Many of you may have read my earlier article, “This One Got to Me,” about an older gentleman who experienced both a business and personal tragedy. He was out of Mississippi and tried to tow a loaded U-Haul truck with a 1974 Dodge and single-line sling assembly when the line broke causing the U-Haul truck to separate from the tow unit. The U-Haul truck crashed into concrete barriers to the left of the freeway lanes, and the Dodge went into the ditch. The sling assembly was torn off the Dodge and stayed in the freeway lanes. Quickly after the sling assembly landed, a lady ran over it, causing her car to flip and wreck which resulted in her sustaining major injuries.
As expected, a lawsuit was filed, and as expected, attorneys for the injured woman named several parties in the suit: Dodge, U-Haul, Wellesley, the wrecker unit manufacturer, the towing company, and the tow driver himself. Dodge made the truck in 1974 and surely was not liable. U-Haul simply contacted their tow vendor and expected service aligned with their vendor agreement. Wellesley went out of business in 1984. This left the tow company and the tow driver. The tow driver had chosen to use his old, beat-up, worn-out truck instead of two others that were incredibly more capable and safer that the company had authorized him to use. Because of his actions, the sole responsibility of the wreck and injuries were laid around his neck like an unwelcome wreath or Olympic medal.
I attended the deposition of the tow driver, and it was one of the saddest moments of my life. I saw the older man as he realized that he was solely responsible for his multiple mistakes, and that he would likely pay for everything himself–and he did. The settlement was for $1.2 million; his farm, land, house, and vehicles were liquidated to pay the settlement, and he still came up $300,000 short! Consequently, when he passes, his life insurance will also go to the injured woman and not to his family. This is why I get so upset when I see shortcuts being taken and the attitude of “it won’t happen to me” or “I haven’t lost one yet.”
A man who shares my attitude on these things is Brian Riker of Fleet Compliance Solutions. Brian is also an expert witness in towing and trucking liability scenarios. Based in Pennsylvania, Brian has been an integral part of both the towing and trucking industries. For the towing industry, he most recently participated in a series of legislative advocacy-action conferences in Washington, DC, and assisted in writing hours of service regulations at the national level. Brian holds safety- and business-related seminars at tow shows and other trade events and works in the industry every day either moving equipment, advising company owners, making sure companies are compliant, or giving advice to others in the towing industry. I have known Brian for twenty years, and I ran this case by him initially and again recently as we discussed ideas to share with towing company owners and managers to hopefully prevent an incident like this from happening with other drivers.
We both know that many employees (and some company owners) have a calloused attitude about liability, thinking they are protected by some “magic umbrella” their employer owns. They are not, of course. The “magic umbrella” does not exist. If an employee is negligent or takes a shortcut against industry standards and an accident results, the employee alone is liable. Brian and I both still cannot imagine going home to own our wives and families and explaining to them that we will be losing our houses and cars because either one of us decided to take a shortcut at our individual workplaces, someone got hurt, and now we are getting sued as a family. Can you imagine having that discussion with your family?
As I informally interviewed Brian, he came up with some great statements and suggestions to address this type of situation reducing the likelihood that a tower will have to have that conversation with his or her spouse or family one day. Brian said:
“Control of liability is important to both business owners and employees alike. As a business owner, I cannot stress enough how important it is to train your employees and to clearly document it when you do. Without documentation, it did not happen! I have been called to defend or investigate trucking and towing company owners when their actions or the actions of their employee led to an injury or death. Often, I find a weak spot in their training program or their record-keeping process.”
Based on Brian’s observation, it seems this whole incident centers around training and communication. He also said:
“In the towing industry training is spoken about often, both formal and in-house programs. Training is not expensive, it is priceless. Many times, I am told by owners they would love to train their team, but as soon as they do, the good ones leave. Yes, this may happen; however, that does not relieve you of the duty to provide training for the safety of the public, your team, and your customers.”
We have heard that before, haven’t we? “What if I pay for training, and they leave??” I have a scarier question: “What if I do not train them, and they STAY?” We came to a mutual agreement on training, adding OSHA-related matters to normal training. Brian summed it up well:
“As an industry, towers focus on below-the-hook training, meaning the cool stuff like rollovers, winch outs, and crash response. There is so much more to prepare for, stuff that is a much larger part of the typical tow operator’s daily routine, such as tire changes, jump starts, invoicing, or even how to properly wear a safety vest. Contrary to popular belief, towing is not exempt from OSHA. In fact, workplace safety for the towing industry is regulated by multiple state and federal agencies, not just OSHA. Towers are covered under OSHA general industry, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Federal Highway Administration as well as various state level Department of Transportation worksite standards. Further, if we are working on or near waterways, airports, military bases, or railroads, there are even more agencies that have a say in our workplace safety. Each have their own set of standards to follow and required training to demonstrate basic competency.”
I am not interested in over-simplifying this incident or the ramifications afterward, but I hope we can all learn something from it. Most people do not train their employees. If they do, it is a few minutes here or there, and nothing is documented. Screaming curse words at an employee and telling them they did something wrong ISN’T training, it is preparing that employee to run like hell from you and look for another job.
Train. Document. Observe. Retrain and emphasize. Trust me when I tell you that you DO have time and money for training. You can spend it now, or you can spend it on a lawsuit later after a catastrophic event. The choice is yours.
As a Tow Truck Dealer in a niche industry, you may not think this applies to you. As President and Managing Director of Tow Truck Locator LLC, my staff and I deal with tow truck owners and dealers daily. Social distancing is raising awareness that integrating digital technologies and social media strategies into marketing strategy is vital.
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PCX61U w/Touchscreen
Location, location, location- a key location can add value.
With the 41AHD interior cameras, you can enforce top-tier driving practices and strengthen personnel trainings. In-cab cameras offer a great way to understand the driving habits of personnel: know when they hard-break, turn without a signal, or how they interact with clients and utilize those moments captured to improve operational efficiency and enhance safety. These recordings can be used to critique adverse behaviors, reward favorable ones, and improve personnel trainings by turning the recordings into first-hand account videos on what to do and what not to do. 
Exterior cameras are the best tool for combating false claims when an accusation arises or a driver is injured on the job. The cameras offer HD resolution no matter the time of day and provide over three lanes of view equipping you with the dependable video evidence you need to capture the events that took place. These cameras are proven to 
Accompanying you in the cab is the CP4 Monitor which acts like a second pair of eyes – giving you 360-degree views around your vehicle. With multiple split-screen views, you can see the cameras you need to maximize vehicle visibility and eliminate blind spots. With the integrated panic button, you can automatically create critical events in the software whenever an accident or incident takes place. Comprehensive vehicle awareness is achieved with the in-cab monitor.
Foresight Pro is Safety Vision’s simplistic video management system that empowers you to understand your business better and have the investigative tools needed. Using vehicle metadata that is synchronized to video, you can analyze your operations to improve productivity and receive vehicle health reports. With the live-view capability you can advance response times when an operator requests further assistance or in case of an incident. 
At the root of the surveillance system is the cost-effective Observer 4000 HVR Recorder. The compact and durable hardware works for you by gathering vehicle metadata and recording up to 5 cameras at once. You can customize the system to cater to your needs with 8 dynamic sensor inputs that collect the information you want to see: automatically create video clips when the panic button is pressed, when the vehicle breaks, uses a turn signal, turns on hazards, and more. With this tailored-to-you hardware, you have the reliability you require.
AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat) batteries are lead-acid batteries that use a special construction to deliver a higher performance than a typical flooded lead-acid battery. In this case, the special construction is that the lead plate in the battery is wrapped using a fiberglass mat material rather than simply being suspended in the liquid electrolyte of a standard flooded battery. The fiberglass mat allows battery manufacturers to make each individual plate thinner with more plates packed into a given battery case size. The AGM construction typically delivers greater starting power (more plate surface yields greater power), improved vibration resistance (the fiberglass mat results in a more stable construction) and increased cycling capability (ability to be drained more deeply without adverse consequence).
Like AGM batteries, the electronic modules that control almost every function of vehicle performance are extremely sensitive to excess voltage. If a traditional charger with very little or no voltage control is connected to a heavily depleted battery, its voltage output could exceed 16 Volts and even eclipse 17 Volts. This could spell trouble for modules and other sensitive vehicle electronics, which are difficult to repair and expensive to replace. Modern smart chargers precisely manage output voltage to eliminate the risk posed by the unregulated output seen in older chargers.
As we noted above, modern batteries are sensitive to many different variables, including temperature. All batteries prefer to be charged less as temperature rises and more when temperature drops. Older chargers charge in all conditions as if it were always 70˚ 
A key reason for choosing now to invest in a quality smart charger is that doing so can extend the useful life of your batteries. It is not uncommon for our customers to report extending battery life by two, even three, extra seasons as a result of deploying PRO-LOGIX chargers. This is a result of the more beneficial charge delivered by the smart charging curve of PRO-LOGIX combined with the enhanced maintenance mode offered by PRO-LOGIX chargers (more on this below). The great news is that the advanced multi-stage charging routine needed by newer battery types, such as AGM, Gel Cell and Spiral Wound batteries, is also extremely beneficial for traditional flooded batteries. Choosing a charger that helps ensure those batteries are ready when you need them and prolongs their useful life is an investment that has the potential for huge returns.
Similar to the preceding reason, getting more out of your batteries or overcoming problem situations involving your batteries through the use of a smarter, more effective charger is another smart move. We’ve all encountered situations involving problem batteries. One good example of this is early battery failure due to sulfation, which occurs most often when a battery isn’t used regularly. In such situations, periodic charging with a smart charger like our PRO-LOGIX series will combat a battery’s natural creep towards sulfation or mitigate that sulfation if it is present in a battery under service. Another example comes when servicing a severely depleted battery. Our PRO-LOGIX chargers feature a built-in soft start routine to slowly bring a deeply discharged battery back to full charge. This is best for the battery’s health and longevity.
As today’s vehicles grow increasingly complex, more and more repair and maintenance tasks require that system voltage be maintained above a minimum threshold throughout the service event. The best way to accomplish this goal is to utilize a smart charger with a built-in power supply mode. This type of feature has been incorporated into select portable chargers in the last 5 years or so, as application demands have necessitated it. Whether an operator is diagnosing an intermittent electrical problem, performing a repair on an electronically controlled subsystem of the vehicle or running an ADAS recalibration, stable power is now a common requirement for a successful service event.
We’ll end with a big one. If you perform any type of long-term storage charging, such as is often done for out-of-season motorcycles, watercraft, ATVs, muscle cars, and more, there is a great incentive to upgrading your charger / maintainer to a current, smart charging model. For decades, most chargers simply went into a basic float mode when the battery reached full charge. While this is not necessarily bad for the battery, we would argue it is not the best way to handle a long-term charging situation. From our perspective, float charging keeps a battery charged and ready to use but does not optimize the overall health of the battery.
As we have noted several times above, PRO-LOGIX battery chargers deliver the features needed to properly charge all lead-acid battery types quick and beneficially. From their multi-phase charging process, ability to manage problem charging situations, incorporation of added functionality such as power supply mode and enhanced maintenance mode for optimal long-term storage charging, they cover the wide range of functions and capability needed by today’s vehicle owner.
When I owned my tow company, my wife and I would take off for a week and plan our business for the next year.
members you never knew. I’m constant amazed every day how the people of this country came together and helped each other out. 
