July 9, 2025 • 41 mins
When safety laws exist but aren't enforced, what's the real value of having them? This pressing question emerges during our enlightening conversation with Jared Varnado, fourth-generation tower and president of the Towing and Recovery Professionals of Louisiana.
The harsh reality facing roadside workers becomes clear as Jared reveals disturbing statistics – only 56 Move Over citations issued in his area this year despite multiple industry workers being struck on roadsides. This enforcement gap represents a widespread problem facing first responders nationwide, where laws exist on paper but offer little real-world protection to those working vulnerable roadside positions.
Louisiana towers face additional challenges with crushing insurance costs reaching $40,000-$70,000 per truck annually, driven largely by predatory lawsuit practices and insurance companies that find settlement cheaper than defense. These astronomical premiums, combined with regulated non-consensual towing rates, create a nearly impossible business environment where companies cannot pass costs to consumers through appropriate rate adjustments.
Yet amid these challenges, signs of adaptation and progress emerge. The state association has strategically partnered with Traxero for paperwork processing, freeing resources for advocacy work. Jared's company demonstrates forward-thinking investment with a new twin-steer 50-ton rotator and refurbished 25-ton truck, positioning themselves for expanded opportunities as Baton Rouge police shift to a rotation system after 20 years of single-company service.
Throughout our conversation runs a consistent thread – the critical importance of ongoing training in an evolving industry. With vehicles and equipment changing rapidly, even experienced operators need regular education to maintain safety and effectiveness. The upcoming ATRI training sessions in Lake Charles this November represent the industry's commitment to professionalism despite difficult circumstances.
What challenges does your towing operation face with road safety enforcement? Share your experiences and join the conversation about how we can better protect those who protect our roadways.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
you're on the train to success with april and wes
wilburn.
I'm dj harrington, the co-host,better known as the toe doctor.
We're all on our way to thetown of proper towing and
recovery, along with ourproducer, chuck camp, in the
studio.
Don't go to the town of woulda.
Coulda, shoulda.
(00:25):
You coulda had done this.
You should have done that.
Listen every week tothought-provoking wisdom from
great guests.
So if you have Spotify, itunes,pandora, stitcher, iheartmedia
or the number one podcast, ormaybe Amazon or wherever you get
(00:50):
your podcasts, turn in onWednesday and be turned on all
week long.
If you are a state associationand want your announcements or
upcoming state association news,announcements or upcoming state
association news or maybe ashow that's coming up, let us
know.
Our podcast studio phone numberis 706 409 5603.
(01:14):
I'm proud to be part of a greatteam at the American Dorm
Recovery Institute.
Let's make 2025 our best yearever.
I will turn it to April Loomis.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
As always, dj, thank you for your kind words.
Certainly appreciate them sohow are you?
Doing today, dj, excellent,excellent, excellent.
So I guess you had a good 4thof July, great 4th of July.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Great Fourth of July.
The twins had their 12thbirthday.
So that was wonderful.
So Grandpa's happy, thegrandchildren are happy and
everything's good.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Boy.
That's good to hear.
Abel, how are you?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I'm doing really well too, you know, trying to get
through this very hot weather,but as far as the courts in
Georgia and in North Carolinathis time of the year.
But we're doing great.
We're doing great here.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
So we just got back from a class in St Louis.
We had a good class out therelight duty and a heavy duty, got
to do a little team networkingwith some of the team out there,
so feeling really good aboutour visit out to St Louis.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
And that's our new home base.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yes, absolutely.
We looked at some property thatlooks like where the permanent
training facility is going to be, although nothing's in concrete
yet, but they're definitelymoving forward, so we're excited
about that as well.
Jt taught most of the heavyduty class.
(02:54):
I assisted with some of it dida great job.
He's really coming along greatas an instructor.
We did the testing.
Each student individuallytested and operated the
equipment.
So, yeah, we're feeling realgood about the trip out to St
Louis.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Well, I know that you were in St Louis and I stayed
back here at the office.
I'm sure the weather was much,much cooler there, wasn't it Les
?
Speaker 3 (03:24):
No, it was warm there .
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Yeah, I think the whole country is kind of easing.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Absolutely.
We're going to be out inMedford, oregon, in July, on the
18th for a one-day light dutyclass and the 19th and the 20th
for a tone and recovery heavyduty class.
That's July 19th and 20th andthen September, the first
weekend there.
(03:50):
September 6th and 7th we'regoing to be in Indianapolis for
a two-day heavy duty, october3rd to the 5th.
We're going to be in Buffalo,new York.
Myself and JT will be therewith a surprise instructor for
an extreme heavy-duty class,going to do some heavy winching.
(04:12):
Then we'll be at the TennesseeToe Show the 9th and the 10th
for a two-day heavy-duty toe andrecovery class.
Weekend.
After that, woffco Towing LakeStation, indiana, october 17th
and 18th and then we'll be firstweekend of November.
(04:32):
We're going to be down inEnterprise, alabama.
One day light duty on November7th, two day heavy duty on
November 8th and 9th.
Then we'll be in Lake Charles,louisiana, working with the Tone
Recovery Professional ofLouisiana.
We'll be there November 15thfor a one-day light duty,
(04:53):
november 16th for a one-dayheavy duty and then we'll be
rounding out the year it lookslike in Florida April, florida
and Florida, and that'll be thefirst weekend of December.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Yeah, December's probably on a bad time of the
year to go to Florida.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Yeah, the schedule's working out pretty good this
year following the weather.
So of course we're appreciativeof all the different folks that
are hosting some of theseclasses and putting in the hard
work to make them come together.
We have some more stuff we'reconfirming and we'll get on the
schedule as well.
We're certainly excited aboutthe training schedule that's
(05:33):
going on strong this year andit's very exciting to see you
guys.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
I think it's great.
More and more people arewanting to train their people
and get safety put back in theirthinking and their culture.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Kind of following the weather here a little bit.
I'm going to just take this onemoment to mention Kerr County
Tech Group, because over theweekend, when a lot of us were
having our 4th of July weekendbecause the 4th was Friday so we
we carried it on, but Americansdo Texas was waking up to one
(06:13):
what they call a 100-year flood,and that part of Texas really
got the car and because theyweren't expecting it and the
waters were so much quicker,there is, as there right now,
over 80 deaths.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
It's a horrible story .
We pray for everybody involved,especially the girls' camp.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
And the first responders who are going out
there too, and some of them areat a loss of life with that too
yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Yeah, they're all members of the community.
The community has to deal withsuch, so, from our family, we're
praying for everybody involvedin Texas and beyond.
With that being said, we'regoing to take a short break.
We've got a great interviewright after the break.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
TRAA, the Injured Drivers Fund and legislation
that makes all of us safer arewhat makes this industry special
.
Ina Towing supports all of thisand more.
When there is a need, gayRochester is always one of the
first to come forward and askhow can I help?
The American Towing andRecovery Institute is honored to
(07:25):
have the support of the INATowing Network.
Together, we all make adifference.
Ina Towing Network simplifiedsolutions, superior service.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Welcome back listeners.
Of course, you know you'relistening to the number one
podcast in the towing industryTowing News Now Channel.
I want to remind all ourlisteners that we're available
on any source you have.
Make sure you download andlisten.
We're available on Spotify,itunes, pandora, stitcher,
(08:00):
iheartmedia or wherever you getyour podcasts.
So I want to thank all of youfor listening and, april, I'm
going to turn it over to youbecause this will be a great one
.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Yes, it's always a great one.
Dj Harrington is on the micwith us, DJ.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
And, dj, you know something I realized today.
We have Jared Barnadot with usback again.
He's been a guest numeroustimes and one of the very few
only guest hosts.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Yeah, one of the very few.
When Wes has had something elseto do, he's stepped in and done
the interviews, and we'rehonored to have Jared.
Barnadot with us.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
Hey Jared how are you ?
Speaker 2 (08:46):
doing today?
I'm doing great, April.
How are you?
Speaker 5 (08:50):
I'm fantastic, jared.
Why don't you introduceyourself to everybody again?
Hey everybody, I'm JaredVarnadoe, owner of Varnadoe Sons
Tone and Recovery.
I'm also president of Tone andRecovery Professionals of
Louisiana, and so I'm a busyperson.
How are y'all?
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Doing great.
Jared, Tell us a little bitabout your company, how y'all
started, a little bit about yourhistory and where you guys are
now.
Just to give our listeners alittle perspective of who's
talking to them.
Speaker 5 (09:22):
Okay, so for those of you that haven't heard our
previous podcast, my grandfatherstarted our company in 1957 in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, andsince then I am third generation
of the family business and wenow have a fourth generation
working for us Wow, we have afour-generation.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Yeah, I'm going to let you finish it out.
Just one second though, but onthe fourth generation, who named
the uh, fourth generationaddition to this?
Speaker 5 (09:53):
so we have a diesel and automotive repair facility
as well as a towing service, andum the fourth generation would
be.
My cousin and two of hischildren are now helping run the
automotive service.
Unfortunately, my little onesare too small to drive tow
trucks, even though they thinkthey can.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Well, time will tell.
With that, go ahead and finishyour tow truck.
You want to go Please?
Speaker 5 (10:27):
So we are a towing service in Denham Springs,
louisiana.
We started in Baton Rouge andwe expanded to Denham Springs in
1992.
And since then we're justcontinuously growing.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Well, good, good.
I want to talk a little bitabout the association, but you
mentioned Denim Springs.
We made national news the otherday with the tractor trailer
hitting a guy in the utilitybucket truck.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
Yes, we did.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
You were nearby when that happened, huh.
Speaker 5 (10:59):
I actually was.
I was trying to get on theinterstate when it happened was,
I was, uh, trying to get on theinterstate when, when it
happened, um, and so thesituation was dot is installing
some monitors.
Uh, I don't know if y'all havethem in y'all's area, but
they're starting to introduce ablinking caution left turn light
to help mitigate some of thetraffic flow, and so they have
(11:23):
to install the monitors to readthe traffic, to see how long,
you know all the timing andthrough the light cycles and
everything.
So they were installing themonitors.
The bucket truck was on theshoulder, with the shoulder
coned off.
They were reached over the lane, which was an open lane of
traffic, a flag man with noflags that was not flagging
(11:47):
traffic and three other peoplesitting in a truck behind the
bucket truck that couldn't seetraffic.
As y'all have seen, the18-wheeler was taking a
left-hand turn, headed to thepilot truck stop that's just
south of the interstate truckstop that's just south of the
(12:10):
interstate.
And, um, you know, it didn'tdidn't notice that the bucket
was hanging lower than he shouldhave.
Um, you know, as a truck driver, I kind of view that, as your
got was at fault.
You know I do put some fault onthe driver, saying you know he
should have been aware of hissurroundings and paying
attention that it was a guyrunning towards the intersection
trying to get his attention.
But ultimately the guy in thebucket took the brunt of the
(12:34):
injury.
I don't think he was injured.
I did see him up walking aroundafter they got him out of the
bucket.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Yeah, according to the news report, saw he wasn't
injured uh or minor injury tosome of that effect yeah that
was a, that was a close call,wasn't?
Speaker 5 (12:52):
it.
Oh, thank god he was wearinghis harness.
Uh, it was.
I mean, it was a terribleaccident.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
It could have been much worse that's right and
you're right about he had properpersonal protection equipment
for that job and it saved hislife on that day.
You're absolutely right aboutthat.
Anyway, I digress.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
But also just to show you how safety is important in
what we do definitely Alllocations, but all across the
board.
One person was very, very safe,and that's probably why he
didn't get injured as badly, andanother person wasn't as
diligent in what he was doing.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
Right, he wasn't aware of his surroundings.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Yeah, anyway, I digress.
Let's go back to theassociation.
What's going on with Tone ofRecovery?
Professionals of Louisiana.
Speaker 5 (13:39):
Well, tone of Recovery Professionals of
Louisiana has been a littlequiet lately.
It's partly my fault.
I, unfortunately, unfortunately, am still in the truck every
day due to trying to findqualified staff, but earlier in
the year.
So, as you well know, we werethe one of the first
(14:01):
associations maybe the firstassociation to process paperwork
through Office of Motor Vehicleand we did that for a very long
time.
We were the only company formany, many years.
And I want to say in the early2000s Southern I think it's
(14:25):
Southern Information it was adivision of Roadrunner Tolling
in Baton Rouge Opened their ownpaperwork process and then
Tolling, which is now Traxero,opened their paperwork process
and so we continued on throughmany, many years and just
started crunching the numbers.
(14:46):
And we were approached byTraxero to buy us out.
And we crunched the numbers andjust realized like hey, this is
not really as profitable as itshould be and it's more of a
hindrance on the associationthan it is profit.
So we came to an agreement andmerged with Trexera.
(15:08):
So they handle our paperworkprocess now and they are a large
supporter of the associationnow.
So that's as far as that.
That's the big news.
Boy, that sounds like a powerfulpartnership it is it is it is
going smoothly, um, and and itwas just our software um was
(15:33):
becoming out of date.
Trying to find a softwarecompany that wanted to write it,
we tried three separate ones.
Um, you know, either they wouldget involved and say they're
not interested, or they wouldwant to large sum of money that
we couldn't come up with.
And so it was just it workedout for the best.
Um, there was some members thatwere a little upset because, I
(15:53):
mean, we had a personal servicethat we provided that no other
could Um, but you know, as timeschange, you have to move
forward and figure out what'sprofitable.
So the association can directits energy to fighting for the
industry instead of being in thepaperwork business.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Yeah, change is not always easy, especially when
you're a little not in my age,you're probably a little bit
older.
Sometimes that change is notcomfortable Right With the day
and age, and AI is going to be aprevalent thing in the next few
years.
It's better to kind of adapt asmuch as we can right now.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
Right, so that's got to be exciting, that it's a
better situation for everybodyinvolved.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
What's going on?
Speaker 3 (16:44):
with the association.
I guess the legislative sessionfor this year is it completed.
What's going on with that?
Speaker 5 (16:52):
They're trying to call for a special session for
some more bills, but I thinkoverall GRPL didn't have any
specific bills that we were ableto bring to the capital this
year.
We had tried to we're stillbattling the overweight over
axle issue at the scale houseand so we worked with DOT again
(17:13):
this year.
Unfortunately, they didn'tdeliver their format until a
week after the deadline to turnanything in, without any chance
of us reviewing it.
So we said no, let's put it offand we'll revisit it.
(17:37):
Lnta and they were verydiligent about getting some
bills passed through legislationto try and reduce insurance
costs.
We have a huge issue inLouisiana with insurance with
the amount of trial attorneysthat are standing on big trucks
advertising, you know, and justreally being predatorial of
(18:02):
taking advantage of theinsurance companies.
The insurance companies reallydon't want to fight back.
It's easier for them just towrite a check and pass the
spending on to us.
It's been a huge, huge fight.
I've talked to some membersthat have had to close their
doors down side of their fleetor whatever.
(18:24):
You're talking upwards of$50,000 to $70,000 a truck for
some companies.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Wow, that's not to be passed on to the consumer.
Speaker 5 (18:38):
Well, unfortunately, in Louisiana for non-consensual
toes we are regulated.
So we've got adjoining statesthat have minimal or no
regulations and they're gettinga large sum of money for a
recovery and where we do thesame recovery and we're getting
(18:59):
a quarter of it, and so it's areal difficult business to be in
in Louisiana right now.
But there's light at the end ofthe tunnel.
We got a lot of bills passedthat I think within the next
three to five years we're goingto see some significant changes
and we're not stopping there.
Every year we're going tocontinue to bring more.
(19:22):
So the other issues that we'rebattling with at TRPL, trying to
fight for the industry isslowdown.
Move over is not enforced inLouisiana.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
You know you're right .
That's such an important point.
So many states do the samething.
We need to cut for a quickbreak, but can you come back
after the break and expand onthat for us, Jared?
Absolutely.
Speaker 6 (19:53):
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We also offer the National TowOperator Certification, an
(20:15):
independently sourced virtualtesting program covering light
duty, heavy duty, electric andco-host.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
So I want to remind all of you.
One time when you heard Jared,we had 7,000 listeners.
(20:45):
We are over 20,000 listenersnow.
So I want to thank all of you.
On behalf of Wes, jared, april,myself, I want to thank you
because this is really heavenOver 20,000 listeners every week
is wonderful.
Remember to like, review andshare everywhere.
If you want to hear anotherindustry expert like Jared, by
(21:10):
all means dial the hotlinenumber here in the podcast
center 706-409-5603.
And we will do our best to getthem on the podcast.
And you know they may not befourth generation, but we'll get
some of these people on thatyou would like to hear.
So, without further ado, let mesend you back to April Wilburn.
(21:34):
April, you got it.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
EJ, I had no idea that we reached that milestone
of 20,000.
That's incredible.
I've only been with you guys asfar as being one of the
co-hosts for the last few months, so I can't take credit for a
lot of it.
But who can't take credit forit?
Are all of our great gueststhat we've had, are all of our
(21:58):
great guests that we've had.
And right now with us we dohave Jared Varnadoe, who's
continuing a discussion thatwe're having about the move over
slowdown laws and how,unfortunately, they're not as
enforced in many states as theyshould be, and Jared was talking
about how his state hasn'treally enforced it either.
Jared, welcome back.
Speaker 5 (22:21):
Thank you, april.
So before the break we werediscussing the slowdown moveover
law and I actually did someresearch and just in my area,
which the state police has thestate cut up in different areas
they call troop areas.
I'm in the troop A area whichcovers Livingston, parish East,
(22:44):
baton Rouge, parish West, batonRouge, parish Gonzalez, so it's
a pretty large area.
So I did some research andreached out to state police and
the sheriff's office and localpolice departments and sadly,
out of everybody that was onlyin the year 2024, there was only
(23:06):
56 citations written in theTroop A area for slowdown
moveover and we have had, I wantto say, three people hit four
people in the last two yearsbecause of people not slowing
down, moving over.
That's just tow truck operators, that's not including police
(23:28):
officers, firemen, you know, andconstruction workers.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
It's like you know, yeah, that's the side the road,
doing whatever they're doing.
Let me ask you said 56citations in in that, when you
were looking that stuff up with56 citations, how many actual
people were hit on the side ofthe road or vehicles hit on the
(23:54):
side of the road?
Did that come up in yourinvestigation?
Speaker 5 (23:58):
No, I wasn't privy to that information.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Okay, your investigation.
No I wasn't privy to thatinformation, okay.
Speaker 5 (24:09):
Very interesting, though I know there's way more
than that, obviously, absolutelyUm and, and so what I've um
done is reach out and ask aroundand beg for help and this and
that.
So I actually am going before aboard in September or October I
haven't got the date yet.
They believe that they.
(24:33):
So in Louisiana we have aseatbelt grant, so they the
federal government, gives themunicipalities money for
advertisement.
They have to advertise 30 daysbefore they start enforcing it,
but they believe that they canadd, slowdown, move over under
that grant to get some money foradvertisement and awareness,
(24:54):
and so I believe next year weshall see some proactive
policing, I guess you could say,to help combat that, because
it's truly sad.
I mean my guys and everybody inthe stone industry work on the
side of the road all day, everyday, and it's disheartening for
the amount of people that justdisregard people.
(25:17):
And it's not just tow trucks, Imean all, all first responders
in general or, like you said,construction workers, or we tow
for a company that does sweepsto interstate and it seems like
every time they do a job,somebody runs in the back of one
of their crash trucks, and it'sjust people don't pay attention
(25:38):
, they're too busy looking attheir phone or not worried about
their surroundings, or you know, wherever they've got to go is
more important than the nextperson.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
I always say it's rude, but it's not even rude,
because rude is like anintention.
It's more that we just don't.
We're not aware of other peoplein the world.
When I was a little girl and Iwas in the car with my mom, we
would be going down the road andnot nearly the amount of
traffic that we have these dayswhen there was something on the
side of the road.
(26:08):
If she could move over shewould get in a dozen lane, but
she at least slowed down.
And she did that not to makesure the person on the side of
the road was safe.
Maybe she did consider that,but she also didn't want to hit
them and hurt us.
So she exampled that.
We've seen that andinstinctively, as I became older
and I started driving, I didthe same thing because it was a
(26:30):
normal thing for me.
I don't know how normal it isnow to actually like just see
something and say, hey, let mebe a little bit cognizant of
what's happening here, and atleast it's nothing else.
Slowing down, yeah.
Speaker 5 (26:43):
Yeah, it's like changing lanes is inconvenient
for people these days.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Changing lanes, and if you can't, you can't because
of the, but you can at leastslow down a little bit and maybe
give an enter to that to theperson on the side of the road.
As far as your towingassociation and as far as this
Move Over Slow Down law, are younetworking with other towing
(27:08):
associations, other state towingassociations?
Speaker 5 (27:12):
I have not.
I've tried my best to reach out.
I speak to Texas andMississippi and Arkansas pretty
regularly just to kind of seewhat's going on there and just
to stay in touch with ourneighboring states.
But it seems like we all havethe same problem it's nobody
(27:34):
really wants to take usseriously, Unfortunately.
The associations all strugglewith funding and to get
anybody's attention you've gotto have lobbyists, You've got to
have legislation on knowlegislation on your side, and
they just look at us like, oh,it's just tow truck drivers and
nobody really seems to take usseriously.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Yeah, that is a fact.
I think a lot of people do lookat us like we're just tow truck
operators and let us not dothis job for one day and see how
bad the roads get.
You know that's never going tohappen.
Job for one day and see how badthe roads get, you know that's
never happened.
Well, we would never do that.
But if it did, um, I I don'tknow if the opinion of us would
change, but definitely would, Ithink, make people look at us a
(28:17):
little bit differently.
I agree all right, all right, um.
So what else do you have goingon in your state?
Speaker 5 (28:28):
So you know I said we had some legislation to lower
insurance.
I'm working with theassociation to try and get some
you know awareness to slow down,move over.
We've got the overweight billand we've got some things coming
down the pipe, uh, throughstate police who enforces towing
(28:51):
.
That uh, there's a lot ofcompanies that are coming here
due to insurance being high andregistering their vehicles in
other states.
In Louisiana to operate a towtruck intrastate you have to be
registered as a Louisiana towtruck and for years they've been
(29:11):
getting away with it and statepolice is cracking down pretty
substantially and the TowingAssociation kind of had to take
a stance and support themBecause those of us that are
running legal we're having toknow $40,000 a year for
insurance per truck and you knowthey're getting away with you
(29:33):
know $5,000 a truck or cheaper,and they're running for the
roadside assistance.
And I actually had a talk withthe Lieutenant of Tilling
Recovery the other day and Isaid I don't understand how and
I'm just going to throw the nameout of Jero is a big problem
they hire anybody to tow.
I mean, uh, there was a guythat got stopped the other day.
(29:57):
It was a pickup truck and atrailer and he's towing for Jero
and I.
Just you know, if somebodyshowed up at my house to tow my
wife's vehicle with a pickuptruck and trailer, I would tell
them politely to leave.
They don't have the properinsurance and they're not
trained.
It's a slap in the face for thetowing industry.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
It's incredible.
That's something to think abouttoo.
It's incredible how they don'tmake them at least show proof of
like some kind of more thanliability insurance.
Speaker 5 (30:32):
Oh, I agree.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
The basic recovery, the basic coverage of insurance.
Speaker 5 (30:37):
All the contracted companies that I work for
require a minimum amount ofinsurance, and you have to
provide that or they will notcall you.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
That's right.
That's right, that's right.
All right, we're going to go toa quick break.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
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Speaker 1 (32:05):
Welcome back listeners.
Of course you know you'relistening to the Towing News
Channel and Jared has been great, april's been great, wes was
here and Wes is still doing good.
So let's do this.
Let me bring us all back andthank you for telling your
friends about the Towing NewsChannel.
So, april, let me turn it overto you.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
AJ, thank you so much .
Yeah, towing News Channel hasreally picked up.
Dj just made the announcementtoday that we have 20,000 loyal
listeners to us, and one of thereasons why we do is a gentleman
by the name of Jared Barnadale,and we're coming back from this
break to talk about Jared's newtruck.
Jared, I heard you, you got anew truck.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
Well, I don't have it yet.
Speaker 5 (32:52):
Ms April, but I did pull the trigger and order it.
In January I ordered atwin-steer 50-ton with a knee
boom rotator, so I'm prettyexcited about that.
That was a lifelong goal of meand my dad to always have one,
and we kind of made it work andin January we ordered it.
(33:15):
And there is another truck thatI have built.
We kind of recycled an oldtruck but it's turned out to be
looked like an amazing truck.
We had a in 1994.
We built a brand new vulcan 2020, which is equivalent to the v50
now and um it was on a 86 modelsingle axle, spring suspension,
(33:40):
max, and it's been a an amazingtruck for us through the years
and it was just time to eitherrehome it or you know whatever
we had to do.
And I called I'll give a littleplug to Conway at Texas Record
Sales.
He's been building our truckssince the 90s and I called him
(34:01):
and said hey, man, what doesthis truck worth?
You know I'm thinking aboutselling it.
And he said well, before yousell it, I have acquired a brand
new set of boxes that wereordered on, and so that started
to build and so it should take.
I think it should be ready inabout two weeks.
So I have a brand newFreightliner extended cab with a
(34:23):
in-the-ditch 20,000-pound sidepuller and a 25-ton single axle
with a tag that'll be here intwo weeks and I think I'm more
excited about it than I am theRectator.
It was an amazing truck thenand it's going to be even more
amazing now.
You know, for years we werecomfortable with our fleet and
(34:49):
the size of it, and there's beensome changes in the Baton Rouge
area.
Um, baton Rouge PoliceDepartment had a one company
that took care of the whole cityfor 20 plus years and, um, as
of yesterday, they went back toa rotation list and so we are
going to be a lot busier, andthere's five companies on the
(35:12):
list, so they're definitelyspreading the work around, which
is what we've always asked for.
It shouldn't be one company percity that large.
So yeah, we're pretty excitedto grow.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
It sounds like you did a lot of preparations for
the potential and thepossibility that we're going to
come.
You don't wait for the bigthing to happen and then decide
that you needed the truck.
You got the truck knowing thatyou would use it, even if it
wasn't for that rotation service.
You would use it for somethingelse.
Speaker 5 (35:46):
use it even if it wasn't for that rotation service
, you would use it for somethingelse.
Yeah, I do a lot of crane workas well, and like that it just
got to be um, I could see theneed for it.
Um, just the price was a littlesticker shot, but it's, uh,
it's with the everything growingthe way it is and you know the
new technology it's, it'sdifficult to do business without
(36:07):
one these days really, and youcan use those rotators for a lot
of the train stuff that you dotoo absolutely
Speaker 2 (36:13):
yeah, well, that's great.
Um, hopefully we'll be able tosee it when we come to your
place in november for our uhtraining.
We're doing a one-day lightduty and a one-day heavy duty.
That's short of the 15th and16th, which states those will
follow on, but we're lining upfor that too and we're going to
be at your place to do that.
(36:34):
So if you want to talk a littlebit about that and what you
think our plans are for it, sothe training is actually going
to be in Lake Charles at EliteTowing.
Speaker 5 (36:44):
Mr Adrian's facility is top notch and he has no
problem hosting us and does wellat it, so we're going to let
him host it again this year.
We're not dead set, but Ibelieve on the 15th is going to
be the heavy and the 16th isgoing to be light duty, and so
we'll have JT and Wes and maybeyou'll grace us with your
(37:08):
presence this time this April.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
I think I might.
Speaker 5 (37:12):
We'd love to have you , and so we're excited about
that.
We try and at least have onetraining a year.
I would like to move to twotraining a year, but in
Louisiana it's difficult to getparticipation in these classes.
There's still a lot of peoplethat don't see the importance of
training.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
And with the trucks that change, with the cars that
change, with the tow trucks thatchange.
Nothing is like it, even wasfive years ago.
Speaker 5 (37:42):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
So the 15th, we think , is going to be for the heavy
duty and the 16th is going to befor the light duty.
The two one-day classes, jp andWes, are both looking forward
to that.
They've been to Adrienne'splace at Lee Towing at least Wes
has numerous times and Adrianhas rolled out basically the red
(38:08):
carpet for us and treated us sowell.
His facility is top notch.
He does all the legwork and allthe top work.
That makes it easy to come inand do those classes.
Speaker 5 (38:21):
Yeah, and we get our insurance companies to help
sponsor lunches and stuff likethat.
So we try, and you know, makethe hospitality as best as we
can, for you know a bunch ofgrumpy old tow truck drivers
that are just trying to learnsomething.
Speaker 2 (38:37):
Well, we're in the South.
The hospitality is, you know,an everyday occurrence, but you
guys go above and beyond withthat.
Speaker 5 (38:45):
We do our best.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
All right, Jared, it's been great having you here.
Do you have any?
Any closing thoughts or anylast thoughts to impart with
people?
Speaker 5 (38:57):
Yeah, I just want to say you know, if you're
listening to this and you're inLouisiana and you're not part of
the association and you've gotsome questions, feel free to
contact me anytime.
I'll give you my cell phonenumber, it's 225-620-7452.
Or you can email me at JaredJ-A-R-E-D M, as in Michael
(39:21):
Varnado V-A-R-N-A-D-O atgmailcom, and I will get back to
you as soon as I can.
And if you're listening andyou're part of a towing
association in another state, Iwould love to hear from you.
So please call me.
You know I'm always available.
So just whatever you can do tolet's let's all work together
(39:41):
and try and combat the issuesthat we have.
And so, with that, I appreciateyou all calling me and asking
me to be on the podcast and lookforward to seeing you all in
November.
Speaker 2 (39:54):
Yes, sir, all right, DJ, take us home.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
Well, April and Jared , you guys did excellent, Wes
did excellent.
I want to tell all of us ourpodcast will be done right after
we'll hear it all right afterthe 4th of July.
But a lot of times people allthey think about is fireworks,
parades, concerts, more casualfamily gatherings, you know,
(40:20):
with barbecue.
We're doing a barbecueourselves.
The 4th of July is Friday, the4th, of course, and our podcast
will be right out after that.
So what?
I want to remind all of you thatthe 4th of July is really the
true Independence Day of America.
Back in 1776, the AmericanRevolution and some of you are
(40:45):
saying, yeah, I heard that in myhigh school classes, but the
Declaration of Independence wassigned actually July 2nd and
then it was drafted by ThomasJefferson and then two days
later they celebrated the birthof America.
So that's where July 4th camefrom.
So I want to thank all of youfor listening.
(41:06):
I hope everyone had a great 4thof July and that safety was for
everybody.
And, Jared, I can't thank youenough.
When Jared and I hosted theclass April, we had like 7,000
listeners then.
Now we've grown over 20,000.
And it's because of people likeJared that has given so
graciously of his time to helpus grow this industry.
(41:29):
So I thank everybody and April,I thank you and we'll see you
all next on the Towing NewsChannel.
you're on the train to success with april and wes
wilburn.
I'm dj harrington, the co-host,better known as the toe doctor.
We're all on our way to thetown of proper towing and
recovery, along with ourproducer, chuck camp, in the
studio.
Don't go to the town of woulda.
Coulda, shoulda.
(00:25):
You coulda had done this.
You should have done that.
Listen every week tothought-provoking wisdom from
great guests.
So if you have Spotify, itunes,pandora, stitcher, iheartmedia
or the number one podcast, ormaybe Amazon or wherever you get
(00:50):
your podcasts, turn in onWednesday and be turned on all
week long.
If you are a state associationand want your announcements or
upcoming state association news,announcements or upcoming state
association news or maybe ashow that's coming up, let us
know.
Our podcast studio phone numberis 706 409 5603.
(01:14):
I'm proud to be part of a greatteam at the American Dorm
Recovery Institute.
Let's make 2025 our best yearever.
I will turn it to April Loomis.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
As always, dj, thank you for your kind words.
Certainly appreciate them sohow are you?
Doing today, dj, excellent,excellent, excellent.
So I guess you had a good 4thof July, great 4th of July.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Great Fourth of July.
The twins had their 12thbirthday.
So that was wonderful.
So Grandpa's happy, thegrandchildren are happy and
everything's good.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Boy.
That's good to hear.
Abel, how are you?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I'm doing really well too, you know, trying to get
through this very hot weather,but as far as the courts in
Georgia and in North Carolinathis time of the year.
But we're doing great.
We're doing great here.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
So we just got back from a class in St Louis.
We had a good class out therelight duty and a heavy duty, got
to do a little team networkingwith some of the team out there,
so feeling really good aboutour visit out to St Louis.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
And that's our new home base.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yes, absolutely.
We looked at some property thatlooks like where the permanent
training facility is going to be, although nothing's in concrete
yet, but they're definitelymoving forward, so we're excited
about that as well.
Jt taught most of the heavyduty class.
(02:54):
I assisted with some of it dida great job.
He's really coming along greatas an instructor.
We did the testing.
Each student individuallytested and operated the
equipment.
So, yeah, we're feeling realgood about the trip out to St
Louis.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Well, I know that you were in St Louis and I stayed
back here at the office.
I'm sure the weather was much,much cooler there, wasn't it Les
?
Speaker 3 (03:24):
No, it was warm there .
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Yeah, I think the whole country is kind of easing.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Absolutely.
We're going to be out inMedford, oregon, in July, on the
18th for a one-day light dutyclass and the 19th and the 20th
for a tone and recovery heavyduty class.
That's July 19th and 20th andthen September, the first
weekend there.
(03:50):
September 6th and 7th we'regoing to be in Indianapolis for
a two-day heavy duty, october3rd to the 5th.
We're going to be in Buffalo,new York.
Myself and JT will be therewith a surprise instructor for
an extreme heavy-duty class,going to do some heavy winching.
(04:12):
Then we'll be at the TennesseeToe Show the 9th and the 10th
for a two-day heavy-duty toe andrecovery class.
Weekend.
After that, woffco Towing LakeStation, indiana, october 17th
and 18th and then we'll be firstweekend of November.
(04:32):
We're going to be down inEnterprise, alabama.
One day light duty on November7th, two day heavy duty on
November 8th and 9th.
Then we'll be in Lake Charles,louisiana, working with the Tone
Recovery Professional ofLouisiana.
We'll be there November 15thfor a one-day light duty,
(04:53):
november 16th for a one-dayheavy duty and then we'll be
rounding out the year it lookslike in Florida April, florida
and Florida, and that'll be thefirst weekend of December.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Yeah, December's probably on a bad time of the
year to go to Florida.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Yeah, the schedule's working out pretty good this
year following the weather.
So of course we're appreciativeof all the different folks that
are hosting some of theseclasses and putting in the hard
work to make them come together.
We have some more stuff we'reconfirming and we'll get on the
schedule as well.
We're certainly excited aboutthe training schedule that's
(05:33):
going on strong this year andit's very exciting to see you
guys.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
I think it's great.
More and more people arewanting to train their people
and get safety put back in theirthinking and their culture.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Kind of following the weather here a little bit.
I'm going to just take this onemoment to mention Kerr County
Tech Group, because over theweekend, when a lot of us were
having our 4th of July weekendbecause the 4th was Friday so we
we carried it on, but Americansdo Texas was waking up to one
(06:13):
what they call a 100-year flood,and that part of Texas really
got the car and because theyweren't expecting it and the
waters were so much quicker,there is, as there right now,
over 80 deaths.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
It's a horrible story .
We pray for everybody involved,especially the girls' camp.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
And the first responders who are going out
there too, and some of them areat a loss of life with that too
yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Yeah, they're all members of the community.
The community has to deal withsuch, so, from our family, we're
praying for everybody involvedin Texas and beyond.
With that being said, we'regoing to take a short break.
We've got a great interviewright after the break.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
TRAA, the Injured Drivers Fund and legislation
that makes all of us safer arewhat makes this industry special
.
Ina Towing supports all of thisand more.
When there is a need, gayRochester is always one of the
first to come forward and askhow can I help?
The American Towing andRecovery Institute is honored to
(07:25):
have the support of the INATowing Network.
Together, we all make adifference.
Ina Towing Network simplifiedsolutions, superior service.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Welcome back listeners.
Of course, you know you'relistening to the number one
podcast in the towing industryTowing News Now Channel.
I want to remind all ourlisteners that we're available
on any source you have.
Make sure you download andlisten.
We're available on Spotify,itunes, pandora, stitcher,
(08:00):
iheartmedia or wherever you getyour podcasts.
So I want to thank all of youfor listening and, april, I'm
going to turn it over to youbecause this will be a great one
.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Yes, it's always a great one.
Dj Harrington is on the micwith us, DJ.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
And, dj, you know something I realized today.
We have Jared Barnadot with usback again.
He's been a guest numeroustimes and one of the very few
only guest hosts.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Yeah, one of the very few.
When Wes has had something elseto do, he's stepped in and done
the interviews, and we'rehonored to have Jared.
Barnadot with us.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
Hey Jared how are you ?
Speaker 2 (08:46):
doing today?
I'm doing great, April.
How are you?
Speaker 5 (08:50):
I'm fantastic, jared.
Why don't you introduceyourself to everybody again?
Hey everybody, I'm JaredVarnadoe, owner of Varnadoe Sons
Tone and Recovery.
I'm also president of Tone andRecovery Professionals of
Louisiana, and so I'm a busyperson.
How are y'all?
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Doing great.
Jared, Tell us a little bitabout your company, how y'all
started, a little bit about yourhistory and where you guys are
now.
Just to give our listeners alittle perspective of who's
talking to them.
Speaker 5 (09:22):
Okay, so for those of you that haven't heard our
previous podcast, my grandfatherstarted our company in 1957 in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, andsince then I am third generation
of the family business and wenow have a fourth generation
working for us Wow, we have afour-generation.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Yeah, I'm going to let you finish it out.
Just one second though, but onthe fourth generation, who named
the uh, fourth generationaddition to this?
Speaker 5 (09:53):
so we have a diesel and automotive repair facility
as well as a towing service, andum the fourth generation would
be.
My cousin and two of hischildren are now helping run the
automotive service.
Unfortunately, my little onesare too small to drive tow
trucks, even though they thinkthey can.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Well, time will tell.
With that, go ahead and finishyour tow truck.
You want to go Please?
Speaker 5 (10:27):
So we are a towing service in Denham Springs,
louisiana.
We started in Baton Rouge andwe expanded to Denham Springs in
1992.
And since then we're justcontinuously growing.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Well, good, good.
I want to talk a little bitabout the association, but you
mentioned Denim Springs.
We made national news the otherday with the tractor trailer
hitting a guy in the utilitybucket truck.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
Yes, we did.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
You were nearby when that happened, huh.
Speaker 5 (10:59):
I actually was.
I was trying to get on theinterstate when it happened was,
I was, uh, trying to get on theinterstate when, when it
happened, um, and so thesituation was dot is installing
some monitors.
Uh, I don't know if y'all havethem in y'all's area, but
they're starting to introduce ablinking caution left turn light
to help mitigate some of thetraffic flow, and so they have
(11:23):
to install the monitors to readthe traffic, to see how long,
you know all the timing andthrough the light cycles and
everything.
So they were installing themonitors.
The bucket truck was on theshoulder, with the shoulder
coned off.
They were reached over the lane, which was an open lane of
traffic, a flag man with noflags that was not flagging
(11:47):
traffic and three other peoplesitting in a truck behind the
bucket truck that couldn't seetraffic.
As y'all have seen, the18-wheeler was taking a
left-hand turn, headed to thepilot truck stop that's just
south of the interstate truckstop that's just south of the
(12:10):
interstate.
And, um, you know, it didn'tdidn't notice that the bucket
was hanging lower than he shouldhave.
Um, you know, as a truck driver, I kind of view that, as your
got was at fault.
You know I do put some fault onthe driver, saying you know he
should have been aware of hissurroundings and paying
attention that it was a guyrunning towards the intersection
trying to get his attention.
But ultimately the guy in thebucket took the brunt of the
(12:34):
injury.
I don't think he was injured.
I did see him up walking aroundafter they got him out of the
bucket.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Yeah, according to the news report, saw he wasn't
injured uh or minor injury tosome of that effect yeah that
was a, that was a close call,wasn't?
Speaker 5 (12:52):
it.
Oh, thank god he was wearinghis harness.
Uh, it was.
I mean, it was a terribleaccident.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
It could have been much worse that's right and
you're right about he had properpersonal protection equipment
for that job and it saved hislife on that day.
You're absolutely right aboutthat.
Anyway, I digress.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
But also just to show you how safety is important in
what we do definitely Alllocations, but all across the
board.
One person was very, very safe,and that's probably why he
didn't get injured as badly, andanother person wasn't as
diligent in what he was doing.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
Right, he wasn't aware of his surroundings.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Yeah, anyway, I digress.
Let's go back to theassociation.
What's going on with Tone ofRecovery?
Professionals of Louisiana.
Speaker 5 (13:39):
Well, tone of Recovery Professionals of
Louisiana has been a littlequiet lately.
It's partly my fault.
I, unfortunately, unfortunately, am still in the truck every
day due to trying to findqualified staff, but earlier in
the year.
So, as you well know, we werethe one of the first
(14:01):
associations maybe the firstassociation to process paperwork
through Office of Motor Vehicleand we did that for a very long
time.
We were the only company formany, many years.
And I want to say in the early2000s Southern I think it's
(14:25):
Southern Information it was adivision of Roadrunner Tolling
in Baton Rouge Opened their ownpaperwork process and then
Tolling, which is now Traxero,opened their paperwork process
and so we continued on throughmany, many years and just
started crunching the numbers.
(14:46):
And we were approached byTraxero to buy us out.
And we crunched the numbers andjust realized like hey, this is
not really as profitable as itshould be and it's more of a
hindrance on the associationthan it is profit.
So we came to an agreement andmerged with Trexera.
(15:08):
So they handle our paperworkprocess now and they are a large
supporter of the associationnow.
So that's as far as that.
That's the big news.
Boy, that sounds like a powerfulpartnership it is it is it is
going smoothly, um, and and itwas just our software um was
(15:33):
becoming out of date.
Trying to find a softwarecompany that wanted to write it,
we tried three separate ones.
Um, you know, either they wouldget involved and say they're
not interested, or they wouldwant to large sum of money that
we couldn't come up with.
And so it was just it workedout for the best.
Um, there was some members thatwere a little upset because, I
(15:53):
mean, we had a personal servicethat we provided that no other
could Um, but you know, as timeschange, you have to move
forward and figure out what'sprofitable.
So the association can directits energy to fighting for the
industry instead of being in thepaperwork business.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Yeah, change is not always easy, especially when
you're a little not in my age,you're probably a little bit
older.
Sometimes that change is notcomfortable Right With the day
and age, and AI is going to be aprevalent thing in the next few
years.
It's better to kind of adapt asmuch as we can right now.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
Right, so that's got to be exciting, that it's a
better situation for everybodyinvolved.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
What's going on?
Speaker 3 (16:44):
with the association.
I guess the legislative sessionfor this year is it completed.
What's going on with that?
Speaker 5 (16:52):
They're trying to call for a special session for
some more bills, but I thinkoverall GRPL didn't have any
specific bills that we were ableto bring to the capital this
year.
We had tried to we're stillbattling the overweight over
axle issue at the scale houseand so we worked with DOT again
(17:13):
this year.
Unfortunately, they didn'tdeliver their format until a
week after the deadline to turnanything in, without any chance
of us reviewing it.
So we said no, let's put it offand we'll revisit it.
(17:37):
Lnta and they were verydiligent about getting some
bills passed through legislationto try and reduce insurance
costs.
We have a huge issue inLouisiana with insurance with
the amount of trial attorneysthat are standing on big trucks
advertising, you know, and justreally being predatorial of
(18:02):
taking advantage of theinsurance companies.
The insurance companies reallydon't want to fight back.
It's easier for them just towrite a check and pass the
spending on to us.
It's been a huge, huge fight.
I've talked to some membersthat have had to close their
doors down side of their fleetor whatever.
(18:24):
You're talking upwards of$50,000 to $70,000 a truck for
some companies.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Wow, that's not to be passed on to the consumer.
Speaker 5 (18:38):
Well, unfortunately, in Louisiana for non-consensual
toes we are regulated.
So we've got adjoining statesthat have minimal or no
regulations and they're gettinga large sum of money for a
recovery and where we do thesame recovery and we're getting
(18:59):
a quarter of it, and so it's areal difficult business to be in
in Louisiana right now.
But there's light at the end ofthe tunnel.
We got a lot of bills passedthat I think within the next
three to five years we're goingto see some significant changes
and we're not stopping there.
Every year we're going tocontinue to bring more.
(19:22):
So the other issues that we'rebattling with at TRPL, trying to
fight for the industry isslowdown.
Move over is not enforced inLouisiana.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
You know you're right .
That's such an important point.
So many states do the samething.
We need to cut for a quickbreak, but can you come back
after the break and expand onthat for us, Jared?
Absolutely.
Speaker 6 (19:53):
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(20:15):
independently sourced virtualtesting program covering light
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Speaker 1 (20:22):
So I want to remind all of you.
One time when you heard Jared,we had 7,000 listeners.
(20:45):
We are over 20,000 listenersnow.
So I want to thank all of you.
On behalf of Wes, jared, april,myself, I want to thank you
because this is really heavenOver 20,000 listeners every week
is wonderful.
Remember to like, review andshare everywhere.
If you want to hear anotherindustry expert like Jared, by
(21:10):
all means dial the hotlinenumber here in the podcast
center 706-409-5603.
And we will do our best to getthem on the podcast.
And you know they may not befourth generation, but we'll get
some of these people on thatyou would like to hear.
So, without further ado, let mesend you back to April Wilburn.
(21:34):
April, you got it.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
EJ, I had no idea that we reached that milestone
of 20,000.
That's incredible.
I've only been with you guys asfar as being one of the
co-hosts for the last few months, so I can't take credit for a
lot of it.
But who can't take credit forit?
Are all of our great gueststhat we've had, are all of our
(21:58):
great guests that we've had.
And right now with us we dohave Jared Varnadoe, who's
continuing a discussion thatwe're having about the move over
slowdown laws and how,unfortunately, they're not as
enforced in many states as theyshould be, and Jared was talking
about how his state hasn'treally enforced it either.
Jared, welcome back.
Speaker 5 (22:21):
Thank you, april.
So before the break we werediscussing the slowdown moveover
law and I actually did someresearch and just in my area,
which the state police has thestate cut up in different areas
they call troop areas.
I'm in the troop A area whichcovers Livingston, parish East,
(22:44):
baton Rouge, parish West, batonRouge, parish Gonzalez, so it's
a pretty large area.
So I did some research andreached out to state police and
the sheriff's office and localpolice departments and sadly,
out of everybody that was onlyin the year 2024, there was only
(23:06):
56 citations written in theTroop A area for slowdown
moveover and we have had, I wantto say, three people hit four
people in the last two yearsbecause of people not slowing
down, moving over.
That's just tow truck operators, that's not including police
(23:28):
officers, firemen, you know, andconstruction workers.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
It's like you know, yeah, that's the side the road,
doing whatever they're doing.
Let me ask you said 56citations in in that, when you
were looking that stuff up with56 citations, how many actual
people were hit on the side ofthe road or vehicles hit on the
(23:54):
side of the road?
Did that come up in yourinvestigation?
Speaker 5 (23:58):
No, I wasn't privy to that information.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Okay, your investigation.
No I wasn't privy to thatinformation, okay.
Speaker 5 (24:09):
Very interesting, though I know there's way more
than that, obviously, absolutelyUm and, and so what I've um
done is reach out and ask aroundand beg for help and this and
that.
So I actually am going before aboard in September or October I
haven't got the date yet.
They believe that they.
(24:33):
So in Louisiana we have aseatbelt grant, so they the
federal government, gives themunicipalities money for
advertisement.
They have to advertise 30 daysbefore they start enforcing it,
but they believe that they canadd, slowdown, move over under
that grant to get some money foradvertisement and awareness,
(24:54):
and so I believe next year weshall see some proactive
policing, I guess you could say,to help combat that, because
it's truly sad.
I mean my guys and everybody inthe stone industry work on the
side of the road all day, everyday, and it's disheartening for
the amount of people that justdisregard people.
(25:17):
And it's not just tow trucks, Imean all, all first responders
in general or, like you said,construction workers, or we tow
for a company that does sweepsto interstate and it seems like
every time they do a job,somebody runs in the back of one
of their crash trucks, and it'sjust people don't pay attention
(25:38):
, they're too busy looking attheir phone or not worried about
their surroundings, or you know, wherever they've got to go is
more important than the nextperson.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
I always say it's rude, but it's not even rude,
because rude is like anintention.
It's more that we just don't.
We're not aware of other peoplein the world.
When I was a little girl and Iwas in the car with my mom, we
would be going down the road andnot nearly the amount of
traffic that we have these dayswhen there was something on the
side of the road.
(26:08):
If she could move over shewould get in a dozen lane, but
she at least slowed down.
And she did that not to makesure the person on the side of
the road was safe.
Maybe she did consider that,but she also didn't want to hit
them and hurt us.
So she exampled that.
We've seen that andinstinctively, as I became older
and I started driving, I didthe same thing because it was a
(26:30):
normal thing for me.
I don't know how normal it isnow to actually like just see
something and say, hey, let mebe a little bit cognizant of
what's happening here, and atleast it's nothing else.
Slowing down, yeah.
Speaker 5 (26:43):
Yeah, it's like changing lanes is inconvenient
for people these days.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Changing lanes, and if you can't, you can't because
of the, but you can at leastslow down a little bit and maybe
give an enter to that to theperson on the side of the road.
As far as your towingassociation and as far as this
Move Over Slow Down law, are younetworking with other towing
(27:08):
associations, other state towingassociations?
Speaker 5 (27:12):
I have not.
I've tried my best to reach out.
I speak to Texas andMississippi and Arkansas pretty
regularly just to kind of seewhat's going on there and just
to stay in touch with ourneighboring states.
But it seems like we all havethe same problem it's nobody
(27:34):
really wants to take usseriously, Unfortunately.
The associations all strugglewith funding and to get
anybody's attention you've gotto have lobbyists, You've got to
have legislation on knowlegislation on your side, and
they just look at us like, oh,it's just tow truck drivers and
nobody really seems to take usseriously.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Yeah, that is a fact.
I think a lot of people do lookat us like we're just tow truck
operators and let us not dothis job for one day and see how
bad the roads get.
You know that's never going tohappen.
Job for one day and see how badthe roads get, you know that's
never happened.
Well, we would never do that.
But if it did, um, I I don'tknow if the opinion of us would
change, but definitely would, Ithink, make people look at us a
(28:17):
little bit differently.
I agree all right, all right, um.
So what else do you have goingon in your state?
Speaker 5 (28:28):
So you know I said we had some legislation to lower
insurance.
I'm working with theassociation to try and get some
you know awareness to slow down,move over.
We've got the overweight billand we've got some things coming
down the pipe, uh, throughstate police who enforces towing
(28:51):
.
That uh, there's a lot ofcompanies that are coming here
due to insurance being high andregistering their vehicles in
other states.
In Louisiana to operate a towtruck intrastate you have to be
registered as a Louisiana towtruck and for years they've been
(29:11):
getting away with it and statepolice is cracking down pretty
substantially and the TowingAssociation kind of had to take
a stance and support themBecause those of us that are
running legal we're having toknow $40,000 a year for
insurance per truck and you knowthey're getting away with you
(29:33):
know $5,000 a truck or cheaper,and they're running for the
roadside assistance.
And I actually had a talk withthe Lieutenant of Tilling
Recovery the other day and Isaid I don't understand how and
I'm just going to throw the nameout of Jero is a big problem
they hire anybody to tow.
I mean, uh, there was a guythat got stopped the other day.
(29:57):
It was a pickup truck and atrailer and he's towing for Jero
and I.
Just you know, if somebodyshowed up at my house to tow my
wife's vehicle with a pickuptruck and trailer, I would tell
them politely to leave.
They don't have the properinsurance and they're not
trained.
It's a slap in the face for thetowing industry.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
It's incredible.
That's something to think abouttoo.
It's incredible how they don'tmake them at least show proof of
like some kind of more thanliability insurance.
Speaker 5 (30:32):
Oh, I agree.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
The basic recovery, the basic coverage of insurance.
Speaker 5 (30:37):
All the contracted companies that I work for
require a minimum amount ofinsurance, and you have to
provide that or they will notcall you.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
That's right.
That's right, that's right.
All right, we're going to go toa quick break.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
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Speaker 1 (32:05):
Welcome back listeners.
Of course you know you'relistening to the Towing News
Channel and Jared has been great, april's been great, wes was
here and Wes is still doing good.
So let's do this.
Let me bring us all back andthank you for telling your
friends about the Towing NewsChannel.
So, april, let me turn it overto you.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
AJ, thank you so much .
Yeah, towing News Channel hasreally picked up.
Dj just made the announcementtoday that we have 20,000 loyal
listeners to us, and one of thereasons why we do is a gentleman
by the name of Jared Barnadale,and we're coming back from this
break to talk about Jared's newtruck.
Jared, I heard you, you got anew truck.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
Well, I don't have it yet.
Speaker 5 (32:52):
Ms April, but I did pull the trigger and order it.
In January I ordered atwin-steer 50-ton with a knee
boom rotator, so I'm prettyexcited about that.
That was a lifelong goal of meand my dad to always have one,
and we kind of made it work andin January we ordered it.
(33:15):
And there is another truck thatI have built.
We kind of recycled an oldtruck but it's turned out to be
looked like an amazing truck.
We had a in 1994.
We built a brand new vulcan 2020, which is equivalent to the v50
now and um it was on a 86 modelsingle axle, spring suspension,
(33:40):
max, and it's been a an amazingtruck for us through the years
and it was just time to eitherrehome it or you know whatever
we had to do.
And I called I'll give a littleplug to Conway at Texas Record
Sales.
He's been building our truckssince the 90s and I called him
(34:01):
and said hey, man, what doesthis truck worth?
You know I'm thinking aboutselling it.
And he said well, before yousell it, I have acquired a brand
new set of boxes that wereordered on, and so that started
to build and so it should take.
I think it should be ready inabout two weeks.
So I have a brand newFreightliner extended cab with a
(34:23):
in-the-ditch 20,000-pound sidepuller and a 25-ton single axle
with a tag that'll be here intwo weeks and I think I'm more
excited about it than I am theRectator.
It was an amazing truck thenand it's going to be even more
amazing now.
You know, for years we werecomfortable with our fleet and
(34:49):
the size of it, and there's beensome changes in the Baton Rouge
area.
Um, baton Rouge PoliceDepartment had a one company
that took care of the whole cityfor 20 plus years and, um, as
of yesterday, they went back toa rotation list and so we are
going to be a lot busier, andthere's five companies on the
(35:12):
list, so they're definitelyspreading the work around, which
is what we've always asked for.
It shouldn't be one company percity that large.
So yeah, we're pretty excitedto grow.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
It sounds like you did a lot of preparations for
the potential and thepossibility that we're going to
come.
You don't wait for the bigthing to happen and then decide
that you needed the truck.
You got the truck knowing thatyou would use it, even if it
wasn't for that rotation service.
You would use it for somethingelse.
Speaker 5 (35:46):
use it even if it wasn't for that rotation service
, you would use it for somethingelse.
Yeah, I do a lot of crane workas well, and like that it just
got to be um, I could see theneed for it.
Um, just the price was a littlesticker shot, but it's, uh,
it's with the everything growingthe way it is and you know the
new technology it's, it'sdifficult to do business without
(36:07):
one these days really, and youcan use those rotators for a lot
of the train stuff that you dotoo absolutely
Speaker 2 (36:13):
yeah, well, that's great.
Um, hopefully we'll be able tosee it when we come to your
place in november for our uhtraining.
We're doing a one-day lightduty and a one-day heavy duty.
That's short of the 15th and16th, which states those will
follow on, but we're lining upfor that too and we're going to
be at your place to do that.
(36:34):
So if you want to talk a littlebit about that and what you
think our plans are for it, sothe training is actually going
to be in Lake Charles at EliteTowing.
Speaker 5 (36:44):
Mr Adrian's facility is top notch and he has no
problem hosting us and does wellat it, so we're going to let
him host it again this year.
We're not dead set, but Ibelieve on the 15th is going to
be the heavy and the 16th isgoing to be light duty, and so
we'll have JT and Wes and maybeyou'll grace us with your
(37:08):
presence this time this April.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
I think I might.
Speaker 5 (37:12):
We'd love to have you , and so we're excited about
that.
We try and at least have onetraining a year.
I would like to move to twotraining a year, but in
Louisiana it's difficult to getparticipation in these classes.
There's still a lot of peoplethat don't see the importance of
training.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
And with the trucks that change, with the cars that
change, with the tow trucks thatchange.
Nothing is like it, even wasfive years ago.
Speaker 5 (37:42):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
So the 15th, we think , is going to be for the heavy
duty and the 16th is going to befor the light duty.
The two one-day classes, jp andWes, are both looking forward
to that.
They've been to Adrienne'splace at Lee Towing at least Wes
has numerous times and Adrianhas rolled out basically the red
(38:08):
carpet for us and treated us sowell.
His facility is top notch.
He does all the legwork and allthe top work.
That makes it easy to come inand do those classes.
Speaker 5 (38:21):
Yeah, and we get our insurance companies to help
sponsor lunches and stuff likethat.
So we try, and you know, makethe hospitality as best as we
can, for you know a bunch ofgrumpy old tow truck drivers
that are just trying to learnsomething.
Speaker 2 (38:37):
Well, we're in the South.
The hospitality is, you know,an everyday occurrence, but you
guys go above and beyond withthat.
Speaker 5 (38:45):
We do our best.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
All right, Jared, it's been great having you here.
Do you have any?
Any closing thoughts or anylast thoughts to impart with
people?
Speaker 5 (38:57):
Yeah, I just want to say you know, if you're
listening to this and you're inLouisiana and you're not part of
the association and you've gotsome questions, feel free to
contact me anytime.
I'll give you my cell phonenumber, it's 225-620-7452.
Or you can email me at JaredJ-A-R-E-D M, as in Michael
(39:21):
Varnado V-A-R-N-A-D-O atgmailcom, and I will get back to
you as soon as I can.
And if you're listening andyou're part of a towing
association in another state, Iwould love to hear from you.
So please call me.
You know I'm always available.
So just whatever you can do tolet's let's all work together
(39:41):
and try and combat the issuesthat we have.
And so, with that, I appreciateyou all calling me and asking
me to be on the podcast and lookforward to seeing you all in
November.
Speaker 2 (39:54):
Yes, sir, all right, DJ, take us home.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
Well, April and Jared , you guys did excellent, Wes
did excellent.
I want to tell all of us ourpodcast will be done right after
we'll hear it all right afterthe 4th of July.
But a lot of times people allthey think about is fireworks,
parades, concerts, more casualfamily gatherings, you know,
(40:20):
with barbecue.
We're doing a barbecueourselves.
The 4th of July is Friday, the4th, of course, and our podcast
will be right out after that.
So what?
I want to remind all of you thatthe 4th of July is really the
true Independence Day of America.
Back in 1776, the AmericanRevolution and some of you are
(40:45):
saying, yeah, I heard that in myhigh school classes, but the
Declaration of Independence wassigned actually July 2nd and
then it was drafted by ThomasJefferson and then two days
later they celebrated the birthof America.
So that's where July 4th camefrom.
So I want to thank all of youfor listening.
(41:06):
I hope everyone had a great 4thof July and that safety was for
everybody.
And, Jared, I can't thank youenough.
When Jared and I hosted theclass April, we had like 7,000
listeners then.
Now we've grown over 20,000.
And it's because of people likeJared that has given so
graciously of his time to helpus grow this industry.
(41:29):
So I thank everybody and April,I thank you and we'll see you
all next on the Towing NewsChannel.
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