Repo Run

Sales and Service

610-235-6657 www.nullssalesandservice.com

Maximize your Return On Investment with protective tapes & films Contact TomHrynda tom@roiprotectivetape.com

877-445-TAPE (8273) Fax-610-262-4598 www.roiprotectivetape.com

Nobody Beats Our Prices Windshield Wrap 36" x 200' roll $50.00, plus extra 5% off for mentioning this ad!

1-800-246-4785 540-797-2567

• Sliders • Quick Swaps • Air Cushions • Sliding Rotators • Fixed Boom Rollbacks robertyoungtrucks.com

CALIFORNIA TOW TRUCK ASSOCIATION SEEKING INSTRUCTORS

CTTA’s Training & Education Program teaches drivers skills & knowledge needed to stay safe & serve the motoring public. CTTA Instructors will meet following for this part-time position: • Willing to travel and coordinate class dates/times with the CTTA Office • Ability to teach a set curriculum put forth by the Association’s Education Department •Prior experience in the industry and/or instruction experience is desired, not required •Ability to read and interpret documents, including technical data, safety rules, vehicle codes and procedure manuals •Ability to speak effectively in interpersonal situations and with groups of people

Submit resumes and contact information to: ctta@ctta.com

First Rotator in San Antonio

by Jim “Buck” Sorrenti

Hawkins Towing & Recovery owner David Hawkins said his rotator is the first in service to the San Antonio, Texas, region.

David Hawkins is a heavy-duty specialist and the driving force behind Hawkins Towing and Recovery in Von Ormy, Texas (just outside San Antonio). Hawkins provides services to heavy equipment companies and commercial and non-commercial individuals as well as servicing equipment on the oil fields and heavy-duty recovery. This is a small company that has a big reputation for customer service. “After working for other companies (since 1994), in 2012 we decided to go into business on our own serving our South Central Texas community,” Hawkins said. “I believe in treating everyone the way that we’d like to be treated. We are a company with compassion for those we serve. We care for our customers as we care for our families.” Hawkins now has six employees, and he is teaching his 17-year-old son David Jr. the business. “I am a believer in hands-on experience,” Hawkins said. “So I bring my son along with me whenever I can. He will be the future of our family company.” Hawkins has a service truck, a light-duty and three heavies, including this beauty. Seeing the need and always looking to supply the best service to his growing customer list, he added this 2017 Century 1150S 50-ton rotator mounted on a 2017 Kenworth T800 wide hood during the 2016 AT Expo-Dallas. “This rotator was the perfect fit and the next step for our heavy-duty business,” Hawkins said. “One of the most important attributes this unit brings to our business is that it is the only rotator in the San Antonio area.” The wide “T8” is popular in oilfield, construction, and other extraheavy operations like heavy recovery. An ISX15 Cummins 560-horsepower engine with an 18-speed Eaton transmission powers this wide rig.

Miller's Raptor remote allows joystick operations of the boom and winch from the unit or a wireless remote.

Hawkins’ Century 1150S is stabilized with dual outriggers and can tow the big stuff visits the SDU-4 Low Rider underlift.

Tech Highlights

Chassis: 2017 Kenworth T800. Wrecker: 2017 Century 1150S 50-ton rotator. Engine: Cummins ISX 15. Trans: 18-Speed Eaton. Graphics: Dendy Hill Graphics. Builder: Coker Equipment/Miller Industries. Paint: Miller Industries.

This 1150S has an SDU-4 Low Rider underlift and six winches to handle the pulling and lifting, including; dual 50,000-lbs. DP Planetary two-speed main, dual 35,000-lbs. DP planetary two-speed deck, dual 20,000-lbs. DP planetary single-speed turret winches. Equipped with the Raptor remote, operations can be handled at the unit control station or on the wireless remote. Joystick controllers operate boom and winch functions and a display screen offers a variety of information including load sensing and boom positions. Miller Industries and Coker Equipment Sales built this unit. Coker, based in Dallas, Texas, is a certified distributor for Miller Industries, Zacklift and Trail-Eze. Miller painted this rig and Dendy Hill Graphics in LaFayette, Ga., did the graphics.

Jim “Buck” Sorrenti, a longtime editor of American Towman, has been our field editor for the past few years. He is a freelance writer and photographer with more than 40 years of experience covering motorcycle, hot rod, truck and towing culture. He writes weekly for TowIndustryWeek.com.

TOW INDUSTRY MOBILIZES FOR ITS SURVIVAL continued from page 17

Fire, Rescue and EMS salute the Spirit Ride with flags waving on an overpass; procession is enroute to Tucumcari, New Mexico from Amarillo, Texas. A wrecker from T Miller Wrecker Service approaches the overpass.

Michael Tavenner and Linda Unruh. Tavenner's Towing led the Spirit Ride with All-Rite Towing into Albuquerque. Linda lost her son, Robert Unruh Jr. on February 19th, struck by an eighteen-wheeler in an action that saved a fellow tow operator.

The second area that needs big change is in the training arena. Towing and recovery trainers have to reach outside the industry box and begin attracting men and women to this challenging and oftentimes, exciting work. Three, the industry needs to coalesce behind the movement now spearheaded by the Spirit Ride. The Spirit Ride’s national campaign has begun educating the motoring public on the peril first responders face and the existence of the Move Over law. Greater enforcement of this law along with greater protection for first-responders out there by the white line is in the cross hairs of the Spirit Ride’s potential impact. The towing industry has taken the lead pulling on this rope through the Spirit Ride, but not alone. Representatives of Fire, Police, Highway Patrol and EMS are participating in all the Spirit Rides. They too are being struck down. They too share an interest in the cause. The Spirit Ride is a traveling memorial day for First Responders, one reason why this campaign has resonated with them, and with the Media. Paying tribute to those who have been struck down on the roadside is a natural compliment to drawing awareness to the one law that can significantly reduce the carnage. The towing industry needs a strong relationship with Police and Fire. Such strength will carry over into its relationships with town and state officials. Greater protection on the highways, greater respect, and higher rates will all improve as towing bonds with the other disciplines. Towers have always longed for more respect from them. The Spirit Ride has brought them together like never before. Through the reason and cause of the Spirit Ride, these other First Responders are looking at the tower as one of them. As the more vulnerable of the First Responders working the white line, tow operators deserve to considered part of this elite brotherhood. The Spirit Ride has earned media coverage on TV, Radio, and in Print wherever it has passed. And all of that exposure has been exponentially increased through social media. It’s time for the fence-sitters to jump in. The industry’s greatest challenge needs everyone pitching in.

Editir’s Note:

The Spirit Ride is a project of Ameriam Towman Spirit Inc., a nonprofit corporation. One may contribute at ATSpiritride.com

by Steve Calitri

Isuzu Marks 40,000 N-Series Gas Trucks

Isuzu Commercial Truck of Amer-

ica (isuzucv.com) recently announced that the 40,000th gasoline-powered Isuzu N-Series truck rolled off the line

at the Spartan Motors facility in Charlotte, Mich.

“From April 2015 to June 2016—a span of 15 months—we went from

20,000 to 30,000 gas-powered Isuzu trucks produced in Charlotte,” said Shaun Skinner, president of Isuzu Com-

mercial Truck of America. “Now, only 12 months later, another 10,000 N-

Series gas trucks have been built. That’s a testament to the increasing popularity

and growing reputation of our gasoline

engine, low-cab-forward trucks.”

Assembly of Isuzu N-Series gas

trucks began at Spartan in April 2011.

continue to page N 96