Do you lead or follow the competition? Do you set the bar and raise the standards or just go with the flow? Do you complain and hope things change in your favor or do you instigate change? Most importantly, is your business growing or just maintaining its current revenue stream?
Do you have the ability and desire to bring about changes or create more business that fits in with your towing/recovery/storage and repair services? These are questions to ponder when you have windshield or alone time. Many tow and recovery operators are leaving profits lying in the road, on the shoulder or in the ditch without realizing how quickly the remediation process of removing and disposing of contaminates caused by traffic accidents can be adding additional dollars for cleanup fees. Growing up working at my dad’s service station, we had a couple homemade wreckers that I was fascinated with–and that later grew into my addiction. I loved going on calls with my dad, and by the time I was legal to drive, I had the ability to respond and work accidents on my own. After graduating from high school, I was drafted into the Army and returned home after two years of active duty. My dad wanted me to come back to the business. I had a love for towing and recovery and set out to build that segment into a stand-alone entity–I succeeded. As time went by and Beaty Towing & Recovery grew, we started experiencing wait periods at large truck accidents that had fuel leaks from damaged saddle tanks and even leaks from cargo holds that required a “certified individual” to evacuate the tanks or secure the source of the spill before recovery or towing could be done. After several encounters of extended wait periods for these companies to respond, I thought the best thing was to take control of the situation and become certified to perform these functions. Why? Response time and road closures due to the lack of quick response was unacceptable and since I was already on scene, I could just handle the entire project. I created another company separate from my towing service and was able to handle most mishaps completely. This business grew rapidly coupled by the fact that my towing accounts were my instant client base and my quick response found favor with the government authorities.
As calls for service increased, so did the different requirements for equipment and tools to effectively manage the clean-up. This gave me the idea of a lightweight, low-pressure impervious storm drain plug. It is used when storm water drain pipes are contaminated with spills ranging from hydrocarbons to chemicals. I designed, developed, and received apatent on this drain pipe plug known as “FlowStop.” I continued to work on other projects that would benefit first responders as well as tow and recovery services that needed a “quick fix” for roadside spills. A complete line of FlowStop spillresponse equipment, supplies, and tools are available to compliment tow professionals as well as fire departments. FlowStop offers an air-operated Vac Pump Caddy assembly with aluminum vac stingers and hoses for rapid evacuation of saddle tanks, drums, and IBC’s. The FlowStop Air Drill Kits, Dome Lid Clamps, Cargo Tank Stingers, Spill Pools and the ever popular FlowStop Football & Golf ball Containment Plugs are arranged in different spill kit configurations. As mentioned in previous articles, clean-up services are needed by your current customer base and an array of other markets. There are brokerage firms that you can summit your services and rates to that handle calls for their client base of nationwide transportation companies. “Hazmat Responder Network” has been designed for HAZWOPER Certification Training for the towing and recovery professional exclusively. HAZWOPER, which is an acronym for “Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response,” includes regulations found in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), pertaining to Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Transportation (DOT), which collectively are known as CFR 1910.120. The HAZWOPER certification class consists of required classroom study and hands on exercises. Techniques shared during the course cover the handling, testing, and disposal of soil, contaminated material as well as water treatment and testing for results in order to compose after action reports. Upon satisfactory completion a oneyear period of certification is awarded each individual attendee. A required 8-hour annual recertification is also provided by Hazmat Responder Network. For more information, contact Perry Beaty, 877- 356-9767 or perry@hazmatrn.com, pbeaty@flowstop.net. ◆
