We continue to strive to help our members as an association. For the California Tow Truck Association, one of our main focuses is education. Our Level 1 and Level 6 programs are both certified by the California Highway Patrol. Level 1 is our two-day course for light duty towing, with classroom and hands-on training. Students are taught not only technique but also the theory, safety, and professionalism for drivers. The Level 6 is a 3-day course, again with classroom and hands-on training. The Level 6 course is really focused on recovery and understanding more about how to get a variety of commercial vehicles upright, dealing with varying situations, and preparing the vehicles to be towed safely. Our new Level 2 is a real asset for our owners operators. It serves as a refresher for the Level 1, and is only one day, so the driver is only off duty / on
the payroll for a single day. We’re added some info, so it’s more interesting to an experienced tower that’s liable to have been through several classes. And, like the others, it’s CHP approved.
California is just getting started with the Traffic Incident Management Systems (TIMS) program, and we already have 3 people from our education team certified as “Train the Trainer” instructors. Again, any program that promotes safety and professionalism is critical. We know this will be a slow roll out with the number of different agencies whose teams require the training, but want to expedite it for our members. The CHP has determined that TIMS certification will be required to be on their towing list in the future. Our goal is to have all of our towing instructors certified as TIMS trainers, always looking to improve the relationship with law enforcement, fire, and other agencies.
In addition to training for drivers, we are working on business management classes for our owners. So often someone with great technical skill is spending all their time with the towing process and they don’t or can’t afford to hire a business manager. Our new Education Committee chair is committed to this. We are starting with a dispatching, fleet management, and customer service type of class. We also want to get some basic bookkeeping and human resource courses out to them. We are lucky to have some great associate members with expertise in these areas, so we anticipate being able to develop some seminars and entry classes quickly.
From a continuing education standpoint, we’re really excited. Our staff is reformatting all of our manuals, so we have a consistent look and layout, so our students will be comfortable and familiar with each additional class they take. This will also allow us to quickly adjust to changes in standards or processes, as we can simply insert a page or section or remove one as needed. It also gives us flexibility as we train in other states so we can also tailor the course for local needs.
With education being one of the pillars of our association, we are committed to continual improvement and making our industry professional, safe, and profitable for our members.
