The Walkaround

Dennie Ortiz

Publisher

Celebrating Recovery

May is a month in which many causes are celebrated from national cheese month and national barbecue month to critical awareness initiatives such as national skin cancer awareness and national water safety month. Well, American Towman this month is celebrating the specialized work of Recovery, as we do every month, just more so this May issue. Dangers are many while working on the roadside, add the element of darkness (night-time recovery) and the risks increase dramatically. Brian Riker contends when used properly, lighting is an excellent tool for operator protection. Brian makes the case that towers should make every attempt to use lighting to identify their presence without overuse to avoid distracting oncoming vehicles. He also emphasizes why the lighting that can be seen from the greatest distance is the most important of all scene lighting as it allows enough time for the motorist to react.

Keeping with the subject matter of escalated danger during night hours, our Beacon’s On department, Davis Cotsmire suggests that light towers (as in tall structure) are the optimal tools to light up a scene. Very pertinent here is the type of light used, as it is advocated that “day light” replicating illumination is the ideal lighting to avoid blinding operators and motorists alike … an important feature to look for when making your lighting purchase. A brief but relevant take away from the article, from a business management perspective, is that some states allow towers to charge a fee for the use of this auxiliary lighting.

This issue also presents a classification system for recoveries, meant to support any towing or recovery invoice. This is an interesting and dynamic approach to standardizing billing and rate structures, which serves to help the customer understand a recovery bill and its itemized fees. Take a look and see what you think.

A recovery issue would not be complete without hearing from an authority in the recovery business. Justin Cruse, president of WreckMaster, provides us with just that level of experience. He delves deeply into the character and nature of the towing professional with attention given specifically to recovery professionals. Justin provides an innate appraisal of the rare breed that makes up this unique and specialized profession. He pays tribute to the hard work and dedication recovery specialists exemplify while also addressing one of the biggest challenges our industry faces … operator recruitment and retention.

Question: What is a shared characteristic of most towers? Answer: The enthusiasm they have for a recovery job and the details of how it was performed. We feature three different recoveries this month ranging from an overturned pick up and RV camper in Utah, to an incredibly challenging recovery of a 60,000 pound machine down a 142 foot cliff in Oregon and then to a Wisconsin winter wreck of a tractor trailer bent 90 degrees around a tree. Fun stuff!

A slight departure from the recovery theme is our Chassis Chalkboard section. Climb aboard with Randy Resch as he dives deep into Kenworth’s new offerings. He carefully details all aspects of the new chassis’ and which would be more beneficial for this industry. We know it’s always ideal to have an equipment evaluation done through the eyes and mind of a tower.

I would be remiss not to mention this month’s My Baby. Here we feature Beard Towing’s pride and joy. Be sure to check out this beauty.

I am very happy to announce the resurrection of the AT Adventures serial comic in this issue … more more on this see Lowdown on page 66.

Enjoy and be safe!

Dennie Ortiz Steve Calitri Brendan Dooley Randall Resch Terry Abejuela Jim “Buck” Sorrenti David Kolman Bill Simmons Mark Lacek Brian Riker Publisher Editor-In-Chief Editor Operations Editor Field Editor, West Field Editor, Northeast Chassis Editor Safety Editor Repo Run Editor Contributing Editor

Editorial Board

Tommy Anderson Roy Carlson Debbie Collins Belinda Harris Bill Johnson Ron Mislan Kurt Wilson Dallas, Texas Saint Paul, Minn. Las Vegas, Nev. Greensboro, N.C. South Hadley, Mass. Warren, N.J. Creve Coeur, Ill.

American Towman Staff

Gina Johnson Dennie Ortiz Ellen Rosengart Henri Calitri Patrice Gesner Peggy Calabrese Ryan Oser Emily Oz Steve Calitri Page Layout Artist Advertising Sales Mgr. Senior Account Exec. Customer Service Subscription Manager Regional Advertising Sales iMarketing Manager ATTV Producer President

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