RP Consulting 56 | Command Light

RP RECOVERY CONSULTING AirLight Series

Three sizes of inflatable LED light towers make up the AirLight series. From our ultra-portable AirLight to our incredibly powerful AirLight Pro Max, there is a light tower to meet your area lighting needs.

For more information, rprecoveryconsulting@gmail. com or call: 315-730-6566

10ft Airlight

• Height: 9 feet 9 inches • Weight: 29 pounds • Wattage: 336 Watts • Light output: 36,000 lumens • Voltage: 120V AC • Footprint: 20” x 20” x 18” tall

Wireless Headsets

FASTER RESPONSE

Operators and riggers talk to each other in real-time, hands-free. Deliver instructions clearly and answer questions directly while work caries on. No need to shout or use hand signals – clear communication helps get the job done faster.

Advanced Technology That’s Easy to Use Full-duplex Communication Hands-free simultaneous twoway conversation. No more shouting – easily talk and work at the same time with your entire team.

VISIBILITY NOT REQUIRED

Far-side operators, talk with your riggers regardless of whether you can see them or not. AirLight Pro

• Height: 12 feet • Weight: 64 pounds • Wattage: 860 Watts • Light output: 74,400 lumens • Voltage: 120V AC • Footprint: 28” x 28” x 24” tall

AirLight Pro Max

• Height: 14 feet • Weight: 72 pounds • Wattage: 1,100 Watts • Light output: 111,000 lumens • Voltage: 120V AC • Footprint: 28” x 28” x 24” tall

IMPROVED PRECISION

There’s no communication breakdown between operators and riggers. On-scene precision and performance goes up as you reduce errors and avoid costly mistakes.

ENHANCED SAFETY

Instant communication allows for timely warnings, alerts, and instructions to the crew. Avoid job hazards and mitigate the risk of injuries and mistakes.

LISTEN-THROUGH

Sonetics Listen-Through Technology lets you mix in outside sound to get the right level of hearing protection and situational awareness.

SITE-COVERING RANGE

2 feet to 1,600. You can depend on the range – no matter what the incident requires

For more information, rprecoveryconsulting@gmail.com or call: 315-730-6566.

INDUSTRY REPORT:

Highlights Adoption of Emergency Lighting In Response to INCREASING ROADWAY FATALITIES

Light towers can be equipped in varying sizes for all types of tow trucks and recovery vehicles. A Emergency Responder Safety Institute (ERSI) report stressed the importance of elevating scene lighting.

Traffic flow boards can help divert traffic away from responders.

By Amy Speer, Command Light

In the first two weeks of 2020, seven roadway responders were struck and killed by vehicles. That’s seven lives in 14 days with three of those lives belonging to tow truck drivers. More than a year later, the fatalities continue to accumulate. In 2021, another 65 roadway responders were killed.

In an era of distracted drivers, tow companies are adopting new emergency lighting and vehicle conspicuity practices to better alert drivers and divert oncoming traffic away from the scene. The Emergency Responder Safety

Institute (ERSI) released its yearly report showing an uptick in struck-by-fatality deaths of U.S. roadway responders, climbing from 46 in 2020 to 65 in 2021. Another 44 deaths were documented in 2019 by ERSI, marking the first report of its kind to include mobile mechanics and tow truck drivers among first responders. Another study, analyzing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, found that 191 tow workers were killed between 2011 and 2016 with 64 percent of those deaths being attributed to motor vehicle incidents. So, what can be done? As part of the 35-page report, the ERSI suggested several mitigation strategies:

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF APPARATUS TRAFFIC ADVISORS

have adopted traffic advisors, lit amber/yellow arrows sticks that improve visibility, and give clear direction to approaching motorists. Additionally, the report recommended multi-level or high-rise light systems above obstructing views and to create visibility farther away from the scene. While some advisors utilized directional pulsing light bars, the study found that large arrow boards were especially effective at diverting motorists away from the scene.

Command Light, an industry leader in emergency scene lighting for more than 25 years, manufactures a series of Traffic Flow Boards that can rotate up to 360 degrees, giving drivers the ability to direct the advisor toward oncoming traffic as they position the rig for recovery operations. When not in use, these Traffic Flow Boards fold down for a lowprofile design. Command Light offers three different traffic pattern variations powered by 12V DC.

THE USE OF LIGHT TOWERS FURTHER ENHANCE ROADSIDE SAFETY

The report also addressed bright white lights, which often cause glare and visibility problems for crews and motorists when these LEDs are not properly elevated. The report strongly suggests elevating and positioning white light to illuminate only work areas. Light towers are one of the most effective ways to control lighting.

In fact, these towers offer up to 360 degrees of rotation, while the light tower clusters and elevates the light, much like sports stadium lighting, to improve illumination for recovery teams while creating non-glaring light that alerts motorists of the incident ahead. To illuminate dual work areas, Command Light offers optional backlight that enables the bottom row of lamp heads to rotate 180 degrees, and Command Light’s design allows the tower to overhang the vehicle in a streetlight position, directing the light down as suggested by the ERSI report.

Command Light offers more than 20 different DCpowered light towers in varying heights and eight different fixture choices. To see the full tow industry catalog, visit commandlight.com/catalogs.. And to ensure more companies can equip their trucks with a light tower, Command Light commissioned HiViz LED Lighting, a FireTech brand, to create an economical fixture for its Knight Series, Shadow Series, and Straight Shadow models. This LED shaves the cost of a new light tower by 33% while delivering a 14,000-lumen output per fixture.

“We can’t say enough about elevating scene lighting, whether your crew is deploying a traffic advisor or a light tower,” said Roger Weinmeister, Command Light President. “Seven lives in 14 days. It’s unacceptable. The ResponderSafety Team said it best after releasing its ERSI report, ‘We simply cannot wait another day to make this a top priority.’”

The ERSI has made its tracking of 2020 struck-byvehicle deaths to date available to the public at www.respondersafety.com/FatalityReports. The ERSI also produces ResponderSafety.com and the ResponderSafety Learning Network (learning.respondersafety.com), which offer online training and traffic safety certification programs.

A BLEAK START

In the month of January, two more roadway responders were killed — a pair of veteran Mineral Point, Wisc., firefighters responding to a crash on Highway 151. Their fire truck (with lights flashing) was struck by a northbound semi-tractor trailer. The fire truck, a tanker with 2,000 gallons of water on board, caught fire, killing the two firefighters.

ELEVATE YOUR LIGHTING GAME

A Command Light tower can offer your company a game-changing service — nighttime illumination. In fact, many Command Light recovery operators are able to charge service fees and hourly rates for scene lighting, often logging an average of five hours per response. And with tow operator fatalities up in 2021, scene lights and traffic flow boards are more essential than ever to keep crews safe. Turn night into day.