Requirements for Tow Truck Driver

Knowledge.... Hard Work.... Available 24/7.... Strong Stomach....


He might as well add doubles/triples just to make sure. But being a tow truck driver is not all about sitting in the seat & driving.... Especially in Georgia.

Since your profile thingy says your in Atlanta. I will say that currently GA DOT has a program called the GA Towing & Recovery Incentive Program (TRIP). Your husband has to be highly skilled & a fast mover if he thinks he will make it in the heavy truck towing scene around Atlanta. The TRIP Program requests that all operator's who are called to a heavy truck accident, that they have the area cleaned up & the road reopened with in 90 minutes.

So ask your husband this.... If a tractor-trailer is flipped completely upside down & the load is scattered across 5 lanes of traffic.... Would him & a team of maybe 4 other guys upright that truck & trailer & clean up the highway within 90 minutes?

That is why I say he needs knowledge & a lot of skill of towing. Now there are people who will call BS on the 90 minute deal I mentioned.... So do a google search for GA Towing & Recovery Incentive Program & read the articles yourself.

 

They can make all the rules they want, if it's gonna take 5 hours, that's what it's gonna take. 90 minutes, LOL!

 

Nice commission though.

 

piece of cake.....tell him 2start at a simple police tow co. or someone in AAA calls(motor clubs). isnt greatest job when slow but you do see entire state your in plus some. ive done it for 8-10 yrs ....easy job in my book.

 

u could take wreckmasters class and get certified light med heavy....we used to hold class in the towyard i worked at....was about25-30 drivers...instructer had 1 arm!im at class 4-5 i think...medium....not sure. 2-4 hr class...think more then 1 ....forgot. its usually in a police tow co. in garage....or office if big enough. we had inside garage.

 

Yeah dig their website. All the companies that got free (albeit sideways) advertising. I suspect even with all the training they require anyone would be hard pressed to clean up a bad wreck in 90 minutes. I think the program will only do more harm than good because of operators rushing things trying to make that $2500. Kinda like a lot of drivers say, "it'll get there when it gets there".

 

Wow I just noticed this post...

Yes the quick clearance program is in place in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Washington, and other places... The 90 minutes is not quite right time wise, as it starts the minute you are given the go ahead to begin the recovery job. You can sit there for hours while they pump off tankers, or do investigations.

And they also say that "roadway cleared" in 90 minutes means that it can be drug off the roadway so that traffic can get by.

Now as a few people have said, towing is a hard job and it is more than a job. It is a life.
There are many who think its all easy work and in a lot of cases it is easy, specially on breakdown tows. But when you get into recoveries it get very complicated fast. Remember your physics classes in school, we use that stuff everyday.

Now as to "hooking up" yes a tractor trailer hook up can be 30 to 45 minutes or so, and it's a lot more complicated than backing up, pinning the trailer, hooking 2 air lines, one light cord and dollying up the gear.

Pulling Drivelines, caging brakes, or running air to the unit all add into the job.

AND THE DANGER, well anyone really want to go stand on the side of 285 in Atlanta with vehicles going by at 50 or so mph only a foot or so away.... The towing industry looses approximetly 50 drivers a year on the job due to getting hit or other issues on the job.

Now if he still wants to drive tow truck, he can apply at any of the companies in the area like others said. But some companies have strict hiring requirements due to insurance restrictions, PD and Incident Management contract requirements and such.

But do not expect to jump from an over the road job, into a fancy rotator like "the Mistress" on Wrecked (speed channel show featuring O'Hare Towing in Chicago)

As to me, well I have been doing this job for 30 years and its a hard life, I am not as young as I once was and it gets to me daily. But I love it and the rewards of helping people and overcoming the job problems which I get daily.

Training, yes there are several programs which can help, and WreckMaster is good, along with other programs. But he will most likely start in small trucks and work up to the big stuff in a while. It might take a year or 2 to get there.