In an attempt to assist drivers in ignoring their phone while driving, Irish student Andrew Irwin has designed an app which can mute your mobile and auto-reply to texts on your behalf.

Drive Safe is a free app currently available to download from the Google Play store which uses your phone’s accelerometer to detect when you’re driving and automatically put your phone on silent. By doing this the app helps reduce the temptation to check a text you receive while driving, while also allowing drivers to enable an auto-reply feature which alerts anyone who tries to ring or text you while you’re driving that you are unavailable.

By using the phone’s accelerometer instead of GPS tracking battery and data usage is minimised while the app is active, with the app also offering a built-in emergency feature ensuring that you won’t miss urgent matters. After a third consecutive call from the same person the app is de-activated, allowing the phone to ring at normal volume and alert the driver to the importance of the call.

Drive Safe creator Andrew Irwin, a 23-year-old student of Computing in Software Development in Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, believes the app could make an immediate difference in changing driver behaviour. “Simply the goal is to save lives. With one tap Drive Safe could help prevent fatalities and serious car accidents attributed to mobile phone usage while driving,” he said.

“I’ve always strived to keep the app as simple as possible, so that anyone of any technical ability or age can use the app first time, with ease. I have also tried to keep as much language out of the app as possible, as Drive Safe is a global app, used all around the world.”

Since its launch the App has been a global success, having been downloaded over 30’000 times in 116 countries and boasts users from Barbados to Letterkenny. In the last 30 days alone drivers in 71 different countries have used the app to encourage safer driving habits.

Original article here: http://www.theaa.ie/blog/irish-made-app-encouraging-motorists-to-drive-safe-and-ignore-mobile-distractions/

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MANKATO The first snow emergency of every winter tends to be particularly miserable for on-street parkers in Mankato many of whom don't get the message that vehicles must be off the streets to allow plows to clear the roads. But this one was doubly so literally. A big citywide tow is typically 100 to 150 vehicles. The first snow emergency of the 2016-17 winter sent a whole lot more to the impound lots. "We issued 335 snow violations and actually towed 332" City Manager Pat Hentges told the City Council on Monday. And that was before the special downtown snow emergency occurred late Monday night and early Tuesday morning. The downtown snow emergency that ended at 6 a.m. Tuesday added another 24 cars to the impound lots. Along with a $25 parking citation violators were facing a nearly 50 percent increase in impound fees from two years ago to $107.88. Combined that means Mankato wallets will be $47305 lighter after the last citation is paid and the last vehicle is collected from impound lots operated by Affordable Towing and All American Towing. "We certainly don't want to see the towing of that many cars" Hentges said. "But it essentially allows us to get these streets plowed in a safe and effective manner." Kent Reeves owner of All American Towing which handles city towing south of Main Street said he wasn't sure why so many more were towed following the weekend snowfall which totaled about 6 inches. "That's a good question" Reeves said. "I did talk to a number of the people who were towed. A lot of them this was their first snow emergency." That lack of familiarity with the rules particularly in a college town that attracts thousands of newcomers each fall is the reason the first snow emergency of the season results in more towing. After paying $132.88 most people learn their lesson and pay close attention to subsequent snow emergency announcements. Another explanation is that Mankato became a lot more efficient at towing starting a year ago when it split the city between the two towing companies. In the past one company was granted the city contract and had to cover the entire city. And Council member Jason Mattick wondered if the day of the week was the problem. The snow emergency was announced early Sunday morning warning people that ticketing and towing would begin at 10 p.m. "Not that it's your fault but I think a lot of people were just in a Sunday lull Vikings or whatever" Mattick said. "So it caught a lot of people off-guard. It's unfortunate." Finally Reeves said he noticed towing of some vehicles that city streets department officials might have let slide in previous years. The vehicles were those that had been parked on streets where plows had already made a pass or two. In the past those cases might have been forgiven with towing focused on cars that had been parked throughout the snowstorm and were surrounded by unplowed snow. Hentges agreed that some people mistakenly believe they can resume parking on a street once they deem it's been plowed "curb to curb." That's the rule in some cities and was once the rule in Mankato but the restrictions were simplified to prohibit parking until the snow emergency ends. "We did have a few people confused on that" he said. "But that's been the case the last three years." Along with the current practice of notifying the media of snow emergencies posting the information on the city's website and using social media Hentges said the city has persuaded Minnesota State University to forward the notifications to students. And starting next year snow emergency information will be given to landlords to pass on to renters. Read more:http://www.mankatofreepress.com/news/snow-emergency-prompts-massive-towing/article_40a1db28-c17f-11e6-8f4a-bb98170ad680.html Call us if you need help towing your vehicle The previous post Snow emergency prompts massive towing was originally published on http://cork.apextowing.ie/ via Website Feeds http://cork.apextowing.ie/snow-emergency-prompts-massive-towing/

Tourists got their car stuck on the beach after driving a Subaru onto the sand The driver then reversed into a four-wheel drive that was towing them out Car was badly damaged and most of the rear of the vehicle had caved in A group of backpackers who got their car stuck on a beach thought they were in luck when a 4x4 owner offered to tow them out of the sand. But the travellers were left with an even bigger headache after they failed to apply the brakes - and ended up smashing into the back of the Land Rover. A series of hilarious videos show the Good Samaritans slowly dragging the Subaru out of the sand after it got bogged down at Inskip Point on Rainbow Beach in south east Queensland. Tourist smashes into 4WD that was towing him out of sand Loaded: 0% Progress: 0% 0:00 Previous Play Skip Mute Current Time0:00 / Duration Time2:00 Fullscreen Need Text A group of backpackers who got their car stuck on a beach thought they were in luck when a 4x4 owner offered to tow them out of the sand But the travellers were left with an even bigger headache after they failed to apply the brakes - and ended up smashing into the back of the Land Rover But as the Land Rover comes to a gentle stop after pulling the Subaru for a few metres the car driver fails to notice and continues to reverse. 'Brake brake' a woman shouts as the car plows into the back of the four-wheel drive with an almighty crunch. Two people in the rear of the shot can be seen with their heads in their hands but others seem to see the funny side. 'No one's hurt guys it happens' one man is heard saying. No serious damage appears to have been done to the 4X4 but the same cannot be said for the car. The rear of the Subaru has caved in while the bumper and rear window look damaged. As the Land Rover comes to a gentle stop after pulling the Subaru for a few metres the car driver fails to notice and continues to reverse into it The driver of the car (right) looks distinctly glum as he clambers out of the wrecked car 'Landy hasn't got a mark on her' one man remarks. 'Landy's good to go' another replies. While they seem in high spirits the driver of the car looks distinctly glum as he clambers out of the wrecked car. The man who says he does not have an Australian driving license appears to be a tourist and was travelling with surfboards on the top of his car. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4036478/Backpackers-got-car-stuck-sand-smash-4x4-towing-Queensland.html#ixzz4Sw5lpz8A Call us if you need help towing your vehicle The following article Welcome to Australia! Foolish backpackers get their soft roader stuck trying to drive on a beach then SMASH into 44 trying to rescue them See more on: ApexTowing - Dublin via Website Feeds http://dublin.apextowing.ie/welcome-australia-foolish-backpackers-get-soft-roader-stuck-trying-drive-beach-smash-4x4-trying-rescue/

Above the objection of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce and numerous local business owners, the Arlington County Board on Tuesday approved a series of changes to its towing ordinance, including a controversial provision requiring businesses to authorize individual tows.

The so-called “real time authorization” provision was approved with a delayed implementation date: July 1, 2017. That will give the County Manager time to “identify alternative strategies to mitigate aggressive towing practices and provide an interim report,” according to a county press release.

The provision, which was not recommended by the County Manager nor the county’s Trespass Towing Advisory Board, requires “real time authorization for all tows from commercial property conducted during business hours.” Currently, businesses can grant blanket pre-authorization to towing companies to tow any vehicle trespassing on their lots.

Other provisions approved unanimously by the County Board include:

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This is both awesome and scary.

As a car owner, seeing your ride get towed away is one of the worst things you can experience. It’s your fault for parking in the wrong place, but still. Anyway, here’s a tow truck that’s so fast you won’t actually see your car being towed in the first place.

It was filmed outside an airport in Turkey, taking away an illegally parked Renault Clio. The Iveco Eurocargo carrier pulls up next to the Clio and two pillar lifts descend down to the road. The forks slide out and clamp the wheels, then raise the car above the truck’s chassis. Finally, the lifts slide across to the other side the chassis and the truck is ready to drive off.

The whole process takes precisely 60 seconds. Which isn’t even enough time to realize it’s your car’s alarm you can hear wailing. Instead, the owner will have emerged to find their car isn’t where they left it. Which is actually worse than seeing it being taken away. But again, it’s their fault for leaving it in the wrong place.

It's an awesome piece of engineering - I haven't been able to ascertain the manufacturer - but quite scary, too. Partly just because it's so effective, but also because there's not much you could do to stop criminals using it to boost cars.

I'm not aware of these being used anywhere other than Turkey; have you seen one in operation?

First seen: http://www.motor1.com/news/93990/watch-a-tow-truck-take-a-car-away-in-60-seconds-flat/

2017 Mustang MSRP $24645 EXPLORE REVIEWS BUILD MORE PHOTOS 2004 Ford GT CP-1 Hennessey Performance 25th Anniversary Edition HPE800 Ford Mustang 1966 Ford GT40 Restoration Ford Mustang UK Police Car Ford GT carbon-fiber wheels Ford Mustang: 1965-2015 You didn't think you'd heard the last from Ford about its stunning victory at Le Mans did you? We're not even talking about the 2016 running of the 24-hour endurance race. No Ford throws it all the way back to 1966 for its new 2017 Ford GT '66 Heritage Edition. The black-and-silver livery recalls the GT40 Mark II driven by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon back in 1966. That year the No. 2 car came in first place followed by the No. 1 GT40 of Ken Miles and Denis Hulme and the No. 5 GT40 driven by Ronnie Bucknum and Dick Hutcherson. Each '66 Heritage Edition will wear Shadow Black exterior paint either matte or gloss finish with silver stripes and Frozen White No. 2 graphics on the hood and doors. The 20-inch forged aluminum wheels are done up in a gold satin finish. Ebony leather covers the carbon fiber seats inside with gold accents on the instrument panel seat X-brace and shift paddles. Blue seatbelts round out the homage to the 1966 racecar. Ford says the '66 Heritage Edition will be sold in 2017 only which makes sense. We wouldn't bet against similar special-edition offerings in 2018 '19 and '20 1966 kicked off four straight victories for Ford at Le Mans but if you like this specific livery you'd better get in line now. See for yourself in our high-res image gallery up top and feel free to read more in the press release below. All-New 2017 Ford GT '66 Heritage Edition Pays Homage toHistoric Livery on 1966 Le Mans Winner - All-new Ford GT '66 Heritage Edition with unique black and silver-stripe livery celebrates 1966 Le Mans-winning GT40 Mark II race car driven by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon - Ford GT '66 Heritage Edition honoring historic No. 2 race car limited to 2017 model year only - Limited-edition Ford GT features exclusive race-number graphics and unique interior colors materials and appointments DEARBORN Mich. June 27 2016 The all-new 2017 Ford GT will be available in a limited-edition Heritage theme honoring the GT40 Mark II driven to victory by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon at Le Mans in 1966 part of the historic 1-2-3 Ford GT sweep. The car will feature unique interior and exterior color themes and an exclusive wheel finish. "Celebrating the anniversary of Ford's historic victories at Le Mans has always been a part of the return of the Ford GT" said Raj Nair Ford executive vice president product development and chief technical officer. "The 2017 Ford GT '66 Heritage Edition is a stunning tribute to the car that kicked off Ford's string of Le Mans victories in 1966." The Ford GT '66 Heritage Edition features a Shadow Black exterior in either gloss or matte finish with silver stripes and exposed carbon fiber package. The car sports Frozen White #2 hood and door graphics and 20-inch one-piece forged aluminum wheels in a gold satin clearcoat with black lug nuts. The interior of the limited edition model wraps the Ford GT carbon-fiber seats in Ebony leather with pillowed inserts and plow-through stitching and the seats' head restraints and the steering wheel are debossed with the Ford GT logo. The instrument panel pillars and headliner also features an Ebony-leather wrap with gold appliqués on the instrument panel the seat's X-brace and shift paddles. Like the 1966 race car the steering wheel is leather wrapped with seat belts featuring a unique blue webbing. Rounding out the modifications to the Ford GT '66 Heritage Edition are a unique serialized identification plate the #2 interior door graphic and exposed matte carbon fiber door sills air register pods and center console. Garen Nicoghosian exterior design manager for the car says the team set out to highlight where it all started with the Ford GT. "While the looks are distinctly based on the GT40 Mark II race car" he says "we've accentuated new styling cues to provide a modern interpretation." The Ford GT '66 Heritage Edition can be viewed at FordGT.com using the configuration tool. Limited quantities will be available for the 2017 model year only. Read More:http://www.autoblog.com/2016/06/27/2017-ford-gt-66-heritage-edition/ 2017 Ford GT 66 Heritage Edition was first seen on Apex Towing - Dublin via Website Feeds http://dublin.apextowing.ie/2017-ford-gt-66-heritage-edition/

Volkswagens Dieselgate settlement with American owners of its cheaty diesel cars will cost the company more than $15 billion or five billion dollars more than was originally reported according to Bloomberg. More than $10 billion of that is slated just to go to Volkswagen owners. The reported settlement also leaves less than $3 billion left over in Volkswagens initial Dieselgate fund for pending legal actions and investigations in the rest of the entire world. Here are the financial details of how it will work: Car owners will get a total of $10.03 billion which covers both the value of their vehicles before the scandal became public last September and compensation payments of as much as $10000 apiece two people familiar with the negotiations said. Those figures could rise if VW misses certain repair deadlines. The compensation figure jumped over the past few days these people said as the parties changed their estimates on what it would take to get some 85 percent of owners to trade in their vehicles under the settlement. The rest of the settlement includes $2.7 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board and an additional $2 billion for research into clean-emissions technology Bloomberg reported. Theres a further settlement with individual states as well possibly to the tune of another $400 million. Theres also no exact timetable yet for when any of this will come to fruition or how VW owners will be able to make a claim for their cars. But as we said earlier today this is definitely not the end. There are still multiple lawsuits pending in many different countries along with pissed off shareholders and regulators. Not to mention any lingering depression in sales that can be attributed to the scandal. Read More:http://jalopnik.com/volkswagens-dieselgate-settlement-will-cost-a-whopping-1782703916 Volkswagens Dieselgate Settlement Will Cost A Whopping $15 Billion is available on Apex Towing Dublin Blog via Website Feeds http://dublin.apextowing.ie/volkswagens-dieselgate-settlement-will-cost-whopping-15-billion/

The Lake County Council is considering an amendment to its ordinances governing the towing program by dropping a franchise fee operators pay to the county. The proposed amendment would cut a portion of the fees the county collects from tow operators in an effort to lessen the cost Lake County residents pay if their cars get towed according to Councilman David Hamm D-Hammond. The county's ordinance currently levies a $50 franchise fee of tow operators and a $75 fee paid to the county for each tow conducted under the terms of the contract. Larry Blanchard a commissioners' consultant said the franchise fee netted the county $80000 to $90000 before the program was restructured putting that money into the general fund. When the towing fees went to the Sheriff's Department Blanchard said that went toward funding salaries and other items. The County Council eliminated the towing fund used to pay for salaries after the Board of Commissioners took over the towing program. "So we're losing $90000?" asked Councilman Jamal Washington D-Merrillville. "Yes we're losing $90000" Hamm said. Hamm said he's supporting the commissioners' request as the council opted to given them authority over how the towing program is run. Washington said he supports the amendment but wanted to know the rationale. Council President Ted Bilski D-Hobart said he's concerned because anytime money is taken away there's always something that comes up short. "It's coming" Bilski said. The Lake County Council stripped governance of the towing contracts from the Lake County Sheriff's Department earlier this year after federal indictments against Sheriff John Buncich alleged he solicited bribes from operators in exchange for more tow jobs. The Board of Commissioners continue to move forward with its reforms to the county's towing policies which many were set to start June 1. In March the county received proposals from 23 tow operators vying for contracts; eight of those operators previously had contracts with the sheriff. Three operators who submitted proposals were disqualified for not meeting the county's guidelines. The commissioners approved nine contracts in May and were waiting for another 11 to be returned by a May 30 deadline. Once all the contracts were received the commissioners planned to develop quadrants assigned to towing companies. If a tow operator had a contract with the Sheriff's Department that was not renewed by the commissioners it will be terminated. Read more:http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-lake-towing-fee-amendment-st-0609-20170608-story.html The previous article Lake considers dropping towing operator fee Find more on: ApexTowing - Limerick via Website Feeds http://limerick.apextowing.ie/lake-considers-dropping-towing-operator-fee/

For decades, the parking lot at Rite Aid in West Reading's commercial district has served, for better or worse, as the fallback parking location for patrons of shops and restaurants along Penn Avenue.

Whenever there are no vacant on-street spaces, patrons could often find a spot in the spacious West Reading Center - anchored by the Rite Aid pharmacy and Chef Alan's American Bistro - in the 500 block of Penn Avenue.

To live in Miami is to constantly feel as if you're trapped in an abandoned David Lynch film. Seminude men with face tattoos rollerblade through traffic in broad daylight, dilapidated buildings could be infested with anything from peacocks to bears to trained circus seals, and flaming boats just sometimes drive down the highway and everyone acts like things are cool.

Earlier this week, an anonymous Imgur user posted a GIF of a navy-blue pickup truck towing a boat on a random highway while the boat spit gigantic flames behind him. A Redditor who goes by iBleedOrange then spotted the clip on the website and posted it to Reddit's r/WTF forum, where the clip then blew up, no pun intended.

It's unclear how old the footage might be, but the GIF was posted online only four days ago. (Redditor iBleedOrange told New Times via direct message that he had no idea who posted the clip originally.)

The only thing more astounding than the clip might be what happened next: A group of Redditors used Google Maps to pinpoint the location where the footage was taken. Naturally, it was Miami-Dade. The clip was filmed directly across the street from Jorge Mas Canosa Middle School on Newton Road in far Southwest Miami-Dade County.

Behold:

The Lake County Council is considering an amendment to its ordinances governing the towing program by dropping a franchise fee operators pay to the county. The proposed amendment would cut a portion of the fees the county collects from tow operators in an effort to lessen the cost Lake County residents pay if their cars get towed according to Councilman David Hamm D-Hammond. The county's ordinance currently levies a $50 franchise fee of tow operators and a $75 fee paid to the county for each tow conducted under the terms of the contract. Larry Blanchard a commissioners' consultant said the franchise fee netted the county $80000 to $90000 before the program was restructured putting that money into the general fund. When the towing fees went to the Sheriff's Department Blanchard said that went toward funding salaries and other items. The County Council eliminated the towing fund used to pay for salaries after the Board of Commissioners took over the towing program. "So we're losing $90000?" asked Councilman Jamal Washington D-Merrillville. "Yes we're losing $90000" Hamm said. Hamm said he's supporting the commissioners' request as the council opted to given them authority over how the towing program is run. Washington said he supports the amendment but wanted to know the rationale. Council President Ted Bilski D-Hobart said he's concerned because anytime money is taken away there's always something that comes up short. "It's coming" Bilski said. The Lake County Council stripped governance of the towing contracts from the Lake County Sheriff's Department earlier this year after federal indictments against Sheriff John Buncich alleged he solicited bribes from operators in exchange for more tow jobs. The Board of Commissioners continue to move forward with its reforms to the county's towing policies which many were set to start June 1. In March the county received proposals from 23 tow operators vying for contracts; eight of those operators previously had contracts with the sheriff. Three operators who submitted proposals were disqualified for not meeting the county's guidelines. The commissioners approved nine contracts in May and were waiting for another 11 to be returned by a May 30 deadline. Once all the contracts were received the commissioners planned to develop quadrants assigned to towing companies. If a tow operator had a contract with the Sheriff's Department that was not renewed by the commissioners it will be terminated. Read more:http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-lake-towing-fee-amendment-st-0609-20170608-story.html The previous blog post Lake considers dropping towing operator fee is courtesy of Apex Towing - Limerick Blog via Website Feeds http://limerick.apextowing.ie/lake-considers-dropping-towing-operator-fee/

To live in Miami is to constantly feel as if you're trapped in an abandoned David Lynch film. Seminude men with face tattoos rollerblade through traffic in broad daylight, dilapidated buildings could be infested with anything from peacocks to bears to trained circus seals, and flaming boats just sometimes drive down the highway and everyone acts like things are cool.

Earlier this week, an anonymous Imgur user posted a GIF of a navy-blue pickup truck towing a boat on a random highway while the boat spit gigantic flames behind him. A Redditor who goes by iBleedOrange then spotted the clip on the website and posted it to Reddit's r/WTF forum, where the clip then blew up, no pun intended.

It's unclear how old the footage might be, but the GIF was posted online only four days ago. (Redditor iBleedOrange told New Times via direct message that he had no idea who posted the clip originally.)

The only thing more astounding than the clip might be what happened next: A group of Redditors used Google Maps to pinpoint the location where the footage was taken. Naturally, it was Miami-Dade. The clip was filmed directly across the street from Jorge Mas Canosa Middle School on Newton Road in far Southwest Miami-Dade County.

Behold:

For decades, the parking lot at Rite Aid in West Reading's commercial district has served, for better or worse, as the fallback parking location for patrons of shops and restaurants along Penn Avenue.

Whenever there are no vacant on-street spaces, patrons could often find a spot in the spacious West Reading Center - anchored by the Rite Aid pharmacy and Chef Alan's American Bistro - in the 500 block of Penn Avenue.

The Ford F-350 Super Duty pickup truck can tow well over 6 tons and cleans up nice enough to be refined. Pictured March 2017 in Chicago. (Andy Mikonis/Chicago Tribune) Andy MikonisChicago Tribune Following up on the all-new F-150 Ford has redesigned the F-250 and F-350 Super Duty with aluminum-intensive construction to not only shave weight for the sake of shaving weight but to parlay that weight savings into strengthening other components. The configuration of the F-350 tester was a 176-inch wheelbase long-bed crew cab with dual rear wheels as big as you can get without moving to the F-450.Properly testing this rig required an appropriate mission a 900-mile towing trip to pick up a derelict vintage car and bring it back on an 18-foot flatbed trailer. The F-350 was thoughtfully designed with features to aid towing and hauling. Hook up a trailer and the truck knows offering up trailer status and trip mileage. An array of available cameras are helpful for parking and backing up to a trailer as well as monitoring the load. A really nice feature is a small spotlight near the top of the tailgate that illuminates the trailer hitch area. A deployable step and handle to climb in the bed is so well concealed you wouldn't know it was there if someone didn't tell you; it's a much more elegant execution than Ford's early versions of this idea. And a shoutout to the lockable storage bin under the rear seat. This may be the best idea in pickup interior storage ever. The loaded trailer would be in the neighborhood of 6000 pounds less than a third of the F-350's stated towing capacity. Running empty to pick up the trailer fuel mileage hovered around the 16.5 mpg range. Surprisingly the mileage dropped to 12 mpg when towing the empty trailer at around 2000 pounds then only dropped a half an mpg or so more with another 4000 pounds of the barn find loaded up. Wind resistance may have more of an effect than weight on fuel mileage when towing. Along with ultralow sulphur diesel fuel diesel exhaust fluid must be added for emissions control. Ford says the Super Duty has the largest DEF tank in the competitive set and in over 1200 miles that needle did not come off of full. Average over a week was 13.0 mpg. The balance when not towing was a mix of highway driving; this barge was not first pick for piloting around town. It shouldn't be a surprise to read the F-350 towed like the trailer wasn't there. Exceptional braking performance made slowing the load drama-free. Variable steering which changes how many turns of the steering wheel it takes to turn the front wheels based on vehicle speed made maneuvering easy. It was a real pleasure to have this truck for this trip if overkill for the weight involved. It is amazing how refined heavy-duty trucks have become. A stiffer new frame likely allowed engineers to tune the suspension for a smooth ride. The F-350 has a solid feeling overall. It had not quite every option but pretty close including technology that has been slow to find its way into pickup trucks. The lane departure warning was too sensitive and too subtle; the slight vibration of the wheel was often impossible to distinguish from the normal vibrations from the ravaged asphalt of our nation's highways. Blind spot monitoring was a welcome feature which adjusts to the length of the trailer up to 33 feet and includes the trailer's blind spot. Adaptive cruise control worked flawlessly even when towing keeping a preset distance upon approaching slower vehicles. Read more:http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/automotive/new/sc-chevy-ford-f350-autoreview-0518-story.html The previous article Ford F-350 Super Duty is a refined towing beast was originally seen on Apex Towing - Galway Blog via Website Feeds http://galway.apextowing.ie/ford-f-350-super-duty-refined-towing-beast/

2017 Chevy Silverado HD 2500 6.0L V8 The Super Ike Gauntlet is all about maxing out trucks on the Worlds Toughest Towing Test the Ike Gauntlet. This time its the 6.0-liter Vortecs V8 chance to tackle the 8 mile stretch of highway with a 7% grade on the way up to 11158 feet above sea level. This 2500 HD double-cab short bed 44 is powered by a 6.0-liter Vortec V8 that is rated at 360 horsepower and 380 lb-ft of torque. Its backed up by a 6-speed automatic transmission. It has several optional packages including the HD Custom package with 20-inch wheels but this WT model still offers very good value at a final MSRP of $44300. Read more:http://www.tfltruck.com/2017/06/2017-chevy-silverado-hd-2500-work-towing-gooseneck-trailer-video/ 2017 CHEVY SILVERADO HD 2500 WORK TRUCK TOWING 13500 LBS UP THE SUPER IKE GAUNTLET is republished from Apex Towing Dublin Blog via Website Feeds http://dublin.apextowing.ie/2017-chevy-silverado-hd-2500-work-truck-towing-13500-lbs-super-ike-gauntlet/

The Ford F-350 Super Duty pickup truck can tow well over 6 tons and cleans up nice enough to be refined. Pictured March 2017 in Chicago. (Andy Mikonis/Chicago Tribune) Andy MikonisChicago Tribune Following up on the all-new F-150 Ford has redesigned the F-250 and F-350 Super Duty with aluminum-intensive construction to not only shave weight for the sake of shaving weight but to parlay that weight savings into strengthening other components. The configuration of the F-350 tester was a 176-inch wheelbase long-bed crew cab with dual rear wheels as big as you can get without moving to the F-450.Properly testing this rig required an appropriate mission a 900-mile towing trip to pick up a derelict vintage car and bring it back on an 18-foot flatbed trailer. The F-350 was thoughtfully designed with features to aid towing and hauling. Hook up a trailer and the truck knows offering up trailer status and trip mileage. An array of available cameras are helpful for parking and backing up to a trailer as well as monitoring the load. A really nice feature is a small spotlight near the top of the tailgate that illuminates the trailer hitch area. A deployable step and handle to climb in the bed is so well concealed you wouldn't know it was there if someone didn't tell you; it's a much more elegant execution than Ford's early versions of this idea. And a shoutout to the lockable storage bin under the rear seat. This may be the best idea in pickup interior storage ever. The loaded trailer would be in the neighborhood of 6000 pounds less than a third of the F-350's stated towing capacity. Running empty to pick up the trailer fuel mileage hovered around the 16.5 mpg range. Surprisingly the mileage dropped to 12 mpg when towing the empty trailer at around 2000 pounds then only dropped a half an mpg or so more with another 4000 pounds of the barn find loaded up. Wind resistance may have more of an effect than weight on fuel mileage when towing. Along with ultralow sulphur diesel fuel diesel exhaust fluid must be added for emissions control. Ford says the Super Duty has the largest DEF tank in the competitive set and in over 1200 miles that needle did not come off of full. Average over a week was 13.0 mpg. The balance when not towing was a mix of highway driving; this barge was not first pick for piloting around town. It shouldn't be a surprise to read the F-350 towed like the trailer wasn't there. Exceptional braking performance made slowing the load drama-free. Variable steering which changes how many turns of the steering wheel it takes to turn the front wheels based on vehicle speed made maneuvering easy. It was a real pleasure to have this truck for this trip if overkill for the weight involved. It is amazing how refined heavy-duty trucks have become. A stiffer new frame likely allowed engineers to tune the suspension for a smooth ride. The F-350 has a solid feeling overall. It had not quite every option but pretty close including technology that has been slow to find its way into pickup trucks. The lane departure warning was too sensitive and too subtle; the slight vibration of the wheel was often impossible to distinguish from the normal vibrations from the ravaged asphalt of our nation's highways. Blind spot monitoring was a welcome feature which adjusts to the length of the trailer up to 33 feet and includes the trailer's blind spot. Adaptive cruise control worked flawlessly even when towing keeping a preset distance upon approaching slower vehicles. Read more:http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/automotive/new/sc-chevy-ford-f350-autoreview-0518-story.html The previous blog post Ford F-350 Super Duty is a refined towing beast is courtesy of ApexTowing - Galway via Website Feeds http://galway.apextowing.ie/ford-f-350-super-duty-refined-towing-beast/

2017 Chevy Silverado HD 2500 6.0L V8 The Super Ike Gauntlet is all about maxing out trucks on the Worlds Toughest Towing Test the Ike Gauntlet. This time its the 6.0-liter Vortecs V8 chance to tackle the 8 mile stretch of highway with a 7% grade on the way up to 11158 feet above sea level. This 2500 HD double-cab short bed 44 is powered by a 6.0-liter Vortec V8 that is rated at 360 horsepower and 380 lb-ft of torque. Its backed up by a 6-speed automatic transmission. It has several optional packages including the HD Custom package with 20-inch wheels but this WT model still offers very good value at a final MSRP of $44300. Read more:http://www.tfltruck.com/2017/06/2017-chevy-silverado-hd-2500-work-towing-gooseneck-trailer-video/ The following article 2017 CHEVY SILVERADO HD 2500 WORK TRUCK TOWING 13500 LBS UP THE SUPER IKE GAUNTLET is republished from dublin.apextowing.ie/ via Website Feeds http://dublin.apextowing.ie/2017-chevy-silverado-hd-2500-work-truck-towing-13500-lbs-super-ike-gauntlet/

Tow truck drivers have also been hard at work.

Dozens of cars were stuck on the side of the road for slide-offs or crashes.

McDonald's Towing says when they saw the weather coming, they called in the troops, prepping for double the amount of calls they usually get.

"We tried to prepare better with scheduling employees and getting our trucks in line so all of them were in ready condition and ready for the storm," said McDonald's Towing Operations Manager Zach Clothier.

McDonald's Towing says they responded to about 50 calls Sunday night, and they didn't expect things to slow down.

They hope drivers keep safety in mind, before pulling off the road.

Read more: http://wwmt.com/news/local/road-crews-tow-truck-drivers-hard-at-work-after-weekend-snowfall

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KALAMAZOO Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - Snow plows and tow trucks are out in full force across West Michigan. Newschannel 3's Nicky Zizaza caught up with some tow truck drivers working to clear drivers stranded along roadways. Phone calls have been pouring in to McDonalds Towing following the heavy snowfall around West Michigan where slick conditions and snow showers made for a busy afternoon and evening for tow truck companies. McDonalds Towing has responded to more than 150 calls following this weekend's snow showers and with chaotic road conditions tow truck drivers said they have to be especially careful because they can end up in an accident during a recovery. In this kind of weather with an influx of call they ask commuters to pay extra attention and make way for them. Zach Clothier the operations manager at McDonalds Towing said "We have large equipment lots of lights. If you can give us space to do our job and do it safely that would make us more comfortable on the road and most likely be able to do our job in a quicker response time." By 3:30 p.m. on Sunday McDonalds towing had responded to more than 50 calls and with the snow expected to continue throughout the night they don't see things slowing down. Spots on the roads remain slick and drivers should drive defensively but stay home unless you have to get out. If you do have to drive Michigan State Police has tips for drivers: Leave at least four seconds of space between you and the car in front of you. Be careful at intersections where moisture from exhaust can quickly freeze making these spots especially icy. Steer into the skid if you start to slide don't panic take your foot off the gas. Don't pump breaks - if you have anti-lock brakes do not pump them use firm pressure until you come to a stop Don't get out of your car stay put and call for help. Read more:http://wwmt.com/news/local/tow-trucks-keep-busy-on-terrible-roads Call us for all of your vehicle towing needs The previous article Tow trucks keep busy on terrible roads was originally published to cork.apextowing.ie via Website Feeds http://cork.apextowing.ie/tow-trucks-keep-busy-terrible-roads/

Although most of us anglers live for the days we can take our boats to our favorite fishing holes and see what's biting, there's always a sense of relief at the end of the day when we safely back the boat into the garage.

That's because towing anything adds a profound element of risk to the driving experience. You might be cautious and aware while towing your boat, but that doesn't mean some knuckle-headed pedestrian isn't going to be looking at his cell phone on the sidewalk where you like to drive.

Just like in regular driving, while towing a boat, you'll occasionally have to stop short, change lanes and weave to miss obstructions.

That latter action can prove costly if your boat isn't fitted to your trailer properly or the gear you put in it for travel isn't forward of the axle.

The video above demonstrates why you want to put weight toward the tongue and not in the rear while towing.

Read more: http://www.nola.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2016/12/weight_distribution_critical_w.html

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LAKE GEORGE — Some of the most powerful vehicles cruising on the nation’s highways pulled into Lake George this weekend, and both their beauty and brawn wowed a crowd of tourists and residents.

The Empire State Towing & Recovery Association’s 34th annual “Tow Show” was held June 3-4 in Lake George’s Festival Commons, and the show hosted a half-dozen massive heavy-duty recovery tow trucks as well as conventional versions.

Equipped with booms 35 feet in length or higher and up to 22 wheels, these sow trucks have 65- to 75-ton capacities and can pick up an overturned 18-wheeler and put it back upright.

Such metallic muscle wasn’t all that impressed the gathered tow truck drivers and the public this weekend. It was also the chrome, custom paint jobs and decorative lighting as well as the impressive hulk and hydraulics.

ESTRA Tow Show’s annual “Beauty Contest” awarded prizes to towing operators in various categories, including the big rigs’ exterior and interior appearance as well as engine detailing as well as lighting arrays. Huge recovery trucks worth up to $800,000 were entered in the show.

Named Grand Champion in the beauty contest was a fully restored 1940 GMC tow truck with original rigging owned by 87-year-old Joe Lomanto of Clinton Collision. Lomanto started out towing vehicles in the mid-1950s using merely a chain and a hand-winch and now his firm operates a fleet of trucks based in Clinton New York including massive recovery vehicles.

About three dozen other trucks were entered in the tow truck beauty show. Lomanto took home three first-prize trophies for his entries.

Tow truck operators — and their vehicles — from Maine to Pennsylvania attended this annual convention of towing and recovery personnel, ESTRA’s president Tom Brennan said.

The tow show featured activities and attributes for tow truck drivers like seminars on effective towing techniques, networking opportunities, and exhibits by recovery vehicle and towing equipment vendors.

The tow show’s return to Lake George after several years of being held in Queensbury is a welcome change, Brennan said, noting that Mayor Bob Blais convinced his organization to come back to Lake George this year.

“Our association members enjoy Lake George’s downtown atmosphere — it’s shops, arcades, lake views — and its night life,” he said.

Brennan added that village’s shop owners and residents are friendly and welcoming.

“Lake George has always been a receptive place for us,” he said, noting that a local boy was the winner in a recent year’s raffle of a tool box complete with tools worth about $10,000.

He said Tuesday that the tow show attracted 5 to 6 thousand people, and his association is looking forward to returning next year.

“We had great, great response this year,” he said. “After the show concluded, our Facebook page lit up — we got about 8,000 views.”

Read more: http://www.suncommunitynews.com/articles/the-sun/%E2%80%98beauty-contest%E2%80%99-for-huge-recovery-trucks-held-in-lake-georg/

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LAKE GEORGE — Some of the most powerful vehicles cruising on the nation’s highways pulled into Lake George this weekend, and both their beauty and brawn wowed a crowd of tourists and residents.

The Empire State Towing & Recovery Association’s 34th annual “Tow Show” was held June 3-4 in Lake George’s Festival Commons, and the show hosted a half-dozen massive heavy-duty recovery tow trucks as well as conventional versions.

Equipped with booms 35 feet in length or higher and up to 22 wheels, these sow trucks have 65- to 75-ton capacities and can pick up an overturned 18-wheeler and put it back upright.

Such metallic muscle wasn’t all that impressed the gathered tow truck drivers and the public this weekend. It was also the chrome, custom paint jobs and decorative lighting as well as the impressive hulk and hydraulics.

ESTRA Tow Show’s annual “Beauty Contest” awarded prizes to towing operators in various categories, including the big rigs’ exterior and interior appearance as well as engine detailing as well as lighting arrays. Huge recovery trucks worth up to $800,000 were entered in the show.

Named Grand Champion in the beauty contest was a fully restored 1940 GMC tow truck with original rigging owned by 87-year-old Joe Lomanto of Clinton Collision. Lomanto started out towing vehicles in the mid-1950s using merely a chain and a hand-winch and now his firm operates a fleet of trucks based in Clinton New York including massive recovery vehicles.

About three dozen other trucks were entered in the tow truck beauty show. Lomanto took home three first-prize trophies for his entries.

Tow truck operators — and their vehicles — from Maine to Pennsylvania attended this annual convention of towing and recovery personnel, ESTRA’s president Tom Brennan said.

The tow show featured activities and attributes for tow truck drivers like seminars on effective towing techniques, networking opportunities, and exhibits by recovery vehicle and towing equipment vendors.

The tow show’s return to Lake George after several years of being held in Queensbury is a welcome change, Brennan said, noting that Mayor Bob Blais convinced his organization to come back to Lake George this year.

“Our association members enjoy Lake George’s downtown atmosphere — it’s shops, arcades, lake views — and its night life,” he said.

Brennan added that village’s shop owners and residents are friendly and welcoming.

“Lake George has always been a receptive place for us,” he said, noting that a local boy was the winner in a recent year’s raffle of a tool box complete with tools worth about $10,000.

He said Tuesday that the tow show attracted 5 to 6 thousand people, and his association is looking forward to returning next year.

“We had great, great response this year,” he said. “After the show concluded, our Facebook page lit up — we got about 8,000 views.”

Read more: http://www.suncommunitynews.com/articles/the-sun/%E2%80%98beauty-contest%E2%80%99-for-huge-recovery-trucks-held-in-lake-georg/

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(House of Digital/Bigstock) Philadelphia is cracking down on predatory towing. Right now truck drivers in Philadelphia only have to take a picture of an illegally parked car before hauling it off to an impound lot. But thanks to a bill passed by City Council Thursday they'll soon have to wait for a police or parking authority officer to ticket the car first. For years city officials have received complaints from drivers who say their cars were towed from legal spots. "There is grand auto theft happening in the city every day" saidCouncilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez who sponsored the bill. But towing company owners argued that having to wait for an officer will cut down on the volume of their businesses. Anthony Kitt was one of several tow truck drivers from Philadelphia who showed up at City Hall asking council to delay the vote. "You have a bill being passed that goes against everybody when they know who the bad guys are" Kitt said. "The names have been blasted all over the news. They have video of what's going on. And you affect the lives and lifestyles of a lot of people behind the bad doings of a few." Instead of putting off the vote Quiñones-Sánchez agreed to delay enforcement of the new rule for 30 days once it's signed by the mayor. She said the city will create a hotline so tow truck drivers can call one of the nine law enforcement agencies authorized for ticketing illegally parked cars under the bill and get a faster response. "But in the interim the bad actors continue to steal cars and this is about protecting consumers right now" she said. All of the agencies involved will meet on Tuesday to get down to work Quiñones-Sánchez said. Read more:http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/99569-philadelphia-cracking-down-on-predatory-towing Call us if you need help towing your vehicle The blog post Philadelphia cracking down on predatory towing Read more on: http://galway.apextowing.ie via Website Feeds http://galway.apextowing.ie/philadelphia-cracking-predatory-towing/

Bill 160682, spearheaded by Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sanchez, requires towing companies to summon Philadelphia police or the Philadelphia Parking Authority to issue a ticket before hauling cars away.

The new law will seek to guarantee that vehicles being towed were parked illegally. But cars parked illegally at Philadelphia hospitals can be towed without police or PPA approval.

Tow truck drivers told 6ABC that the bill is unfair and punishes the towing industry as a whole, instead of punishing a handful of operators engaging in predatory towing or bait-and-trap schemes.

"How could those who do parking lot and driveway enforcement be predatory, when it's the property owner, or the management company, who is calling us to tow these vehicles," Lew Blum of Lew Blum Towing told the news station. "They have us mixed up with another part of the industry."

The big question that remains is how the city will enforce the new rule in 30 days. Truck drivers told NBC10 that they're not sure how long it'll take police to issue tickets or who even to call.

The city Department of Licenses & Inspection won't be able to handle the volume on its own, which is why the city plans on contracting with a third party.

The bill's passing comes months after numerous drivers said that they were victims of an alleged bait-and-trap towing scheme in South Philadelphia in August.

The story was similar for many – the drivers would park at a seemingly open spot on South Broad Street and Washington Avenue. But on their return, the car would be gone with a "no parking" sign from George Smith Towing suddenly in place where their vehicle had been parked.

Facebook videos posted by Chris Norman who lives above the allegedly targeted spot have documented a handful of incidents.

Read more: http://www.phillyvoice.com/city-council-passes-bill-targeting-predatory-towing-practices/

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PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) --

Randy Harvey Photo With a network of cables extending to a trio of tow trucks a 120000 pound Caterpillar excavator is slowly brought up the banks of Trout Creek were it got stuck while working on the construction of a new bridge to replace a culvert washed out during last Julys flooding. The exploit won Tomlinson Towing a spot on the cover of Towing Times Magazine. In a career that spanned more than 60 years Bill Tomlinson has been called on many times to contend with recovery and tow jobs the likes of which most tow operations will never see. Our motto has been If it flies floats or rolls we can handle it said Tomlinson who retired from Tomlinsons Towing in January of 2014 after operating the business since 1966. He originally bought the business from his father who started it in 1946 and sold it to Dean Zifko who continues as the businesss current owner. During his tenure Tomlinson has an unmatched record of success in recovery and towing. We never turned any work down and we never came home empty he said with evident pride. We had a standing offer if we dont pull it we dont charge. But weve never done one for nothing. This summer as work proceeded at top speed to replace a pair of bridges on State Highway 13 south of Ashland that record was challenged by a difficult recovery that was literally one for the books. At about 10 a.m. on Aug. 30 Tomlinson Manager Brenda Hebert got a call from a road crew supervisor asking if the firm could assist in recovering a piece of equipment that had sunk in the mud at the construction site at Trout Brook near North York about 16 miles south of Ashland. I asked the usual questions Hebert said. Where is it whats the problem what type of equipment? When the supervisor told me it was a 120000 pound excavator I sat up straight in my chair Hebert asked how deep the excavator had sunk in the mud. Real deep was the reply. At first tow operator Brandon Bowers went to the scene to scope out the problem only to be told that the construction company would try using their own equipment to haul the stuck excavator out of a 12-foot hole. That didnt work real well said Tomlinson. The only thing they accomplished was sinking it two feet deeper.. At that point the contracting firm admitted defeat and called Tomlinson again. Just do what you have to; I need this out said the exasperated supervisor. Zifko began to assemble a recovery team and called on the grand old man of Ashland towing and recovery Bill Tomlinson and his son Bob to lend a hand. When the crew arrived at the scene one road crew worker looked at the trio of smaller wreckers and snorted derisively What are you going to do with those Tonka Trucks? Bob Tomlinson replied that he aimed to get the excavator out. The man laughed and told Bob he was wasting his time. Ive never walked away from a job I havent finished Bob replied. What Tomlinson knew and the construction crew didnt understand is that recovery isnt simply a matter of brute force yanking a vehicle out. Rather it is a symphony of applied pressure in the right spots. Its all about mechanical advantage Tomlinson said recalling the words of the Greek mathematician physicist and engineer Archimedes who said Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it and I shall move the world. Its true there are much larger trucks out there than what we had but if you dont know how to run them they are worthless Tomlinson said. Its knowing what to do. Leverage is the key. The block-and-tackle mechanism of a tow truck uses the law of leverage to increase the power applied to a recovery problem. When the force is spread out over key points smaller equipment can accomplish amazing results. At our annual tool show we took an empty tractor/trailer and laid it on its side and rigged it up using a block and tackle. Then we had 12 10-year-old kids six on each line and they pulled it over by hand Tomlinson said. In this case using a D-6 Bulldozer as an anchor point and an estimated 19 lines connecting the entire rig some 253000 pounds of force was exerted to slowly oh so slowly pull the enormous excavator up the hill. It was a demonstration of how to use applied physics to succeed but that didnt mean it was easy. In a grade like that with all that suction it pulled hard Tomlinson said. In the end despite a minor setback and some re-rigging the excavator was brought up out of the hole. Everybody was amazed Tomlinson said. The whole exercise had taken just four hours. Bill and Bob Tomlinson both said it was the biggest job they had ever undertaken. Word of the tour de force reached Tow Times magazine the International publication for the towing and recovery industry. They got the story and pictures of the recovery. Usually they put pictures of fancy towing trucks on the cover this time they put the excavator recovery on it Bill Tomlinson said. For a tow and recovery man getting the cover of Tow Times is akin to making the cover of the Rolling Stone for a rock star. I went to the post office and saw the envelope and I was anxious to see if they had the story in this month and there it was right on the cover he said. I was astonished to say the least. Weve been in Tow Times a number of times but never on the front cover. Material from Tow Times was used in the creation of this report. Read more:http://www.apg-wi.com/ashland_daily_press/news/excavator-extraction-lands-tomlinson-s-towing-on-cover-of-tow/article_3d7da9d6-b775-11e6-b03f-7b2949f137bb.html Call us if you need help towing your vehicle The previous blog post Excavator extraction lands Tomlinsons Towing on cover of Tow Times is republished from ApexTowinging - Galway via Website Feeds http://galway.apextowing.ie/excavator-extraction-lands-tomlinsons-towing-cover-tow-times/

Nissan Motors Japan has successfully introduced Intelligent Vehicle Towing (IVT), a fully-automated towing system at its Oppama production plant.

The IVT system uses a modified Nissan Leaf electric vehicle to autonomously tow trollies which carry finished cars between designated loading and unloading areas within the plant.

Unlike conventional automatic guided vehicle systems for transporting parts, which often require the installation of rails or extensive use of magnetic tape, this system does not need any special infrastructure to operate.

1Nissan testing self-driving cars at one of its plants in Japan (AP) Nissan is testing self-driving cars at one of its plants in Japan that can tow vehicles on a trailer to a wharf for loading on transport ships. The tests also can add to knowledge needed to take such autonomous driving onto public roads. Nissan executive Haruhiko Yoshimura said the company hoped to use the technology throughout the Oppama plant by 2019 and in overseas plants in the future. During a demonstration a Leaf car with no one inside drove along the road pulling a trailer with three other Leafs on it stopped properly for other vehicles and then veered into a car park. But one vehicle ran into trouble refused to move and was not able to take part in the demonstration. Kazuhiro Doi a Nissan vice-president acknowledged such glitches showed a challenge unique to the technology. "If there are drivers they can take action" he said. "Mechanical operations are all there is in a driverless car." People still had to get inside each of the towed vehicles to drive them to the proper wharf but Nissan hopes that as self-driving technology advances cars will drive themselves into the ships on their own. Driverless cars are still not allowed on regular public roads in Japan although major carmakers are all working on such technology. Driverless driving is legal within private facilities such as Nissan's. Nissan allied with Renault SA of France has been carrying out tests with driverless towing since last year. Read more:http://www.independent.ie/world-news/nissan-demonstrates-driverless-cars-towing-other-vehicles-at-plant-in-japan-35268844.html Call us if you need help towing your vehicle Nissan demonstrates driverless cars towing other vehicles at plant in Japan is courtesy of dublin.apextowing.ie via Website Feeds http://dublin.apextowing.ie/nissan-demonstrates-driverless-cars-towing-vehicles-plant-japan/

ENGLEWOOD The City Council unanimously introduced an amendmentto its towing ordinance Tuesday setting higher tow fees for some vehicles andrequiring minimum lot sizes for tow operatorson city business. Under the proposal city-licensed operatorsmust respond to calls within 20 minutes; three missed or late calls makes the towersubject to losing its license. The amendment also says towers must have a secure lot big enough to house 25 cars. The amendment also changes the fee schedule so that towing companies can charge: a single flat fee of$120 up from $95for Class 1 vehicles up to 6000 pounds; a single flat fee of $160for Class 2 vehicles between 6001 and 12000 pounds; $300 per hour for heavy-duty vehicles between 12001 and 26000 pounds; $400 per hour for vehicles larger than 26001 pounds. The City Council discussing amending an ordinance on towing.(Photo: Viorel Florescu/NorthJersey.com) The amendment adjusts a measureadopted in November which set a 20-minute limit but a minimum lot size to hold 10 cars. The ordinance was based on recommendations made in May. Amore recent proposalby Police Chief Lawrence Suffern and Sgt. Robert Zimmerman which stipulated a 15-minute limit and a lot size for 50 cars was not received by the clerk in time for the November action. During a Nov. 30 special meeting to discuss the amendment the council tweaked the minimum lot size to allow for 25 cars so as not to exclude one of the borough's six applicants. Read more:http://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/englewood/2016/12/06/englewood-unveils-revisions-towing-ordinance/95048144/ Call us if you need help towing a car The article Englewood unveils revisions to towing ordinance was originally published to Apex Towing - Cork Blog via Website Feeds http://cork.apextowing.ie/englewood-unveils-revisions-towing-ordinance/

If you’re thinking about doing some towing, and you also think that all the concern over weight distribution on the trailer is a load of crap perpetrated by the weight-distribution lobby, then I really suggest you watch this little video. Because what’s funny with toys is terrifying in reality.

This demonstration, which seems to come from the Ontario Police Commercial Vehicle Committee, is so wonderfully simple and effective. The little Mustang (the tow vehicle of choice for most discriminating towers) is pulling a trailer with two sets of weights: one at the front, one at the rear.

Toronto police are warning rush hour commuters of significant delays on major roadways across the city due to a protest organized by the province’s tow truck industry on Tuesday.

Authorities say the event will snarl traffic into and out of Toronto during the morning and afternoon rush hours.

The protest is scheduled to stiffle the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway as tow truck drivers make their way to Queen’s Park.

Tow truck drivers are upset over Bill 15, Fighting Fraud and Reducing Automobile Insurance Rates Act, which aims to reduce auto insurance claims costs and includes tow and storage-specific consumer protection measures.

The industry has opposed some parts of the bill as it also limits the number of hours tow-truck drivers can work per day.

“Tow truck drivers, we don’t make money every day. We only make money per call,” said tow truck driver Zoli Burka.

“A lot of the time, tow truck drivers are sitting around doing nothing. We work as we get our tows. We’re not like big truckers where we’re driving constantly.”

The law also requires operators to get permission from consumers before providing tow and storage services, accept credit card payments, and to make towing rates clearly visible before receiving payment.

“Regulating our industry, yes it needs it because there are bad apples in our industry like any industry,” said Burka.

“We’re ok with some of the bill. A lot of us already accept credit cards. Our issue is our hours of operations. Don’t attack us for that.”

Toronto police say tow truck drivers are expected to arrive at Queen’s Park around 9:30 a.m. and encircle the south lawn of the provincial legislature from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

A similar protest on Dec. 9, 2014 caused massive headaches for motorists as tow trucks surrounded the grounds of Queen’s Park.

Read more: http://globalnews.ca/news/2618983/tow-truck-protest-to-snarl-toronto-rush-hour-traffic/

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – A west side business owner is asking every driver to be on the lookout for a stolen, one-of-a-kind tow truck.

Monday morning, when Ted Green showed up to work he noticed that the fence in front of his car shop was destroyed; pieces were even thrown into 16th Street.

“This section here is bent, which actually has to go back to the third pole. This one has to go all the way back to the 5th pole. I mean it just destroyed my whole front row here,” said Ted Green, town truck owner.

Green quickly noticed how the gate was damaged. Thieves used his tow truck to plow through and take off.

“For someone to just come and take that from us, that’s just a punch in the face,” said Green.

The tow truck is black with neon green lettering that says "Ted’s Auto Care" on each side. Green says this tow truck is the only one that looks like this.

“Even if you’re standing a mile away and seen it coming. You’re going to look, I mean it’s a big truck and it’s noticeable,” said Green.

Within a matter of minutes this car shop is out more than $20,000. The stolen tow truck cuts their fleet in half.

“We’re losing anywhere from $300-$600 a day from the tow truck,” said Green.

Green told us he has security cameras, but the thieves actually turned the one that would’ve captured the crime.

“I don’t know what they took the truck for. I don’t know if they took it for parts. I don’t know if they’re out trying to steal each other’s vehicles. It could be anything,” said Green.

Green does know all it takes is for the thieves to make one wrong turn and for someone to see it and to turn them in.

“It’s just an honest thing to do for somebody to call and report that,” said Green.

If you do happen to see the "Ted’s Auto Care" truck, call IMPD.

Read more: http://fox59.com/2016/08/02/thieves-use-stolen-tow-truck-to-plow-through-gate/

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A Surrey man is fuming after ICBC refused to cover the damage a tow truck caused to his beloved 1992 Buick Roadmaster.

Fabian Galick, who works in security in the film business, was driving to Hope to meet up with a friend on Aug. 2, when his prized 24-year-old car with a 350-cubic-inch V8 engine blew a transmission line, which left him stranded at the side of the highway about 11 kilometres out of Hope.

Galick, 48, called his brother and asked him to call a tow truck to pick up to take it back to Surrey for repairs.

When the car arrived home, Galick was stunned to see extensive damage to the undercarriage, sides and bumper. Most perplexing, a wheel had fallen off.

“He did a lot of damage,” Galick said of the tow-truck operator. “It will be in the thousands to fix.”

Galick suspects the wheel fell off when the car was hooked up backwards and the driver began to head to Surrey. “”You do not tow a car backwards that has knock-off rims,” he said. “He hooked it up backwards and destroyed it.”

Once he figured out the extent of the damage, Galick said he made a claim with ICBC.

But he was later told his policy did not cover the damage from the tow truck.

He was told he would have to go after tow-truck company Bear Paws Towing and Recovery Ltd., in a civil action, despite his understanding he was covered if there was damage to the car when it was being towed.

“They said I have no coverage and I’ll have to sue,” Galick said of the claim.

But the big thing he said is the danger motorists faced when the self-tightening wheel fell off while the car was in tow. “Every tow truck driver is supposed to know how knock-off wheels work,” he said.

Jeff Potts, part-owner of Bear Paws Towing and Recovery Ltd., said he takes full responsibility for the damage in the tow.

“We’re going to pay him,” Potts said. “It was a bad judgment call on my part, “ said Potts of the tow.

“It is not his fault. I will square up with him.”

An ICBC official would not discuss the case, but instead pointed out people need to do their research when they call a tow-truck company. ICBC recommends hiring a tow-truck company that is one of their “suppliers."

In B.C., it is mandatory for towing companies to purchase a “garage policy” from ICBC.

If there isn’t negligence by the tow-truck operator, the customer’s own optional insurance coverage could cover damages.

And if the damage isn’t covered under an ICBC policy, the driver can pursue a legal claim with the tow company.

Galick said after a month he has yet to see any financial compensation and wants to warn other motorists to check their ICBC policy and the tow truck’s standing with ICBC before hiring them.

“There are so many things going on here,” Galick said of the problems he encountered with what he thought was a routine tow.

Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/news/local+news/surrey+beloved+badly+damaged+during+truck+ride/12171873/story.html

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JOLIET The ninth annual Worldwide Equipment Sales LLC Tow Trucks for Tots parade will take place Sunday and will begin in Joliet according to a news release about the event. Tow trucks from all over the United States will begin lining up at 6 a.m. at the Hollywood Casino Joliet 777 Hollywood Blvd. The parade will leave the casino at 9 a.m. and led by the Illinois State Police it will travel west onto Route 6 to Interstate 55 to Harlem Avenue to Toyota Park 7000 S. Harlem Ave. in Bridgeview. Once the parade arrives the trucks will be on display and festivities will be ongoing from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Toyota Park. They will include a live band Tow Truck Olympics food prizes and more. Admission is free. More than 500 trucks are expected which will break the current Guinness world record for largest tow truck parade. Tow Trucks for Tots is a nonprofit that collects toys for children at Christmastime. It is made up of mostly family owned towing companies. Read original:http://www.theherald-news.com/2016/11/12/tow-truck-parade-to-depart-sunday-morning-from-joliet/ahrp7cl/ Call us if you need a tow truck The previous post Tow truck parade to depart Sunday morning from Joliet Read more on: cork.apextowing.ie via Website Feeds http://cork.apextowing.ie/tow-truck-parade-depart-sunday-morning-joliet/

This idiotic driver was stopped by police after he tried to tow a flatbed truck by wedging the front in the boot of his car - and securing it with just one strap. The motorist removed the front wheels doors and engine from the truck to lighten the load and hoisted it into the rear of his grey hatchback. He then lashed the two together with a single blue strap and set off along the road in Gloucester where police stopped him. Gloucestershire Police officers tweeted a photo of the potentially dangerous combination. They added: "Photos of a stop by one of our units in Gloucester - car towing a car with a van strapped on the back. "The van was quite literally strapped to the car. Driver reported for dangerous condition. No lights too." Reported: Gloucestershire Police warned others not to copy the driver (Photo: Gloucestershire Police/PA Wire) Read original:http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/idiotic-driver-tried-tow-truck-6107818Call us if you need a tow truck The previous post Idiotic driver tried to tow truck by wedging its front in the boot of his car Read more on: Apex Towing via Website Feeds http://cork.apextowing.ie/idiotic-driver-tried-tow-truck-wedging-front-boot-car/

WLOS GREENVILLE S.C. -- A tow truck driver refused to a help a customer stranded on Interstate 26 in Asheville on Monday. "Something came over me I think the Lord came to me and he just said get in the truck and leave" said Ken Shupe of Shupee Max Towing in Traveler's Rest S.C.. "And when I got in my truck you know I was so proud because I felt like I finally drew a line in the sand and stood up for what I believed." Motorist Cassy McWade says she was in a car accident and the family called their regular mechanic to drive about 45 minutes north in order to tow her home to Traveler's Rest from the side of the Interstate. He wasn't able to make the trip so McWade says he called Shupe. He arrived after about an hour and began the process of towing the vehicle. "He goes around back and comes back and says 'I can't tow you.' My first instinct was there must be something wrong with the car" McWade told News 13 on Wednesday. "And he says 'No you're a Bernie supporter.' And I was like wait really? And he says 'Yes ma'am' and just walks away." McWade has a Bernie Sanders bumper sticker on her rear fender and a yard sign in her rear window for Sen. Bernie Sanders. Shupe who supports presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said his decision on the side of the interstate this week was more about business than politics. He believes Bernie Sanders supporters are socialists and says he's had problems with two customers over the last six months who supported Bernie Sanders. He said they caused him problems over paying their bills. "I've had some horrible experiences in the last six months with towing cars for this mindset individuals in that I don't get paid. They want to argue about a $50 tow bill and it turns into just a drama and a fuss. And I said you know I'm not going to associate with them and I'm not going to do any business with them" Shupe said. "I'm really not interested in doing business with that clientele" he said of Sanders supporters. "I personally don't believe that you don't have to agree on anything just to be kind to one another" McWade said. "I was like what did I do to you? You know I do believe I try to do right by people. So I was offended and I don't know what exactly he thinks I would have done to him directly by being a believer in Bernie." McWade 25 has psoriatic arthritis fibromyalgia Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and early-stage Crohns which she said made sitting on the side of the road without a restroom nearby"terrifying". She is legally disabled and says the handicapped placard was hanging on her mirror when Shupe arrived. She also says the family mechanic informed Shupe that she was disabled. After waiting more than an hour and a half McWade was towed by another company. Shupe says he did not know that McWade was disabled. "Had she been disabled would I have towed her car? No ma'am. I would have pulled forward and sat there with her to make sure she was OK until another wrecker service showed up to get her home safely but I still would not have towed her car" said Shupe. "I stand by my decision and I would do it again today if the opportunity presented itself." Read more:http://wlos.com/news/local/tow-truck-driver-refuses-to-tow-motorist-over-bernie-bumper-sticker Call us if you need a tow truck Tow truck driver refuses to tow motorist over Bernie bumper sticker Read more on: ApexTowing - Cork via Website Feeds http://cork.apextowing.ie/tow-truck-driver-refuses-tow-motorist-bernie-bumper-sticker/

A male driver reverses his Vauxhall Astra from a tow truck Waltham Forest Council/YouTube A man who angrily reversed a car off a tow truck astonishingly without writing the thing off has been criticised by a council for his extremely dangerous manoeuvre. The driver tried to remove the silver Vauxhall Astra from the grip of a parking enforcement firm by starting the engine of the car and simply reversing it off the back of the truck as it hadnt yet been secured. See the video below In the footage he can be seen storming up to the vehicle which had been parked illegally on a street in Waltham Forest east London before driving it off in an effort that appears to have succeeded as the car simply bounces back into action. Waltham Forest Councillor Clyde Loakes said: The man had an utter disregard for anyone on the street and what he did was extremely dangerous. You can see kids and other members of the public milling around in the foreground of the video and thank goodness none of them were in the immediate vicinity or he could have killed someone. The incident happened at roughly 8am on 29 August on Hazelwood Road in Walthamstow and was captured on film by parking enforcement officers. Read more:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/driver-avoids-impounding-by-reversing-car-from-parking-enforcement-tow-truck-9737325.html Call us if you need a tow truck Driver avoids impounding is courtesy of Apex Towing - Cork Blog via Website Feeds http://cork.apextowing.ie/driver-avoids-impounding/

The Arlington County Board on Saturday spent an hour and a half discussing changes to the county’s towing ordinance.

The Board voted to advertise a series of changes — final approval is set for next month — but not before making some alterations to the County Manager’s recommendations.

The alterations were essentially intended to prevent towing malfeasance. Among them:

Members of the public in a Co Offaly town had a lucky escape after a driverless car ploughed onto the footpath yesterday morning.

PAWTUCKET The John Martins Foundation proudly presents the First Annual John Martins Classic Cars and Tow Truck Show on Saturday Aug. 13 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the grounds of McCoy Stadium. The rain date is Sunday Aug. 14. The family-friendly event is free and open to the public. It will feature a combination of classic cars and tow trucks for all car enthusiasts or anyone who would like to simply enjoy a day of remembrance with family and friends in honor of John Martins. Other activities include food trucks music face painting balloon artists fingerprinting Best of Show awards prize giveaways and raffles with a special appearance by former NFL Indianapolis Colts player Jamie Silva signing autographs. All proceeds and donations to benefit the John Martins Foundation to help support burn victims. The John Martins Burn Foundation is a nonprofit founded in memory of Rhode Island businessman John Martins a kind generous and charitable man admired by many because of his ethics states a release. Martins believed that with hard work and determination dreams can become a reality. On Sept. 4 2015 Martins was driving a tow truck back from a job when he lost control of his vehicle which plunged down an embankment and burst into flames. Doctors did not expect he would survive his extensive injuries more than 72 hours but Martins fought valiantly for his life for the next 23 days before succumbing to his injuries. His grief-stricken family created the nonprofit organization in his honor to benefit other burn victims. Read more:http://www.valleybreeze.com/2016-07-05/pawtucket/john-martins-classic-cars-and-tow-truck-show-coming-aug-13#.WEW0GbKLS00 Call us if you need a tow truck John Martins Classic Cars and Tow Truck Show coming See more on: cork.apextowing.ie/ via Website Feeds http://cork.apextowing.ie/john-martins-classic-cars-tow-truck-show-coming/

Dramatic footage shows how an Audi and a tow truck became engulfed in flames after catching fire on the M62 near Saddleworth. Smoke can be seen billowing across the westbound carriageway of the motorway while both the white van and its load burn away. Two lanes were shut at J22 near Rishworth Moor at around 2pm. It appears the vehicle had pulled over onto the hard shoulder with the driver even getting out his hazard sign before the fire took hold. Images taken by GMFRS station manager Jason Rain show the burnt out vehicle still smouldering. The truck looked completely destroyed as did the front end of the Audi it had been transporting. The sliproad reopened at around 4pm but lanes one and two were kept closed for around an hour after while the carriageway was treated by gritters and cleaned up. Highways England @HighwaysNEAST J22 w/b entry slip now open however 2 lanes remain closed W/B at J22 for carriageway clean up. Long delays back to J23 Highways bosses tweeted to say the motorway was fully reopen by 5pm. They posted on Twitter: All lanes open and lane closures removed #M62 W/B just after entry slip at J22. Long delays remain back to J23 but clearing steadily. Traffic cameras show congestion is currently backed up to Huddersfield. Read more:http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/watch-dramatic-video-footage-shows-12031137 Call us if you need a tow truck The previous article Dramatic video footage shows Audi and tow truck both on fire on M62 near Saddleworth was first published on limerick.apextowing.ie/ via Website Feeds http://limerick.apextowing.ie/dramatic-video-footage-shows-audi-tow-truck-fire-m62-near-saddleworth/

Collin Vandenheuvel and his workmates at Preferred Towing appear in the first episode of Heavy Rescue: 401 airing Oct. 10 on the Discovery Channel. Brett Morris photo www.BrettM.com Troy Shantz Preferred Towing is often seen on the road and will soon be seen on screen too. The Sarnia company is a player in the Discovery Channels Heavy Rescue: 401 a reality TV show that tells the story of tow operators rescues and maintenance crews that keep 400 series highways moving. The first sneak peek episode airs Monday Oct. 10 at 10 p.m. For them to come to us and ask us to be a part of this its a pretty amazing feeling said Collin Vandenheuvel a tow operator and son of Preferred owners Gary and Tammy Vandenheuvel. We feel honoured to do this and it was a fun experience. Vandenheuvel said Sarnias unpredictable weather which can play havoc on roads was one reason the company was chosen. With the lake effect it really changes up here really quickly. In January a crew began filming the Sarnia team seven days a week for nearly three months. Vandenheuvel said having the cameras looking over his shoulder was nerve wracking at first but the results were worth it. Weve got our parts and from what weve been seeing so far its been amazing. They did a great job putting it all together. Vandenheuvel said the companys crewmembers appear in five of the eight episodes including the opener Monday on Discovery Channel. The rest of the season is scheduled to run on unspecified dates early in the new year. Vandenheuvel his dad and four other employees apparently appear in the show. The scenario is not unlike that of the popular Discovery Channel series Highway Thru Hell in which Jamie Davis and his son Jason work together in the business. Starting with a single one-ton 24 years ago Preferred Towing today has a fleet of 14 trucks. The largest is powerful enough to clear car wrecks pull ailing tractor-trailers off the road and has been used to haul vessels built in Sarnias world-class fabricating shops. Vandenheuvel said the tow companies and maintenance crews on the show are from all over Southern Ontario and hed gotten to know some of them through towing operations on 400-series highways. We know these guys theyre really good guys. And theyre going to look just as good as we do on TV he said with a laugh. Read more:http://thesarniajournal.ca/city-tow-truck-team-ready-for-its-reality-tv-close-up/ Contact us if you need a tow truck The post City tow truck team ready for its reality TV close-up was originally published on ApexTowing - Limerick via Website Feeds http://limerick.apextowing.ie/city-tow-truck-team-ready-reality-tv-close/

A tow truck caught fire Saturday night at the Four Corners intersection in downtown Rochester, though no injuries resulted.

According to the Rochester Police Department, the tow truck was traveling east on Main Street with a red four-door sedan hooked up. Apparently, electrical issues sparked a fire at the intersection, where East and West Main streets, State Street and Exchange Boulevard meet.

The Rochester Fire Department responded and extinguished the fire.

A Department of Transportation pole at one corner was damaged.

No further update is expected Sunday.

Read more: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2016/06/05/tow-truck-catches-fire-downtown/85446556/

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It was another dangerous few days for tow truck drivers on Twin Cities roadways this Memorial Day weekend. Tow truck driver Troy Mechura captured video of drivers not moving over despite a Minnesota law that requires drivers to slow down and move over for emergency vehicles. Tow truck drivers say its nothing new and only getting worse. Tow truck drivers to motorists: Move over "I had a semi that literally took my hat right off and sent it down the freeway" Mechura said. Tow truck drivers say commuters are often distracted or worse yet dont know the law. The space the law seeks to provide can be the difference between life and death and Mechura hopes that through advocacy this growing problem can be fixed. "My life is worth something everybody's life is worth something you can not put a price tag on it" Mechurasaid. Read more:http://www.fox9.com/news/150622302-story Call us if you need a tow truck Tow truck drivers to motorists: Move over is available on ApexTowing - Cork via Website Feeds http://cork.apextowing.ie/tow-truck-drivers-motorists-move/

The tow truck was invented in Chattanooga, The International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum is here and Ooltewah is home to Miller Industries, the world's largest manufacturer of towing and recovery equipment.

So, yeah, there will be a celebration in Chattanooga on Saturday, Sept. 10, to mark the tow truck's 100th birthday.

Miller Industries will sponsor the festivities, which include a parade of tow trucks rolling through downtown that will stop around 7 p.m. Saturday at Ross's Landing near the Tennessee River riverfront. The public is invited to Ross's Landing for live music, free refreshments, food truck fare, games for kids — and a fireworks display once it gets dark.

Lots of people are expected for the once-in-a-century event.

"Since I've come to work here, I have been amazed at how many people are actually into tow trucks. It is mind-boggling," said Kathy Brown, who worked at a bank downtown before she was hired in mid-August as co-assistant director at the International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum. "I did not realize tow trucks had such a following."

The museum's events will include a ceremony at 10 a.m. on Sept. 10 that's open to the public, to add names to the museum's Wall of the Fallen, a memorial to tow truck operators who've lost their lives on the job. The museum also has a survivor's fund that helps drivers' families, Brown said.

TV shows about the towing and recovery industry are popular, including "Highway Thru Hell," a reality TV show set in Canada, "Wrecked," set in Chicago, and "Ice Road Truckers." Jamie Davis, a real-life tow truck operator who's the star of "Highway Thru Hell," will take part in Saturday's parade.

The 100th birthday celebration coincides with the Tennessee Tow Show, which runs from Thursday to Saturday at the Chattanooga Convention Center.

"There'll probably be over 2,000 people this year, because it's the 100th anniversary," said Jimmy Collins, president of the Tennessee Tow Truck Association and owner of Casper's Bodyshop and Wrecker in Greeneville, Tenn. "For the industry [the anniversary's] a big milestone. For the city of Chattanooga, it's a big milestone."

Ernest Holmes in 1916 built the first tow truck in Chattanooga by attaching a rigging system to a 1913 Cadillac, marking the birth of the towing and recovery industry, according to Miller Industries. Holmes filed for a patent — the first of about a dozen — for his idea in 1917 and subsequently built the Ernest Holmes Co. here to make and market his tow truck.

The Holmes brand lives on as part of Miller Industries' family of tow truck equipment manufacturers that also includes the brands Century, Chevron, Vulcan, Boniface and Jige.

"Miller Industries' roots run deep in Chattanooga, and we are honored to share the centennial celebration of our Holmes brand with our friends and neighbors in the local communities," Miller Industries' President and Co-CEO Will Miller said in a statement.

Read more: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/business/aroundregion/story/2016/sep/03/chattanoogparade-fireworks-make-tow-trucks-10/384831/

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A tow truck and the boat it was towing is out of the water after getting submerged at Cherry Creek Reservoir Sunday afternoon. South Metro Fire Rescue crews and a dive team responded to the west boat ramp at the reservoir to pull the truck and boat out. Crews say the truck was stuck in ground material. Divers used an airbag to try to lift the truck up so it could be pulled out. The first attempt to pull the truck out did not work. First attempt at pulling the truck out was unsuccessful. Taking another airbag under and reattaching a tow cable. pic.twitter.com/lR6FDLqhuO Crews used a second airbag under the truck and were able to float the truck above the water just enough to pull it out with tow cables. The truck was successfully pulled from Cherry Creek Reservoir. (Photo: South Metro Fire Rescue) No one was injured and no rescues had to be made.There is no word yet on what caused the truck to go under water. Read more:http://www.9news.com/news/local/tow-truck-and-boat-go-under-water-at-cherry-creek-reservoir/303871575 Call us if you need a tow truck The blog post Tow truck and boat go under water at Cherry Creek Reservoir was first published on ApexTowing - Cork via Website Feeds http://cork.apextowing.ie/tow-truck-boat-go-water-cherry-creek-reservoir/

Many drivers have been tempted to ignore the warning signs about parking restrictions at airport drop-off zones in order to wave their loved ones off.

But a new video has highlighted just how quickly that decision could leave you stranded and out of pocket.

Amazing footage shows a tow truck at what is thought to be a Turkish airport scooping up a car and taking it away in under a minute.

A YouTube video shows a car at departures in a Turkish airport being towed in under a minute

The white vehicle was removed by the tow truck for being unmanned.

The speed of the manoeuvre is lightning quick - with the car being removed from the spot in under a minute

Turkish airport security is especially vigilant at the moment because of a series of terror attacks in the country

IRVING PARK — Angel Carbajal was returning to his Irving Park home from Home Depot on Wednesday morning when he saw a man sprinting down the middle of his street, running from the scene of a car wreck. He then saw his neighbors running after the man.

"I said, 'Why is he running?' " Carbajal said. "Then I see the mess."

Around 7 a.m. Wednesday, a driver for Rosehill Towing and Recovery Inc. was going the wrong way down the 3300 block of West Cuyler Avenue when he hit a speed bump, neighbors said. The driver went over the bump "way too fast" and crashed into cars, damaging seven of them, said neighbor Sharon Costanza.

"You hear something hit the ground," said Costanza, who heard the crash but didn't witness it. "Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom."

^{The tow truck hit the SUV, which then backed onto Angel Carbajal's car. [Provided]}

Five of the cars were towed from the scene and were most likely totaled, neighbors said. Two cars that remained on the block Wednesday evening suffered heavy front-end damage, including Carbajal's, he said.

"It was bad," Carbajal said of the damage his car suffered. "We'll see what happens."

The tow truck was also likely totaled and was towed away from the scene, neighbors said.

After the crash, the tow truck driver tried to run away, but neighbors followed him and told police where he was, Costanza said.

The tow truck is owned by Rosehill Towing and Recovery Inc., according to photos taken by neighbors at the scene. Patrick Worley, of Des Plaines, is listed as the president of Rosehill Towing and Recovery Inc. in state records, and he listed himself as a driver and CEO for the company on Facebook. Rosehill Towing and Worley could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.

^{One of the smashed cars that remained on the block suffered heavy front and side damage. [DNAinfo/Joe Ward]}

Police could not say if anyone had been charged or cited in the crash, but they did confirm a truck hit a parked car on the block and no injuries were reported.

The neighbor, who asked that his name not be printed, said he heard the tow truck hit the speed bump.

He then hit three cars parked on the north side of the street, bounced off those cars and hit two cars on the opposite side of the street before bouncing off those cars and hitting the man's "newish" Subaru Crosstrek, he said.

"I was right inside the window. My car was in the air," the man said. "I saw him and he started running."

The man said his daughter was getting ready for work at the time of the crash and usually drives his Subaru to her job.

"She could have been in the car," he said. "I've never seen nothing like this happen."

Read more: https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20161005/albany-park/tow-truck-smashed-7-cars-after-speeding-wrong-way-on-street-neighbor-say

Call us if you need a tow truck

The previous blog post Tow Truck Smashed 7 Cars After Speeding Wrong Way On Street, Neighbors Say was originally seen on http://limerick.apextowing.ie

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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. Winter has not yet officially begun, but tow truck drivers are staying busy responding to calls about car troubles because of the cold temperatures.

A380 from China Southern Airlines has been driven by the Los Angeles airport for a tow-truck. This report various media. The incident occurred late Thursday evening (local time) instead. The superjumbo could carry out flights to Guangzhou in China. On board were 447 passengers and 28 crew members. They all could safely leave the plane. The flight was canceled after the crash. Photos on social media shows that the truck cab is appalled by the collision. To our knowledge there were no injuries. China Southern has five A380s in the fleet. The aircraft fly daily to Los Angeles. Read original:http://www.upinthesky.nl/2016/11/11/a380-china-southern-botst-op-tow-truck-los-angeles/ Contact us anytime for a tow truck The blog post A380 China Southern botst op tow-truck Los Angeles was first seen on limerick.apextowing.ie/ via Website Feeds http://limerick.apextowing.ie/a380-china-southern-botst-op-tow-truck-los-angeles/

BUY NOW Lyn Jerde/Daily Register Jerry Blystone keeps a close eye on the 1-ton safe that Blystone Towing moved Tuesday from the old Masonic Temple at 111 W. Conant St. to the new temple at 205 DeWitt St. That's about two blocks and the safe -- secured by strapping and rubber padding -- dangled from the tow hooks during the move. It was a scene right out of a Roadrunner cartoon except the dangling 1-ton safe wasnt labeled Acme. A few days after the members of the Fort Winnebago No. 33 Free and Accepted Masons invited the public to take the fixtures from their soon-to-be-razed temple at 111 W. Conant St. the Masons called on Blystones Towing on Tuesday morning to move an item that the Masons want to keep in their new temple at 205 DeWitt St. For the two-block move the safe dangled on two hooks with strapping to keep it from swaying and a pair of rubber mud flaps to keep it from denting or scraping the back of the tow truck. Longtime Mason James Swan Sr. said the safe which has a combination lock was empty for the move as far as he knows. He said he doesnt know how old the safe is but it was used and will be used again to store vital lodge records. The Masons sold their temple built in 1936 to Columbia County which plans to raze the building and two other neighboring structures to add parking lots for the Columbia County Courthouse 400 DeWitt St. When the building comes down Swan said the Masons want to keep as many as possible of the concrete Masonic symbols on the buildings façade. And they want the cornerstone on the buildings southeast corner. Something of a historical nature is expected to be inside the cornerstone Swan said but nobody knows what. First however the Masons had to clear as many fixtures from the building as possible which is why on Saturday the building was opened to the public for the last time. Swan said somebody got at least some of the light fixtures affixed to the high ceiling of the meeting room. Getting the safe out was a challenging task even though its on wheels. Jerry Blystone and his crew used heavy-duty strapping criss-crossing the bottom of the safe to create something to which the hooks could be attached. Instead of taking it down the short flight of exterior stairs the crew hoisted the safe into the air before preparing it for transit. It arrived safe and sound. Read more:http://www.wiscnews.com/portagedailyregister/news/local/article_434ab028-4aa9-5416-af71-cfbb6628de3f.html The article Tow truck hoists Masons safe for transit was originally published to dublin.apextowing.ie/ via Website Feeds http://dublin.apextowing.ie/tow-truck-hoists-masons-safe-transit/

BUY NOW Lyn Jerde/Daily Register Jerry Blystone keeps a close eye on the 1-ton safe that Blystone Towing moved Tuesday from the old Masonic Temple at 111 W. Conant St. to the new temple at 205 DeWitt St. That's about two blocks and the safe -- secured by strapping and rubber padding -- dangled from the tow hooks during the move. It was a scene right out of a Roadrunner cartoon except the dangling 1-ton safe wasnt labeled Acme. A few days after the members of the Fort Winnebago No. 33 Free and Accepted Masons invited the public to take the fixtures from their soon-to-be-razed temple at 111 W. Conant St. the Masons called on Blystones Towing on Tuesday morning to move an item that the Masons want to keep in their new temple at 205 DeWitt St. For the two-block move the safe dangled on two hooks with strapping to keep it from swaying and a pair of rubber mud flaps to keep it from denting or scraping the back of the tow truck. Longtime Mason James Swan Sr. said the safe which has a combination lock was empty for the move as far as he knows. He said he doesnt know how old the safe is but it was used and will be used again to store vital lodge records. The Masons sold their temple built in 1936 to Columbia County which plans to raze the building and two other neighboring structures to add parking lots for the Columbia County Courthouse 400 DeWitt St. When the building comes down Swan said the Masons want to keep as many as possible of the concrete Masonic symbols on the buildings façade. And they want the cornerstone on the buildings southeast corner. Something of a historical nature is expected to be inside the cornerstone Swan said but nobody knows what. First however the Masons had to clear as many fixtures from the building as possible which is why on Saturday the building was opened to the public for the last time. Swan said somebody got at least some of the light fixtures affixed to the high ceiling of the meeting room. Getting the safe out was a challenging task even though its on wheels. Jerry Blystone and his crew used heavy-duty strapping criss-crossing the bottom of the safe to create something to which the hooks could be attached. Instead of taking it down the short flight of exterior stairs the crew hoisted the safe into the air before preparing it for transit. It arrived safe and sound. Read more:http://www.wiscnews.com/portagedailyregister/news/local/article_434ab028-4aa9-5416-af71-cfbb6628de3f.html The following blog post Tow truck hoists Masons safe for transit See more on: Apex Towing Dublin Blog via Website Feeds http://dublin.apextowing.ie/tow-truck-hoists-masons-safe-transit/

Tow Truck Pulled From Bottom Of Smith Lake

A large, heavy, six wheel wrecker was pulled from the bottom of Smith Lake Monday morning. The location is just north and west of the Smith Lake Park boat launch approximately 114 yards off shore in the main channel.

The wrecker (which sported still visible American Towing & Recovery signage) was discovered by divers last week. The find was initiated when a boater on Smith Lake had his vessel make hull contact with the wrecker underneath the water line. The Alabama Marine Patrol and Alabama Power were contacted soon thereafter.

This led to TowBoatUS and Lyle Wrecker Service being called to evaluate the scene.

After a weekend of calculations and advanced planning, the wrecker was cabled up in the lake to a military style, old school wrecker supplied by Lyle. With a slow, careful reeling in of the cable, the wrecker emerged onto the banks of Smith Lake Park approximately 20 minutes later.

As you can see in this video and accompanying interviews with Captain Jackson Dozier(TowBoatUS), Adam Lyle (Lyle Wrecker Service) and Director Doug Davenport (Cullman County Parks & Recreation), the muddy, foul-smelling wrecker was loaded onto a flat-bed trailer and removed from the scene:

A tow truck sent to rescue a car teetering on the edge of a cliff accidentally pushed the vehicle off after the driver lost control. The video of the incident which has been shared online shows the driver of the rescue vehicle reversing down a steep incline towards a black car. It clearly shows the car balancing on the edge of the cliff as the truck inches slowly towards it. But moments later it becomes clear that the rescue mission is not going to plan. The truck loses control and tips the car over the cliff edge As the truck continues to reverse down the hill the driver loses control causing the vehicle to veer off course. Despite turning the steering wheel in several directions the truck driver is unable to stop the vehicle as it careers towards the precariously balanced car. The car falls straight off the ledge and into the sea Inevitably the truck hits the stranded vehicle moments later causing it to plunge over the edge of the cliff. It then crashes onto a ledge below before falling straight into the water and disappearing from site. It is not clear where the footage was filmed but the clip has already been viewed several thousand times in just 16 hours on LiveLeak.com. Read more:http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/weird-news/tow-truck-brought-save-car-9632873 Tow truck brought in to save car teetering on cliff accidentally pushes it over the edge Find more on: Apex Towing - Limerick Blog via Website Feeds http://limerick.apextowing.ie/tow-truck-brought-save-car-teetering-cliff-accidentally-pushes-edge/

GREG IN CORK is selling his BMW Z4 on DoneDeal. And it’s a fine looking car:

Source: DoneDeal

But instead of some flowery description about all of the car’s wonderful attributes, he just introduces us to Sabine:

My car, (her name is Sabine, say hello) has a service history which is longer than the findings of the Chilcot inquiry, and is currently wearing new Pirelli Cinturato P7s’.

An Irish woman has told how rats ATE the engine of her beloved Mercedes. Dee Clifford 60 from Kildare had to pay over 500 in repairs after rodents destroyed the insides of her car. After owning plenty of cars in her lifetime Dee bought a 151 Mercedes in June of last year. She told the Irish Mirror: "I'm 60 years of age so I thought why not just buy a Mercedes." However in October four months after buying the car Dee encountered a problem when diesel started leaking from the car. The damage to the engine She brought it to the garage where it was repaired and the engineers suggested what might be wrong. She said: "One morning I turned on the engine and someone pointed out to me that the car was leaking diesel. "I brought it to a garage in Carlow and they told me it looked like rodents had been eating the insides of the car." Dee had to pay 150 for that incident but then a week later there were more problems with it. She added: "A week later I turned the car on and diesel started flooding from the engine there was fumes of fuel everywhere. You could see the pipes were all eaten. "I had to get a tow truck to come and bring it to a garage even the guy who was towing it was afraid to go near it because their was diesel everywhere." Read more:http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/elderly-womans-mercedes-engine-destroyed-9658370 The post Elderly womans Mercedes engine destroyed by rats costing her over 500 is republished from Apex Towing via Website Feeds http://kildare.apextowing.ie/elderly-womans-mercedes-engine-destroyed-rats-costing-e500/

A tow truck sent to rescue a car teetering on the edge of a cliff accidentally pushed the vehicle off after the driver lost control. The video of the incident which has been shared online shows the driver of the rescue vehicle reversing down a steep incline towards a black car. It clearly shows the car balancing on the edge of the cliff as the truck inches slowly towards it. But moments later it becomes clear that the rescue mission is not going to plan. The truck loses control and tips the car over the cliff edge As the truck continues to reverse down the hill the driver loses control causing the vehicle to veer off course. Despite turning the steering wheel in several directions the truck driver is unable to stop the vehicle as it careers towards the precariously balanced car. The car falls straight off the ledge and into the sea Inevitably the truck hits the stranded vehicle moments later causing it to plunge over the edge of the cliff. It then crashes onto a ledge below before falling straight into the water and disappearing from site. It is not clear where the footage was filmed but the clip has already been viewed several thousand times in just 16 hours on LiveLeak.com. Read more:http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/weird-news/tow-truck-brought-save-car-9632873 The previous post Tow truck brought in to save car teetering on cliff accidentally pushes it over the edge was first published on Apex Towing - Limerick via Website Feeds http://limerick.apextowing.ie/tow-truck-brought-save-car-teetering-cliff-accidentally-pushes-edge/

GREG IN CORK is selling his BMW Z4 on DoneDeal. And it’s a fine looking car:

Source: DoneDeal

But instead of some flowery description about all of the car’s wonderful attributes, he just introduces us to Sabine:

My car, (her name is Sabine, say hello) has a service history which is longer than the findings of the Chilcot inquiry, and is currently wearing new Pirelli Cinturato P7s’.

An Irish woman has told how rats ATE the engine of her beloved Mercedes. Dee Clifford 60 from Kildare had to pay over 500 in repairs after rodents destroyed the insides of her car. After owning plenty of cars in her lifetime Dee bought a 151 Mercedes in June of last year. She told the Irish Mirror: "I'm 60 years of age so I thought why not just buy a Mercedes." However in October four months after buying the car Dee encountered a problem when diesel started leaking from the car. The damage to the engine She brought it to the garage where it was repaired and the engineers suggested what might be wrong. She said: "One morning I turned on the engine and someone pointed out to me that the car was leaking diesel. "I brought it to a garage in Carlow and they told me it looked like rodents had been eating the insides of the car." Dee had to pay 150 for that incident but then a week later there were more problems with it. She added: "A week later I turned the car on and diesel started flooding from the engine there was fumes of fuel everywhere. You could see the pipes were all eaten. "I had to get a tow truck to come and bring it to a garage even the guy who was towing it was afraid to go near it because their was diesel everywhere." Read more:http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/elderly-womans-mercedes-engine-destroyed-9658370 The previous article Elderly womans Mercedes engine destroyed by rats costing her over 500 is republished from kildare.apextowing.ie via Website Feeds http://kildare.apextowing.ie/elderly-womans-mercedes-engine-destroyed-rats-costing-e500/

Director of Marsden Recovery Specialists said business damaged by loss of specialist vehicle A car recovery business has said an arson attack could hurt its trade for up to six months after one of their specialist vehicles was set alight in a random attack. The recovery truck was parked outside a staff members house on the North Circular Road in Lisburn on Wednesday night. Just after 2am on Thursday he heard the window being smashed and within a few moments the vehicle was up in flames and has been completely destroyed. Police believe the fire may have been started deliberately but director at the Lurgan-based firm Kieran Marsden said they are struggling to understand why they were targeted. He said: It seems to be a random act of vandalism at least we hope so. It was frightening for him. The vehicle is worth over 100000 and is one of only two of these specialist trucks with a crane owned by the company. Marsden's believe it will be up to six months before they get another one and are concerned about the effect it will have on their business. These trucks arent readily available so its going to hurt our business. We really need to have two on the road so it will cause problems. Were a local business and we just help with breakdowns so we just dont understand why. The truck was parked on a quiet residential street with family houses and a retirement home just metres away. Mr Marsden added: There are a lot of overhanging trees around there and the fire could have spread quickly. Theres a retirement home just across the road and Im sure it caused them a lot of distress as well in the early hours of the morning. Wed appeal for anyone who knows anything to come forward and speak to the police. Northern Ireland Fire amp; Rescue Service spokesperson said: Northern Ireland Fire amp; Rescue Service (NIFRS) received a call at 2:07am to a report of a lorry on fire at the North Circular Road area of Lisburn in the early hours of Thursday 9th June. Two Fire Appliances from Lisburn Fire Station were deployed to the scene following the report of the fire. Firefighters using a hosereel jet and a CAF jet dealt with the incident. Northern Ireland Fire amp; Rescue Service finished at the scene at 2:55am and the fire is being treated as deliberate. Read more:http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/recovery-truck-destroyed-in-overnight-arson-attack-in-lisburn-34786086.html Recovery truck destroyed in overnight arson attack in Lisburn was originally seen on http://belfast.apextowing.co.uk via Website Feeds http://belfast.apextowing.co.uk/recovery-truck-destroyed-overnight-arson-attack-lisburn/

The service will run from 6 p.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Tuesday and is available to anyone. AAA is offering free "Tipsy Tow" services to celebrants this Monday for the Memorial Day holiday. The service will run from 6 p.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Tuesday and is available to anyone not just AAA members. "If your plans involve alcohol plan ahead for a safe ride home" AAA Northern California spokesman Mike Blasky said in a statement. "If those plans fall through please don't get behind the wheel. Call AAA and we'll get you home safely." Drivers passengers party hosts bartenders and restaurant managers can call (800) AAA-HELP (222-4357) and provide the driver's name home address phone number and their pick-up location. AAA will send out a tow truck and give the driver the driver's vehicle and one passenger a free 10-mile tow and ride home. For distances beyond 10 miles a standard towing rate will apply. Read more:https://patch.com/california/dublin/free-tows-tipsy-drivers-memorial-day-aaa Free Tows To Tipsy Drivers On Memorial Day: AAA is courtesy of http://dublin.apextowing.ie via Website Feeds http://dublin.apextowing.ie/free-tows-tipsy-drivers-memorial-day-aaa/

The service will run from 6 p.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Tuesday and is available to anyone. AAA is offering free "Tipsy Tow" services to celebrants this Monday for the Memorial Day holiday. The service will run from 6 p.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Tuesday and is available to anyone not just AAA members. "If your plans involve alcohol plan ahead for a safe ride home" AAA Northern California spokesman Mike Blasky said in a statement. "If those plans fall through please don't get behind the wheel. Call AAA and we'll get you home safely." Drivers passengers party hosts bartenders and restaurant managers can call (800) AAA-HELP (222-4357) and provide the driver's name home address phone number and their pick-up location. AAA will send out a tow truck and give the driver the driver's vehicle and one passenger a free 10-mile tow and ride home. For distances beyond 10 miles a standard towing rate will apply. Read more:https://patch.com/california/dublin/free-tows-tipsy-drivers-memorial-day-aaa The following post Free Tows To Tipsy Drivers On Memorial Day: AAA Read more on: http://dublin.apextowing.ie via Website Feeds http://dublin.apextowing.ie/free-tows-tipsy-drivers-memorial-day-aaa/

Director of Marsden Recovery Specialists said business damaged by loss of specialist vehicle A car recovery business has said an arson attack could hurt its trade for up to six months after one of their specialist vehicles was set alight in a random attack. The recovery truck was parked outside a staff members house on the North Circular Road in Lisburn on Wednesday night. Just after 2am on Thursday he heard the window being smashed and within a few moments the vehicle was up in flames and has been completely destroyed. Police believe the fire may have been started deliberately but director at the Lurgan-based firm Kieran Marsden said they are struggling to understand why they were targeted. He said: It seems to be a random act of vandalism at least we hope so. It was frightening for him. The vehicle is worth over 100000 and is one of only two of these specialist trucks with a crane owned by the company. Marsden's believe it will be up to six months before they get another one and are concerned about the effect it will have on their business. These trucks arent readily available so its going to hurt our business. We really need to have two on the road so it will cause problems. Were a local business and we just help with breakdowns so we just dont understand why. The truck was parked on a quiet residential street with family houses and a retirement home just metres away. Mr Marsden added: There are a lot of overhanging trees around there and the fire could have spread quickly. Theres a retirement home just across the road and Im sure it caused them a lot of distress as well in the early hours of the morning. Wed appeal for anyone who knows anything to come forward and speak to the police. Northern Ireland Fire amp; Rescue Service spokesperson said: Northern Ireland Fire amp; Rescue Service (NIFRS) received a call at 2:07am to a report of a lorry on fire at the North Circular Road area of Lisburn in the early hours of Thursday 9th June. Two Fire Appliances from Lisburn Fire Station were deployed to the scene following the report of the fire. Firefighters using a hosereel jet and a CAF jet dealt with the incident. Northern Ireland Fire amp; Rescue Service finished at the scene at 2:55am and the fire is being treated as deliberate. Read more:http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/recovery-truck-destroyed-in-overnight-arson-attack-in-lisburn-34786086.html Recovery truck destroyed in overnight arson attack in Lisburn See more on: Apex Towing via Website Feeds http://belfast.apextowing.co.uk/recovery-truck-destroyed-overnight-arson-attack-lisburn/

Passengers had a lucky escape after a bus they had been traveling on started to sink in to the ground outside a railway station. All of those onboard had disembarked at Redhill when the sinkhole started to open up under the Southdown PSV vehicle on Monday afternoon (May 29). The tarmac collapse occurred in the bus and taxi area of the station at around 5.30pm. A vehicle recovery firm were called by Southdown to get the bus out of the hole. Steve Walllis managing director of Southdown said: "I can confirm that a double deck vehicle operated by Southdown was unable to move after a small sink hole developed whilst waiting at Redhill Station on Rail replacement duties. "No passengers were on board at the time" A3 northbound crash Woking traffic chaos M25 Leatherhead crash Woodbridge Road incident No passengers were on board at the time (Photo: Clark Motor Engineering Ltd) Darren Clark owner of Clark Motor Engineering which attended the incident said: "We got called from Southdown PSV saying a hole has developed and the bus is rapidly sinking. "It was a big hole - very deep as well about five or six foot deep." The vehicle recovery team managed to remove the vehicle from the hole. The bus was rescued by a vehicle recovery firm (Photo: Clark Motor Engineering Ltd) Mr Clark: "We've got these specialist high pressure air cushions that we put underneath the vehicle and lift it. Then we just pulled it out with the tow truck." "There were a few scratches caused on the side [of the bus] but all was good. "The bus was in the hole and people were still trying to get on it" he laughed Mr Clark said it is not often he and his team have to "rescue" buses. "We've done a few [buses] before but it's very rare" he explained. National Rail have been contacted for a comment. Read more:http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/sinking-feeling-bus-after-hole-13114907 The article Sinking feeling for bus after hole opens up in ground outside railway station Find more on: belfast.apextowing.co.uk/ via Website Feeds http://belfast.apextowing.co.uk/sinking-feeling-bus-hole-opens-ground-outside-railway-station/

Passengers had a lucky escape after a bus they had been traveling on started to sink in to the ground outside a railway station. All of those onboard had disembarked at Redhill when the sinkhole started to open up under the Southdown PSV vehicle on Monday afternoon (May 29). The tarmac collapse occurred in the bus and taxi area of the station at around 5.30pm. A vehicle recovery firm were called by Southdown to get the bus out of the hole. Steve Walllis managing director of Southdown said: "I can confirm that a double deck vehicle operated by Southdown was unable to move after a small sink hole developed whilst waiting at Redhill Station on Rail replacement duties. "No passengers were on board at the time" A3 northbound crash Woking traffic chaos M25 Leatherhead crash Woodbridge Road incident No passengers were on board at the time (Photo: Clark Motor Engineering Ltd) Darren Clark owner of Clark Motor Engineering which attended the incident said: "We got called from Southdown PSV saying a hole has developed and the bus is rapidly sinking. "It was a big hole - very deep as well about five or six foot deep." The vehicle recovery team managed to remove the vehicle from the hole. The bus was rescued by a vehicle recovery firm (Photo: Clark Motor Engineering Ltd) Mr Clark: "We've got these specialist high pressure air cushions that we put underneath the vehicle and lift it. Then we just pulled it out with the tow truck." "There were a few scratches caused on the side [of the bus] but all was good. "The bus was in the hole and people were still trying to get on it" he laughed Mr Clark said it is not often he and his team have to "rescue" buses. "We've done a few [buses] before but it's very rare" he explained. National Rail have been contacted for a comment. Read more:http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/sinking-feeling-bus-after-hole-13114907 The post Sinking feeling for bus after hole opens up in ground outside railway station is courtesy of Apex Towing via Website Feeds http://belfast.apextowing.co.uk/sinking-feeling-bus-hole-opens-ground-outside-railway-station/

Your first day at your new job can be the worst. You don’t know the office politics. You can’t remember how to get to the restrooms. You don’t know the company’s policy on stealing other people’s lunch from the office fridge. But you’re probably not going to do too much damage to your career, because everybody who knows that you’re a newbie probably will cut you a break if you make a mistake.

Unless you’re a tow truck driver, that is. Because if it’s your first day on the job towing cars, there’s plenty of damage you can do if you screw up. In fact, you can make things much, much worse.

Now, we don’t know for sure if the video below was actually the driver’s first day on the job. That’s just what this video is titled and what we’d like to believe to make the first two paragraphs of this story make sense. But you’d like to think a veteran tow truck driver would have made sure this didn’t happen.

Full props to everybody seen in the video who acted like the truck making an escape like Andy Dufresne from Shawshank was completely normal. If that’s the case, maybe it’s not the tow truck driver’s first day. Maybe he just works for the same company who managed this.

Find original: https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/tow-truck-driver-fail/

Watch a tow truck driver screw up massively on his first day on the job was originally seen on Apex Towing Galway Blog

via Website Feeds http://galway.apextowing.ie/watch-tow-truck-driver-screw-massively-first-day-job/

Your first day at your new job can be the worst. You don’t know the office politics. You can’t remember how to get to the restrooms. You don’t know the company’s policy on stealing other people’s lunch from the office fridge. But you’re probably not going to do too much damage to your career, because everybody who knows that you’re a newbie probably will cut you a break if you make a mistake.

Unless you’re a tow truck driver, that is. Because if it’s your first day on the job towing cars, there’s plenty of damage you can do if you screw up. In fact, you can make things much, much worse.

Now, we don’t know for sure if the video below was actually the driver’s first day on the job. That’s just what this video is titled and what we’d like to believe to make the first two paragraphs of this story make sense. But you’d like to think a veteran tow truck driver would have made sure this didn’t happen.

Full props to everybody seen in the video who acted like the truck making an escape like Andy Dufresne from Shawshank was completely normal. If that’s the case, maybe it’s not the tow truck driver’s first day. Maybe he just works for the same company who managed this.

Find original: https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/tow-truck-driver-fail/

Watch a tow truck driver screw up massively on his first day on the job was first published on Apex Towing - Galway

via Website Feeds http://galway.apextowing.ie/watch-tow-truck-driver-screw-massively-first-day-job/

AN INQUIRY into predatory behaviour by tow truck cowboys who turned private parking lots into cash cows will follow the money trail to see who profited from their operation. The State Government has confirmed the three-month independent probe led by retired judge Michael Forde will explore the commercial arrangements for private property towing ... and the possible influence arrangements may have in encouraging predatory practices. The Central Brunswick property at 421 Brunswick St in Fortitude Valley where the property owner was allegedly paid $50 for every car towed from the site. It comes as a former landlord of an inner-city retail complex revealed an arrangement in which controversial tow company Elite Security amp; Parking Enforcement paid the property owner $50 for each car towed from the site. The Sunday Mail this month revealed the car park for the Central Brunswick convenience centre at 421 Brunswick St Fortitude Valley used covert spotters who would tip off an awaiting tow-truck driver in as little as 10 minutes should a motorist park there and leave. Some of those towed had parked then crossed the road to an identically named retail and dining complex. They were forced to pay up to $1000 to get their cars back. Property manager Andrew Deane said Elite owned by Christopher Kevin Addley 38 was contracted during 2016 to provide security and parking services. The complex had problems with unauthorised parking and security issues including vandalism. Mr Deane a shareholder in the company that owned the property until it was sold in August said he set down rules on who could be towed and set a $450 cap on fees. Read more:http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/inquiry-into-dodgy-tow-truck-businesses-will-follow-money-trail-to-identify-profiteers/news-story/0c527d1b580c60f53aece463d4c68307 The blog post Inquiry into dodgy tow truck businesses will follow money trail to identify profiteers was originally published on limerick.apextowing.ie/ via Website Feeds http://limerick.apextowing.ie/inquiry-dodgy-tow-truck-businesses-will-follow-money-trail-identify-profiteers/

We’ve all been there: You leave your car parked along a Miami Beach street where you swear no one has been ticketed, and suddenly, one hour turns into four, and you discover your car has been towed by some company based in Hialeah. You want to scream or punch a wall. Instead, you can relieve your frustrations by whipping out some colored pencils and filling in an outline of a car being towed in Jacober Creative’s Miami Beach coloring book, High Tides: Tales of Mermaids, Mayhem & Miami Beach.

The idea for a Miami Beach adult coloring book came from the creative minds over at Jacober Creative, a Miami Beach-based branding studio, exactly one year ago. When a team member proposed the idea to Jacober Creative’s founder and CEO, Paul Jacober, he immediately loved the idea, but only on one condition: it would have to be unique, unlike the hundreds of adult coloring books being sold on the market at the time. In order to achieve this specific look, Jacober brought on board Nicolette Connell, a long-time designer for Jacober Creative, to help illustrate the coloring book.

“We didn’t want to do it like how all these other ones are done,” Jacober explains. “We wanted there to be a narrative. So we created this character of a mermaid and her adventures through South Beach. A lot of these coloring books have a lot of abstract imagery throughout, so we wanted to deviate from that.”

Connell, who has been with the company for about seven years, has spearheaded projects for clients such as Jugofresh, and her illustrating talents are displayed in High Tides. Even her more obvious odes to Miami Beach, such as the Lido Bayside Grill at the Standard and a cup of Cuban cafecito, seem beautifully whimsical. Plus, with the added touch of a curvy mermaid protagonist, the essence of Miami Beach is wonderfully captured through the siren's “daily life” from beginning to end.

“The mermaid's experiences are the typical Miami Beach experiences,” Jacober says, “where you might go and have fun at these hotels, go experience the nightlife, and, yes, even get your car towed.”

AN INQUIRY into predatory behaviour by tow truck cowboys who turned private parking lots into cash cows will follow the money trail to see who profited from their operation. The State Government has confirmed the three-month independent probe led by retired judge Michael Forde will explore the commercial arrangements for private property towing ... and the possible influence arrangements may have in encouraging predatory practices. The Central Brunswick property at 421 Brunswick St in Fortitude Valley where the property owner was allegedly paid $50 for every car towed from the site. It comes as a former landlord of an inner-city retail complex revealed an arrangement in which controversial tow company Elite Security amp; Parking Enforcement paid the property owner $50 for each car towed from the site. The Sunday Mail this month revealed the car park for the Central Brunswick convenience centre at 421 Brunswick St Fortitude Valley used covert spotters who would tip off an awaiting tow-truck driver in as little as 10 minutes should a motorist park there and leave. Some of those towed had parked then crossed the road to an identically named retail and dining complex. They were forced to pay up to $1000 to get their cars back. Property manager Andrew Deane said Elite owned by Christopher Kevin Addley 38 was contracted during 2016 to provide security and parking services. The complex had problems with unauthorised parking and security issues including vandalism. Mr Deane a shareholder in the company that owned the property until it was sold in August said he set down rules on who could be towed and set a $450 cap on fees. Read more:http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/inquiry-into-dodgy-tow-truck-businesses-will-follow-money-trail-to-identify-profiteers/news-story/0c527d1b580c60f53aece463d4c68307 The article Inquiry into dodgy tow truck businesses will follow money trail to identify profiteers See more on: Apex Towing - Limerick via Website Feeds http://limerick.apextowing.ie/inquiry-dodgy-tow-truck-businesses-will-follow-money-trail-identify-profiteers/

We’ve all been there: You leave your car parked along a Miami Beach street where you swear no one has been ticketed, and suddenly, one hour turns into four, and you discover your car has been towed by some company based in Hialeah. You want to scream or punch a wall. Instead, you can relieve your frustrations by whipping out some colored pencils and filling in an outline of a car being towed in Jacober Creative’s Miami Beach coloring book, High Tides: Tales of Mermaids, Mayhem & Miami Beach.

The idea for a Miami Beach adult coloring book came from the creative minds over at Jacober Creative, a Miami Beach-based branding studio, exactly one year ago. When a team member proposed the idea to Jacober Creative’s founder and CEO, Paul Jacober, he immediately loved the idea, but only on one condition: it would have to be unique, unlike the hundreds of adult coloring books being sold on the market at the time. In order to achieve this specific look, Jacober brought on board Nicolette Connell, a long-time designer for Jacober Creative, to help illustrate the coloring book.

“We didn’t want to do it like how all these other ones are done,” Jacober explains. “We wanted there to be a narrative. So we created this character of a mermaid and her adventures through South Beach. A lot of these coloring books have a lot of abstract imagery throughout, so we wanted to deviate from that.”

Connell, who has been with the company for about seven years, has spearheaded projects for clients such as Jugofresh, and her illustrating talents are displayed in High Tides. Even her more obvious odes to Miami Beach, such as the Lido Bayside Grill at the Standard and a cup of Cuban cafecito, seem beautifully whimsical. Plus, with the added touch of a curvy mermaid protagonist, the essence of Miami Beach is wonderfully captured through the siren's “daily life” from beginning to end.

“The mermaid's experiences are the typical Miami Beach experiences,” Jacober says, “where you might go and have fun at these hotels, go experience the nightlife, and, yes, even get your car towed.”

Drivers share a fear of mechanical issues wreaking havoc with our vehicles. Whether you’re on the freeway home after a long day at work, preparing to take the kids to school, or simply letting your car warm up on a crisp winter morning, having engine problems is a pain.

It happened to me recently. Eight endless hours spent at the office in front of my computer, and the half-hour drive back home was doubled because of a simple, unexpected issue.

Knowing the best tow truck company in your area is important.

Drivers share a fear of mechanical issues wreaking havoc with our vehicles. Whether you’re on the freeway home after a long day at work, preparing to take the kids to school, or simply letting your car warm up on a crisp winter morning, having engine problems is a pain.

It happened to me recently. Eight endless hours spent at the office in front of my computer, and the half-hour drive back home was doubled because of a simple, unexpected issue.

Knowing the best tow truck company in your area is important.

Conor Larson was running late Saturday, heading north on I-5 in his tow truck, when a State Trooper flagged him down and asked for his help as an SUV dangled was seen dangling off the side of the freeway in downtown Seattle.

A trooper waved him down and told him an SUV was hanging off the edge of the interstate with the driver inside. They needed Larson’s help.

He hooked onto the SUV and secured it as a trooper pulled the driver out of a rear window.

“I really feel like God put me there,” Larson said. “I’m just happy everyone got out alive and I was there to help out.”

Larson met a man shortly after. He believes it was the driver. He said the man shook Larson’s hand and thanked him.

State Patrol said the SUV could have fallen from the interstate had Larson not acted so quickly. They also credit the quick decision of that trooper who waved him down.

That SUV driver went home with no injuries.

Larson finished up his work and made the long drive home to Grandview, where he is based, just happy he was running late at the moment he was needed most.

“But I’m no hero,” he said. “I’m just a guy doing my job.”

Read more: http://komonews.com/news/local/in-the-right-place-at-the-right-time-tow-truck-driver-sercures-suv-dangling-off-i-5

Conor Larson was running late Saturday, heading north on I-5 in his tow truck, when a State Trooper flagged him down and asked for his help as an SUV dangled was seen dangling off the side of the freeway in downtown Seattle.

A trooper waved him down and told him an SUV was hanging off the edge of the interstate with the driver inside. They needed Larson’s help.

He hooked onto the SUV and secured it as a trooper pulled the driver out of a rear window.

“I really feel like God put me there,” Larson said. “I’m just happy everyone got out alive and I was there to help out.”

Larson met a man shortly after. He believes it was the driver. He said the man shook Larson’s hand and thanked him.

State Patrol said the SUV could have fallen from the interstate had Larson not acted so quickly. They also credit the quick decision of that trooper who waved him down.

That SUV driver went home with no injuries.

Larson finished up his work and made the long drive home to Grandview, where he is based, just happy he was running late at the moment he was needed most.

“But I’m no hero,” he said. “I’m just a guy doing my job.”

Read more: http://komonews.com/news/local/in-the-right-place-at-the-right-time-tow-truck-driver-sercures-suv-dangling-off-i-5

Wait until you see how they got the Charger Hellcat to the tow truck.

Read more: http://punemirror.indiatimes.com/pune/cover-story/So-towing-trucks-incur-RS-1400-losses-a-day/articleshow/55609015.cms

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A tow truck is never a good sign. It tends to be a harbinger of great and terrible darkness, in fact. Either a car has crashed, or a car broke down, or it’s coming to take your precious baby away from a TOTALLY LEGIT parking spot. But occasionally they do the Lord’s work, and in a beautiful way to boot.

ARLINGTON VA The Arlington County Board is "upgrading and refining" its county code to deal with the "frequently contentious" issue of towing the county said in a statement and one of those changes involves letting more tow trucks into the county that will be prowling area parking lots. The Board met on Saturday for its November Regular Meeting and will hold a Dec. 10 meeting to discuss "trespass towing" with the public. One of the proposed code changes involves increasing the distance a towing storage lot can be from the county boundary which the Board claims would "allow for additional competition" among towing companies. The Board made a number of other proposed changes to the county code as well including approval of additional fees that towing operators would be able to charge. "In the case of the maximum allowable fees for trespass towing the Board is expected to match the State Code in allowing for up to two instances of an additional fee of $25 for a tow that occurs between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m. on weekdays or on weekends and holidays" the statementreads. "The County had authorized one flat rate throughout the week. Due to action by the Virginia General Assembly earlier this year Arlington County and other Northern Virginia jurisdictions must allow for these charges." The Board is also considering a proposal that would require towing operators to provide the county annually with information ranging from storage facilities to state-issued driver authorization documents to proof of insurance coverage. These recommendations seek to provide protection to vehicle owners while balancing the needs of property owners and their customers Brian Stout a legislative liaison for the County said in the statement. The Board will consider the following code adjustments: Requiring more signs inside parking facilities to identify additional parking restrictions should they exist Increasing from 3 miles to 3.25 miles the distance of towing storage facilities from the County boundary to allow for additional competition among towing companies without adding an unreasonable distance for drivers having to retrieve their cars Requiring that towing and recovery operators properly secure all loads to meet all safety standards" Noting in the code that Nothing in this section shall release tow truck drivers from liability for failure to use reasonable care Removing a provision requiring towing drivers to document the condition of vehicles via photographs or video before theyre towed a change designed to reflect the Countys lack of authority in damage claims Image via Arlington County Read more:http://patch.com/virginia/arlington-va/arlington-county-board-wants-allow-more-tow-truck-drivers-patrol-parking-lots Call us if you need a tow truck The article More Tow Trucks Prowling Arlington? Thats What the County Board is Proposing was originally seen on ApexTowing - Dublin via Website Feeds http://dublin.apextowing.ie/tow-trucks-prowling-arlington-thats-county-board-proposing/

Tow truck towing a broken down car on the street. Courtesy of Getty Images Whether it's a car battery dying skidding into a ditch or crashing a car towing companies offer important services for when a car is in an undrivable situation. With winter approaching the threat of ice low visibility and low temperatures makes towing services in high demand. Kyle Dirks manager at Butchs Auto said doing preventative maintenance is crucial in order to avoid having to be towed. Dirks said making sure you have enough gas in your gas tank treating your gas tank as half is empty in the winter as well as having windows scrapped of ice and snow are preventative measures that can help to avoid needing a tow. Mark Hansen owner of Mark Hansen's Complete Automotive Repair Service also said to take preventative measures to avoid having to be towed. Hansen said to examine your tires in order to make sure that they are full and in decent condition. Be proactive and not reactive Hansen said. By preparing to drive you can prevent having to be towed in the first place. Although it is good to prepare sometimes being towed is unavoidable. If you find yourself in need of a tow there are things that can be done to help the process go smoothly. David Williams towing and recovery specialist at Central Iowa Towing and Recovery said that one of the things that people can do to help with the towing process is to know where their car is located. Without a location a tow truck will take a significantly longer time in order to determine where the tow is needed. In addition to knowing where your car is located it is important that the towing company gets the keys to the vehicle. Dirks said that not having keys is a common issue. By not having the keys to the vehicle there is no way to get into the vehicle to put it in drive or to turn the vehicle on to aid in the towing process. If you are in need of a tow it is also important to be prepared to wait. Be patient Dirks said. This is something that is easy to forget. There are other people that need to be towed and a tow truck will not instantly show up after a phone number is dialed. Although you may be running late or panicking due to being in a bad situation the tow truck will not arrive any faster. It is also important to know that tow trucks cannot be on the road at all times. Williams said that if a tow ban a ban on towing issued if conditions are dangerous to tow in is in effect it could take a significant amount of time before tow trucks are allowed to go onto the interstate. When the tow truck arrives Williams said it is best if you stay at a safe place to avoid getting injured and to avoid getting in the way of the towing company. No one plans a breakdown Hansen said. It is important to remember that towing a car is not planned. By knowing what to do and staying calm towing can be an easy process. Read more:http://www.iowastatedaily.com/special_sections/article_fbd249fc-a63e-11e6-bac2-5b3851b6b4ce.html Call us if you need a tow truck The blog post What to know if you need a tow is courtesy of Apex Towing - Dublin Blog via Website Feeds http://dublin.apextowing.ie/know-need-tow/

Advantage Funding added Todd Chase to its growing sales force. Chase will serve as a sales manager of the company’s vocational truck business, specializing in tow-truck financing.

“Todd brings a lifetime of industry experience as an operator, advocate and financer that further enhances the Tow and Vocational Truck team at Advantage Funding,” said Kristian McCausland, head of sales for Advantage Funding. “Our clients expect to deal with people that understand their business and with Todd we further add to our team of industry experts.”

Prior to his appointment with Advantage Funding, Chase served as business development consultant for Northbrook, IL-based Beacon Funding. Earlier in his career he was the general manager of a family towing business.

Chase serves on the Executive Cabinet of the Towing and Recovery Association of America (TRAA) and sits on the board of the Massachusetts Statewide Towing Academy, where he is a tow-operator trainer. Chase has also served as vice president of the Massachusetts Statewide Towing Association for 16 years.

“I have extensive experience with all aspects of the tow-truck market—operating, selling and financing,” Chase said. “I look forward to expanding Advantage Funding’s market share in this industry and establishing many new relationships.”

Advantage Funding is a ground-transportation finance firm which focuses on companies in the commercial, vocational-truck and dealership spaces.

Read more: http://www.monitordaily.com/news-posts/advantage-funding-expands-tow-truck-finance-operations/

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An employee of Stanford Automotive at 66 Youngs Mill Road claimed his 1995 GMC work truck was stolen from the business between Thursday and early Saturday morning.

The man told LaGrange police officers the truck was last seen on the Madison Avenue side of the shop.

The vehicle also contained more than $8,000 worth of various towing tools and equipment, according to the employee.

The white GMC truck has “Stanford Automotive” stamped on the sides, a white camper shell on the back and strobe lights on top, a report stated.

The vehicle was valued at $3,500.

Convicted felon allegedly threatens to shoot relative

One man remains behind bar accused of threatening to shoot a relative with a gun at a home in the 900 block of Houston Street just before 1 p.m. on Friday.

Dion Fonterrell Jackson, 43, was arrested when LaGrange police officers found a handgun hidden inside a microwave in the house, a report stated.

The gun also was reported stolen more than two years ago, officers said.

The relative told police Jackson threatened to “blow her brains out” if they attempted to leave the home, according to the report.

The relative managed to get away, jump inside a car and drive to a secure location where they called police, a report read.

Jackson pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault in Nov. 2004, the report stated. He was sentenced to six years to serve two years behind bars; which Jackson completed.

Jackson was taken into custody on Friday and charged with simple assault under the Family Violence Act, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm during certain crimes and theft by receiving.

DUI

• One woman was arrested after a LaGrange police officer observed her 2005 Lincoln Navigator weaving in and out of lanes on South Davis Road about 5:45 a.m. on Saturday.

The officer stated he also smelled an odor of alcohol when he approached the SUV.

The woman failed a field sobriety test and blew a .227 during the preliminary breath test, a report stated.

She was charged with failure to maintain lane and DUI less safe.

• A driver was taken into custody by LaGrange Police after he crashed into a mailbox and a parked vehicle in the 700 block of Colquitt Street just before 2:30 a.m. on Saturday.

The man failed a field sobriety test and blew a .14 into the officer’s Breathilyzer, according to the report.

The driver was charged with DUI less safe and failure to maintain lane – both misdemeanors.

Read more: http://lagrangenews.com/news/18430/tow-truck-stolen-from-business

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For the last three decades, Murray Kelly has been responsible for tending to about 98 per cent of the towing calls at Kelly Auto Service, and it seems he hears the same story one too many times, “everybody drives too fast.”

Later on in the evening, between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. on November 19, Seaforth and the neighbouring regions were given a taste of winter, which is officially not until December 21, as a couple centimetres of snow coated the town - along with temperatures reaching -2 throughout the week.

This is the busiest time of the year for tow truck drivers, especially when having to cart vehicles out of the ditch. Kelly, 51, said the condition of the automobiles tires plays a role in some of the accidents as well poorly maintained vehicles. “The one I pulled out Sunday, a little Toyota with all four tires bald as the cement floor.”

Since the snowfall, Kelly has been dispatched to about 10-15 accidents where the driver has lost control and required assistance.

“It’s more of no common sense, not paying attention and to realize ‘you know it’s actually wintertime,” stated Kelly, November 24. “It’s (nearly) December in Huron County, maybe I should slow down.”

“We are going to have snow, we are going to have ice, we are going to have slop.”

Despite the numerous calls no one was seriously injured, Kelly said the vehicle owners were more shaken up in the whole ordeal. Through for the most part, drivers were stressed from the aftermath, since the damages would not be covered by insurance.

In roughly 72 hours from the first snowfall, Burkholder Auto Body and Towing Ltd. saw virtually double the calls compared to Kelly Auto Service with one of those being an ambulance on Highway 8 between Clinton and Seaforth.

Leaning towards their competitor’s statements, Brussels native, Shane Burkholder from BABT said only one factor justifies the numerous accidents - speed.

The OPP issued winter tips to the community mid Wednesday afternoon due to the numerous collisions in Huron County relating to “weather and road conditions.” The OPP referred to the wintry weather as “problematic” for drivers in the area. From November 19-21, the authorities revealed there were 12 motor vehicle accidents.

Out of the dozen collisions, nine were as a result of gusting winds and snowy/ice covered thoroughfares, in addition there was a fatality, where weather was not the factor and the other two had to do with deer on the roadway.

Read more: http://www.seaforthhuronexpositor.com/2016/11/24/from-first-snowfall-numerous-vehicles-in-the-ditch-even-an-ambulance

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The drivers lined up to greet Governor Cuomo during a CNY visit

GEDDES (WSYR-TV)

When Gov. Andrew Cuomo arrived at the New York State Fairgrounds to announce Phase II of renovations, he was greeted by rows of tow trucks lining both sides of State Fair Boulevard.

Operators say the goal was to get help improving compliance with the State's Move Over Law.

Most of the drivers lined up end-to-end could quickly name someone who died on the job.

"The last funeral we had to go to was for James Homkey in Canajoharie two weeks ago. He was the tow truck operator killed on the NYS Thruway," said Tina Lyon, a tow truck operator.

On Friday, a NYS Thruway worker died when he was hit by a vehicle while helping two tow truck operators in Herkimer County.

Among the men and women lining State Fair Boulevard as the Governor arrived were workers from Northern Lights Auto Service in Mattydale, who buried their boss, Todd Young, five years ago this month.

"It devastated his family. Still to this day, there's not a day that goes by that his family isn't affected by it," said Nathaniel Sherman, an employee of Northern Lights.

While New York law does require drivers to move over for tow truck operators - many workers say not enough people are paying attention when they see the flashing lights.

"Nobody takes them seriously really. Nobody is slowing down and moving over for the yellow lights because everybody has them," Lyon said. "So, we are asking the Governor to amend the Move Over Law to allow tow truck operators to have the blue rear-facing lights, so when we do our job. It's a little easier for the public to see."

The law now includes sanitation vehicles in addition to tow trucks and emergency vehicles. Violators could be fined up to $400 and get three points on their license. Sherman says that's not enough.

"It takes a blink of any eye for someone to lose their life....where a ticket - they can pay the fine and go about their day," he adds. "Unless there are some real stiff penalties to the point where it sets into these people, they are not going to listen."

Lyon says she has sent letters to the Governor, but hasn't heard back. She organized the rally quickly after hearing he would be visiting the fairgrounds this week.

Her efforts reach beyond the state lawmakers - she wants every driver to think carefully as they hurry home at the end of the day.

"We're usually competitors. But, for a cause like this we do band together as a whole and try to get the word out there," she said. "Please slow down and move over because we all want to go home too."

Read more: http://www.localsyr.com/news/local-news/tow-truck-drivers-rally-to-improve-response-to-move-over-law

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There are at least two ways this man could’ve handled the situation, and he chose none of them.



Getting your car towed (with or without a good reason) can be very frustrating, but it’s very important not to let your exasperation get the better of you in those moments. It’s always better to remain calm than to hop on the towing truck, start your car, and attempt to jump off the platform because things will most likely go wrong; very wrong.

The gentleman in the video, named Arthur, clearly didn’t want his car taken away, so instead of resolving the “issue” like a responsible, sane adult that is entitled to maneuver 1.5 tons of metal on public streets, he decided to act out (and possibly ruin his car in the process).

At what point the man reckoned it's better to break his car than pay a lousy impound fine is unclear, but what’s worse is that almost every bystander encouraged his behavior. Fortunately, his attempt in getting the car on the asphalt (and inadvertently injuring himself or others) failed thanks to the chains securing the vehicle’s axles.

So, if you’re in danger of getting your car impounded, remember, it’s better to settle the dispute in court instead of becoming famous on the internet

Read more: http://www.carscoops.com/2016/10/man-attempts-to-drive-his-toyota-off.html

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BATAVIA — Painted turquoise and purple with silver chains and large stars, Parise’s Auto and Towing’s 2001 Freightliner FL 120 won first place in the working truck category of the national Shine ‘n Star Tow Truck Photo Beauty Contest, hosted by Tow Times magazine and powered by Ford Trucks.

Chosen out of 550 entries submitted over five categories, the truck from the Batavia business was cobbled together out of five different trucks, including a 1981 fire truck headed to the junkyard, and the appearance was altered to look more aerodynamic.

Everything was painted and designed in-house.

The colors painted on the tow truck — turquoise, purple and silver — were the original palette when the business started 60 years ago. Different paint schemes were tried out, and according to Elaina Dickinson, one of the owners of the family-owned business, she and her father Mark Dickinson, another owner, painted as they went along.

“We went with the chains because in towing you use chains in order to tow,” Elaina said. “The truck we think looks like a spaceship, hence the stars on it.”

The design of the truck took about a month in planning, she said, and the creation of the truck itself started in 2010 and ended in 2014, shortly before Elaina entered the contest, desiring to show off the unique truck.

“We thought it was a long shot that we could put our truck in there and maybe have it seen by some people,” she said, admitting that the fact that they won first place came as a shock.

In the beginning of October, Tow Times magazine called to inform Parise’s Auto and Towing they were one of the finalists and a few weeks later, the family-owned business was informed it took first place. In this month’s issue, the 2001 Freightliner FL 120 was shown among the other winners and will have a feature article on it in the magazine sometime in the spring.

“It’s a great honor. It puts Batavia on the map,” Mark said, crediting the design of the truck to his 24-year-old daughter.

The truck is one in a fleet of 16.

Parise’s Auto and Towing started in 1956 with Ralph and Joan Parise, one of the many garages located in Batavia in the 1950s. However, it didn’t buy it’s first tow truck until 1981 when it took on AAA.

“Every year after 1981, we grew. We did AAA all the way up until 2003,” Mark said. “Now it has kind of come full circle back where we are a little mom and pop shop again.”

Read more: http://www.thedailynewsonline.com/bdn01/local-tow-truck-wins-national-tow-truck-beauty-contest-20161114

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Find original: http://www.autoblog.com/2016/10/26/man-tries-to-escape-tow-truck-and-fails-spectacularly/

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A tow truck collided with the China Southern Airlines plane it was pulling at Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday night.

The collision took place at about 11.55pm, airport spokesman Frederick Badlissi said in a statement to DailyMail.com.

He said that 'an aircraft tug towing China Southern flight 328 for departure to Guangzhou hit the Airbus A380 aircraft.

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'The tug driver sought medical attention through his company provider. No injuries were reported among the 447 passengers and flight crew aboard the aircraft.'

The truck driver had minor injuries, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Badlissi said that 'The incident occurred on a taxi lane located between the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) and Terminal 4.

'Passengers deplaned by using portable stairs and were returned to TBIT, and were accommodated via rescheduling, refunds or hotel rooms.

'While awaiting accommodations and rescheduling, passengers were provided bottled water and snacks.'

Badlissi revealed that the plane was towed at 4.30am to a gate at Tom Bradley International Terminal.

He said that 'three flights were cancelled: the China Southern flight, as well as two American Airlines flights at Terminal 4, impacting approximately 1060 passengers'.

'American Airlines accommodated the passengers on their cancelled flight,' Badlissi said. 'China Southern flight’s regular departure is 10:20 p.m.'

Badlissi said the cause of the collision remains under investigation.

So you were involved in a car crash and your car needs to be towed away.

You have rights, so don’t just sign any documents.

According to a statement by the Automobile Association (AA), over the last few months there have been several alarming stories of motorists who have had bad experiences with towing services and tow truck drivers.

In some instances, the drivers’ cars were towed away without their permission and in other unfortunate cases, the tow truck drivers allegedly acted in an unprofessional manner which resulted in the motorists having to pay excessive fees for their cars to be towed.

Hillsborough’s Public Transportation Commission can help consumers seek full or partial refunds if they have been wrongfully towed.

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY – You went shopping only to find your car had been towed while you were away.

What should you do?

If you think you’ve been wrongfully towed in Hillsborough County, the Public Transportation Commission says it can help. The PTC regulates for-hire transportation, which includes towing companies, and often assists drivers in Hillsborough County by investigating tow complaints.

The PTC asks that citizens who feel they were wrongfully towed call the PTC or file a complaint online as soon as possible. The PTC will investigate the situation to ensure that the tow truck driver followed the proper policies and rules and that it was a valid tow.

In fact, in some instances, the PTC has been able to get full or partial refunds for drivers. So far this year, the PTC has helped more than 70 percent of citizens who sought their help with getting a refund.

To avoid getting towed, the PTC offers this advice:

• Don’t park in a business’ lot if you are not patronizing that business.

• If you parked in a staffed lot, remember to grab the receipt.

• If you parked in a lot with an honor box, make sure you videotape or take a photo of yourself paying, so you have proof.

• Don’t block anyone’s driveway or business entrance when parking.

While these tips are helpful in trying to avoid a potential tow situation, the PTC also offers tips to help you if your car has been towed.

If your car has been towed:

• If you suspect that the tow was not lawful, call the PTC to report it before you get your car back.

• Take pictures of the area around your car. Take notice of any signs indicating that your car was illegally parked. If signs were not posted at every entrance, it was not a valid tow. All signs should list the tow company with a contact phone number.

• Tow truck drivers are required to have proof of the violation. If the driver did not take pictures of your violation, you may be entitled to a partial or full refund.

• Be sure to pick up your vehicle between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Otherwise, you will be charged a gate fee of $50 before obtaining your car.

The Hillsborough County Public Transportation is an independent Special District that regulates vehicles for-hire, which includes taxicabs, limousines, vans, basic life support ambulances and wrecker services that support government agencies. The PTC also helps consumers who have complaints with these types of services.

Read more: http://www.tbreporter.com/local-news/hillsborough/towed-hillsborough/

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The previous blog post Been Towed in Hillsborough? is republished from Apex Towing - Galway

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GRAND ISLAND, Neb.-- Thanksgiving traffic can be a busy not only on the highways and interstates, but also for tow trucks.

According to Capt. Mark Pierce of the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office in Wichita, Kansas, an initial four-car crash occurred nearby, which resulted in three people being transported to the hospital for minor injuries. As a tow truck was arriving to secure one of the vehicles in that crash, a passing train clipped the bed of the truck, sending a car flying. No injuries were reported from the second crash.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nation-world/national/article116618988.html#storylink=cpy

Popular: Skoda Ireland says 22 per cent of its new cars in 2015 were ordered with factory-fitted towing systems Its common on Irish roads to see a car towing a trailer while clipping along at the 120km/h speed limit despite the fact that the legal speed limit for towing a trailer is just 80km/h. Speed is just one of the regulations concerning trailer use that are frequently flaunted. The laws and licensing for trailer use are complicated and at times confusing. The reality is that many drivers are towing trailers without the proper licence despite the risk of incurring penalty points and potentially voiding their insurance cover. With trailer use weight is the key. What can I tow on my car licence? On a standard B car licence you can tow a trailer that has a maximum authorised mass (Mam) of 750kg; this includes the weight of both the trailer and its load. (A trailers technical specifications are stamped on a metal plate attached to it.) You can also tow a trailer and load weighing more than 750kg as long as the combined weight of the vehicle and loaded trailer does not exceed 3500kg. A type 01 unbraked trailer does not need a braking mechanism. This trailer is likely to be small when it is empty you could manhandle it with little effort with usually just one axle. Can I tow a horsebox on a car licence? According to the Road Safety Authority As a general rule a category B licence does not entitle the holder to tow a horsebox or a livestock trailer because the combined Mam would exceed 3500kg. But this is not always the case. Again as long as the total weight of the car trailer and load carried does not exceed 3500kg you can drive it on a B licence. For example a Skoda Octavia family estate towing a type 02 trailer one with a Mam of more than 750kg with two bulls weighs in at 3085kg combined but the same trailer and livestock towed by a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV weighs in at 4440kg well over the 3500kg B-licence limit. Drivers of large SUVs on a B licence need to take care as their heavier vehicles can often push the total weight above the 3500kg limit then requiring a category BE (car and trailer) licence. This seems inherently silly as a large SUV would generally have more power than a car to make towing easier but thats the way the rules apply. Of course before you attach a hitch to a Ford Ka its worth noting the towing vehicle must be certified to tow the weight of the trailer and load. What if the vehicle trailer and load together weigh more than 3500kg and I dont have a BE licence? To gain a category BE on your car licence you must have a full B licence. You are required to get a learner permit and take a practical driving test. You must sit a theory test in category BW (if you havent already to get your B licence) to gain a learner permit. You must display an L-plate on the trailer and when practising with it must be accompanied by a driver with a full BE licence. Lessons are not mandatory for a BE test but the RSA recommends them. During the test drivers are given the option of reversing to their left or right around a corner. Can I use any trailer for my BE test? No it must be a permanent boxed trailer such as a horsebox at least as wide and as high as the vehicle towing it and at least 2.4 metres long. The trailer must be presented with 30 four-inch cement blocks as a load. What does a BE licence allow me to tow? With BE the trailer and load can weigh up to 3500kg and your vehicle can weigh up to the same maximum of 3.5 tonnes bringing the combined weight to 7000kg. A BE-licence holder can tow a car whereas a B-licence holder cannot. Can I buy a new trailer from anyone? Since late October 2012 the days of buying a trailer built by a local lad who is good with his hands are gone. All new trailers for sale must have European Community whole vehicle type approval. The National Standards Authority of Ireland is responsible for testing and issuing national approvals for trailers made in Ireland. The law is unclear on older trailers and their use but ultimately the driver is responsible for the safety of his or her trailer and load. An example of the scale of the towing market in Ireland is evident by orders for cars fitted with hitches. Skoda Ireland says that last year 22 per cent of the new cars it sold were ordered with factory-fitted towing systems. The benefit of a factory-fitted system is that its equipped with compatible electrics connections while the cars stability control and other driving aids automatically adapt to having a trailer attached. The cars alarm also recognises that a trailer is attached and monitors it; light bulbs in the trailer are monitored too; stop/start is switched off; and the ABS adjusts for the trailer. Factory tow hitches arent cheap but are worth it. Skodas start at 499 and rise to 899. We were invited to put our towing skills to the test at a novel event. We had a Skoda Octavia Combi (from 32710) to which we hitched a general-purpose twin-axle trailer. The first challenge was to collect and load a round bale of straw and then drive on a mix of roads. Securing the load in this case with ratchet straps is the responsibility of the driver. It is an offence to have an unsecured load. The motorway section of the route was incredibly dull as we stuck to the 80km/h car-and-trailer speed limit. At times we felt a little anxious as cars and buses would appear rapidly behind us and then overtake. Our trailer was braked so it had internal brakes that were applied whenever the car slowed down. The trailer was new so it didnt tug or jerk at all something older or poorly serviced trailers can do. At the end of the trip a car park was coned out and a number of reversing tasks were set for us by John Kearney an instructor with Hynes Quinn driving school. Professional training can make the difference between passing and failing your test. More often than not people tend to oversteer; with professional training you can get the best advice to get the trailer going where you want it to go he said. We managed quite well but reversing with a trailer is a skill you really only master with practice. Reversing a trailer is counterintuitive but once you get a feel for it your confidence grows. With a growing number of cars fitted with hitches taking to our roads its a skill that more motorists should formally learn rather than hope to pick up along the way. Read more:http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/motors/ireland-s-confusing-towing-rules-explained-1.2633473 Contact us if you need a tow truck The blog post Irelands confusing towing rules explained was originally published to http://dublin.apextowing.ie via Website Feeds http://dublin.apextowing.ie/irelands-confusing-towing-rules-explained/

ne of the vehicles that occupy a position in the top three of our spyshots section this year has to be the next-gen Mercedes-Benz G-Class. The W464 prototypes seem to be everywhere these days and we're back with another piece of spy footage showing the offroader.

The video, which you can find at the bottom of the page, reveals a pair of G Wagons performing towing tests - both vehicles spied here were consciously handling their trailer duties.

The towing capacity of the next G is obviously an important detail and while we're talking weight, we'll remind you the Mercedes-Benz is expected to go on a serious diet. The new platform should allow the rugged terrain machine to become up to 400 kilos (880 lbs) lighter, all while growing in width, which will seriously boost cabin space.

Speaking of the interior, we've already shown you various bits of the dashboard, such as the instrument cluster or the rounded air vents - forget the digital craze taking over the car world, the Gelandewagen will stay true to its roots, maintaining analog dials.

Infotainment fans shouldn't fret, though, as the vehicle will pack the large 12.3-inch central display seen on the S-Class and E-Class, all without the add-on positioning of the current G-Class. In case you missed the leaked dashboard, you can find it here.

While the wild side of the rumor mill expects the G-Class to receive the 48V electric system that will allow the upcoming S-Class facelift to offer mild hybrid assistance, the rugged focus of the model could mean engineers will skip this feature for the once-military offroader, but it's still too early to tell.

And to end this story on a high horse(power) note, we'll mention that the automaker's 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8, in multiple stages of tune, will serve an important part of the new G-Class line-up, namely the G550/G500 and G63. So we''re not exactly dealing with a gentle giant here.

Proper loading and size of your tow vehicle is critical to staying safe while traveling no matter the weather you may come across during your journeys. Russ Tice, For the Press Dispatch

Read more: http://www.vvdailypress.com/article/20160906/ENTERTAINMENTLIFE/160909864

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A man who stole a flatbed tow truck in New Jersey Monday morning led police on a two-state chase that ended in Ramapo, authorities said.

Two New York State troopers were injured when their patrol cars were sideswiped by the fleeing flatbed, said State Trooper Dermont Summers.

The driver of the stolen vehicle, identified by East Rutherford police as Paul Gudanowski, 51, of Hackensack, New Jersey, is facing charges in both states.

The chase began in East Rutherford after 8 a.m. when police spotted the man driving the flatbed in an erratic manner on Route 120, close to MetLife Stadium. Another tow truck near it had tried to stop the stolen truck.

When Gudanowski sped off, police from several New Jersey towns joined in a chase that went up Route 17 North into New York, where New York State troopers joined the pursuit.

The truck entered I-87 northbound and left the highway at Exit 16 in Orange County by the Woodbury Common Outlet stores. It then made a U-turn, exiting the highway at 15A with more than a dozen police cars surrounding the truck.

The truck came to a stop on Route 59 in Ramapo, near the border with Suffern, after an East Rutherford patrol car accidentally hooked onto the flatbed’s rear bumper.

It is unclear whether other officers were also injured.

Gudanowski was charged by state police with operating a stolen vehicle, assault on a police officer and numerous driving violations, Summers said. He is being held in New York until he is extradited to New Jersey, where East Rutherford police will charge him with aggravated assault and possession of stolen property.

Read more: http://www.lohud.com/story/news/crime/2017/01/02/flatbed-chase-ramapo/96081116/

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MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (KRON) — Black ice likely contributed to a crash that was caught on camera.

A tow truck in Minneapolis was working to pull a wrecked SUV out of a ditch when an oncoming car crashed into the back of the truck.

The two people standing next to the truck slowly walked on the icy road to the car after the accident. You can see them sliding around on the ice.

Black ice made the commute so dangerous Tuesday morning that transportation officials asked people to stay off part of a major interstate there.

Read more: http://kron4.com/2017/01/03/video-car-slides-into-tow-truck-on-icy-minnesota-road/

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Maria Pacheco 37 and husbandJose Villagrana 41 grew up in Pasadena and always wanted to camp out along the parade route as kids but never got to. Now they make it a tradition with their three children two boys ages 16 and 12 and an 8-year-old girl. This year they staked out their spot near the intersection of Colorado Boulevard. and Oak Knoll Avenue since 6 a.m. Sunday. "We try and say'No we're not going to do it this year' but they don't take no for an answer" Maria said laughing. They said knew about the added security this year but they didn't think twice about coming. They also watched the weather and said they lucked out -- they only got sprinkled on a little bit Sunday night. At 5:39 a.m. more than a dozen tow trucks headlights on paraded down Colorado horns blaring. A man in one of them yelled "Good morning!" "The wakeup call!" Jose said. "They do it every year." He then pumped his arm at one of the trucks grinning and trying to get it to honk. Read more:http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-ln-2017-rose-parade-live-coverage-tow-truck-wake-up-call-and-fire-pits-1483367310-htmlstory.html Call us for help towing your vehicle The tow-truck wakeup call and other traditions along the parade route was originally seen on limerick.apextowing.ie/ via Website Feeds http://limerick.apextowing.ie/tow-truck-wakeup-call-traditions-along-parade-route/