You might be a one-man operation or you might have multiple drivers working for your tow truck business. But either way, you need someone to coordinate the towing jobs. Someone has to get the trucks where they need to go, right? And that’s why you need a top-notch dispatcher (or a top-notch team of dispatchers) to help you keep your tow truck business running smoothly. Here are 7 skills that are essential for dispatchers.
It’s that time of year again for tow trucks to break out their winter weather gear. The roads are getting a little icier, a little dicier, and a lot more accident prone. So, it’s important when you’re coming to the rescue of a stranded or crashed vehicle that your tow truck is prepared for the special kinds of hazards you can face in winter weather. Check out our winter tow truck gear guide to keep your tow trucks and drivers safe in colder weather.
It’s no secret that towing isn’t exactly the easiest industry to get into. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to launch a successful tow truck business and keep it growing and thriving – there’s a lot that goes into running a successful towing business. We caught up with two towing veterans to ask for their advice on running a towing business – Bob Lantis of First Call Towing (based in Alabama) and Charles Hopper of Hoppers Tow and Recovery, LLC (based in Mississippi.) Check out what they had to say about running a towing business.
When you’re running a tow truck business, you have a lot on your mind. You have to manage your drivers, keep track of your accounting, fill out paperwork, and, of course, deal with the tow truck insurance. One coverage you might have questions about is garage liability insurance. First of all, what is garage liability insurance? And why would you need garage liability insurance if you don’t have a garage? We’re going to explain what garage liability is, why you might want to consider it, and how you can get quotes for garage liability insurance.
You’ve made up your mind – you want to start a tow truck business. You’re going to yourself out there and create your very own business. Congratulations! There’s definitely freedom in being your own boss, and knowing that you built something is very satisfying. Now, towing is not for the faint-of-heart. It’s hard work, and the work is rain-or-shine, day or night. But you get the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve done an honest day’s worked and really helped people. So, all this being said – you’re going to create your own business. We’ve got some tips on how to start a tow truck business.
There’s a lot to consider when you get tow truck insurance, and it can get a little overwhelming. When you’re getting insurance in a high-risk industry like towing, it’s crucial that you get the right coverage to protect your business, your drivers, and your trucks. Check out the following common tow truck insurance mistakes so you know what to look out for when you’re buying tow truck insurance.
Working on the side of the road as a tow truck operator can be dangerous and, at times, frightening. Many of the risks you and your drivers face aren’t under your direct control – for example, you can’t stop someone else from texting behind the wheel, and you can’t make it stop raining. But you can do your best to create a culture of safety at your business in an effort to keep your drivers out of harm’s way.
What’s a culture of safety, you may ask?
It means that safety is a fundamental part of what your business is. Safety is so deeply ingrained in your tow truck business that it influences how your employees act and go about their jobs.
So, how can you create a culture of safety?
Running a tow truck business is hard work. It takes a certain kind of person to succeed as a tow truck operator. You have to be extremely driven (pun intended) and very determined. Multi-tasking and juggling are key – you have to manage your employees, maintain the tow trucks, pay the bills, organize the paperwork. Needless to say, you’re a busy person. But guess what? We’ve got some tips for running a successful tow truck business.
As a tow truck driver, you’ve got a lot of responsibility. Your client is trusting you to get their car from Point A to Point B without incident – they expect that vehicle to be in the same condition as they left it. That puts a lot of pressure on you to take extremely good care of the car. But what if something happens to the car while you’re towing it – what if you get into an accident? Well, good news – there’s a coverage that will protect the client’s car while you’re transporting it. It’s called on-hook insurance. Let’s take a look at what on-hook insurance is and how it can help protect your business.
A lot of truck drivers experience back pain – it happens because of the nature of the job. Tow truck drivers are no exception. When you sit for long stretches of time, get jolted and jostled around as you’re driving, get in and out of the cab of your truck, and lift heavy loads on a regular basis, back pain tends to happen. The back is made up of lots of muscles, vertebrae, disks, and nerves, and just a small tweak to one of these things can aggravate it. The good news is that there are a few things you can do to prevent back pain as a tow truck driver.
