Any member involved with the towing industry?

Flat bed tow trucks (roll backs for the Southerners) and Regular wreckers only require a regular drivers license.

The Big Rig Wreckers that tow Big Rigs and flip them Back over Require a CDL.

I don't know about FL but here in NC ALL of the towing companies Require towing experience, They don't care if you can drive 80,000lbs of rolling steel but to drive there little Wrecker or Flat bed you need Experience. Figure that one out lol

For the flat beds and small wreckers depending on the company they run 24/7, some have three 8 hr shifts, some do 12 hr shifts, some do on call you go pick up the truck and take it home and wait for a call. And they usually pay between $7.25-13/hr. Some of these companies require you to be 25 yrs old to drive for them like AAA for example (for those that live in states where they have there own fleet).

As for the Big Rig wreckers as far as I know they all require towing experience before they let you drive one of those. Not exactly sure on the pay but I have heard they can pay good, I wouldn't think it would pay more then OTR.


American Trucker

 

i have never driven a heavy duty tow truck or any truck on the road for that matter, but i talk to the operators( they are more of an operator than a a truck driver) it takes a lot of skill to be able to flip a wrecked truck on a bloked interste while traffic is backing up for miles and the police and dot are waiting and kinda rushing you to get the wreck cleared and interstate back open.

it also takes a lot of mechanical know how to be adle to figure out the best way to hook up to a truck and trailer or just the trailer. you also got to be able to crawl under the truck and pull the drive shaft, or cage the brakes, or pull the axle so that when you tow the vehicle you dont run the transmission dry and cause extreme damage to it. you also gotta get a feeling for all the different adaptors that one can use to hook up to the axles, springs ,or fram rails.

one last thing in the wrecker world they have a thing called a wrecker master certification. the guys who make the real big bucks i belive have level 3 wreckermaster certifification which means that they can use rotators, and anything below that. hope this helps. like i said i dont drive one but this is what i have noticed and learned.

oh and a brand new 70 ton rotator can cost upward of $400,000 so they will want you to have a lot of experience.

 

I know more about this business than I want to.

Driving for a tow company especially H/D is a real 24/7 occupation. In most cases it's not even really goverend by HOS rules. Long hours and low pay at first, lousy weather etc.... and you usually don't get to stop after 11 hours either.

Flatbeds and ligt duty wreckers pay the least. Usually 18k-24k per year on average. BTW the experience thing comes into play because no company wants you to screw up the towed vehicle any more than it already is, and there is some knowledge as to how to properly tow everything (AAA has a great reference book for cars and light trucks). You also need to know how to do lock outs with out damaging the vehicle as well as jump starts (Prius' are a pain) and fuel deliveries.

H/D guys need to know all of the above and, drive shaft removals, how to cage brakes etc.... plus hook ups, securement, and recoveries (fliping em back over).

Also it's "Wreckmaster" they are a private company that is basically the industry standard for training - level 2/3 is basic light duty, 4/5 is light duty recovery, 6/7 is heavy duty and rotators, level 8 is air bag recovery (using giant air bags to right a semi)

The American towing assn. or Towing Assn of America or sumthin' like that has the level 3 cert that is the absolute top line H/D certification. I'm a little out of the loop on that one though because it seems to be more of an eastern thing. In Cali we have the CTTA.

There is a website for towing pros Tow 411 - google the link lots of pro info there too.

...and so on...


hope this helps.

............. Jim

 

I spent my first 3 yrs drivin' a heavy duty wrecker. I was hired by a Mom and Pop towing Co. b/c I had a CDL. The first real commercial truck I drove was a '97 Mack w/ a 50 ton wrecker body (got my cdl in the Army). Man I hated the truck, then we got a '96 Pete w/ a 35 ton Century integrrated; it was like night and day. Towing isn't for everyone. It's more of a lifestyle than a job. You have to be willing to help people 24/7 no matter what.

I agree with what has already been posted here. But I will add this:

I was primarily the heavy duty driver, but when I wasn't on a call, I would often be asked to hop in a smaller truck and help out. One of the best things about the job is that it is never the same ol' same ol'. It is always some thing different. The hours are long, the conditions can be harsh, and you'll always find yourslf in a dangerous position. All in all though, one of the best experiences of my life. It was always nice to help out truckers in their time of need.

Hourly pay is not that great, but due to the nature of the business, there is always overtime, and possible commisions for working weekends and nights. Pay varies with each company. Obviously CDL drivers are going to make more than a flatbed driver w/o a CDL.

Be safe............