I have been talking to tow companies all over the country, and we are all in agreement that our industry is in trouble. We talked about some of the many problems we face and here are a few:
1. We know the price of gas is high
2. We know it’s hard to find a truck and if you order a new one its months away from being built
3. We know there is someone trying to buy all the dispatch software companies
4. We know the towing industry media doesn’t get along
5. We know there is legislation that is constantly impacting the way we do business
6. We know state and national associations could do a better job addressing industry problems
7. We know tow companies that compete in a given market will never get along.
I’m sure there are other problems that each state faces that impact their business but our biggest obstacle to overcome in each state is the lack of drivers. In the past month I have been to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada and Arizona. The main topic of conversation is lack of drivers.
Ten years ago when you needed a driver you just stole him from his competitor, you ran ads in newspapers or a friend would refer them to you. Those days are gone. Back in the day when I needed a driver I would go to a Home Depot or a super market and find a person that looked like the kind of person I wanted working for me. Clean cut with minimal tattoos that I would not have a problem putting in front of my customers.
he background checks were usually completed by the stores I recruited from along with the drug testing when necessary. I realized they knew nothing about towing, but I figured there were enough training programs to get them educated. The good thing about my recruiting methods were I could teach them the way I wanted to do business, I’m sure every tow company had their way to recruit drivers and the companies that are successful are the programs that worked. In today’s world I’m not sure our methods would work. Here are a few of the problems we face today:
1. Today’s driver would rather have Tictok on their phone instead of apps that get them tows
2. We gave up tattoos for green and purple hair and piercings
3. Today’s driver picks and chooses their own hours and forget about nights and weekends
4. Today’s driver picks their working hours from their girlfriend or boyfriend
5. Today’s driver wants maximum pay without doing the work
6. Today’s driver does not understand customer service
I have a program that sends tows to tow companies. The driver refused to put the app on their phone because it runs down the battery. I sent this tow company 16 tows over a 3 day period and he could not get his drivers to run the calls. He is an investor in my company yet he could not get the jobs completed. Another company hired a driver with little experience and half his hair was green and the other half purple. He said it would be hard to put them in front of a customer.
There are a lot of stories out there that people don’t have to come to work because they are paid more by the government to stay home. My company offered several tow companies an opportunity to invest in my company and start making money by letting other companies work for them. They did not have to worry about:
1. No driver issues
2. No gas expense
3. No insurance expense
4. No driver drama
5. No fighting over tows
6. No salary issues.
It was disappointing that no companies were curious enough to call and see what it was all about. There were 8 companies smart to make an investment in my company because they saw the value of what I have.
I tried to help tow companies get tows by offering my service. I was told all tows must go through dispatch. I had good dispatchers and I knew their value. However, drivers make your company money in today’s world while most drivers don’t get the respect they deserve. I was also told that they don’t do motor club tows and we all know the reasons why. That’s a 44,000,000 tow market you are missing out on. My system also had to connect to their dispatch software. Now they are letting their software run their business. I feel our industry is crazy right now and it would help if we all had access to drivers. I know there are a lot of owners that want to turn it over to their son and keep the company in the family for another generation, but their kids are just not interested.
Here is my idea for a driver solution. We start a trade school and train the drivers we need for the future. We can find convicts coming out of jail and looking for a job. The government said they would like to filter them back into the system. This would do it. The first push back I get is some cities and states do not allow x felons to drive a tow truck. With the government pushing our program they just might change some of these state and city laws. When I first got into the business, I was walking my lot with an employee who took care of the yard. A nice young man that did everything he was told. He was only 18 and I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. He told me when his parole was over he wanted to join the service. I asked him what he did that put him in jail. I was shocked when he told me he shot and killed someone.
When he was real young he belonged to a gang. They got in a fight with another gang and he shot and killed a very bad person. He spent some time in jail and was placed on parole. He definitely deserves a second chance.
I am currently working with C.T.T.A in California to promote their training program I talked to Quinn and we will use the E.R.S.C.A program to start when we open the school. I have a location in Dallas for the school. I will work over the next 2 months to find candidates for the school. It could be X military or X convicts. I find government agencies to help support my effort. When the time comes I will reach out to tow companies for their help with setting it up.
Planning now will save our industry for the future.
