 (33:14):
Yeah, wes.
Let me add to that what RonMoore is talking about.
In Florida we had a towerdonate four or five vehicles to
a firehouse and the chief at thefirehouse would give a letter
back thanking him for the fivevehicles.
(33:35):
He would list the five vehiclesand he was allowed to take the
value of the vehicle off histaxes as the tax write-off.
So each and every one of you,depending which state you're in
and who your accountant is, justgo over it.
But all it is is a letter ofreceiving the vehicles for the
(33:58):
cross-training that was done atthe firehouse, and it was a
great way of thanking the toerfor the vehicles, at the same
way, taking value off your taxes.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
Thanks, DJ.
That's great advice.
So keep that in mind, toers,when you're talking about these
cars around.
Sorry to interrupt you, butit's just a great point you make
and I just want to emphasizeit's something with the proper
checking with your accountantcan be not a total drain on
money, like people think it is.
Speaker 7 (34:31):
Now one step up.
We talked about Class 1 andClass 2 vehicles, but one step
up that is also a resource thata tow or storage facility
operator may have would be theClass 3 up to the Class 8
vehicles.
So you can do joint trainingbetween the fire department and
(34:52):
the tow operator.
You can do joint training onthese larger, what what is
referred to as large heavyvehicles so yeah there's a lot
of different directions.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
Well, we need to take a quick break and we come back.
Can we break that down a littlebit, ron, yeah go ahead.
Speaker 7 (35:10):
I I have a couple of scenarios in mind that would be
easy for the tow operators toset up and very valuable to the
fire service.
So I'd like to emphasize atleast a couple of scenarios and
then maybe a teaching point ofone of the scenarios at least.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
And they call that a great tease.
That is.
So come back and listen to therest everybody.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Be right back.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
DJ, as always.
Thank you for your kind wordsand as Ron was continuing to
give us this information, ron,you want to go ahead and lead
that back in?
Speaker 7 (35:46):
The large and heavy vehicles are part of training,
that would appeal to a firedepartment that really is on the
on the top of their game.
If you, if the tow operatormentions it's nfpa compliant,
national fire protectionassociation compliant, that's a
volunteer organization,standards making organization
(36:07):
based in Boston, massachusetts.
And if you tell them that we'regoing to offer you some props
and we're going to offer yousome training but the training
is NFPA compliant, a firedepartment that is worth their
salt will say that we're in whatday and what location that
we're in for that, what day andwhat location we're in for that.
(36:29):
So for the tow and storageoperator, you want to do the
underride scenario.
You want a class one or classtwo vehicle that is underneath,
against the duals, whether it'sthe rear duals or the drive
duals on the tractor.
You want the driver doorobstructed.
You want the trunk, the backend of the car, sticking out.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
And then you just say so, Ryan, slow down a little
bit.
Slow down a little bit.
So Most of us Hang on a second.
Most of us understand whatyou're talking about, but I'm
not sure April does.
I don't mean that's nodisregard, but the picture
you're painting is a car that'srun up under a tractor-trailer
from the side.
Is that correct?
Speaker 7 (37:10):
Tractor-trailer would be ideal, something with enough
space underneath.
It could be a tanker truck,tractor-trailer, tanker truck as
well.
But the drivers, the car.
It's like the car didn't stopat a T-intersection.
The large heavy vehicle wasdriving through the
T-intersection and this carwedged itself underneath it.
(37:31):
Gotcha, the class 1 car orclass 2 car, you want to have
the drivers, you want to have asmokehouse dummy or a mannequin
or something to resemble theshape of a seated and belted
driver, seated and belted driver, and you want the driver's door
(37:55):
to be obstructed by by the dualtires, for example.
So typically you would.
You would put the car whateveryou do ahead of time is up to
you, but typically you would putthe car as if it crashed from
the passenger side of the18-wheeler.
The 18-wheeler was driving fromour left to our right and then
the car was coming straight downthe hill and went right
(38:17):
underneath it.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
So let me jump in real quick for telling friends
One of the best ways to stagethat is to pick up the trailer,
winch the car up into position,put the trailer back down and
drive or winch the trailerforward.
We just did a school in Sumner,south Carolina, where he had a
live tractor and an old donorvehicle trailer that we had been
(38:45):
using and training already andwe used there and it had some
load in it.
So we put the car in it with alive tractor up front there.
You know it was a good roadtractor they were using in their
daily operations but with agood tractor we were able to put
the truck in gear and driveforward to get that car not
perfectly wedged, as hard as itwould be in the real world, but
(39:06):
close, pretty close, and a realgood simulation and something,
something for the to give therescue personnel a little
challenge when you would youagree with that, ron?
Speaker 7 (39:17):
yeah, as long as the driver's door is obstructed,
that means the passenger frontdoor, the passenger side of the
vehicle is not obstructed.
So to work the passenger sideof the vehicle, the rescuers
would have to work the passengerside of the vehicle.
The rescuers would have to usetheir extrication equipment and
be under, literally underneath,the tractor trailer truck.
So there's a lot that comesinto play setting up that.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
I have one question to ask really quick that class
in Sumter, south Carolina isthat a class that you and Ron
did together?
Speaker 1 (39:48):
Wes, yes we talked about a couple podcasts ago.
Yeah, fire tower that, a classthat you and Ron did together.
Wes yes, we talked about acouple podcasts ago, yeah, a
fire tour cross training classthat you guys did together at.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
Sumter Fire Department with Hal Watts.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
Yeah, thanks for clearing that up.
I just kind of jumped in thestory there.
Go ahead, Ron.
Sorry for interrupting you.
Speaker 7 (40:04):
So all this is done without the fire department
actually watching it.
So Wes mentioned if you have aheavy, for example, that lifts
the butt end of the trailer up,sets it back down sometimes it
doesn't get the effect crumplethe roof along the windshield
(40:31):
header along the driver side,passenger side, a pillar to get
it, to get it to fit well enoughunder the, under the large
heavy vehicle, the truck whichis especially if the you know,
if you don't have a fully loadedtrailer, even with a fully
loaded trailer, you have to dothat.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
But if you, if you don't have a fully loaded
trailer, you're definitely goingto have to do that.
Speaker 7 (40:49):
That's a great point, ron, and we recommend that the
seated and belted mannequin toresemble the driver of the
vehicle because the fire serviceand maybe even you're working
with law enforcement, maybe evenyou're working in a joint
training effort with withemergency medical.
You need to give them a targetthat, no, you can't stand on the
(41:10):
front seat, no, that that,because that's where your
patient is.
You have to give them somereality check of what they are
dealing with.
Speaker 1 (41:19):
So this, the smokehouse dummy, seated and
belted, where the seat is pushedall the way forward, it just
seems to work out very well forthat one of the things ron's
taught me is, if you have yourchoice between cars and you have
a two-door and a four-door, andespecially if you have multiple
dummies, get that four-door,because if you can put multiple
(41:40):
victims in multiple seats withworking seatbelts and working
doors, it gives your firedepartment personnel, your
rescue personnel, more activitytime, more activities to do
during the hands-on.
Speaker 7 (41:55):
And keep in mind that these are the personnel in your
community, so giving them thatextra practice time is good for
everybody, I would also say Westhat the large and heavy vehicle
scenario that I'm mentioningwould be done after the fire
department works with the tow orstorage facility to do some
(42:16):
basic what's called operationslevel skills training as well
Doors, windows, windshield, thatkind of thing, kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (42:24):
Yeah, your first involvement.
If you haven't done anythingwith your fire department,
especially if you're initiatingit, ask them if they just want
to come to the yard and cut up acouple cars, or we'll take your
cars.
Everybody's heard me talk aboutthis before in the podcast, but
I'll say it again Give themcomplete cars.
Check with your accountant youcan probably write the whole
thing off but don't give thempieces of cars with exhaust
(42:47):
systems falling off because youhad to have that catalytic
converter.
Speaker 7 (42:52):
I know there's one, and all the fire service is
going to do is change the shapeof whatever you give them.
You don't want the fire serviceto start running a parts supply
?
Speaker 1 (43:03):
Yeah, well, they're not.
The issue is we're not givingthem a real victim to practice
on.
When we've taken the radiator,taken the seats out of it, the
tires off of it, this, that andthe other Doesn't have an engine
.
So yeah, we're not giving themreal weight to play with.
You know, without the enginethere it's a whole different
(43:24):
dynamic of working with avehicle, whether it's a car or a
heavy truck.
So I'm just suggesting to mytellers the best you can Check
with your accountant, you canprobably write the whole thing
off.
Give them complete vehicleswhen possible.
Give them four doors withworking seatbelts.
Well, I know you can't controlthat, but I'm just saying, if
(43:46):
you're picking out cars for them, that car with multiple
stations and multiple seatbeltsis a good thing.
And I say cars, suvs andpickups and all that.
Firefighters need that stuff towork on too, because there's a
whole lot of folks driving.
That it's depending on whereyou live especially.
Speaker 2 (43:59):
I have a silly question to ask.
This is going to be silly.
When I ask it, for some reason,I'm thinking about gas tanks
with gas in it.
Speaker 1 (44:14):
Is that something that should be emptied out?
If there's gas in that, the gasshould be emptied out before
it's handed over or does thatmatter?
Normally, my answer would be no.
That what the car?
As is ron.
What do you?
What do you have?
How does fire services feelabout that?
Speaker 7 (44:21):
we'll work with what we're given.
But if the fuel tank is leaking, that's a that's a hazardous
material incident.
If the fuel tank is full,that's an that's a problem as
well.
So one of the solutions is tosurgically have that the fuel
tank removed before the car iseven made available.
But the bottom line is, thefire department will work with
(44:42):
with the with the vehicle as itis.
You don't have to have it uhprepped any any differently
right, the.
Speaker 1 (44:52):
Uh, I can't suggest this strongly enough for so many
different reasons.
What else can you tell us aboutthat scenario, ron?
Speaker 7 (45:01):
one of the things that you want to do when you put
the class one or class twopassing your vehicle with the
simulated patient or patientsunderneath the tractor, trailer,
truck, have the trunk of thatcar, that vehicle, sticking out.
Because one of the options forthe fire service is trunk
tunneling, where you simulate acommander would say I want you
(45:24):
to open the butt end of thisvehicle up to bring the seated
and belted driver out the backend on a longboard.
So if the back end of the caris accessible, it gives the fire
service another realisticsolution to deal with in that
scenario.
Speaker 1 (45:43):
Well, that's great advice, something else that
you've taught me working withyou.
That's great advice Somethingelse that you've taught me
working with you if you're goingto do a large group and you're
going to do the same exercisemore than once, if you can get
the same kind of vehicle, verysimilar vehicles, that's a
benefit, isn't it?
Speaker 7 (46:03):
That would be important as well.
If you're duplicating thescenario, try to keep everything
the same.
To duplicate everything thesame, that's for sure.
One of the things that I dolike about this scenario is it
is typically reflected by boththe fire service participants,
(46:23):
the emergency medical, the lawenforcement participants and the
tow operators.
It's referenced as somethingthat is very realistic to their
community.
Yes, it could happen.
Yes, it could happen tonight.
Yes, it could happen tomorrow.
Now, because we did jointtraining at the tow yard, we are
(46:44):
better prepared for the reality.
Speaker 1 (46:47):
That's right.
It is a super realisticaccident that happens all the
time.
The tow operators really shineat this point where they can
take and work with thefirefighters and whoever else
they're working with in thegroup and show them some
different things about the heavytruck the frame of the truck,
the suspension, how the weightis transferred to the ground
(47:07):
where the weight sits, etc.
Suspension, how the weight istransferred to the ground where
the weight sits, etc.
One of the things that I'vealways found really popular is
if the victim truck, the truckand trailer, especially the
trailer, that the car isunderwritten, if it's air ride,
which a lot of stuff's air ridenowadays air ride ride.
Suspension by showing therescue personnel the leveling
(47:30):
valve, how to disengage it fromits automatic position and use
it to use the springs to raiseweight, is always a very popular
thing and it's very goodinformation for the rescue
personnel to know, in my opinionand that would also meet the
NFPA standard for learning aboutthe anatomy of a heavy-duty
truck.
Speaker 7 (47:51):
And to show the joint training, joint part of the
training effort.
After the fire service has donemaybe the trunk tunneling and
they've torn off the passengerside of the vehicle, have the
tow operator pre-position orposition in.
Now we're going to go throughthis in slow motion.
(48:12):
Bring the tow operator back upto the, let's say, tractor,
trailer, truck or the largeheavy vehicle, lift it, but also
using a winch on the towvehicle or a fire department
winch, it doesn't matter, youcan do a change of direction.
Speaker 2 (48:29):
Ron, we're going to pick this back up after the
break, so come back and join uswith the great Ron Moore and Wes
Wilborn and we'll go more intocross-training and joint
training.
Speaker 7 (48:39):
All right, thanks, dj .
One thing I want to mention isdon't assume anything is over
the head of the fire service.
There may be a firefighter,particularly in a volunteer fire
department, that is veryfamiliar with the anatomy of
that large heavy vehicle, butchances are there isn't
(48:59):
Everything is valuable to them.
Point out any feature that youfeel they could potentially want
to know about or use at anactual incident.
If you have Wes mentioned aworking tractor, you could ask
them to go in one side and goout the other.
(49:20):
It really is amazing how manytimes the firefighters that
respond to truck wrecks havenever, ever in their life or in
their fire service crew havebeen inside a tractor, trailer
truck, let alone a sleeper cab,let alone a tanker truck.
Speaker 1 (49:39):
Ron, that's a great point.
Just showing how to set thebrakes and different things like
that is huge.
A lot of them have never seenthat.
I didn't think about that point, but that is a great point, Ron
.
Speaker 7 (49:51):
Well, even for stabilization, the fire
department may ask the towoperator that's there as a
subject matter expert well, canwe just lower these legs, these
dollies, can we just lower theselegs, and what will that hold?
Lower these legs and what, whatwill that hold?
(50:12):
So you, as a tow operator,ought to know what, how the
dolly cranks down, what it does,what the red line, what the
blue line, how to disconnect air, disconnect the electric, how
to chalk the wheels.
Things like that just anticipateall kinds of questions from the
fire service people that areparticipating now, that's a
great point, it really is what Iusually do then to finish up
(50:33):
the scenario is to have the towoperator lift the butt end of
the vehicle, of the large heavyvehicle, and then, either using
their winch or a fire servicewinch, do a change of direction
to pull, move the vehicle, theclass one or class two car out
from underneath the trailer thatexposes the driver's side.
(50:54):
Then you let the fire, thenit's all hands on deck.
The fire service goes at itthat way.
That's a realistic solution.
That's a realistic scenario andwhat you want to hear is thank
you very much.
I learned, I learned.
I learned.
I'm now better prepared forwhat it lies in store for me in
(51:14):
my career yeah, it's a greatthing to be involved in that.
Speaker 2 (51:19):
It really is, and um, it's good for many different
reasons, many reasons so I havea question to ask Ron and Wes
when fire is on scene, that thefirefighters can do to help, or
are they better off juststanding back?
(51:54):
Is that a case-by-case basis?
And then part b of that is oncethat happens, once the towers
um remove the, the tractortrailer, whatever it is that's
holding the car down, is thereanything that the tow truck can
do to help the fire operator?
(52:15):
Or is that just the standalone,two standalone things?
Speaker 1 (52:20):
Yeah, that's pretty much two standalone case-by-case
cases.
Many times the fire personnelhas plenty of manpower and
plenty of direction, so it wouldbe seldom that they need help,
but there are cases in anysituation, and especially in a
small rural department.
Again, that's a case-by-case isthe only answer I see.
Do you have any thoughts onthat, Ron?
Speaker 7 (52:43):
The NFTA does say in their 1006 technical rescue
training standard that the fireservice should be familiar with
the operation and thecapabilities of the local tow
and recovery, but the NFDA doesnot require the fire service to
know how to actually do the job.
(53:04):
I think this type of jointtraining will help, but it
really is a case-by-case basis.
Speaker 1 (53:12):
And that's a good point.
Though that brings us to a goodpoint.
This standard is not about thefirefighters doing the toer's
job, the toer's doing thefirefighter's job.
It's not about that at all.
The way I look at it is.
In my opinion, it's about thetowing industry becoming a
resource, a tool at it is.
In my opinion, it's about thetowing industry becoming a
(53:32):
resource, a tool, a machine thatcan be a resource that the fire
rescue services can call on andwork with and, because of the
prior training, have someunderstanding of.
You know how things should goand what's supposed to happen
and how to make it happen.
You know the advice you giveRon.
You know when we're doing thehands-on to the firefighters
about creating that footprint.
(53:54):
If you've called for heavy towto solve a problem of lifting
weight, the next thing you startdoing as a firefighter is to
start thinking about thefootprint of that tow truck and
clearing some room and somespace for them to be.
And boy, you see, the lightbulbs go off on that and
sometimes even some of therescue will put up their hands
and say, yeah, we had thissituation and you're right.
(54:15):
Nobody thought about it untilToe got on the scene and there
was nowhere for him to be.
So all of a sudden it's movinga bunch of apparatus to give
them a little channel to slideinto little channel to slide
into.
Speaker 7 (54:32):
So I think you know, I would say know the capability
of the local toll and recoveryoperator and their equipment and
then, and you do that, youlearn that that capability
through the joint training, andthen just be able or willing for
, for whatever your disciplineis, to be able to assist the
other discipline, because that'sthat's the teamwork effort,
that's the team effort that getsthe job done absolutely,
(54:56):
speaking of team effort, wereally appreciate you being part
of this team.
Speaker 1 (54:59):
We're going to have you back on.
I don't know if it'll be.
I think it'll be a week in, twoweeks from now.
Um, we got to figure that out,but we're going to have you back
on.
To break down another piece ofthis exercise, and there's also
been some requests for someinformation, let me back up.
There's also been a request forsomeone to talk about the TIMS
(55:19):
program a little bit.
We all know you were intimatelyinvolved in that, so can we
plan on having you in in afuture episode to talk about
that a little bit as well?
Speaker 7 (55:29):
Yes, plan on having you in in a future episode to
talk about that a little bit aswell.
Yes, the TIMS program the TowOperators Struck and Killed or
Injured While Working in andNear Moving Traffic is very
close to my heart and I would bemore than willing to help
explain what I've learned as afire service as a responder to
(55:49):
Tim-related incidents.
Speaker 1 (55:51):
Excellent, we'll look forward to it.
Thank you for being here today.
If anybody has any questions,call the hotline.
Dj has given the number out.
I'll give it out here at theend and we'll be happy to answer
them when we look forward.
We thank you for being ourfirst regular contributor,
regular interviewer, and Ialways appreciate your interest
(56:14):
in the towing industry.
So thank you very much forbeing here, ron, and we'll see
you.
My producer tells me it's goingto be an every other week
program.
So I don't know if myproducer's gotten with your time
, director, but that's whatwe're going to aim for.
Speaker 7 (56:29):
My dog, that's for sure.
So so I I I appreciate beingable to participate in the
program and I'll help you andthe tow industry in any way that
I can, because you are truly aresource to to your discipline.
Your discipline is truly aresource to the discipline that
I grew up with the fire rescueand medical.
(56:50):
So if we all work together, weall will be a team.
I want to be part of that.
Thank you, wes, thank you April, thank you DJ.
Speaker 2 (56:59):
Thank you Ron.
Thank you Ron.
Today on Towing News.
Now we look at differentlegislation going on around the
country.
We also take a look atcross-training in depth with Ron
Moore.
That, plus all the towing newsaround the USA, be right back.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
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Speaker 1 (00:43):
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Speaker 4 (00:53):
Welcome to the new season of Towing News.
Now You're going to haveindustry news, tech talks,
fantastic guests throughout thiswhole year.
Welcome to 2025.
This is DJ Harrington, yourco-host.
I'll now pass it over to thereal host of the program, april,
(01:14):
and Wes Wilburn.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Thank you, DJ.
As always, we appreciate yourkind words and your dedication
to this program and getting meinvolved in this medium.
Really appreciate yourforethought and looking forward
and convincing me this was agood idea because it really is
Got a lot going on, DJ how areyou doing, buddy?
Speaker 4 (01:37):
I'm doing excellent, my friend.
Excellent, excellent.
Speaker 5 (01:42):
Good to hear you say that.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Our first class, our high duty class that we're doing
here in Fayetteville, NorthCarolina, is sold out.
We can't take any more students.
Dj, we're absolutely filled up.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
Oh, that's a blessing .
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Excited about that.
Alabama's our next class on theschedule and that's not even
until March.
They're buying the tickets upfor that as well.
We always do get a good turnoutthere, alabama, you know we
work with CP Records, cody andHeather Post and Griffin and
Griffin, shell and Chuck.
But both of those two greatcompanies, two great teams in
(02:18):
towing.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
Wonderful people.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Yeah, so we're excited to be going back and
working with them as well.
And a week after that we'll bein Western North Carolina people
, yeah, so we're excited to begoing back and working with them
as well.
The weeks after that we'll bein western North Carolina.
So things are bopping rightalong.
But here's the big thing, dj.
After working with the FloridaTowing Association, professional
Wrecker Operators of Florida toput on the largest trade show
(02:43):
in the world for towing andrecovery, they were in the world
for tone and recovery First one.
You know they were the firstones to be doing it.
They have a show every year inthe spring in Florida, which is
the time which is a show thatmost manufacturers, if they have
something new, they introduceit at that show.
So we're excited to be goingback there.
We've done many things withthose folks over the years.
(03:06):
We're going to be doing aone-day heavy-duty school on the
Thursday before the show.
We're so fresh with this thingthey don't even have the website
set up to accommodate it yet.
Probably by the time this thingairs you'll be able to go to
their website and register.
It's a free one-day school, nofees.
(03:26):
You know, dj, at the Floridashow when you go there, the
money goes back to the DaytonaAssociation and everything they
provide there during the show isfree, free parties, free
everything they can provide.
As far as the show goes, theydon't charge for seminars, they
(03:46):
don't charge to attend.
Speaker 5 (03:49):
They give back to the industry, obviously, because
they use all that money forlobbying, but they also give
back to.
If you just want to come to theshow and walk around, you don't
have to worry about being outof your pocket as much, because
everything there is free to do.
So they think of everything.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
You are at a Florida resort now.
You get a snack bar.
There's nothing free, butthat's you know.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
It's really not free there.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Yeah, well, at any time you're at that convention
center environment.
Things are expensive.
The one thing I like about downthere in Florida is the folks
are nice to you.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
I appreciate you being there.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Very nice so we'll be there on Thursday before.
The registration will bethrough the professional record
operator at the Florida Toe Showwebsite.
We're working on gettingeverything up there and running,
but this is a deal we agreed tobasically 24 hours ago, so
(04:51):
we're excited about that.
Dj.
We're going to be down therewith you Friday.
Tell them what we'll be doingdown there on Friday.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
Well, I want to tell all our listeners we are giving
away two vehicles to Tunnel toTowers.
It was announced on thispodcast very first thing, and we
had a very generous guy donatea vehicle.
Steps Towing is one of thepeople donating it.
Another one's coming out ofColorado.
(05:20):
One guy in Colorado actuallydonated a Tun of the towers in
Denver, colorado.
But this is wonderful, on the11th of April at noontime West
in April and the whole team fromthe Towing News Channel will be
(05:41):
over there helping us give theway the vehicles to tunnel the
towers.
And you all see thosecommercials on television.
But this is to help eradicateveteran homelessness.
So the two vehicles are goingto veteran centers that help
eradicate homeless veterans.
(06:02):
So this will be a real fundonation and it's due to our
good listeners.
Wes, we started in here and itproceeded right along, yeah
we're really thankful to be apart of that.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
We can't thank our listeners enough for
participating as they grow theirprojects around the country for
the homeless, for the vets.
I'm sure we'll be able toconnect some people that want to
help some more.
It's a great project.
In case people didn't listen, Iguess it was last week we
talked about it.
But talk just for a secondabout the van size they're
(06:37):
looking for now.
I know before we were lookingfor the big, full-size 15
passenger type van.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
Tell us about that.
They're looking for six toeight-person vans, but it's vans
that they can take veterans todoctor appointments, to Walmart
to buy their toiletries.
What they're doing is they'retaking over hotels and on the
first floor they're going to beemployment centers, there's
(07:07):
going to be a PTSD center,there's going to be actually how
to get a job center, jobplacement, and then the second,
third and fourth floor of thesehotels are actually being
changed into little residencesfor these veterans.
So, like the one in Florida isgoing to take 96, one in Georgia
(07:32):
, atlanta, georgia 104 veteransoff the street and will be
living on the second, third andfourth floor of an old Western
hotel.
So it's started.
So we're looking for six toeight and some of the people.
If you don't want to, if youdon't have a van, of course, if
you have a van, just give us aholler.
(07:53):
You can give a holler to theTowing News Channel, which is
the same number as the AmericanTowing Recovery Institute
910-747-9000, or myself,770-301-4122.
Bill Johnson, up inMassachusetts.
(08:14):
He has turned around, had anold van that we could not use,
but he and his family just madea donation.
So you may want to make adonation towards a van which is
awfully nice too.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
Those donations are going to be very helpful and
instrumental and also in regardsto having the resources at
those hotels, slash apartments.
That's got to cut a lot of thered tape and a lot of the wait
times down for those vets,because I think that's one of
the biggest problems is the waittimes for appointments, and
just having the PTSD and havingsome of the medical things there
(08:57):
at that building where theyreside at has got to be a big
game changer for them.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
Yes, very true, april , very very true.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
Well, we are very honored to be a part of that
here at Tilling Needs now, andwe're grateful for you for
helping us to be a part of thattoo, dj.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
Well, you guys are good and it all started with.
You know, we said how can wehelp Tunnel to Towers?
And that's when that van ideacame up and they needing a van.
And of course, just like Wessaid, originally we were trying
to donate 15, 17 passenger vansand then we found out in certain
(09:38):
states, because they'rebuilding veteran centers all
over the United States, they'rebuilding one in Nashville,
tennessee, right now as we speak.
They just had a groundbreaking,but we found out that they need
six to eight-person vans.
So if you have one, by allmeans give us a holler, or you
(09:58):
have one that needs a littlework done to it, let us know.
We have body shops that willtake the van in, work on it and
have it ready for the nextcouple of months down the road,
because this will be an ongoingproject with tunnel-to-towers.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
That's right.
It will be an ongoing projectand again we can't thank you
enough for being involved andbringing us our attention and
letting us be involved with itas well.
Great job you.
You do the DJ credit.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
Well, you guys are good guys.
I'm proud to be part of thisteam.
I'm like Ron Moore I'm proud tobe part of the team.
Okay, good to meet you.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
We're lucky to have that.
So we appreciate all thefeedback we've been getting
about the new format.
We're serious about the newsboy.
There's a lot of news to coverthis week.
Four different states have donesomething with legislative laws
having to do with the towingindustry.
One of them looks to be kind ofa little bit of a positive to
(10:58):
me.
It's Pennsylvania.
A delegate has proposed a statelaw that allows towing
combinations, and the languagechosen is a little bit different
than I've heard.
It basically looks like it'schanging to give a little bit
more leeway to the owner of theunit where they want to tow to,
(11:19):
and it makes sense.
It's always been an issue inthe Northeast, especially with
towing combinations, and I saythe Northeast but maybe it's
been enforced more in theNortheast, especially with
towing combinations.
I say the Northeast but maybeit's been enforced more in the
Northeast than it's been allover the country.
In many cases you're onlysupposed to take the
tractor-trailer combination tothe safe haven, the nearest safe
haven, and that can be with noclear description of what that
(11:44):
is, so that can be a very vagueterm.
So it looks like they got somelegislation introduced to take
that in a positive direction.
Speaker 5 (11:51):
It says they're going to address toying regulations I
guess at least that one personattended anything that the
regulations are too restrictiveon the towers.
And then DJ earlier said not totalk about politics, but
politics permeates intoeverything.
Now, because this is, you'repassing legislation, that's
political.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Yeah, no, that's a good point you made there about
legislation.
Speaker 5 (12:11):
Yeah, it's very political.
There's no other way to look atit.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Well, I say good job, Pennsylvania.
It looks like you're beingproactive and getting some
telling laws working in yourfavor.
After the break, we're going tolook at what's going on in
Missouri.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Indiana and Connecticut.
We'll be right back For allyour reading needs.
Give us a look attowingequipmentdirectcom or
email us at info at amtowriorg.
Also, you can give us a call at910-747-9000.
Speaker 7 (12:46):
Information in this podcast is made possible by
generous sponsorship fromHenry's Wrecker, serving the
community with quality towingand recovery for over 40 years.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
HenrysWreckercom.
You have been listening toTowing News Now with Wes Wilburn
and April Wilburn, djHarrington, the Toe Doctor.
Every week.
We do our best to bring you thevery best we're available on
Spotify, itunes, pandora,stitcher, iheartmedia, amazon or
(13:17):
wherever you get your podcastsand Wes I'm going to turn it
over to you.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Well, dj as always, you're too kind.
We appreciate you.
Missouri's got what twodifferent bills going on April
yeah, two different ones one ofthem is Missouri Department of
Transportation would beresponsible for setting
procedures for non-consensualkilling practices related to
removal of commercial motorvehicles from roadways.
(13:45):
Oh boy, I don't know wherethat's headed.
What's the other one, April?
Speaker 5 (14:00):
That sounds very to me vague.
What does that mean to you?
Wes that?
Speaker 1 (14:05):
sounds very, to me, vague.
What does that mean to you, wes?
It means that they're tellingyou how to run your business.
To me, per pound pricing hasbeen around for decades.
Done fairly, it's a method thatcan be used to price recovery
jobs.
They're saying you can't do itthat way and that's for the
benefit of the trucking industry.
I don't think that's fair.
(14:25):
I don't think they should beable to dictate that myself.
Was it release of vehicles?
Was that worded about the?
Speaker 5 (14:31):
release.
Yeah, it's the release ofvehicles.
The fees are disputed.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
So if you dispute a fee, then and was it they had to
pay a percentage or was it a?
Speaker 5 (14:39):
I'm trying to look through here right now.
No, the next thing it says isadditional per pound charges for
non-conventional tows will beprohibited.
So I don't think it says thatand maybe if we read the actual
bill itself it would say that.
But I do know that there is athing called a tow and recovery
tow and recovery review boardand that sounds Creating one
(15:02):
correct.
Creating one.
It's going to be a seven membertow plater's something that
represents towing on there.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
And you know you talked about politics being a
part of everything, at leastfrom the Trucking Association.
The independent owner-operatoris what they're called.
Speaker 5 (15:16):
Yeah, that's very political.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Now that we have a proactive trucking government,
we've got to be ready to gettowing reform in Missouri.
It also basically encouragesthem active trucking gun.
We got to be ready to gettowing reform in Missouri.
The officer basicallyencouraged them to be ready to
how did he word it?
Ready to visit the statecapital to testify and support.
And they're getting aggressivethere and I don't even know why.
Missouri has great towingcompanies that operate very fair
(15:40):
businesses.
From what I've seen, in thatpart of the world the
organization is headquartered.
Fair businesses.
From what I've seen in thatpart of the world, the
organization is headquarteredthere.
I think that's a piece of thesituation when do?
Speaker 5 (15:52):
they got going on in Connecticut.
Well, Connecticut, I hadIndiana first Go ahead.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
You go with Indiana and I'll do Connecticut.
Speaker 5 (16:04):
Indiana has two bills of note.
The first one would require atow truck operator to provide an
owner vehicle with a rate sheetif the owner is present at the
time of the tow.
I know that those tows can gojust different ways depending on
situations, but I don't knowhow you assess that price sheet.
The second bill covers theinvoices and our process to
(16:24):
address towing companies.
So a verification will berequired on invoices of actual
towing charges assessed by atowing company that all
equipment billed for wasnecessarily necessary and used.
I don't know if I disagree withthat.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Oh, in theory nobody disagrees with that.
Yeah, in theory you should bevery the point that I would
question is that that's going tostart people questioning.
Did you need this piece here todo?
The job that's not healthy atall so basically it's an audit
of every invoice that you dothat every reputable
organization.
(17:01):
I know the towing industry.
We include ourselves in that.
We always advise our clientsand always recommend and always
suggest that you be very carefulto build on it for what's used.
People will tell companiesthey're already sensitive
without being asked about it.
Speaker 5 (17:19):
Yeah, build for everything that you use.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
But don't build for anything you don't use.
Speaker 5 (17:23):
Yeah and then help us out across the board, even with
insurance.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
And it's just a pride and reputation thing.
Connecticut is working on abill to address non-consensual
tolling.
The bill would establishuniform rates and charges and
consider the cost involved.
The proposal is intended toensure appropriate rates and
(17:50):
charges for non-essentialtelling.
Cost and overhead expensesincurred by a telling company
would also be accounted for.
That's a healthy thing.
If they're looking at it from afairly logistical standpoint of
what things cost, what it coststo do business, you can't ask
for better than that.
It's when the emotions getinvolved, setting rates in the
(18:11):
towing industry that arechallenging, and also
interpretations of it too.
Speaker 5 (18:17):
I would think Like how?
Speaker 1 (18:19):
you interpret something.
Speaker 5 (18:21):
There's a joint presentation committee and again
there's something that we'relooking at the community on that
joint committee.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Interesting.
We'll be here at Telling NewsChannel this program in
particular the Telling News Nowprogram.
We'll be following this closely.
We're also thinking about doinga special on the Tony News
Channel about the differentlegislative efforts going on
around the country.
Stay tuned, we'll give youdetails on that.
(18:51):
There's more news for you aswell.
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Speaker 3 (19:28):
From the American Towing and Recovery News Desk.
Here's Wes and April Wilburn.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
Now here's a really positive story out of Northeast
Ohio.
Way to go.
King's Towing Good job.
Speaker 9 (19:41):
Perry Village has honored a local business for its
willingness to give back to thePerry community.
Members of Village Council andMayor James Jessick signed a
proclamation that expressedgratitude to King's Towing and
Recovery.
The business is owned by DakotaSanders and his wife, Katie
Sanders, who reside in PerryVillage.
They purchased King's Towingand Recovery who reside in Perry
(20:04):
Village.
They purchased King's Towingand Recovery, which is based in
Perry Township, in 2021.
Under the ownership of theSanderses, King's has
demonstrated its support forPerry Village in a variety of
ways, according to theproclamation.
One example cited in thedocument is the assistance that
King's provided to Perry Villageduring the severe and prolonged
snowstorm that startedThanksgiving night.
King's towing was instrumentalin keeping Perry Village's plow
(20:28):
trucks on the road, includingpulling plow trucks out of
ditches during the height of thestorm, all at no cost to the
village, the resolution stated.
In addition, the documentstated that Kings' towing and
recovery has proven helpful tothe Perry Village Police
Department by arriving within 20minutes on most calls for
service and to assist withtraffic control.
(20:48):
King's Towing and Recoverycontributes financially to
support the annual Perry FallFestival.
The business also has donatedcars to Perry High School for
its mock crash demonstrationsand to local fire departments
and the Auburn Career Center fortraining purposes.
The resolution added that PerryVillage's mayor and council
(21:08):
members recognize the remarkableservice of King's Towing and
Recovery and offer theircongratulations on a job well
done.
Councilman Elias Koss read theproclamation during Village
Council's January 23 meeting andpresented it to Coda and Katie
Sanders.
The couple attended the meetingalong with their sons,
three-year-old Grant andsix-month-old Parker.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
This story tells us about something positive that
came out of a very tragicsituation.
I wish more states would takeaction and allow towers to use
these type of lightingsituations.
Speaker 10 (21:43):
House Bill 115.
If passed, it would allow towtruck drivers to turn on blue
lights when responding to acrash.
Wkyt's Maggie Rigoby shows uswhy tow truck companies across
the Commonwealth are backingthis bill.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
If he can get killed, any of them can.
Speaker 11 (21:59):
Tow truck driver Bubba Johnson is the man behind
House Bill 115.
He says current safety measuresfor crash responders are not
enough.
Even with Kentucky's slow downmove over law responders are
still getting hurt.
Others have been killed.
Speaker 4 (22:15):
The solution I have a blue light in operation while
they're sitting there workingthat scene, but they're
prohibited from using the bluelight when they're sitting there
working that seam, but they'reprohibitive from using the blue
light when they're traveling.
Speaker 11 (22:25):
But Representative Richard White filed House Bill
115 to change that.
Supporters of the bill say ablue light would encourage
drivers to slow down.
For many this bill hits home.
Troy Caldwell was struck andkilled on the side of the road
while he was working on I-64 inBath County.
This truck behind me was his.
(22:46):
Jerry Cantrell worked with Troyfor five years.
Speaker 12 (22:51):
We were like brothers.
We spent more time togetherthan we did with our wives.
Speaker 4 (22:55):
He came in every day with a smile on his face, he
left every day with a smile onhis face and everybody loved him
.
Speaker 11 (23:01):
When Troy died, Johnson decided to take action
in his honor.
He calls House Bill 115 Troy'slaw.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
I think this might not fix everything we've got
going on, but it will reallyhelp, and if it'll save one life
, then it was worth doing.
Speaker 11 (23:18):
Johnson's advocacy has gained the support of tow
truck drivers across Kentuckyand beyond on social media.
In Rowan County, MaggieRickerby, WKYT.
Speaker 10 (23:30):
Johnson says, the day House Bill 115 is presented
to a committee, tow truckdrivers plan to gather in
Frankfort to flash their yellowlights in honor of Troy.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
This next story comes to us out of Portland, Oregon,
as a follow-up to a story we didlast week.
Speaker 8 (23:48):
This hour, the man accused of stealing a tow truck
with the driver hanging off theback has been found guilty.
You may remember we showed youthis terrifying video of Eric
Streitzel driving off with thetow truck.
The truck's actual driver,Travis Christ, immediately
jumped on the back of the truckand hung on through downtown,
(24:10):
hit a few cars on I-405 beforethat tow truck crashed into a
semi and finally stopped.
Christ was seriously injuredand Streitzel has been found
guilty on several charges,including assault, reckless
endangering and hit and run.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
The hijacker was found guilty on many different
charges and is scheduled forsentencing on February, the 21st
.
We will report the outcome ofthat hearing.
Here's a story we've beenfollowing out of Canada.
Apparently, the violencecontinues in the Ontario towing
(24:46):
community.
Speaker 12 (24:48):
Shooting involving a tow truck in Scarborough last
night.
Police say a tow truck driverwas shot on Markham Road north
of the 401.
He then drove himself to a gasstation at Kennedy Road in
Progress and was found justafter 7.
The man was taken to hospitalwith serious injuries.
No word so far on suspectsPolice, though asking anyone
with information to come forward.
The shooting, of course,follows the recent launch of a
(25:08):
new Toronto Police Task Forcefocused on tow truck violence.
Earlier this month there werethree shootings in Scarborough
in a 24-hour period involvingtow trucks.
Police have said the ongoingviolence is tied to turf wars
always.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
We will continue to monitor this story for any
updates and further developments.
You're up to the date on towingnews now.
Stay tuned next week for moretowing news.
Speaker 5 (25:31):
We're going to be right back after this break and
we're going to have some moregood things to talk about.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
The American Towing and Recovery Institute is your
home for great, up-to-datetraining supplies to keep your
business in business and thelatest information in the towing
network.
Now with today's guest here isApril Wilburn.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
We have a great guest with us today, Ron Moore.
Hey, Ron, introduce yourself.
Speaker 7 (26:02):
Thank you, Ms April.
I'm Ron Moore.
I'm a retired fire chief fromNorth Dallas, and my specialty
has always been the fire serviceand emergency medical.
I'm learning, though, thatthere is a great similarity
between the tow operators andthe fire service in their
(26:22):
community, whether they'recareer or volunteer.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
I used to work for a tow company a long time ago and
then, just going around with Wesa little bit to these classes,
have noticed there's a lot ofcrossover with towers working
for fire departments, either aspaid or voluntary.
So not only is there acrossover in what happens on the
side of the road, there's acrossover sometimes in actual
(26:46):
personnel as well.
Speaker 7 (26:49):
That's a good point.
And then one of the things thatI see as a firefighter is that
the tow operators possess thingsthat are of little value,
minimal value in the towindustry, but they are.
They have firefighters in thelocal communities drooling over
(27:10):
them.
Cars, for example, is and, andand firefighters are human as
well, so they they don't like uh, classroom as much as they like
the hands-on skills.
So I see, I see the fire, thefirefighters drooling to to
begin to work with the, the towoperators.
So in a community where the towand the fire department already
(27:33):
work together, that communityis that far ahead of the game,
in my opinion it's a much better, uh, working condition on the
side of the road.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
The handoff goes a lot more fluently, the
experience, even if you'reinvolved still as far as being a
person in the car or somethinglike that it's just a much more
professional handoff when thathappens.
Speaker 7 (28:01):
And as a responder, I remember watching a rookie tow
operator and and watching thefirefighters were at the scene.
When the tow operator shows upand the and the firefighters
just shrug their shoulders andhold their hands up in the air
Like, oh my gosh, we got thisguy, this guy again, yeah, and
and I want everybody to be toconsider themselves responders
(28:25):
and consider themselvesprofessionals also if you can
also think of it as a team, andeverybody has like that position
to play.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
You know when we, when we get there, when the
towers get there, that thoseplays are already in motion, so
to speak.
So you have to respect what'salready been done and some of
the things that you don't evenknow that has happened before
you got there to take into thatconsideration.
Sometimes, like you said,everybody's human, so that might
(28:56):
be not as easy to do sometime,but I think if we could just
stay in that frame of mind itwould be a lot better.
Speaker 7 (29:03):
I think if we could just stay in that frame of mind
it would be a lot better.
I remember hearing and seeingas a responder myself back in
the day.
I remember hearing and seeingthe teleoperators come on scene
that are truly thinking ofthemselves as professionals and
they're well-trained andwell-versed in their equipment.
And they're well trained andwell versed in their equipment.
(29:24):
And then I remember in my mindI still have the vision of the
rookie that shows just a goober,but we're all human.
So it can happen within thefire service as well, as it can
happen within the tow industryas well.
But, april, what you saidworking as a team that's the key
.
That's what's going to reallybenefit the community.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
You know, if I could just jump in for a second, the
team analogy is great.
On the Federal Highway Timsincident management video they
gave the example of the NASCARpit crew and how everybody has a
job.
You know everybody has the samegoal but they have different
jobs, different things.
They do to make it happen andthey show you that pit crew with
(30:06):
the safety guy watching the.
You know the top level NASCARpit crew and that truly is
poetry in motion.
And when you get a policedepartment, a fire department, a
towing company working together, I've seen some of the same
poetry in motion and sometimesI've heard a tune that wasn't so
good, if you know what I mean.
Speaker 7 (30:27):
One of the things that does happen on that video
is you have the pit crew go overthe wall.
So we're not saying, Wes and Iare not saying that you should
be timing yourself.
We're not saying that you'rerunning a race per se.
But when you do go over the wall, you are committed and you are
(30:47):
working as a member of a team.
Everybody knows theirresponsibilities.
Everybody knows what's comingup.
So if you have 14 seconds,you're going to lose the race.
If you have 12 seconds, you'regoing to potentially win the
race.
If you're're Formula One, yougot 21 people in a pit crew with
two or three seconds ofstopping.
But one thing that reallyimpresses me is everybody that's
(31:10):
over the wall, that's on thejob, that's doing something, is
professional and they are a partof the team and focused.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
absolutely.
Good point too about the time.
It's the fact that they'refocused and each one's got a job
to do and they're focusing ondoing that job with safety of
everybody in mind.
But that's a great point.
Speaker 7 (31:33):
One of the things I wanted to mention to the tow
operators that are listening isabout what can we do to bait in
the fire service in your localcommunity?
What can we do to bait in thefire service in your local
community?
One of the baits that they justcan't pass up is to say that we
will offer you props that areessentially junk to us in the
(31:56):
tow and recovery and storageindustry, that they are hard to
find in the fire service andstorage industry, that they are
hard to find in the fire service.
So the teleoperator says to thelocal fire department we will
provide you with an acquiredvehicle, a junker.
Once a week or once a year orwhatever interval is appropriate
(32:16):
for that community, we willprovide you with whatever Class
1 or Class 2 vehicle you need,which is essentially up to
10,000 pounds.
The fire departments if thefire departments are smart they
will take advantage of thatoffer figure out a way to have
the acquired vehicle, the junker, brought in and removed.
(32:40):
They will do everything theycan to preserve that
relationship.
In the meantime, the towoperator for that community gets
to know the fire serviceresponders in that community on
a face-to-face basis.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
So just right there, ron, I totally agree with all
that and one of the things thatthe towers need to think about
and we're not accountants, ofcourse, but a lot of times they
can write off donating that car.
Dj, you can tell us a lot aboutthat, can't you?
Speaker 4 (33:14):
Yeah, wes.
Let me add to that what RonMoore is talking about.
In Florida we had a towerdonate four or five vehicles to
a firehouse and the chief at thefirehouse would give a letter
back thanking him for the fivevehicles.
(33:35):
He would list the five vehiclesand he was allowed to take the
value of the vehicle off histaxes as the tax write-off.
So each and every one of you,depending which state you're in
and who your accountant is, justgo over it.
But all it is is a letter ofreceiving the vehicles for the
(33:58):
cross-training that was done atthe firehouse, and it was a
great way of thanking the toerfor the vehicles, at the same
way, taking value off your taxes.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
Thanks, DJ.
That's great advice.
So keep that in mind, toers,when you're talking about these
cars around.
Sorry to interrupt you, butit's just a great point you make
and I just want to emphasizeit's something with the proper
checking with your accountantcan be not a total drain on
money, like people think it is.
Speaker 7 (34:31):
Now one step up.
We talked about Class 1 andClass 2 vehicles, but one step
up that is also a resource thata tow or storage facility
operator may have would be theClass 3 up to the Class 8
vehicles.
So you can do joint trainingbetween the fire department and
(34:52):
the tow operator.
You can do joint training onthese larger, what what is
referred to as large heavyvehicles so yeah there's a lot
of different directions.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
Well, we need to take a quick break and we come back.
Can we break that down a littlebit, ron, yeah go ahead.
Speaker 7 (35:10):
I I have a couple of scenarios in mind that would be
easy for the tow operators toset up and very valuable to the
fire service.
So I'd like to emphasize atleast a couple of scenarios and
then maybe a teaching point ofone of the scenarios at least.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
And they call that a great tease.
That is.
So come back and listen to therest everybody.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Be right back.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
DJ, as always.
Thank you for your kind wordsand as Ron was continuing to
give us this information, ron,you want to go ahead and lead
that back in?
Speaker 7 (35:46):
The large and heavy vehicles are part of training,
that would appeal to a firedepartment that really is on the
on the top of their game.
If you, if the tow operatormentions it's nfpa compliant,
national fire protectionassociation compliant, that's a
volunteer organization,standards making organization
(36:07):
based in Boston, massachusetts.
And if you tell them that we'regoing to offer you some props
and we're going to offer yousome training but the training
is NFPA compliant, a firedepartment that is worth their
salt will say that we're in whatday and what location that
we're in for that, what day andwhat location we're in for that.
(36:29):
So for the tow and storageoperator, you want to do the
underride scenario.
You want a class one or classtwo vehicle that is underneath,
against the duals, whether it'sthe rear duals or the drive
duals on the tractor.
You want the driver doorobstructed.
You want the trunk, the backend of the car, sticking out.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
And then you just say so, Ryan, slow down a little
bit.
Slow down a little bit.
So Most of us Hang on a second.
Most of us understand whatyou're talking about, but I'm
not sure April does.
I don't mean that's nodisregard, but the picture
you're painting is a car that'srun up under a tractor-trailer
from the side.
Is that correct?
Speaker 7 (37:10):
Tractor-trailer would be ideal, something with enough
space underneath.
It could be a tanker truck,tractor-trailer, tanker truck as
well.
But the drivers, the car.
It's like the car didn't stopat a T-intersection.
The large heavy vehicle wasdriving through the
T-intersection and this carwedged itself underneath it.
(37:31):
Gotcha, the class 1 car orclass 2 car, you want to have
the drivers, you want to have asmokehouse dummy or a mannequin
or something to resemble theshape of a seated and belted
driver, seated and belted driver, and you want the driver's door
(37:55):
to be obstructed by by the dualtires, for example.
So typically you would.
You would put the car whateveryou do ahead of time is up to
you, but typically you would putthe car as if it crashed from
the passenger side of the18-wheeler.
The 18-wheeler was driving fromour left to our right and then
the car was coming straight downthe hill and went right
(38:17):
underneath it.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
So let me jump in real quick for telling friends
One of the best ways to stagethat is to pick up the trailer,
winch the car up into position,put the trailer back down and
drive or winch the trailerforward.
We just did a school in Sumner,south Carolina, where he had a
live tractor and an old donorvehicle trailer that we had been
(38:45):
using and training already andwe used there and it had some
load in it.
So we put the car in it with alive tractor up front there.
You know it was a good roadtractor they were using in their
daily operations but with agood tractor we were able to put
the truck in gear and driveforward to get that car not
perfectly wedged, as hard as itwould be in the real world, but
(39:06):
close, pretty close, and a realgood simulation and something,
something for the to give therescue personnel a little
challenge when you would youagree with that, ron?
Speaker 7 (39:17):
yeah, as long as the driver's door is obstructed,
that means the passenger frontdoor, the passenger side of the
vehicle is not obstructed.
So to work the passenger sideof the vehicle, the rescuers
would have to work the passengerside of the vehicle.
The rescuers would have to usetheir extrication equipment and
be under, literally underneath,the tractor trailer truck.
So there's a lot that comesinto play setting up that.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
I have one question to ask really quick that class
in Sumter, south Carolina isthat a class that you and Ron
did together?
Speaker 1 (39:48):
Wes, yes we talked about a couple podcasts ago.
Yeah, fire tower that, a classthat you and Ron did together.
Wes yes, we talked about acouple podcasts ago, yeah, a
fire tour cross training classthat you guys did together at.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
Sumter Fire Department with Hal Watts.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
Yeah, thanks for clearing that up.
I just kind of jumped in thestory there.
Go ahead, Ron.
Sorry for interrupting you.
Speaker 7 (40:04):
So all this is done without the fire department
actually watching it.
So Wes mentioned if you have aheavy, for example, that lifts
the butt end of the trailer up,sets it back down sometimes it
doesn't get the effect crumplethe roof along the windshield
(40:31):
header along the driver side,passenger side, a pillar to get
it, to get it to fit well enoughunder the, under the large
heavy vehicle, the truck whichis especially if the you know,
if you don't have a fully loadedtrailer, even with a fully
loaded trailer, you have to dothat.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
But if you, if you don't have a fully loaded
trailer, you're definitely goingto have to do that.
Speaker 7 (40:49):
That's a great point, ron, and we recommend that the
seated and belted mannequin toresemble the driver of the
vehicle because the fire serviceand maybe even you're working
with law enforcement, maybe evenyou're working in a joint
training effort with withemergency medical.
You need to give them a targetthat, no, you can't stand on the
(41:10):
front seat, no, that that,because that's where your
patient is.
You have to give them somereality check of what they are
dealing with.
Speaker 1 (41:19):
So this, the smokehouse dummy, seated and
belted, where the seat is pushedall the way forward, it just
seems to work out very well forthat one of the things ron's
taught me is, if you have yourchoice between cars and you have
a two-door and a four-door, andespecially if you have multiple
dummies, get that four-door,because if you can put multiple
(41:40):
victims in multiple seats withworking seatbelts and working
doors, it gives your firedepartment personnel, your
rescue personnel, more activitytime, more activities to do
during the hands-on.
Speaker 7 (41:55):
And keep in mind that these are the personnel in your
community, so giving them thatextra practice time is good for
everybody, I would also say Westhat the large and heavy vehicle
scenario that I'm mentioningwould be done after the fire
department works with the tow orstorage facility to do some
(42:16):
basic what's called operationslevel skills training as well
Doors, windows, windshield, thatkind of thing, kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (42:24):
Yeah, your first involvement.
If you haven't done anythingwith your fire department,
especially if you're initiatingit, ask them if they just want
to come to the yard and cut up acouple cars, or we'll take your
cars.
Everybody's heard me talk aboutthis before in the podcast, but
I'll say it again Give themcomplete cars.
Check with your accountant youcan probably write the whole
thing off but don't give thempieces of cars with exhaust
(42:47):
systems falling off because youhad to have that catalytic
converter.
Speaker 7 (42:52):
I know there's one, and all the fire service is
going to do is change the shapeof whatever you give them.
You don't want the fire serviceto start running a parts supply
?
Speaker 1 (43:03):
Yeah, well, they're not.
The issue is we're not givingthem a real victim to practice
on.
When we've taken the radiator,taken the seats out of it, the
tires off of it, this, that andthe other Doesn't have an engine
.
So yeah, we're not giving themreal weight to play with.
You know, without the enginethere it's a whole different
(43:24):
dynamic of working with avehicle, whether it's a car or a
heavy truck.
So I'm just suggesting to mytellers the best you can Check
with your accountant, you canprobably write the whole thing
off.
Give them complete vehicleswhen possible.
Give them four doors withworking seatbelts.
Well, I know you can't controlthat, but I'm just saying, if
(43:46):
you're picking out cars for them, that car with multiple
stations and multiple seatbeltsis a good thing.
And I say cars, suvs andpickups and all that.
Firefighters need that stuff towork on too, because there's a
whole lot of folks driving.
That it's depending on whereyou live especially.
Speaker 2 (43:59):
I have a silly question to ask.
This is going to be silly.
When I ask it, for some reason,I'm thinking about gas tanks
with gas in it.
Speaker 1 (44:14):
Is that something that should be emptied out?
If there's gas in that, the gasshould be emptied out before
it's handed over or does thatmatter?
Normally, my answer would be no.
That what the car?
As is ron.
What do you?
What do you have?
How does fire services feelabout that?
Speaker 7 (44:21):
we'll work with what we're given.
But if the fuel tank is leaking, that's a that's a hazardous
material incident.
If the fuel tank is full,that's an that's a problem as
well.
So one of the solutions is tosurgically have that the fuel
tank removed before the car iseven made available.
But the bottom line is, thefire department will work with
(44:42):
with the with the vehicle as itis.
You don't have to have it uhprepped any any differently
right, the.
Speaker 1 (44:52):
Uh, I can't suggest this strongly enough for so many
different reasons.
What else can you tell us aboutthat scenario, ron?
Speaker 7 (45:01):
one of the things that you want to do when you put
the class one or class twopassing your vehicle with the
simulated patient or patientsunderneath the tractor, trailer,
truck, have the trunk of thatcar, that vehicle, sticking out.
Because one of the options forthe fire service is trunk
tunneling, where you simulate acommander would say I want you
(45:24):
to open the butt end of thisvehicle up to bring the seated
and belted driver out the backend on a longboard.
So if the back end of the caris accessible, it gives the fire
service another realisticsolution to deal with in that
scenario.
Speaker 1 (45:43):
Well, that's great advice, something else that
you've taught me working withyou.
That's great advice Somethingelse that you've taught me
working with you if you're goingto do a large group and you're
going to do the same exercisemore than once, if you can get
the same kind of vehicle, verysimilar vehicles, that's a
benefit, isn't it?
Speaker 7 (46:03):
That would be important as well.
If you're duplicating thescenario, try to keep everything
the same.
To duplicate everything thesame, that's for sure.
One of the things that I dolike about this scenario is it
is typically reflected by boththe fire service participants,
(46:23):
the emergency medical, the lawenforcement participants and the
tow operators.
It's referenced as somethingthat is very realistic to their
community.
Yes, it could happen.
Yes, it could happen tonight.
Yes, it could happen tomorrow.
Now, because we did jointtraining at the tow yard, we are
(46:44):
better prepared for the reality.
Speaker 1 (46:47):
That's right.
It is a super realisticaccident that happens all the
time.
The tow operators really shineat this point where they can
take and work with thefirefighters and whoever else
they're working with in thegroup and show them some
different things about the heavytruck the frame of the truck,
the suspension, how the weightis transferred to the ground
(47:07):
where the weight sits, etc.
Suspension, how the weight istransferred to the ground where
the weight sits, etc.
One of the things that I'vealways found really popular is
if the victim truck, the truckand trailer, especially the
trailer, that the car isunderwritten, if it's air ride,
which a lot of stuff's air ridenowadays air ride ride.
Suspension by showing therescue personnel the leveling
(47:30):
valve, how to disengage it fromits automatic position and use
it to use the springs to raiseweight, is always a very popular
thing and it's very goodinformation for the rescue
personnel to know, in my opinionand that would also meet the
NFPA standard for learning aboutthe anatomy of a heavy-duty
truck.
Speaker 7 (47:51):
And to show the joint training, joint part of the
training effort.
After the fire service has donemaybe the trunk tunneling and
they've torn off the passengerside of the vehicle, have the
tow operator pre-position orposition in.
Now we're going to go throughthis in slow motion.
(48:12):
Bring the tow operator back upto the, let's say, tractor,
trailer, truck or the largeheavy vehicle, lift it, but also
using a winch on the towvehicle or a fire department
winch, it doesn't matter, youcan do a change of direction.
Speaker 2 (48:29):
Ron, we're going to pick this back up after the
break, so come back and join uswith the great Ron Moore and Wes
Wilborn and we'll go more intocross-training and joint
training.
Speaker 7 (48:39):
All right, thanks, dj .
One thing I want to mention isdon't assume anything is over
the head of the fire service.
There may be a firefighter,particularly in a volunteer fire
department, that is veryfamiliar with the anatomy of
that large heavy vehicle, butchances are there isn't
(48:59):
Everything is valuable to them.
Point out any feature that youfeel they could potentially want
to know about or use at anactual incident.
If you have Wes mentioned aworking tractor, you could ask
them to go in one side and goout the other.
(49:20):
It really is amazing how manytimes the firefighters that
respond to truck wrecks havenever, ever in their life or in
their fire service crew havebeen inside a tractor, trailer
truck, let alone a sleeper cab,let alone a tanker truck.
Speaker 1 (49:39):
Ron, that's a great point.
Just showing how to set thebrakes and different things like
that is huge.
A lot of them have never seenthat.
I didn't think about that point, but that is a great point, Ron
.
Speaker 7 (49:51):
Well, even for stabilization, the fire
department may ask the towoperator that's there as a
subject matter expert well, canwe just lower these legs, these
dollies, can we just lower theselegs, and what will that hold?
Lower these legs and what, whatwill that hold?
(50:12):
So you, as a tow operator,ought to know what, how the
dolly cranks down, what it does,what the red line, what the
blue line, how to disconnect air, disconnect the electric, how
to chalk the wheels.
Things like that just anticipateall kinds of questions from the
fire service people that areparticipating now, that's a
great point, it really is what Iusually do then to finish up
(50:33):
the scenario is to have the towoperator lift the butt end of
the vehicle, of the large heavyvehicle, and then, either using
their winch or a fire servicewinch, do a change of direction
to pull, move the vehicle, theclass one or class two car out
from underneath the trailer thatexposes the driver's side.
(50:54):
Then you let the fire, thenit's all hands on deck.
The fire service goes at itthat way.
That's a realistic solution.
That's a realistic scenario andwhat you want to hear is thank
you very much.
I learned, I learned.
I learned.
I'm now better prepared forwhat it lies in store for me in
(51:14):
my career yeah, it's a greatthing to be involved in that.
Speaker 2 (51:19):
It really is, and um, it's good for many different
reasons, many reasons so I havea question to ask Ron and Wes
when fire is on scene, that thefirefighters can do to help, or
are they better off juststanding back?
(51:54):
Is that a case-by-case basis?
And then part b of that is oncethat happens, once the towers
um remove the, the tractortrailer, whatever it is that's
holding the car down, is thereanything that the tow truck can
do to help the fire operator?
(52:15):
Or is that just the standalone,two standalone things?
Speaker 1 (52:20):
Yeah, that's pretty much two standalone case-by-case
cases.
Many times the fire personnelhas plenty of manpower and
plenty of direction, so it wouldbe seldom that they need help,
but there are cases in anysituation, and especially in a
small rural department.
Again, that's a case-by-case isthe only answer I see.
Do you have any thoughts onthat, Ron?
Speaker 7 (52:43):
The NFTA does say in their 1006 technical rescue
training standard that the fireservice should be familiar with
the operation and thecapabilities of the local tow
and recovery, but the NFDA doesnot require the fire service to
know how to actually do the job.
(53:04):
I think this type of jointtraining will help, but it
really is a case-by-case basis.
Speaker 1 (53:12):
And that's a good point.
Though that brings us to a goodpoint.
This standard is not about thefirefighters doing the toer's
job, the toer's doing thefirefighter's job.
It's not about that at all.
The way I look at it is.
In my opinion, it's about thetowing industry becoming a
resource, a tool at it is.
In my opinion, it's about thetowing industry becoming a
(53:32):
resource, a tool, a machine thatcan be a resource that the fire
rescue services can call on andwork with and, because of the
prior training, have someunderstanding of.
You know how things should goand what's supposed to happen
and how to make it happen.
You know the advice you giveRon.
You know when we're doing thehands-on to the firefighters
about creating that footprint.
(53:54):
If you've called for heavy towto solve a problem of lifting
weight, the next thing you startdoing as a firefighter is to
start thinking about thefootprint of that tow truck and
clearing some room and somespace for them to be.
And boy, you see, the lightbulbs go off on that and
sometimes even some of therescue will put up their hands
and say, yeah, we had thissituation and you're right.
(54:15):
Nobody thought about it untilToe got on the scene and there
was nowhere for him to be.
So all of a sudden it's movinga bunch of apparatus to give
them a little channel to slideinto little channel to slide
into.
Speaker 7 (54:32):
So I think you know, I would say know the capability
of the local toll and recoveryoperator and their equipment and
then, and you do that, youlearn that that capability
through the joint training, andthen just be able or willing for
, for whatever your disciplineis, to be able to assist the
other discipline, because that'sthat's the teamwork effort,
that's the team effort that getsthe job done absolutely,
(54:56):
speaking of team effort, wereally appreciate you being part
of this team.
Speaker 1 (54:59):
We're going to have you back on.
I don't know if it'll be.
I think it'll be a week in, twoweeks from now.
Um, we got to figure that out,but we're going to have you back
on.
To break down another piece ofthis exercise, and there's also
been some requests for someinformation, let me back up.
There's also been a request forsomeone to talk about the TIMS
(55:19):
program a little bit.
We all know you were intimatelyinvolved in that, so can we
plan on having you in in afuture episode to talk about
that a little bit as well?
Speaker 7 (55:29):
Yes, plan on having you in in a future episode to
talk about that a little bit aswell.
Yes, the TIMS program the TowOperators Struck and Killed or
Injured While Working in andNear Moving Traffic is very
close to my heart and I would bemore than willing to help
explain what I've learned as afire service as a responder to
(55:49):
Tim-related incidents.
Speaker 1 (55:51):
Excellent, we'll look forward to it.
Thank you for being here today.
If anybody has any questions,call the hotline.
Dj has given the number out.
I'll give it out here at theend and we'll be happy to answer
them when we look forward.
We thank you for being ourfirst regular contributor,
regular interviewer, and Ialways appreciate your interest
(56:14):
in the towing industry.
So thank you very much forbeing here, ron, and we'll see
you.
My producer tells me it's goingto be an every other week
program.
So I don't know if myproducer's gotten with your time
, director, but that's whatwe're going to aim for.
Speaker 7 (56:29):
My dog, that's for sure.
So so I I I appreciate beingable to participate in the
program and I'll help you andthe tow industry in any way that
I can, because you are truly aresource to to your discipline.
Your discipline is truly aresource to the discipline that
I grew up with the fire rescueand medical.
(56:50):
So if we all work together, weall will be a team.
I want to be part of that.
Thank you, wes, thank you April, thank you DJ.
Speaker 2 (56:59):
Thank you Ron.
Thank you Ron.
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com