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http://www.towspace.net/blogs/centuryonly
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| Posted: |
02/23/2010 |
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| Description |
| Too many of us in the towing industry are stuck in the past. Old techniques, old equipment, old rates. Some of my entries will be new, some reposts from other places that I've written. All of them will be about moving forward as an industry. All comments and criticism is welcome. |
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| When is a light recovery a heavy recovery? | 02/23/2010 |
Never! Follow me here.
When approaching a recovery we should always use the right equipment for the job. Why do so many of us limit our recovery equipment to a LD Wheel lift truck or a car carrier when a heavier piece of equipment is actually required?
If a car or even motorcycle is 75' feet down a steep hill why would you use a carrier with a winch line that only reaches 20' past the end of the bed? The winch on your wheel lift truck holds about 100' of line but what is it rated at? Does a 3500 lb. car down a 45 degree bank exceed that rating? I bet it does when the suspension catches on a stump.
If you clear the LD/HD designations out of your head and think of all of your equipment as "Recovery Equipment" does it make sense to use those little trucks in a situation like this? Wouldn't it make more sense to use the truck with 250' of wire rope that's rated at 16,000 lbs? You will do less work and perform the job at hand much safer with the larger unit.
If this makes sense to you so far than why do we do this? Is it because you are afraid to charge for the larger unit? Are you afraid you won't get paid if you use the larger unit? Have you tried?
How about when that little winch line breaks because it was overloaded and someone gets hurt? That same insurance company who you were trying save money for might just be the same one who ends up suing you for negligence. It was your equipment and you are expected to, no you are required to know and operate within the safe working limits of your equipment. This isn’t common sense, its state and federal law.
If a tree falls on your house does the tree company bring a butter knife instead of a chainsaw to try and keep the bill cheap? Does the septic tank company bring a straw instead of a pump? Do you use a rope to tow a loaded dump truck? No you don’t. In fact that all sounds pretty stupid doesn’t it. So does using a truck that is not big enough for the recovery you are performing.
Use the proper equipment to do the job safely. Then bill for it! Do not bill for a tow, do not even think about mentioning a tow. Bill for what you actually did. You removed the wrecked vehicle from someone’s property, Regardless of whether its public or private, the property has been and remains damaged as long as that wrecked vehicle remains there. By law the owner of the property has the right to have their property restored to its original value before the accident. That property cannot be restored as long as that car, truck or motorcycle remains. It has to be removed and the vehicle owner or its insurance company is liable to pay for the service. Liable is the key word. The insurance companies may try telling you the car didn’t have collision therefore it won’t pay. You can almost guarantee the vehicle had liability coverage and property clean up is clearly covered under liability policies.
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