While traveling down the interstate a driver of a full size dually 4x4 pick up pulling an enclosed 24-foot cargo trailer hit a piece of debris in the road, causing their right front steer tire to blow out and pull the pickup and trailer into the right-side ditch.
Read More...Topics: Tow truck safety, WreckMaster Blog, WreckMaster Challenge, Tow Truck Blog
You'd be hard pressed to find a towing operator that doesn't know how to jump a dead battery or has never jumped on for a job.
Read More...Topics: Light duty towing, Useful towing tips, Tow truck safety, Inside Wreckmaster, WreckMaster Blog
As towers, it can sometimes be hard to remember that the casualty isn’t the most important thing on scene. Yes, what you are there to do is tow a vehicle. But why you are there is to help someone in need.
Read More...Topics: Useful towing tips, Tow truck safety, WreckMaster Blog, customer service
Whenever something is being towed, additional securements should always be attached. This doesn’t just apply to wreckers - secondary attachment chains should be attached even hauling a trailer, boat trailer or camper. These chains are there for an obvious reason: to prevent an accident in the event of an attachment failure while towing. But why does WreckMaster insist that the secondary attachments are always crossed?
Read More...Topics: Light duty towing, Useful towing tips, Tow truck safety, WreckMaster Blog
The US Department of Transportation and most manufactures recommend investing in new tires every five to six years with the maximum useful service lifetime of a tire being no more than 10 years.
Read More...Topics: Light duty towing, Useful towing tips, Tow truck safety
When performing any sort of service, safety is of the utmost importance. Working in a dangerous location such as a highway or busy roadway can often become even more unsafe due to weather conditions or lack of assistance from first responders such as police or firefighters. And while most states and provinces have some sort of Slow Down, Move Over law in place, drivers often don’t provide the space required for operators to conduct recoveries in as safe of a setting as possible.
Read More...Topics: Useful towing tips, Tow truck safety
It's show time. Before you give the green light on your recovery, transport, tow, repositioning or relocation, remember that once things are in motion, it's wise to expect the unexpected. Known the world over as Murphy's Law, a tow operator who has followed the previous four steps of the Wreckmaster Discipline is as prepared as possible. Here are our last pieces of advice.
Read More...Topics: Useful towing tips, Tow truck safety, Inside Wreckmaster
Let's say a tractor trailer has flipped on its side on the shoulder of a busy interstate. The crowd is gathering around and all eyes are on you and your crew. Are you in control? I don't mean just psychologically. I mean, are you in control of the entire process, from initial lift to the tractor-trailer being set (gently) on the ground? If you can't say with absolute confidence, "Yes, Justin, I'm in control," this post is for you.
Read More...Topics: Useful towing tips, Tow truck safety
Here we are, at part four of Wreckmaster's five-step protocol for staying safe and working efficiently: checking the "no"s. In this article, we quickly review the steps to this point, then offer two checklists to help identify anything that could compromise the tow or recovery.
Read More...Topics: Useful towing tips, Tow truck safety
In part three of this article series, we review Wreckmaster's five-step protocol for staying safe and working efficiently, then focus in on step three: explaining to those at the scene what you're doing. As a tow operator, you can use these communication tips to speak to incident commanders and customers with confidence.
Read More...Topics: Useful towing tips, Tow truck safety
