Recovery unit operator

You talking about a repo man in states or military recovery vehicle in war zone?. Big difference.

 

Yep it can be very dangerous too as you are trying to pull an axle and 4 wheelers flying by you 2 feet away.

Alot of big companies have recovery specialist that go get abandoned trucks. They usually work team and haul a load to the vicinity, then haul two loads back to reduce expenses.

 

Dangerous as heck too; for the above reasons plus the equipment you're working with (chains, hooks, cables can break and go flying back at you) plus the fact that you're busiest in the worst kind of weather. You gotta go no matter what cause somebody's life could depend on you. Not a job for the faint of heart.

Most HD wrecker operators I know started out with smaller units. You gotta learn how to hook onto something without causing more damage than was the original. You gotta learn to be #### inventive when encountering an "impossible tow". And you MUST be mechanically knowlegeable and capiable about the stuff you're towing so you don't wind up destroying it. EG: do you know how to protect the driveline of an 18-wheeler when you're towing it? You better.

Oh yeah, you gotta know stuff like how to safely operate a hydraulic boom too. A hard pull the wrong way or with too much extension can destroy the wrecker unit real fast.

The wrecker business is not a "hook up and go" operation.... and they never get the respect they should have.

 

I ran a big Wrecker in Northern Virginia for a large towing company, it was long hours and the dirtiest work I ever had done. Think lumping is bad well the big wrecker is far worse. The two years was the longest days of my life and not much sleep when we could not keep qualified drivers in the seat long enough to get days off, 7 days a week and all hours of the clock. I made money hand over fist which is the only reason I did it. Never again unless I could find a towing company that is decent, I am not sure they are even real.

Oh, dangerous also. Every time you have to hook up on the side of the road as the member stated you have to pull axles or a drive shaft, or you may burn up the transmission.

Rollover accidents are a hoot also, pulling cables and blocks plus chains and straps just depending on the situation. After that you get to wind them tight and start the recovery, think highly strained cable or cables all around you and no where anyone can go if they would snap. On top of that the rig may be towed miles back and that is fun if you are pulling tractor and trailer, may even have to back in when you get to where you are going.

No bs but honest I would have to make some really good money and benefits before dragging a hook again.

 

Whatever you do, DO NOT follow this guy's example...

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vE9Zq7Gs-U[/ame]


Driving wreckers really isn't all that hard. There is A LOT to know, though, and if you screw up, it can be expensive and/or painful. You have to know how to look a situation over and come up with a plan, keeping an eye out for anything and everything that can possibly go wrong....because it probably will.