Latest / Towing News Now / From Tragedy to Advocacy: The Story of Keegan Spencer

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From Tragedy to Advocacy: The Story of Keegan Spencer · Towing News Now

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Welcome one and all to the American Towing Recovery Institute podcast.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: This is a special podcast today.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Remember, this podcast is really your podcast.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: It's to promote safety, education, positive public relations and networking within the professional and business-minded Towing Recovery industry.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: I'm your co-host, dj Harrington, better known as the co-doctor, and I'm honored to have a 40-year Towing Industry veteran as the co-host of this program, the founder of American Towing Recovery Institute, wes Wilburn Wes, this is a very special podcast and I commend you for bringing it to everyone's attention, so I'll turn it over to you, my friend.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: Thanks, DJ.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: We have, as you said, a very special but also a somber podcast today with a guest that's very close to the one situation we all know about, Keegan Spencer, and we're going to talk about that.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: It's going to be the subject of today's podcast.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: But you know, DJ, I'm also disheartened because just Sunday night, apparently, I'm looking through three or four different depths and I'm looking at the one that I'm talking about.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: But in.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: Iowa on Sunday night.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: The person got arrested Monday morning at 3 am in Iowa.
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: A drunk driver was driving a tractor trailer.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: Smelled Paul's breath, didn't walk straight line.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: A drunk driver in a tractor trailer clipped and killed a Towing Operator.
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: And here's the problem.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: I got somebody in mark to print them out and get them figured out, which was which.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: We have Georgia.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: That happened right there by you guys.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: I think it was the third death in Georgia.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: I should have a better control of my facts and figures here, but I think people give the message.
• 2:09
  Speaker 4: The following clip is from the Federal Highway Administration Traffic Incident Management Report dated 2012.
• 2:16
  Speaker 5: All of us have public safety responsibilities In managing traffic incidents.
• 2:20
  Speaker 5: We have an obvious obligation to the people involved, but we also have a responsibility to motorists to prevent secondary crashes and reduce delays.
• 2:28
  Speaker 5: Finally, we must remember that our safety and that of fellow responders should always be a primary consideration.
• 2:35
  Speaker 5: From the major multi-vehicle crash on a busy freeway to the disabled vehicle on the shoulder of a local street, the need for traffic incident management is apparent.
• 2:44
  Speaker 5: The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial is located in Washington DC.
• 2:48
  Speaker 5: The FBI tracks officer deaths nationally.
• 2:51
  Speaker 5: Over 24 years, 278 law enforcement officers were struck and killed by vehicles.
• 2:57
  Speaker 5: That averages out to one officer killed each month.
• 3:01
  Speaker 5: The fire service has a similar memorial in Emmitsburg, maryland, where it honors those firefighters who have made the supreme sacrifice, including five killed and struck by incidents in 2010.
• 3:13
  Speaker 5: The International Toeing Hall of Fame and Museum in Chattanooga, tennessee, memorializes those killed performing the important tasks of that profession An average of one every six days.
• 3:23
  Speaker 5: An average of 23 highway workers were struck and killed by vehicles each month in 2010.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: So we've all heard that statistic that comes from the Federal Highway Administration video.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: That's just a short clip from the video.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: But now I've listened to the facts that MSNBC came up with and I hate to quote the CNBC, cnbc A study they did that involved a toad that many of us know on a national level, linda Underwood, that hurt the death of her son, bobby, and they call it some surprising statistics.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: So listen to that as well.
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: Roadside assistance.
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: It's a valuable service but a deadly business.
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports accidents are the leading cause of death for tow truck drivers and according to the CDC, at least 43 truck drivers die per 100,000 workers.
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: For all other private industries combined, that number is only about three.
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: Every state of the nation has a move over law in effect, all of them.
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: That means drivers are required to slow down and change lanes when they approach an emergency vehicle that stopped on the side.
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: But according to a recent survey, nearly a quarter of all drivers say they don't know there's any law about move over and more than 40% say they didn't know.
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: Failure to move over is only somewhat or not dangerous at all to roadside emergency workers, and they were wrong.
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: Now a grieving mother is trying to change that.
• 4:47
  Speaker 7: Drivers who refused to slow down and move over the tractor trailer that it was oncoming, hit the door of my tow truck and that took Bobby airborne Tragedy hit Linda Unruh's family hard.
• 5:00
  Speaker 6: Hers is a tow family.
• 5:01
  Speaker 6: She was one of the first women licensed for a tow truck in New Mexico, her children riding alongside, as she responded on Interstate 40.
• 5:10
  Speaker 6: Her son, bobby, joined the family business and took his own kids along for the ride.
• 5:16
  Speaker 7: But one day when it took Bobby airborne.
• 5:18
  Speaker 7: Bobby's head hit the mirror of the 18 wheeler that was coming towards them, and then the truck ran over him.
• 5:27
  Speaker 6: The police say a tow truck operator is killed responding to a roadside emergency on average every other week.
• 5:34
  Speaker 6: And then there are the police officers, medics and motorists.
• 5:38
  Speaker 6: Since 2015, 1600 people have been struck and killed outside a disabled vehicle.
• 5:44
  Speaker 8: The reality is that when you know motorists are traveling down the road at 70 miles per hour and do not slow down and move over to provide space for these workers to do their jobs, they run the risk of clipping them right off at the side of the road, which is exactly what happens.
• 6:03
  Speaker 6: Linda Unruh channeled her fury and grief into action, fighting to get a moveover law passed in New Mexico.
• 6:09
  Speaker 6: It's called Bobby's Law.
• 6:12
  Speaker 7: It changes lives forever, and he was my only son.
• 6:19
  Speaker 6: Linda told me she blames distracted driving, look these devices for preventable deaths.
• 6:25
  Speaker 6: But she also says apps like Waze can show you, warn you, that disabled vehicles are ahead on the shoulder.
• 6:31
  Speaker 6: So that could help prevent tragedies like the death of her son, as long as drivers just pay attention and then obey the law and just move over.
• 6:40
  Speaker 6: Chef.
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: Move over, Contessa.
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: So the first set of numbers we've all heard been here for years, the ones that we've six days, the second number, boy, the number.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: What impressed me about the number was the number, the percentage of workers killed for a hundred thousand workers.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: The second part was they put a number for all the deaths that happened on the side of the road.
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: I found that I found counts before for the towers, the police, the fire, et cetera, even different.
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: You know, DOT workers are accounted for, but never the citizens and bystanders that are sometimes involved, so those numbers are staggering.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: We put both those clips on our website, set our website downloadable for free and share them on your social media so that somebody in your friend group that loves and cares about you is a tower of emergency responders who every hour are listening to this podcast.
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: Put that out there in your social media so someone you love maybe they take a second look at the side of the road worker because they have a relationship with you.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: So, DJ, I know I've run a little wrong on this and I apologize.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: We've got a great guest for today, so we're going to have a quick break after listening to Hang Around and we'll be right back.
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: The folks at Purpose Record are record specialists.
• 8:07
  Speaker 4: They don't get bogged down with other types of sales like cars, assorted equipment or snow plows.
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: Purpose Record exclusively specializes in towing and hauling From parts in service to financing.
• 8:20
  Speaker 4: They remain focused on providing the best service and customer care to the towing and hauling industry.
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: Even in these trying times, purpose Record works hard to meet the needs of its customers.
• 8:30
  Speaker 4: They are the preferred distributor in North America for purchasing towing and recovery equipment.
• 8:36
  Speaker 4: For more information, visit them on the web at PurposeRecordcom, or speak to a specialist by calling 636-639-9700.
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: That's 636-639-9700.
• 8:50
  Speaker 4: Celebrating 40 years in the towing industry that's PurposeRecordcom.
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: Information in this podcast is made possible by generous sponsorship from Henry's Record, serving the community with quality towing and recovery for over 40 years.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: You have been listening to the American Towing Recovery Institute podcast with Wes Wilburn and DJ Harrington this is a special podcast.
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: This is something that we need to talk about in our industry Each and every week.
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: We do our best to give you informative episodes like this one.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: Make sure you download and listen.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: You're available on Spotify, itunes, andora, google Play, stitcher, iheartmedia, amazon or wherever you get your podcast.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: I am especially concerned, as our listeners are, for all of these statistics Wes, so let me pass the baton over to you.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: Our guest today was intimately involved with the recent funeral of a well-known teller and, hopefully, with the movement and the outpouring of the hoof of a while the connection between survivor at the top and the 比 carry.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: The concern that we had was both the young women and the women serving the, both young similar to see situations where both of them have taken a bigger, bigger role in their family business as a generational thing.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: It's been very interesting to see.
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: But Young man doesn't from what I find so peaceful about.
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: There's a real good guy out there, very professional, totally.
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: He's part of that age group that was dated, networked together.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: Dj, they talk country, they talk Travis.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: Is true, gentlemen, travis, go ahead and introduce yourself.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: I was starting to mention how you were supposed to be with me last weekend, but we'll tell that part of the story later.
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: If you'd introduce yourself.
• 11:18
  Speaker 9: Travis True first towing and recovery in Dubajec, michigan.
• 11:22
  Speaker 9: I'm actually the fourth generation of our business.
• 11:26
  Speaker 9: I've grown up in the towing industry riding in tow trucks since I was about five years old and really took a liking to just riding around in those big, shiny trucks and wanted to be just like the old man.
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: And then to tell us about that how did you get started getting involved with the family business as an operator, where you're at today with the family business?
• 11:56
  Speaker 9: So I just kind of started riding around with dad and the guys Just always wanted to be a part and always be with dad.
• 12:03
  Speaker 9: Those long hours not being home and around, and it was just a way for me to be with dad.
• 12:09
  Speaker 9: And little did I know that I would fall in love with this industry, the people in it, the people being able to help people on their worst days and bring just a little bit of satisfaction to that and comfort knowing that there's somebody there to help them along the way of that difficult day.
• 12:32
  Speaker 9: And one thing kind of led to another and I really took a liking to it.
• 12:36
  Speaker 9: And then I met Wes, started taking training classes more serious and with that it grew me as an operator so I could work my way up the ladder to where I am today and being able to run a 60 ton rotator side by side with my dad with his 60 ton rotator and just really taking our business to the next level.
• 13:01
  Speaker 9: Never really thought that we would be to this point, but now that I figured out that together we can accomplish anything, you can climb to the top just keeps driving me to do better, keep helping people, and naturally that's what I like to do is just help people on their worst days and really take care of them, because, at the end of the day, they take care of me and take care of my family by putting food on my table.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: Absolutely very well said.
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: So for those that don't know the story of K Constructor, tell us the story of what happened and, I guess, start there and then go backwards a little bit after what happened and what happened.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: I do want to know how you met him originally.
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: Start out with what happened.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: I can't imagine somebody who says hi can't stop.
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: No, hey, they don't tell us the story, please.
• 13:56
  Speaker 9: Well, saturday morning, just like any other day, keegan got up, got in his tow truck to go to work.
• 14:03
  Speaker 9: But that Saturday was just a little bit different.
• 14:06
  Speaker 9: He had a 15 month old daughter with him and they were just going to go move a couple cars and a nice easy day, nothing too crazy.
• 14:16
  Speaker 9: He was driving down the highway.
• 14:21
  Speaker 9: From what I've been told, what I've heard from the police agencies and stuff, and involved is there was a dog in the median playing in the interstate there.
• 14:31
  Speaker 9: So he pulled his truck into the center turnaround of the median to accompany this dog and get the dog out of the road to prevent any traffic incidents.
• 14:44
  Speaker 9: Sounds like traffic was backing up a little bit in different directions with the people coming around, the dog running around.
• 14:49
  Speaker 9: All those details are still kind of fuzzy a little bit, but it sounds like he stopped his truck, went to get out of the truck.
• 14:58
  Speaker 9: Vehicle coming down the roadway lost control, either due to the traffic backing up or something of that effect.
• 15:06
  Speaker 9: Maybe the animal running into the road again, not 100% sure.
• 15:10
  Speaker 9: Vehicle left the roadway come down through the median and as Keegan stepped around from the front of his truck he was struck, carrying him quite a distance, down the roadway or down the median rather and he was pronounced deceased at the scene after some efforts to try and save his life, but unfortunately he had passed.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: Wow and how was he?
• 15:45
  Speaker 9: He was 25 years old.
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: So I heard about the child and I didn't realize it was.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: What did you say?
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: 14 months old?
• 15:55
  Speaker 9: 15 months, if I'm not mistaken.
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and just have to help somebody, help somebody out of the goodness of his heart.
• 16:07
  Speaker 9: Also, that's a lot to take care of you know, but that's the person he was and it didn't matter if it was a stranded motorist just trying to change a flat tire on the side of the road.
• 16:20
  Speaker 9: If it was a fellow tower, if you were on the side of the road he would always stop.
• 16:26
  Speaker 9: Or if it was one of the guys you need to pick up the phone and say, hey, man, you need a hand, and he was there.
• 16:34
  Speaker 9: It didn't matter if it took him an extra 20 minutes out of his day.
• 16:38
  Speaker 9: He would stop to make sure somebody else's day was better.
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: Well that's just a lot of work to do and I just let him go into the class.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: Remember, remember the name.
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: So that's, at that point you'll have to remember someone's name.
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: At this point it means something that you know.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: They stood out of the class a little bit, or whatever.
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: I remember being real involved.
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: How did you, how did you meet him?
• 17:10
  Speaker 9: So a little bit through social media we met and then he transported a lot for copart and one day he ended up at our at our facility picking up some cars for copart and we started talking and exchanged information and then it led to more times of him coming to our yard.
• 17:30
  Speaker 9: He'd always like coming down and looking at our equipment and hanging out with me and stuff, or even if he was just passing through he got to the point where he'd just swing in if he had a few moments and say, hey, how's it going.
• 17:42
  Speaker 9: And that just progressed over the years.
• 17:47
  Speaker 9: I would say him and I have probably been friends for going on seven or eight years Not a super long time, but, you know, a time to build something really great.
• 17:58
  Speaker 9: And as he come up in his career and as I advanced in my career, I was kind of the guy he leaned on a little bit.
• 18:08
  Speaker 9: When he had a question, when it would come to regarding the rigging or towing a vehicle or he needed somebody in this area of the state and he just didn't know that part quite yet, he'd call me.
• 18:20
  Speaker 9: Then it got to the point, as our friendship became, that I was calling him.
• 18:26
  Speaker 9: Hey, what's going on over here.
• 18:28
  Speaker 9: Do you know where?
• 18:29
  Speaker 9: I have a customer in need of assistance over here.
• 18:31
  Speaker 9: What do you think would be best suited for that?
• 18:35
  Speaker 9: Because he became a kid that was so well connected in the towing industry in this state and even other states.
• 18:44
  Speaker 9: I know his dad talked a lot about a trip to Florida.
• 18:48
  Speaker 9: He went on and they had some car problems and he called Keegan up and he said I'll call you right back.
• 18:55
  Speaker 9: And he called like 15, 20 minutes, a record pulled up.
• 18:58
  Speaker 9: He made some calls within 15, 20 minutes, even all the way down in Florida.
• 19:03
  Speaker 9: He had a record there to help somebody, right, that's the role that he took and I think I took a liking to that because he was always willing to help somebody.
• 19:13
  Speaker 9: He was very determined, dedicated to his job and I find myself in that same realm of just being dedicated to this industry and doing well and helping people.
• 19:27
  Speaker 9: But I will say his motivation to be somebody, to be the best that there can be and no-transcript, there's no match to that.
• 19:43
  Speaker 9: He was the most motivated and dedicated person I think I've ever met when it comes to driving a tow truck, operating the tow truck all the way around the towing community.
• 19:56
  Speaker 9: There's just nothing that compares to that.
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: Let's start here.
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: Well, I know that motivation is few and far between nowadays.
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: Now he had just started his own business, right?
• 20:15
  Speaker 9: He had partnered with a longtime friend with a company called Tohzilla Towing and Recovery.
• 20:23
  Speaker 9: They were actually up in Middleville, michigan there, going on four to six weeks in the business.
• 20:31
  Speaker 9: I know there was quite some time there leading up to making that leap.
• 20:35
  Speaker 9: And partnering is being an owner operator of Tohzilla.
• 20:39
  Speaker 9: But he was finally making those moves from being just an employee because he wanted to be somebody and he always told everyone that he wanted to be just like me.
• 20:54
  Speaker 9: One day he was going to have a rotator and he was going to be just as good as me.
• 20:57
  Speaker 9: He never told me to come right out and told me that directly and I never would have believed it.
• 21:03
  Speaker 9: But at his funeral last Saturday we kind of conversated with lots of people.
• 21:11
  Speaker 9: That became a really top subject and to me that was very humbling To look at him as a close friend and a brother and see how determined and how dedicated he was to the Tohling industry and say that I was one of his role models.
• 21:24
  Speaker 9: That is very humbling to me and I would have never thought that.
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: I can only imagine how humbling that is.
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: It just lets the story more and more tragic.
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: I want to talk about the funeral and talk about some things going on past that.
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: Take a quick break, we'll be right back.
• 21:51
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• 22:57
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• 23:00
  Speaker 4: We look forward to serving you.
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: All right, sorry about the quick break, travis, I appreciate you being here and sharing your all emotions with us.
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: I really appreciate that.
• 23:14
  Speaker 9: It's a pleasure to be here.
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: You went to the funeral last week.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: Tell us about the session.
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: Tell the listeners about everything.
• 23:28
  Speaker 9: So a short time ago he and I were talking and I know there was some other people he was involved with and talked to A very well-known toweer in the state of Michigan passed away, dave Phelps.
• 23:43
  Speaker 9: Dave was a very strong role model in Keegan's life, always looked up to him, find the business side that's the guy he wanted to be as a business owner and even to the extent of that second father, the second father figure, kind of taking him under his wing and mentoring him to that extent.
• 24:05
  Speaker 9: After attending days, sooner or later there was a large tow truck procession and Keegan told a lot of us that if something ever happens to me, I want this right here, but I want it bigger, I want it way bigger.
• 24:21
  Speaker 9: Little did I know that within just a few months after that weeks rather they wouldn't be with us anymore.
• 24:32
  Speaker 9: So with the help of the towing community and other towers in the state of Michigan and the family, we put together a tow truck procession and started shooting for the moon and just wanted as many trucks as we could get really pushing for that number 300.
• 24:56
  Speaker 9: That's why I wanted to be with 300, because I've never heard of another procession reaching over that 300 mark.
• 25:03
  Speaker 9: So as time went on, I started reaching out to more people, which led to them reaching out to people.
• 25:16
  Speaker 9: Social media really blew it up.
• 25:19
  Speaker 9: Before I knew it, there was people from Florida, tennessee, kansas, wyoming, colorado, pennsylvania, new Jersey, new York reaching out.
• 25:32
  Speaker 9: What can we do?
• 25:33
  Speaker 9: And at that point it became overwhelming.
• 25:39
  Speaker 9: It's like I never expected this and we led into the procession and worked with the police departments and local fire departments and even the city workers there to start closing down streets because we just didn't know what we were going to do with all these tow trucks.
• 25:58
  Speaker 9: We kind of planned for that 300 number and I think we have counts from anywhere from 400 to almost 600, still waiting for a confirmation back from a drone company that was flying around.
• 26:14
  Speaker 9: They're combing all their footage trying to get us an exact count of how many we ended up with, but between a photographer and some photographs we're in that 590 range.
• 26:27
  Speaker 9: There was somebody at the entrance to the church, where the destination of that procession, counting trucks as they either pulled in or parked along the road, and they were 372.
• 26:39
  Speaker 9: But I was later told that there was a lot of vehicles that when they got to the church they either turned down a different side street, parked down the road, walked in.
• 26:50
  Speaker 9: Or there were some companies that just couldn't stick around for the services to tend to other calls and still take care of the communities around them but still wanted to be a part of that actual procession.
• 27:03
  Speaker 9: So to me to kind of stand behind that and just keep sharing it, keep making phone calls and reach out to all these different people say, hey, I need your help.
• 27:13
  Speaker 9: I want to make this as big as I can.
• 27:14
  Speaker 9: Can you reach out to the 10 towers around you?
• 27:17
  Speaker 9: That's pretty much all I did is just put the word out and say, hey, can you guys do your thing?
• 27:24
  Speaker 9: I need some help.
• 27:26
  Speaker 9: I need to get everybody come together.
• 27:28
  Speaker 9: And I didn't partake in the procession.
• 27:31
  Speaker 9: I stayed at the church so as the trucks come in I could help get everybody parked and try to cram as many trucks in that parking lot as we could.
• 27:38
  Speaker 9: And I turned to the funeral director at one point and I says, man, we're running out of room quick and there's already trucks parked on the street and they're still coming.
• 27:47
  Speaker 9: We could still see them a half a mile down the road.
• 27:50
  Speaker 9: They just kept coming and I later found out from the police departments and the city workers that the almost two and a half to three miles of road that they had blocked off and parking lots for us to stage trucks in.
• 28:06
  Speaker 9: We actually overflowed that onto other city streets and other parking lots were just packed.
• 28:13
  Speaker 9: You couldn't get any other truck.
• 28:14
  Speaker 9: From the very end of where the procession started in a straight line to the very front of the line was almost three miles.
• 28:22
  Speaker 9: We filled every side street and parking lot in between.
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: I've seen big tow trucks.
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: You know I've never seen anything close to that.
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: That's how standing the community came out.
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: That's really heartbreaking.
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: How was he?
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: Did we say that?
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he was 25 years old.
• 28:43
  Speaker 9: Had a 14-month-old daughter with him.
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: His mother.
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: I read the poster the child's mother, his wife.
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: He wrote about losing a lover's life and how he was excited about taking the daughter with him, grab the diaper bag enthusiastically, take the child along on the tow truck, take the diapers and everything that's serious right there.
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: I mean it just breaks my heart.
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: And again we've got this ongoing situation and I just can't stress enough to everybody listening stay on that nine, get on that nine-traveled side as much as possible.
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: Let me repeat, get on that nine-traveled side as much as possible.
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: And when you're on the top of the side, have your head on the swivel.
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: God bless, we just got to get the word out, get more people paying attention, and it's so disheartening, like I said that they had the situation in Iowa and just had one in Atlanta, and it just goes on and on and on and on the scene.
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: So, travis, I want to talk a little bit about what we're doing.
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: Moving forward, Me and Travis are going to work together on a little project.
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: I've done these before.
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: I did raise a lot of money for the Survivor Fund over the years, doing what I'm about to talk about.
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: So we're going to do it again to benefit the family of Kagan Spencer, I'll come up with some old sliders that might be of interest to people in the tele-industry.
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: Some of them are old, some of them are new.
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: I guess most of them are old as I think about it.
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: But we're going to put them on an auction.
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: On Toe Force Network that's the old Toe Force one, ryan Parris I'm putting it on there because I've done it there before and he's back in control of the site.
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: The message board it works real well.
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: Facebook we don't got control of it.
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: I don't want to be halfway through an auction.
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: Mark Zuckerberg doesn't like it or something cancels it.
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: So we're going to do an old-fashioned auction.
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: We're going to get this up listed by Thursday this week.
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: We've got 10 items.
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: If you like the item, bid on it.
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: If you win the bid, the auction will end December 7th at 10 pm Eastern Standard Time.
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: Again, that's December 7th at 10 pm Eastern Standard.
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: However, the highest bid is wins it.
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: While the rules clearly spelled out that'd be about, I could say, eight or 10 items were going to auction off.
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: Once you win the item on that Monday, travis is going to take over.
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: You're going to pay him, you're going to have to pay shipping on the item and then, once Travis is the one with your payment, we're going to ship it to you.
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: We have the item here in our possession, so we're going to control the front house of the house.
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: Travis is going to sell it back out.
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: We're going to raise some money.
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: We'll have a little fund to raise some money for this family.
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: 100% of the proceeds of this operation will go to this family.
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: Nobody's getting paid, nobody's making a penny.
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: Travis is donating his time and energy and we're donating a little part of it as well.
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: So we're going to have that going on Also, there's a GoFundMe page Travis.
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: What else can you talk about at long res lives?
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: What can you share?
• 31:57
  Speaker 9: I know at this point in time we're just trying to get as much money together as we can for the family.
• 32:06
  Speaker 9: He was the main source of the income of the household and, as we know, everybody has a mortgage payment, there's car payments, there's all these bills to take care of and with the kids and with his fiance not working, I just want to give as much cushion to them as we can for whatever she may need.
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: Is there a GoFundMe setup?
• 32:32
  Speaker 9: There is a GoFundMe setup.
• 32:33
  Speaker 9: I can get the link over to you so we can get it out there.
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: We'll put that right on the front page of our website.
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: It'll be a little like there for that.
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: Or just Facebook me.
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: Facebook, travis.
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: Travis Crew West Wilbur.
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: We'll send you a link that way.
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: Right after this session, we're recording a session with Keegan's father as well, I think DJ.
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: We're going to play him in this order, so we're going to be hearing from him as well and I'll see what information he has, as long as we're trying to pass on as well.
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: Travis, what kind of thoughts would you like to give us about the situation?
• 33:20
  Speaker 9: When things like these happen, all I ask is for everybody to forget the name on the door, take care of one another.
• 33:28
  Speaker 9: Even before this happens, there's something you can do to help protect another tower.
• 33:35
  Speaker 9: You see them in a bad section of roadway and you can give them some help.
• 33:41
  Speaker 9: Give them some help because nobody else is looking out for us.
• 33:46
  Speaker 9: We have to look out for ourselves and each other.
• 33:48
  Speaker 9: The motoring public just seems not to really care about our well-being.
• 33:54
  Speaker 9: It shows in the numbers.
• 33:57
  Speaker 9: So I'm asking the towing community to come together and protect one another the best of our abilities.
• 34:04
  Speaker 9: Spread the awareness.
• 34:06
  Speaker 9: Jump on board with the slowdown moveover campaigns.
• 34:09
  Speaker 9: I want to see it plastered everywhere.
• 34:12
  Speaker 9: I just you hear about them, but they don't really sink in until they hit home.
• 34:19
  Speaker 9: And I know me and my father have done a slowdown moveover campaign for quite some time.
• 34:23
  Speaker 9: But it's time to take it to that next level, because I think we were even falling short a little bit.
• 34:30
  Speaker 9: So look out for one another, take care of one another and if this tragic event strikes near you or within traveling distance and you can be there and support the families, do that Because seeing the supporter from the towing community for this family being close with them, being close with Keegan.
• 34:53
  Speaker 9: They were just so thankful to have so many people standing in their corner to help them through this difficult time.
• 35:01
  Speaker 9: Not that it made it easy, but it gave them a sense of peace and comfort so that they could get through it and make things happen in grief and not have to worry of how they were going to make things happen.
• 35:17
  Speaker 9: So many people there to help them along the way.
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: Thank you, travis.
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: I certainly appreciate those thoughts.
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: I appreciate you being here for the interview.
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: We'll definitely have you back tomorrow, just about what's going on with other things.
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: Sorry, this was the first podcast interview we had before, but it was much needed.
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: I appreciate your honesty and candor and the raw emotions you shared with us today.
• 35:50
  Speaker 9: I appreciate you guys allowing me to come talk about my thoughts, get it out there to everybody.
• 35:58
  Speaker 9: I appreciate you guys taking the time to do what you do.
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: Hi DJ.
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: I want to ask you for a few words of comfort as we close this program down Travis my own father was killed.
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: I was 18 with him.
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: He killed six people that day.
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: My dad was one of the six.
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: He was drunk and they ran over cars, so I understand the pain.
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: What I would like to ask you do you mind I know you're dead very well do you mind, travis, if I sent you a check directly to you at the company instead of doing the GoFundMe account?
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: Can I send you one of my checks to add to the money going towards Beacon's Family, because I would love to do something, because this is and you know you pass it on.
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: I remember I'm sitting here in the studio and I remember when Jimmy Rosa passed away underneath the school bus he was doing and I cried for two days, personal friends.
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: So I didn't have money then, but I have money today, so I'd like to send a check to you at the company, if that's okay.
• 37:21
  Speaker 9: Absolutely.
• 37:22
  Speaker 9: And if anybody wants to reach out to me directly you know I can give them a name to put on there on the check who to make it out to you then mail it to me and I have a box here at the office where my customers have seen my Facebook posts and things in there.
• 37:38
  Speaker 9: They've been dropping it in that box for us and once I get it to a point here I'm going to empty it out.
• 37:44
  Speaker 9: I'm going to deliver it to the family.
• 37:46
  Speaker 9: So if anybody wants to send it to me directly, I will be sure to make sure that they get it.
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Travis.
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: Who should I make the check out to?
• 37:55
  Speaker 9: Olivia Cain.
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: Can you spell Olivia for me?
• 38:01
  Speaker 9: It is O-L-I-V-I-A.
• 38:05
  Speaker 9: Her last name is Cain K-A-I-N.
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: I think you did a very fine job, Travis.
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: You explained the situation and you made all of our listeners sit there and think except for me, dear God, it could have been well one of my family members.
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: So we all need to trip in as brothers and sisters of the history.
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: We need to do something together to help this family.
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: All right, well, great job everybody, and I appreciate it.
• 38:39
  Speaker 9: Thank you guys, I appreciate it.
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: Travis.
• 38:41
  Speaker 9: I'll talk to you soon.
• 38:42
  Speaker 9: Bud Sounds good.
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: Thank you, sir.
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: Thank you, bye-bye.