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- - heavy duty wrecker & lowboy..newbie (https://www.classadrivers.com/forum/new-truck-drivers-get-help-here/34261-heavy-duty-wrecker-lowboy-newbie.html)

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

:arrow: :arrow: 8) 8)
stormothecentury

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

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigWheels

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTR SILVER

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

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

Hey GTR SILVER, it'll come back sooner than you think. No worries man! http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/a...cket/thumb.gif

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

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.

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 :D

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.