heavy duty wrecker & lowboy..newbie

[GTR SILVER]

hey all.....

I might have a chance to work for a heavy duty towing company,,,that does low boy work also..they said......

they would train me for two weeks..( in school we never had any weight on the trailer and the trucks didn't have...."" jakes"""" )

I'm wondering if it's a good idea or not....for this newbie... up & downshifting on hills with all that weight. i learned on

a 10 sp. there trucks are 13..& 18 sp. (petes 379) besides them teaching me how to hook & chain up, i want

to be safe when driving...

I'd of course have to take a road test in the big wrecker....


am I "over thinking '' this one or what...????

thanks.... 8)

[marylandkw]

am I "over thinking '' this one or what...????

Yes.

Good job? Good pay? Good equipment? Whoo Hoo!

I have always found a 13 and 18 speed very easy to drive. Sure there will be a learning curve, but you would have that if you jumped into ANY truck.

I am sure your 2 week training will include this but just food for thought, Your tow truck is most likely paid by the hour, take your time. You will weigh alot more than a normal truck, so increase your following distance accordingly. Overconfidence is the enemy, you are clearly humble so you will do fine.

[all18wheels]

my first real driving job was for a flatbedder. we haul alot of military freight, inculing vehicles.
just last week, i hauled a military 3 axle tractor-truck from jolon, ca to herlong , ca. i endured alot of up and down hills.

#1. chaining is easy.
#2 . uphills and down hills are also ok on a 13-18 speed. just takes practice. you do want to make sure your in the right gear for the down hill for sure.
i was trained on a 9 speed and now i drive a 13. the transition was no problem.

my concern would be rescue on the side of the road. id be SUPER careful when loading on the roadside if thats what you'll be doing.

[GTR SILVER]

marylandkw.........all18wheels....thanks for the replys...!!!!

i'm going back to do road work for a couple of days at the school...

i already told them i need a refresher on going up and down

hills...........but again i'll have no weight on the trailer....is there a rule of

thumb about taking hills besides being at the same gear going down as

you went up...???? and how do you know what gear is "right "going

up....r.p.m.'s.....???? and how and when to use the "jake"" (taking a breath...lol )

man it's been awhile.......getting butterflys

already...............lol :shock: :shock: 8)

[BigWheels]

...man it's been awhile.......getting butterflys

already...............lol :shock: :shock: 8)

Hey GTR SILVER, it'll come back sooner than you think. No worries man!

[all18wheels]

i use the jake on all hills.

on my truck, i try not to go past 1800 rpms.

dont be afraid to go slower down the hills.
on some big hills with 75k+ lbs its not unusual for me to stay aroun 50 mph. depends on the lenth of the hill, is there curves and will the hill end soon?, and if i can see the bottom.
if i know the hill is short, sometimes i just let it drift because i know the bottom is near and flat, or will go uphill again.

you will be nervous at first. thats good. down hill with weight is nothing to mess around with, even with jakes.
just take it easy and find your comfort zone.

if you are unsure about what lies ahead, take it easy.
you never want to end up on the runaway truck ramp.
i hear its expensive .

[marylandkw]

What's that old saying "you can go down a hill too slow a million times but you can only go down too fast once" Like all18wheels said, runaway ramps are very expensive. Not only will you absolutely receive a citation, you will have exorbitant tow bills and possibly repair bills to the states property. Not to mention Points on your CDL, and we all know how bad that can be. I am not sure how the "big guys" look at it but I would never employ a driver who had been in a ramp.

I think I learned you should be one gear lower to go down than you went up in. But that was many moons ago so I could be wrong. Nowadays I just know by looking at the hill and don't even think about it. You will develop the same ability in a short time.

As a side note, I find it reprehensible that your school has no weight on the trailers. Sure for learning shifting and such and road testing that would be OK. But they really need to expose students to 80k in all situations.

[BigWheels]

...As a side note, I find it reprehensible that your school has no weight on the trailers. Sure for learning shifting and such and road testing that would be OK. But they really need to expose students to 80k in all situations.

They really should.

Perhaps when weighing the value of students behind the wheel of an 80K load and the value of their own lives...well you do the math.

[GTR SILVER]

...As a side note, I find it reprehensible that your school has no weight on the trailers. Sure for learning shifting and such and road testing that would be OK. But they really need to expose students to 80k in all situations.

They really should.

Perhaps when weighing the value of students behind the wheel of an 80K load and the value of their own lives...well you do the math.

i hear ya............. :idea: :arrow: 8)

[stormothecentury]

Hey GTR, I used to drive light & medium rollbacks & wreckers, and I feel pretty comfortable saying that two weeks of training is pretty well on the light side. If you don't mind some hard work in all weather, though, you can do pretty well. Heavy towing'll help you keep that upper body in shape, for sure. Most of the companies who are in that line of work have at least one guy who's been in the business for a long, long time - don't be afraid to ask questions, take your time and double check all your chains & lighting before you move.


And seriously, don't let anyone rush you. I'd much rather tie up a lane of traffic for an extra few minutes than have a truck fall off the stinger. Besides, you'll probably be getting paid by the hour or on some sort of a commission - either way, the time'll make you a bit more money.

Good luck, and be safe.

[GTR SILVER]

Hey GTR, I used to drive light & medium rollbacks & wreckers, and I feel pretty comfortable saying that two weeks of training is pretty well on the light side. If you don't mind some hard work in all weather, though, you can do pretty well. Heavy towing'll help you keep that upper body in shape, for sure. Most of the companies who are in that line of work have at least one guy who's been in the business for a long, long time - don't be afraid to ask questions, take your time and double check all your chains & lighting before you move.


And seriously, don't let anyone rush you. I'd much rather tie up a lane of traffic for an extra few minutes than have a truck fall off the stinger. Besides, you'll probably be getting paid by the hour or on some sort of a commission - either way, the time'll make you a bit more money.

Good luck, and be safe.

:arrow: :arrow: 8) 8)
stormothecentury



thanks for the comments....bol 2 ya...

[GTR SILVER]

...man it's been awhile.......getting butterflys

already...............lol :shock: :shock: 8)

Hey GTR SILVER, it'll come back sooner than you think. No worries man!

bigwheels..........thanks for the thumbs up...........lol :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: 8)

[SilverWulf]

I guess I'll be the first to say it's a bad idea.

If I understand correctly, you've never driven a fully loaded truck, never used an engine brake, don't know how to shift anything but a 10 speed and aren't very comfortable with that, and don't know how to navigate the hills in a safe manner.

Yet with all the above, you think that 2 weeks of training will get you ready to hook onto a fully loaded truck with a wrecker and tow it?

Have you ever loaded and unloaded equipment or freight on a lowboy? Despite what an earlier poster stated, chaining down is not easy, it is deadly serious business. You have to know or figure out how to tie whatever it is you are hauling to the trailer in such a way as to not damage the freight or the trailer, and make sure that it will stay in place no matter what happens. Sorry, but 2 weeks of training just isn't going to cut it, especially for a rookie driver.

If you do get this position, post where you are working so I can avoid that area of the country.

Yeah, may sound kind of harsh. But IMO you have no business getting into this particular area of trucking as a complete newbie.

[Walking Eagle]

The main thing a lot of "wrecker" drivers forget is that they hook up to a big rig, be it either a regular 5 axle or a 8 or nine axle, and think they can stop it. They have a 3 or 4 axle wrecker, hook up lights and an air line to release the breakes but have no hold on the break system of the thing they are pulling so they are trying to stop 150 or 200k with breaks for 40k. Been there, done that. Last year I blew a cylinder head gaskit, big fancy Pete wrecker came out from the KW shop. I said "Just pull me out from under the trailer, my pilots will wait with it". "No, I will take you all in". Well went down hill from there :sad: :sad: They had good insurance though

[Mackman]

My dad had to get towed about 2 years ago when he blew his turbo. The 1st thing the tow truck driver said to him is. We charge by the HR and i am taking my time. My dads truck was loaded at the time 73,000lbs and the guy came out with a 3 axle tow truck. But my dad told him to take his time last thing he wanted was to make more problems.