Tow-truck operators prepare for stricter state standards July 1st

Tow-truck operators revamped their skills this past weekend to learn safer and more efficient ways to hook up wrecked vehicles. The training will help them meet new state standards for tow-truck operators that will take effect July 1.

“These folks are here on a volunteer basis to make their businesses better,” said Wes Wilburn, owner of Wes Wilburn Consulting in Fayetteville, N.C., and a professional towing and recovery instructor.

Wilburn trained about 30 tow-truck operators and towing-business owners from across Virginia at Blairs Volunteer Fire & Rescue and at Diesel Engine and Equipment Repair in Blairs on Saturday.

The workshop, sponsored by the Virginia Association of Towing and Recovery Operators and Parkersburg, W.Va.-based Matheny Jerr-Dan, continues today. Wilburn teaches about 30 of the workshops per year around the U.S.

In the last 15 years, up to 70 tow-truck operators die performing their jobs per year across the nation, Wilburn said during an interview at the fire department Saturday. They may get run over at the side of the road during a secondary accident, equipment can fail or accidents can occur during transport.

Wilburn is instructing operators how to move tractor trailers and other large vehicles without closing down a highway. The usual way of clearing out a wrecked tractor trailer has been to back up to it at a 90-degree angle and stop traffic. Wilburn is showing tow-truck drivers how to remove an overturned truck by just blocking one lane and letting the traffic continue to flow.

In addition, operators are also using a digital strain gauge with a 25,000-pound capacity to measure vehicles’ weight. Before, tow-truck operators had to guess the weight by its resistance. 

Also, vehicles that operators end up towing are constantly evolving and changing in weight, Paul Gammon, owner of Diesel Engine and Equipment Repair, said.

Towing trucks, one of the last traditional, generationally-owned professions in the U.S., gets into the blood, David Hargrove, Virginia sales manager for Matheny Jerr-Dan’s location in Woodbridge, said Saturday. Hargrove said he has been in the business since he was 16.

The Virginia Board of Towing and Recovery Operators oversees the industry.

In Virginia, anybody with a truck and no training or tow-truck license can start up a tow-truck business. But come July 1, that will change, said Dennis Carter, owner of Carter’s Certified Professional in Salem. The state will require a criminal background check and a business license for tow-truck operation owners, Carter said. By July 1, operators and drivers must get proper credentials from the BTRO.