Thanks for tuning in to this issue’s Safety Corner powered by HAAS Alert. Remember: SAFETY IS NOT A FEATURE, IT IS A RESPONSIBILITY!
Today, we are speaking with Ron Pratt, Vice President of Midwest Truck Sales & Service in Scott City, MO, to learn more about the importance of Safety in the towing, recovery, and roadside assistance industry.
TP: Tell us about yourself and your company.
RP: I have been in the towing and recovery business since 1985, starting with a diesel repair shop and a Holmes 750 with a first-gen Zack lift. I was hooked, pun very much intended, from the very beginning. I am a second-generation tower, and our company now has four generations working alongside each other, and we will be celebrating our 40th anniversary this year.
TP: Closest call you’ve had on the roadside?
RP: I was performing a roadside assistance call for a driver who had punctured a fuel tank. It was raining, nighttime, and the driver had pulled too far over on the side of the road, and I wasn’t able to get my equipment under the vehicle. So while I was underneath the truck, another semi came flying by us, didn’t slow down, and didn’t move over, and passed so close that it rocked the truck I was working underneath, which then kicked the jack from under the truck and knocked out all of my front teeth. When my wife, LaDonna, met me at the hospital, I took my teeth out of my pocket and handed them to the doctor.
While this is a close call that I will never forget, the unfortunate reality of being a roadside responder is that I deal with close calls as a common part of doing my job. As any towing or roadside professional will tell you.
TP: First thing you teach a new operator about safety?
RP: There are so many aspects to Safety. First thing: head on a swivel, pay attention to your surroundings. I always say, “Equipment can be replaced, you can not be.” Proper PPE, proper training, ride-alongs, and constant, habit-forming in-house and industry professional training.
TP: Tools or tech you never work without?
RP: The tools and tech that we would never work without are lighting, traffic control devices of all types, the HAAS Alert Safety Cloud® system, all industry standard PPE, and the must-have camera systems.
TP: One change that would make the job safer tomorrow?
RP: I don’t think that there is simply one change that is going to make our job safer; it is a combination of things. Our job is inherently dangerous. With that being said, I believe that enforcement of the “slow down, move over” laws should be increased. I believe that cellphone use, of any kind, while operating a vehicle, should be illegal. And I hope that the motoring public realizes their responsibility to slow down and move over for any responder working the roads, so everyone can go home safe to their families.
Tom Parbs is the Vice President at HAAS Alert. Safety Cloud® by HAAS Alert is the largest and most trusted advance warning, digital alerting platform available worldwide. Utilized by several thousand
organizations to alert motorists to slow down and move over to protect those who work the roadways every day.
