Roadside Assistance Progressive
Keeping the Roads Clear With Commercial Towing Services
When big vehicles are involved in road mishaps, commercial towing services come to the rescue to offer light and heavy duty towing services. Clearing the road promptly after accidents involving big rigs, loaded trailers, buses, tankers, motor homes, and other large vehicles, is imperative as these crashes may require additional road closures to clean up the mess from spilled product, glass, and debris. As the owner of the vehicle, you wanted to have the problem handled with the least amount of loss to your company.
Types of Commercial Towing Equipment
Commercial towing companies remove vehicles from the scene using appropriate equipment to do the job. While there are many types of tow trucks sent to do the job, some of the most common types are based on some commonly used ones.
· Boom trucks feature an adjustable boom winch in places where the tow truck cannot safety back up. For example, if the vehicle is stuck in a ditch or plowed over an embankment, the boom winch first pulls it to safety.
· Hook and chain trucks, also known as sling or �elt lift trucks, use chains looped around the axle along with a boom winch to position the car so that it can be towed on the other axle. This type of device can destroy the drivetrain on front wheel drive vehicles and scratch bumpers, but they are still used for towing vehicles with missing wheels or that have steel bumpers.
· Wheel lifts are the modern version of hook and chain towing and they use a large metal yoke that cradles the front or rear wheels and pneumatically or hydraulically hoists it above ground for towing. It does not connect to the axles, but to the front wheels on front wheel drive cars or trucks and rear ones on rear wheel drive units. The device is also called a spectacle lift because it resembles a pair of squared eyeglasses.
· Flatbed trucks have a flat surface or bed that hydraulically inclines or lowers to the ground so that the vehicle can be winched or driven onto it for removal from the scene. This approach is also called a rollback or a slide.
· An integrated truck, a self loader, often used in repo operations and removal of illegally parked vehicles, incorporates the boom and wheel-lift approach and can negotiate hooking up the vehicle from inside the rescue vehicle without the driver having to exit it.
There are also towing units that combine some of these features in order to extract damaged vehicles from all situations.
Accident Rescue
Companies who provide light, medium, and heavy duty hauling are often called to the scene by local police departments, the County Sheriff, and the Highway patrol. In some cases, trucking companies, municipalities, and school systems have their own trucks to call. They have the trained drivers and the equipment, expertise, and permits needed for heavy duty towing. They have the right towing system, outfitted with numerous attachments, to securely grasp the vehicle, pull it upright, and properly balance it for safe removal from the scene. For large rescues, there may be multiple trucks and types of equipment dispatched to the accident.