Tow Wars???

Who here operates with the private towing companies racing to the accident scene to see who can beat the "other guy" like what I just watched on a TV show in Philly?

 

Complete madness... I know where I work, the police dispatcher makes the call for the officer or the victim, unless the car owner has called on their cellphone before the PD arrive. When the PD call ABC Towing, the vehicle is assigned by license plate to said company and nobody slides in and snakes a job.

 

Seems to me the way it is being done on that show is sketchy, and potentially leads to fist fights and the last thing the emergency responders need is to worry about Johnnys Towing Service fighting with Jimmies Towing Service.

 

Crazy

  

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Permalink Reply by George on January 22, 2011 at 3:02pm
Here in our county we have the "next in line". The owner can request a wrecker and if they don't know any then we call the next in line. We have a computer program that keeps up with whose up and enter tag/location/officer requesting.
Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on January 23, 2011 at 12:00am
First off I will say any TV show does NOT depict, nor speak for most places. That said, I will say I did work as a tow truck operator for some time prior to being a fireighter. I will say, that next to cab driver, there is probably not a better job out there to learn streets and districts than such jobs.

Where I worked, the companies bid for the contract with the city. When I was working, we had the city contract, which meant we had to be on scene for any accident or assist within 30 minutes. We also had the responsibilty to tow abandon or illegally parked vehicles.

When it came to charging, it depended, abandon vehicles cam back to our lot and after awhile the company owned the vehicles and sent them to the junkyard. Spent many nights hauling abandons to the junkyard. Standard services consisted of tows, lockouts, tire change, jumpstarts, gas, etc. AAA or autoclub members had their own rate, everyone else was subject to ours. Accidents charged the most because insurance was involved and costs could be recouped. There were times we would not release a vehicle unless paid. Gas runouts were the most mind boggling...we would charge $50 for the service call, plus cost of gas....maybe too extreme for some, but seriously, why run out of gas????

We did it all, tows, lockouts, gas, winchouts, abandons, etc. For a private buisness, it really was a good job and one can really, really, learn a lot which can help them in the fire service.
Today where I work there are a few companies that do the tows and vary between east and west sides. Not sure exactly how things are set in the city but never had a problem with any company coming in for a tow.
Permalink Reply by Karen Glastetter on January 30, 2011 at 12:05am
My Fiance owns a company here in NY. That show is a disgrace and makes towers look like total slime. Not to mention several tons racing about town trying to beat the other guy puts everyone in danger.
The problem is most places have a rotation but they use there favorite tow company as often as they can get away with it. Anyway as an EMT and Fire Police I think this show is worthless and needs to not encourage people to drive like assholes any more then they already do.

PS Towing is not an easy Job I have done it so I would know we did both rural and city towing and it is dangerous and can be difficult.
Permalink Reply by Karen Glastetter on January 30, 2011 at 12:10am
I have to respectfully disagree, There are many reasons for Police Tows to cost more but it is a long list. I said on here My Fiance owns a tow company, What we don't get is people do not flinch at paying a Washer repair man 500 for an hours work indoors, Yet they cry foul when a tow truck driver charges over 100 for an hour out in all types of weather.
Permalink Reply by Just Plain Craig Moyer on January 30, 2011 at 12:17am
Funny you should mention that Karen, I had my aunts toliet fixed a couple of weeks ago. Guy first told her it would cost $438 to rebuild it or $200+ to "just" fix it. There's not much to rebuild and all I wanted them to fix was a leak at connection into the tank. Ended up paying $438 because he couldn't fix it without taking off the tank which then had to be rebuilt.

Beleive me when I say I cried too. He also wanted $500 to replace a faucet that cost less then $80 at home depot.
Permalink Reply by Jason on January 30, 2011 at 10:42pm
In our county we have a handful of tow operators but there is one located in the center of the county that pretty much does the entire counties towing for the SD. They contact him and he goes, has a wrecker and flatbed and knows what he is doing, along with his brother in law. We know who we are working with each call and it makes it much easier than having to deal with numerous companines.

PS: and for those that get mad when they see a guy pull up in a flatbed, dont' be cause the good tow guys can do just as much if not more with a flatbed than you can with a conventional wrecker. Its not always the equipment but the man behind the levers.
Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on January 30, 2011 at 10:52pm
That show is a disgrace and makes towers look like total slime. Not to mention several tons racing about town trying to beat the other guy puts everyone in danger.

One thing about TV.....they care only about ratings and how to spur them....even so called "reality shows" are unrealistic.
Permalink Reply by Karen Glastetter on January 30, 2011 at 10:56pm
The ONLY time My fiance uses a wrecker for medium - heavy duty trucks everything else is a flat bed it is soooo much better. It is the only kind of tow truck I ever drove.
Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on January 30, 2011 at 11:03pm
Shame how that all works out isn't it Ralph? Such shows tend to paint all alike, yet, it is all about ratings, not reality.
Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on January 30, 2011 at 11:08pm
I handled many accidents in a flatbed, the versatility is there and chances are one truck is needed for an accident. One can still short chain, winch out , and so forth with a bed as a wrecker.....so not sure where one would be complaining about what type of rig shows up.

I personally liked the wrecker duty though, it was pretty sweet with the company I worked for at the time. Where I work now, we do see many more wrecker calls, even with multi-vehicle accidents.
Permalink Reply by Gregory L Collins on January 30, 2011 at 11:38pm
Yep, in this age that stuff needs to go away. We have several Tow companies in our little town and we don't get any battles...... YET
Permalink Reply by Jason on January 31, 2011 at 1:28am
I haven't seen the show on for a few months now. Is it still airing?

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