Latest / Towing News Now / Transforming the Towing Industry Through Safety, Advocacy, and Policy Changes

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Transforming the Towing Industry Through Safety, Advocacy, and Policy Changes · Towing News Now

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Welcome one and all to the American Towing Recovery Institute podcast.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Remember this is your podcast to promote safety, education, positive public relations and networking within the professional and business-minded towing and recovery industry.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: I'm your co-host, dj Harrington, better known as the Tow Doctor, and my other host is Wes Wilburn, over 40-year towing industry veteran, the founder of American Towing Recovery Institute of Fayetteville, north Carolina.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: He has produced and conducted training and certification programs for leading towing companies, equipment distributors, towing associations, dot, fire departments, rescue, as well as military installations across the United States.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Wes has been published over 100 times in major towing publications published over 100 times in major towing publications.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: Wes has developed many courses, including the most recent awareness-level course for all responders that specialize in electric vehicles as well as hybrid, natural gas and hydrogen vehicles.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: Wes has provided insight as the main speaker for over 30 years at more than 900 training classes and has been recognized as one of America's greatest towing trainers.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: He is well known for his straightforward but down-to-earth teaching style.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: No-transcript.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Without further ado, here's my dear friend and a great guy for our industry, wes Wilder.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: As always, dj, I appreciate your kind words.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: You're too generous with them, but I do thank you.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: Speaking of thank yous, I want to thank our listeners.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: We're almost 16,500, just shy of 16,500 subscribers on our podcast.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: You know we also count some other numbers nowadays.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: We just hit 10,000 positive feedback on eBay.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: It's taken me 20 years to do it, but we have achieved that.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: Got 100% positive feedback rating as well, and I'm out to do it, but we have achieved that.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: Got a 100% positive feedback rating as well.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: When you add all the different social medias, including Facebook, together you got about 15,000 followers that look to be independent of each other, the best we can judge.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: The number is actually higher, but some of them are carryovers from one social media platform to the next.
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: It's pretty exciting to be on top of these numbers and see them grow every week, and partly we think the reason why is people are liking the new format of the podcast, but we're trying to keep up with what's going on out there.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: You know the downside of keeping up with trying to keep up with all the news in the towing industry, because that's what we're trying to keep up with all the news in the towing industry because that's what we're trying to do here now is, you see, some good stories and some bad stories.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: Unfortunately, our lead-in story this week is what I consider to be a sad story, a bad story with a bad turn.
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: It is a bad story, and what makes it a little bit sadder is that Peyton Ferris pleaded no contest last month to a moving violation causing the death of, and killing of, spencer keegan, november of 2023 and you might remember, it was, uh, we had his father on just after the incident, about a little bit over one year ago yes and uh.
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: So barris was driving around 80 miles per hour and was on his phone 13 seconds before the crash.
• 4:13
  Speaker 4: According to court records, um, the death part of this is his.
• 4:20
  Speaker 4: His sentencing is two years probation.
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: His.
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: His sentencing is two years probation a year, which is suspended jail and restitution of cost.
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: He will serve, not one day in jail.
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: Um, yes, you've got to pay for census.
• 4:36
  Speaker 4: Um heroes will also have a suspended driver's license for one year and will have to complete 500 years of community service.
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: And if he has any moving violations at all whatsoever I think any any within a year's time or two years time then he'll have to serve his sentence.
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: But he just has to keep his nose clean, right for that time and probation.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: He killed somebody in his probation the video of him that was submitted into evidence.
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: Evidently that showed us that he his it showed his responsibilities.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: He was driving fast in the car making a recording.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: His mother was involved.
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: It was his mother was involved and he said it isn't dangerous because I'm the only body there.
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: There's nobody in the car with me.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, showing that he get.
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: He gave not one.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: I ever thought about somebody outside the car and I would have thought that would have factored into the sentencing.
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: But and that, and that has been sent.
• 5:34
  Speaker 4: That has been sent.
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: Spencer was hit and killed.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: I would have thought that his statement of video that they had played in evidence were factored into sentencing, but apparently it didn't.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: Very unfortunate situation.
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: Again, we feel for Kagan's family and friends left behind many of them.
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: On December the 12th, the Federal Trade Commission released its junk fee rule.
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: So we all may remember we had a couple episodes on the podcast where we talked about the different things going on on a federal level with the towing industry and one of them was getting kind of bumped in in a Federal Trade Commission action, I guess I'm not sure what terminology to use, but the towing industry got bumped into an action where they were looking at junk fees.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: To an action where they were looking at junk fees as a direct result of traa's efforts we are thrilled to share.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: The rule does not include the towing industry.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: They put in writing that it's not included as part of the part of the uh announcement.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: It's a significant reversal by the ftc and clearly avoids the pricing implications of the majority of us businesses, including the towing recovery industry.
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: In its justification for the retreat, the federal trade commission notes the broad pushback received from many sectors, including the towing industry, and a twice cited tra's response to the proposed rule so.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: So it goes on to talk about the FTC's taking an industry-neutral approach, or they were taking that where anybody could fall under Now so this is on only live ticketing events and short-term rentals, because all these junk fees are going to focus on at this point.
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: So that's a good example of TRA and what they've done for the industry and, as we talked about on the podcast, some of those long, many year long relationships they've developed with different people of power in Washington DC.
• 7:40
  Speaker 4: In addition to that, tra's Legislative Action Workshop and Hill Day is February 25th and 26th.
• 7:47
  Speaker 4: It's the industry's only national Hill Day.
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: This is your opportunity to meet with members of Congress and make real, substantial change for the whole community.
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: This has no prior experience required.
• 8:01
  Speaker 4: You can go on to TRAonlinecom to register.
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: There's all kinds of different workshops that they're doing.
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: In that event, too, it's a worthwhile thing to do.
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: We've talked about it on past podcast episodes, what it is basically.
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: I guess I'm trying to take some of the guests that talked about it.
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: I don't remember if it was Richard Branch or Michael Gowen or who talked about being there.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: Did we have somebody on the podcast talking about that, dj?
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: Yes, we did.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: We had Bill Johnson at one time talked about it and we also had Mike McGovern speak about it.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: But Hills Days is a very vital part of the industry and those listeners who can attend Hills Days should definitely go to TRAA and learn more about it and participate.
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: The more that we have there representing us, the better the industry is for it.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, and they arrange meetings with the individual congresspeople and senators and whatnot.
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: And I hear that one of the things is you got to be in shape because there's a whole lot of walking involved with the deal.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: A whole lot of walking.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: I've gone there and they give you the representative's name but they give you all the literature and you go in the group, so there's four or five of you together and you leave a packet of information with the senator's aide or a spokesperson and they gather all the information up.
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: We were lucky, we even met Marco Rubio from Florida and it was very, it was nice, and at that time they had two or three senators that came and ate lunch with us and spoke at lunch.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: Rand Paul was one of the speakers we had at the time.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: I went and Rand Paul was the speaker for lunch and it was excellent.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: So it's very, very vital and the more that we have there, the better it is.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: And April's right, traa has all the information on their website and that's where you should sign up.
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: That's a time when you're in the Washington DC Metro I guess they call it DMV nowadays, but we used to call it the Washington DC Metro area At the end of February, boy, you can look into some really, really gorgeous weather.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: You can also not look into a big snowstorm.
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: Sometimes that weather, that end of February, beginning of March, can just be golden in that part of the world.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: Of course, if you go, you're right there in the nation's capitals, so you should plan an extra day or two because there's all kinds of fun things to do.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: Make sure you stay in a good, reputable hotel, which I know tra is going to have that all lined out yes national highway transportation safety administration before it said paccar, which is the maker of peterbilt kenworth heavy trucks.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: We're calling almost a quarter million trucks.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: Have you heard about this dj?
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: No, I haven't yeah, there's a a whole series of them that have problems with some of their safe what they're calling their safety systems automatic track traction control, anti-lock braking systems, electronic stability control, active active cruise control, inclusion migration systems.
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: It's a big recall, it's like I said, with the quarter million trucks and with 21 to 25 models.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: Uh, peter built about the same thing.
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: There's a whole bulletin on it.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: We're going to have that on our website, wwwamtowriorg, and you can download all the information on what's going on with that.
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of stuff happening.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: Dj and I maybe should have led off with this story.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: I don't have it printed anywhere, but I've seen several social media posts and this has been talked about and going on for a while up in Connecticut.
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: I haven't printed anywhere, but I've seen several social media posts that and this has been talked about and going on for a while up in Connecticut.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: Matter of fact, when Tommy Luciano was on I don't remember the last time he was on or the time before he talked about some of the tailing operators in some of the northeast states are considering getting out of the heavy tailing business because so many people don't have insurance and insurance companies don't want to pay etc.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: Etc.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: And they've been going the towers.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: From what I understand and this comes from several different towing industry sources there's been conversations and frustration on the towing industry's part was responding to heavy truck accidents for the police agencies in Connecticut and this was in June.
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: I was talking to some of them that they were talking about if they couldn't get some satisfaction.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: Several of them were thinking about basically getting out of the heavy towing business and, uh, that was gonna, maybe there's things were gonna come to a head in July.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: Anyway, they never did.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: I saw four different reports on social media from four different Connecticut towing operators that I know to them pretty well and announced that on December 23rd they are no longer no heavy truck.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: Heavy truck towing company in Connecticut is going to respond to accidents or request for service from the police.
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: So I don't know.
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: And I don't know if they're saying it's an official strike.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: I don't know what it is or not, but I I don't know if that's the right response.
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: Maybe it is.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: I don't really know about those things, but that's happening as part of the news.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: We feel an obligation to report it.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: I guess I'll have to leave a cliffhanger there.
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: We'll come back next week to hear what happens with that.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: So that's one of the things that's going on out there.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: And there's another one going on.
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this is something that's come from California, where they control how many trucks can be sold that are diesel producing.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: They all have to be new technology and it was implemented last year in California.
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: And then I guess what several other states adopted it and are adopting it January 1st of this year.
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: Who's up to?
• 14:20
  Speaker 4: So in 2025, massachusetts, new Jersey, new York, oregon and Washington State are adopting these standards and there's a couple more.
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: We'll tell you about them in a minute.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: Let me tell you a little bit more about what we're talking about.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: These standards are going to limit how many diesel trucks can be sold in california, in the states she is named.
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: For every nine diesel trucks you have to sell an electric truck.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: There are no electric trucks that will power miller anybody's rotator, anybody's flatbed, etc.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: So there's going to be this huge squeeze.
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: There's a video that we found from California.
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: The man that is being interviewed by a local California newspaper or TV station or something is Mark Batts, owner of Tow Industries, which is a Miller Industries dealer out in California.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: He goes into great detail during this interview about how this coming year because nobody can meet the heavy truck requirements to have an electric truck to sell, 80 percent less diesel trucks going to be available in California and there's a thing where, after they get 7 500 miles on them, they can be sold as a new truck to the California market.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: So that's what a lot of people are going to do.
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: But the same restrictions are coming to the states that April named.
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: They're coming to a few more in the next couple of years.
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: There's only one for what?
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: 26.
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: Who's that April?
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: That's.
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: Vermont.
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: And then for 27,.
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: Who else comes on board?
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: 2027 is Maryland, mexico, rhode Island and Colorado.
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: This is going to affect the new truck market greatly.
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: I know a couple of trailers in these affected states that have stockpiled inventory.
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: I've heard of a few dealers doing that as well.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: That's going to really change things and I encourage people to go to YouTube.
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: It's from the California Insider On YouTube.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: Again, it's a little local TV program, I guess would be the way to describe it.
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: They're talking to a gentleman from the towing industry, mark Batts.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: Apparently, his family has owned tow industries there for a couple of generations.
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: I give Mr Batts credit.
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: First of all, we're going to reach out to him and ask him to come on and talk to him.
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: But he spoke very eloquently about how the towing industry is interwoven with first responders and how he used a couple of terms that I hadn't heard before.
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: He explained to the general public how important it is for towing operators to be able to get new equipment and of course he was pretty straightforward with the majority of their business.
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: The biggest part of their business is putting a new record body on a new truck and that is going to get eaten into.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: So hopefully they can get some relief in some of the situations and if you're in one of those states, that's happening to you.
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: Better find out what's going on and get aware of it is my advice to you.
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: So that's one of the things that's going on out there.
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: What else is going on out there, april?
• 17:33
  Speaker 4: Well, it looks like New England Truck Center is on the road.
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: They just bought local competitor Matt Brown's Truck Repair, which looks like it's a good purchase for them because it was one of their competitors.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they're on the grow we actually had this news story pulled back in the summertime and didn't get to it.
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: We ran out of time and fell through the cracks, apparently because I'm trying to keep up with what's going on with consolidation out there.
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: And in June 26, there was a press release issued and Stone Road Partners consolidated with New England Truck Center.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: Stone road partners consolidated with new england truck center.
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: Um, it's an investment from the united states and it positions them in a position to continue growing and expanding operations across new england.
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: We're going to reach out to new england truck center and ask them to come in for an interview.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: The good folks, I've known them for years.
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: We'll get them to come in and talk a little bit about what they're doing as well.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: Also, we have Guardian on the grow, guardian Fleet Services out of southern Florida.
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: They acquired Isaac's Record Service out of Texas, the second terminal excuse me, second company that they bought in Texas.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: This adds 10 terminals to the existing one that they already had, giving them 11 terminals in the state of Texas.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: Basically, they've got all the way from Dallas-Fort Worth market to East Texas border, covered with the different towns they're servicing.
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: It appears they acquired the business that was started in 1999 by Keith and Sammy Isaacs, and Keith is staying on as Vice President of operations in Texas for that market, so that's another one that's on the grow, expanding their footprint greatly.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: So that's all the news we have today, dj.
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: I want to thank our listeners for listening.
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: We're getting a lot of positive feedback about this news thing, so we're going to continue at it If you've got any news please call it or reach out to us and share it with us, and we thank everybody for listening.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: Hang around until after the break.
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: We've got a great interview coming up with Ron Moore.
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: We'll be right back.
• 19:49
  Speaker 5: T-R-A-A, the Injured Drivers Fund, and legislation that makes all of us safer are what makes this industry special.
• 19:56
  Speaker 5: Ina Towing supports all of this and more.
• 20:00
  Speaker 5: When there is a need, gay Rochester is always one of the first to come forward and ask how can I help?
• 20:06
  Speaker 5: The American Towing and Recovery Institute is honored to have the support of the INA Towing Network.
• 20:12
  Speaker 5: Together, we all make a difference.
• 20:15
  Speaker 5: Ina Towing Network Simplified Solutions, superior Service.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: Welcome back listeners.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: You know you've been listening to the American Towing Recovery Institute podcast with Wes Wilburn, april Wilburn, dj Harrington and our special guest today.
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: Make sure you download and listen.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: We're available on Spotify, itunes, pandora, stitcher, iheartmedia the number one in the country Amazon or wherever you get your podcasts.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: So, without further ado, wes, I'll turn it back over to you, my friend.
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: Thank you, dj.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: I appreciate that.
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: I do appreciate our listeners.
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: The group's growing and growing and growing, so we definitely appreciate you hitting that subscribe button and making us a regular part of your weekly routine.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: We're focusing and priding ourselves on trying to become more news focused.
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: As you heard in the first segment, we're still going to do our interviews and we're glad to have a return guest.
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: Uh, ron moore has been working with us for years with higher terror cross training, been a guest on the podcast before he's.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: Uh, welcome back.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: It's going to become part of a regular segment here.
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: Ron, welcome back to the podcast.
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: Would you mind introducing yourself to those that haven't heard you before?
• 21:39
  Speaker 6: Sure, my name is Ron Moore.
• 21:41
  Speaker 6: I live in Plano, Texas, which is a suburb of Dallas.
• 21:44
  Speaker 6: I'm a retired fire chief from this metro.
• 21:47
  Speaker 6: North Dallas, North Texas, Dallas area.
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: North Dallas, North Texas, Dallas area.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: Ron and me connected just after the turn of the century because he became aware of the NFPA recommending firefighters and tellers working together.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: I guess, before we jump into that, Ron, tell us a little bit about your background, with your interest in vehicle education and whatnot, your training et cetera, if you would please.
• 22:12
  Speaker 6: Yes, sir, as if you would please.
• 22:13
  Speaker 6: Yes, sir, as a training chief.
• 22:18
  Speaker 6: As I came up through the ranks in the fire service, I was interested in fire rescue training, particularly extrication.
• 22:22
  Speaker 6: At that time back in the day it was just internal combustion engine vehicles and lately my interest has turned or twisted towards electric vehicles and the autonomous vehicles.
• 22:35
  Speaker 6: We're seeing that as a challenge to the fire and rescue services in the United States, in the world, as a matter of fact.
• 22:42
  Speaker 6: So electric vehicles EV and AV are right now got my interest.
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: And that's one of the great things.
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: You've always been on the cutting edge as technology has changed with automobiles for a couple decades now.
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: And um talk about the articles you've written over the years if you would.
• 23:01
  Speaker 6: So my writing career was uh uh with fire engineering or fire house magazine, firehousecom website, and back in the day I wrote um.
• 23:14
  Speaker 6: I wrote a monthly article each month, something related.
• 23:20
  Speaker 6: It was called the university of extrication, it was something related to vehicle rescue.
• 23:25
  Speaker 6: Every month a different aspect of vehicle rescue training.
• 23:30
  Speaker 6: What was written?
• 23:32
  Speaker 6: So my articles.
• 23:33
  Speaker 6: I wound up with 300, and I forget what it wound up being.
• 23:38
  Speaker 6: I started writing in the 70s and then it wound up being every month up until I retired and then Firehouse Magazine put me in the Hall of Fame Firehouse Hall of Fame.
• 23:49
  Speaker 6: So that worked out well.
• 23:51
  Speaker 4: You came up with over 300 articles every month.
• 24:00
  Speaker 6: Yeah, once a month.
• 24:01
  Speaker 6: The article, I would write it the second week, submit it the third week of the month.
• 24:06
  Speaker 6: It would be published then the fourth week, so it was for the next month.
• 24:11
  Speaker 6: So it was once a month for all the time since the 70s.
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: That is incredible, dj.
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: Isn't that incredible not missing a month for all those years?
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: Well, he's a very well-known guy within the fire departments.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: I wrote an article after meeting Ron Moore at one of your classes, wes.
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: I wrote an article called how to Keep them Stable Till we Get them to the Table.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: That was because of.
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: Ron Moore and I wrote the article because he was explaining to all of us in the class how vital it is to get them from the car, keep them stable till we get them to the table in the hospital.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: And that was a Ron Moore-ism, so you know.
• 25:05
  Speaker 6: Yeah, that's pretty good Doc.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: Well, you're a very gifted speaker and I'm honored to know you, because when I meet a firefighter I always say I'm dear friends with Ron Moore.
• 25:22
  Speaker 6: They go you know Ron Moore, yes, I do.
• 25:24
  Speaker 6: It's a sad world that you live in.
• 25:26
  Speaker 6: You hang around with some dangerous company.
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: Well, it's no doubt you're well-known and have educated a lot of people and, at the turn of the century, tell us about I don't know how to word it exactly, other than the NFPA and the cross-training and we Got Connected.
• 25:48
  Speaker 6: Talk about that a little bit if you would please.
• 25:49
  Speaker 6: Yeah, when you mentioned to the fire service in any community in the united states national nfpa national fire protection association is a big deal.
• 25:58
  Speaker 6: I run into fire departments that their training budget is budgeted for nfpa compliant training.
• 26:05
  Speaker 6: So if you mention in a course that the topics are compliant with or related to NFPA, it seems to ring a bell across the country among the fire and rescue community that this is good stuff.
• 26:21
  Speaker 6: This is going to help us progress and get better.
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: So we worked together and developed a course with cross-training and I've done them over what?
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: Two and a half decades, I guess now or just about that.
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: We just did a class together a couple weeks ago in South Carolina.
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: Talk to us a little bit about that, about the scenarios we chose being realistic, real-world scenarios.
• 26:50
  Speaker 6: Yeah, what I found in most fire departments is that the Class 1 vehicle which is less than 6,000 pound GVW rating, the Class 1 or maybe the Class 2, which might include a dually or a heavy civilian vehicle, is relatively easy for the fire departments to get to, is relatively easy for the fire departments to get to.
• 27:13
  Speaker 6: What they really want is what we address in the joint cross-training fire rescue and tow operators.
• 27:17
  Speaker 6: They want the large heavy vehicles.
• 27:19
  Speaker 6: They want to be able to work with them and around them.
• 27:22
  Speaker 6: So I found in studying the NFPA standards that there is a course, there are standards, a course there are standards not NFEA doesn't have a course yet, but there are standards that address this cross-training.
• 27:40
  Speaker 6: So I took what was in the legal beagle verbiage and I modified it into to be more understandable to the civilian.
• 27:48
  Speaker 6: So I came up with I think there's 16 or 17 competencies like operating, operation of a winch, estimating a vehicle weight, vehicle anatomy type stuff.
• 28:02
  Speaker 6: I came up with all these different topics that we address in cross-training, some that the fire rescue service that is in, some that the fire rescue service that is jointly in the class might understand really well and might be there.
• 28:16
  Speaker 6: Lift bags, for example, might be something that the tow operators are very addressed and very capable of addressing.
• 28:42
  Speaker 6: So Wes and I created this joint cross training program.
• 28:47
  Speaker 6: What we did in South Carolina was unusual because we had tow operators and we had fire rescue professionals.
• 28:56
  Speaker 6: So in the in the scenarios, what we did was, uh, the underride, override and then the rollover.
• 29:05
  Speaker 6: In the underride scenario, we use a class one car let's just break it down.
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: I just want to break it down just a little bit more, if I could.
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: Great information, I just want to slow it down.
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: Three scenarios that we picked.
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: What we found to be between both of our experiences interacting with fire and towing operations is the most common type of accidents.
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: That makes sense for working together.
• 29:53
  Speaker 6: So I just wanted to make that point real quick.
• 29:56
  Speaker 6: Sorry about that.
• 29:59
  Speaker 6: The scenario is set up when the responders come out and address it.
• 30:02
  Speaker 6: The scenario is that both vehicles were moving.
• 30:05
  Speaker 6: Let's say that the sedan, the four-door sedan vehicle, blew a stop sign or blew a red light and went, is now pinned under underneath a large heavy vehicle.
• 30:17
  Speaker 6: What we did in South Carolina for the joint training scenario for the under eye is we used a four-door sedan, put the driver's door, driver's side of the vehicle against the front of the rear duals, so it was obstructed, it was not accessible, but the butt end of the car, the class one car, was sticking out, so we had the tow operators go and talk about uh on a second round.
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: How many dummies do we have in the car?
• 30:48
  Speaker 6: so at least you want to simulate that.
• 30:50
  Speaker 6: It would be a driver seated and belted you.
• 30:53
  Speaker 6: You can add more smokehouse mannequins or smokehouse dummies as necessary.
• 30:57
  Speaker 6: Worst case you could put two in the front seat and two in the rear seat.
• 31:02
  Speaker 6: It would be a four-door sedan with it has four occupants inside and a scenario overall on this underride is that it is a rescue situation.
• 31:14
  Speaker 6: So what you want to accomplish in the first scenario is trunk tunneling, where the crew the fire rescue crew does maybe a task that they haven't ever done before or haven't ever considered trunk tunneling.
• 31:27
  Speaker 6: They'll open the trunk lid, take out the back window, take out the back speaker deck and work your way in so that the overall goal is to create a pathway out the back end of the Class 1 vehicle.
• 31:42
  Speaker 6: Then also, depending on how you position that class one vehicle underneath the tractor, trailer truck, the passenger side would be completely empty.
• 31:51
  Speaker 6: So you can have after stabilization which is a skill that responders need to understand after stabilization of the large heavy vehicle, they actually commit some of their rescue crews underneath it to open the front door and remove it, open the rear door and remove it and open the B pillar and remove that on the passenger side.
• 32:13
  Speaker 6: Then what we did, what the next step of that scenario is really easy to do.
• 32:19
  Speaker 6: Either the fire department can use a winch equipped vehicle or the tow operator can use a winch-equipped vehicle, or the tow operator can use a winch-equipped vehicle with a pulley and a change of direction to winch the class one, lift the class eight tractor-trailer, truck trailer, let's say up, then winch the vehicle out from underneath enough that both sides are now exposed, and then the fire rescue people actually get four doors and and two b pillars to work on to get the car opened up and of course, all this moving of the car and whatnot has worked between the towing operator and the fire uh rescue personnel on the scene, and it's all under the coordination of the two groups, with the uh rescue organization being the one making the final call.
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: So I just don't want to.
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: I want to paint the picture of what a controlled circumstances this is.
• 33:13
  Speaker 6: Yes, wes, it's all controlled and also the leader of one discipline talks directly and meets directly face toface with the leader of the second discipline.
• 33:24
  Speaker 6: So all the grunt work may be done by people in the trenches, but the setup work and the command and control work is done at the highest level coordinated.
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, ron.
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: Good stuff.
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: I want to talk some more about what we did there in South Carolina.
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, we should mention that it's available on some directors' YouTube channels.
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: I only seen a piece of it.
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: I need to sit down one evening and watch the whole thing, but can you hang around until after the break?
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: We'll talk more about what we did there a couple weeks ago in South Carolina and we'll also talk a little bit about what's coming up.
• 34:01
  Speaker 6: Yeah, we got override and rollover scenarios to discuss.
• 34:04
  Speaker 6: Go for it.
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: All right, We'll be listening to this.
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: Hang around.
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: Good tease into the next section around.
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: We'll be right back listeners.
• 34:15
  Speaker 5: Information in this podcast is made possible by generous sponsorship from Henry's Wrecker, serving the community with quality towing and recovery for over 40 years.
• 34:24
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• 36:25
  Speaker 5: We look forward to serving you.
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: You are listening to the American Tone Recovery Institute podcast with Wes Wilburn, april Wilburn, dj Harrington and our renowned guest, ron Moore.
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: Remember to like, review and share everywhere.
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: If you'd like to hear another professional like a Ron Moore, by all means the hotline number 706-409-5603.
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: 706-409-5603.
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: And Wes, april and I will do our best to get that professional on the hotline Now.
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: Before we took our break, we were talking about discussing rollover and override.
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: So, wes, I'll turn it back over to you and Ron Moore.
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: Thanks, dj.
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we were talking about the training that me and Ron Moore just did in Sumner, south Carolina.
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: We talked about some of the scenarios, or the first scenario that we did.
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: Ron, go ahead and talk about, uh, the next scenario, if you would please in the joint training.
• 37:32
  Speaker 6: There are a bunch of different setups that the toll operator, whoever is in charge of the toll agency and whoever is in charge of the fire rescue agency can work together to set up the.
• 37:44
  Speaker 6: The three that we like are the underride, the override and then the rollover.
• 37:49
  Speaker 6: The override is essentially the class one car with the mannequin seated and belted inside is stopped and is stationary.
• 37:59
  Speaker 6: And then the large heavy vehicle, let's say a tractor, trailer truck, came down a hill or whatever and could not stop in time and overrode the smaller vehicle underneath.
• 38:12
  Speaker 6: So you want to make sure that in the positioning that the front tire, front axle of the large heavy vehicle, let's say a truck that we're using, is somehow causing obstructions to get the patients out of the class one vehicle that's underneath.
• 38:27
  Speaker 6: Then in the rollover, the third scenario that is really very relevant and I hear all the time these scenarios are relevant, that we could have these at any time and that is a home run for Wes and I.
• 38:42
  Speaker 6: That means that what we're setting up in our mind matches what is real world in that community.
• 38:48
  Speaker 6: So in the rollover all you want is a large heavy vehicle that has rolled over and in the setup that you're thinking they were passing each other one traveling in one direction, one traveling in the other direction and the large heavy vehicle could not make the turn or curve and cross over and rolled onto.
• 39:10
  Speaker 6: You want to obstruct the driver's side.
• 39:13
  Speaker 6: Sometimes what has happened in that scenario is the class one vehicle, with the occupants with the mannequins underneath, scoots out from underneath and it doesn't crush down.
• 39:24
  Speaker 6: So sometimes the tow operators need to get a machine in there and pre-crush or pre-damage the vehicle.
• 39:33
  Speaker 6: But importantly, it's the driver's side of the large heavy vehicle that rolls over onto the driver's side of the class one car, the civilian vehicle.
• 39:44
  Speaker 6: Yeah, in that scenario we just we leave the incident.
• 39:48
  Speaker 6: What you see is what you get.
• 39:50
  Speaker 6: The passenger side is typically exposed.
• 39:52
  Speaker 6: So they have to stabilize the large heavy rollover vehicle, get the work done on the class one vehicle to simulate what they would do in a real world situation.
• 40:01
  Speaker 6: Yeah, normally in that situation we'll take the weight off the vehicle and clear the seat on the class one vehicle to simulate what they would do in a real world situation?
• 40:04
  Speaker 2: yeah, normally in that situation we'll take the weight off the vehicle and clear the seat, clear the car out or remove the heavy vehicle, completely depending on the situation.
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a real good description of the different scenarios that we do.
• 40:17
  Speaker 2: We also focus on uh, when we try to set these things up, we focus on getting a class, a truck, a, a school bus, firefighters to cut up Talk about the rarity of rescue personnel getting to do that type of operations and the have a large, heavy vehicle.
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: What NFPA describes?
• 40:38
  Speaker 6: as a large heavy vehicle to work on.
• 40:51
  Speaker 6: So class three, class four, all the way up to class eight, they would have the ability to solve the problem, the problems that you set up in your class on the class one vehicle, which is unfortunately is quite routine anymore, and then, by having the joint training taken place, the tow operator would describe the anatomy.
• 41:18
  Speaker 6: Let's say, we're going to use a school bus that's rolled over onto a mannequin, pinned underneath, so the the school bus anatomy, vehicle anatomy, is addressed and then the fire department gets to actually work on that bus or that truck, whatever, whatever you might have the large heavy vehicle that is being provided in the rollover, one of the scenarios that we find that is very valuable, not to really and not talking about cutting up, but it's the mixer, the cement mixer, the concrete mixer, where you show them and explain that the tow operators are aware of the fact that whether it's a front load or a rear load, cement mixer or concrete truck, it is the drum is held on essentially by gravity.
• 42:06
  Speaker 6: So in a rollover scenario you can basically show how the tow operators would come there, they would understand the anatomy of the duels and how the drum is held on and they would then go for the lift.
• 42:22
  Speaker 6: My experience with the fire department doing a rollover if that's the one scenario that you want to do, the rollover scenario to lift to get maybe six or nine inches of separation distance between a rollover large heavy vehicle like a mixer onto the civilian vehicle might be 90 minutes.
• 42:41
  Speaker 6: For the fire rescue to use whatever resources they have, the tow operator can come in with either an integrated or a rotator and they can show that in less than 20 minutes on scene time I can set the jacks, I can set the boom, I can set the lines and I can secure the vehicle up to the point where I can put it in midair if needed be.
• 43:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely.
• 43:05
  Speaker 2: That's a wonderful example of something that spelling and recovery and rescue personnel working together on to make sure it works out and, like you said, very challenging for the rescue people by themselves.
• 43:17
  Speaker 2: So we got some exciting stuff coming up.
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: Ron's going to be a regular guest on the podcast.
• 43:22
  Speaker 2: Exciting stuff coming up.
• 43:23
  Speaker 2: Ron's going to be a regular guest on the podcast.
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: We're also working on totally revamping the alternate fuel and electric vehicle program.
• 43:30
  Speaker 2: We'll have some big announcements of that coming up in just about a week.
• 43:33
  Speaker 2: April we didn't talk about this is the Christmas episode.
• 43:39
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it is a Christmas episode, the last one of 2024 too.
• 43:43
  Speaker 4: Yep, it's a Christmas episode, the last one of 2024, too.
• 43:48
  Speaker 4: Yep, it's a Christmas episode, and our first new, revamped relaunch will be actual January the 1st.
• 43:53
  Speaker 2: Yep, we're going to start recording every Wednesday.
• 43:57
  Speaker 2: And what was it?
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: 1 o'clock, 1 o'clock 1 o'clock.
• 44:01
  Speaker 2: And we're going to turn these programs out quicker.
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: We're're gonna get them to where they're almost gonna be live, almost live, within 24 hours.
• 44:10
  Speaker 4: There'll be a turnaround.
• 44:11
  Speaker 4: So the easy way to remember it is january the first, at one o'clock that's right.
• 44:18
  Speaker 2: So we're excited about what ron's doing with us and with us, and what we've developed together.
• 44:24
  Speaker 2: And Ron, I tell you, is a real gem and a resource to not only the fire rescue community, the selling industry as well.
• 44:31
  Speaker 2: With his information and research he's provided over the years very generously.
• 44:37
  Speaker 2: So we've got some big things coming up, don't we, Ron?
• 44:40
  Speaker 6: Yes, yes, we do.
• 44:41
  Speaker 6: And what was unusual about the South Carolina program was the high level of competency existing level of competency of the participants in the class.
• 44:51
  Speaker 6: They really knew their work and they worked well together with the TOA agency.
• 44:56
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 44:58
  Speaker 4: Sumter's first class, Sumter Fire Department and Sumterter record first class acts anyway yeah, they really.
• 45:05
  Speaker 6: They really showed that to me as I travel around the country.
• 45:08
  Speaker 6: I see the differences and I see some that you're pushing to try to get to participate and and it was all we could do to keep up with the participants in that class in south carolina that's right.
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: That's good that you recognize that, ron.
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: I appreciate that anybody listening would like to consider booking a class with me and Ron coming in and working with the towing operators and the firefighters.
• 45:30
  Speaker 2: Give us a call here at the office, 910-747-9000.
• 45:35
  Speaker 2: Or reach out to me, one of the many ways that we reach.
• 45:41
  Speaker 4: EJ, would you like to leave us a final note?
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: Yes To the new year, and the new Christmas, especially all of our listeners and we have a ton of them, ron, I want all of our listeners to mark their calendar in 2025 that every Wednesday at 1 o'clock we will be doing this podcast and within 24 hours it'll be on their doorstep in whatever favorite podcast mode they take.
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: So I wanted to leave, but I called Chuck.
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: Now get ready, wes, when I tell you this.
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: I want you guys.
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: It's called the Flight of 2025.
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: Now here's how it goes.
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: Make believe you're on an airplane and for you, ron Moore, that won't be a problem.
• 46:33
  Speaker 6: I got you.
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: Okay, so get ready.
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: Good morning and welcome to Flight 2025.
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: We're prepared for takeoff into the new year 25.
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: We're prepared for takeoff into the new year.
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: Please make sure your positive attitude and gratitude are secured and locked in the upright position.
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: All self-destructive devices pity, anger, selfishness, pride, resentment should be turned off at this time.
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: All negativity, hurt, discouragement should be put away.
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: Should you lose your positive attitude under pressure during this flight, reach up and pull down on prayer.
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: Prayer always will automatically be activated by faith.
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: Once your faith is activated, you can assist the other passengers who are of little faith.
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: There will be no baggage allowed on this flight.
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: God, our captain has cleared us for takeoff.
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: Destination greatness, Wishing you a happy new year filled with new hope, new joy, new blessings.
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: Stay blessed and welcome to 2025.
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: How's?
• 47:52
  Speaker 4: that Very, very good.
• 47:54
  Speaker 4: Did you write that yourself, DJ?
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: No, some guy wrote that years ago and I just switched it to this year.
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: That years ago and I just switched it to this year.
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: They wrote it years ago and I thought you know what?
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: I'll just make it like 2025 instead of 2010.
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: yeah, it was.
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: It's a good one, and I was trying to sound like a pilot on an airplane, because all of us, you know, have gone through it and, of course, there's going to be a lot of people traveling this holiday season.
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: Now, with the new president coming in, more and more businesses are getting activated and thank you so much for building this to be the number one podcast in the touring and recovery industry.
• 48:44
  Speaker 4: As of right now, DJ, we're over 16,000 listeners.
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and you guys, because of social media and because Wes has a lot of dear friends that have promoted this, and that's the reason why it's the number one listened podcast in the industry and it's a real gift and I'm proud to be part of you guys.
• 49:06
  Speaker 4: april and wesley, I'm very proud we are very proud to be with you too, dj.
• 49:11
  Speaker 2: This is definitely an honor well, it is an honor and I appreciate everybody, including our listeners.
• 49:18
  Speaker 2: Thank you, folks, for listening.
• 49:20
  Speaker 2: Have a great christmas.
• 49:22
  Speaker 2: This will drop right at christmas time and our next one, our next one, will be right at the first of the year with a basically a changing format, as you're seeing.
• 49:31
  Speaker 2: Thanks for listening.
• 49:34
  Speaker 2: Hey, merry christmas, happy holidays you.