WHEN DO YOU SAY NO!!!!
This is a subject that most towers seem to know. Some do not do repo’s, some do not do motor club calls. Well for the operators of big trucks, when do you say no, when dispatched on a truck wreck?
Would you respond to a call, for a tanker on its side, leaking a white liquid? Do you ask for more information or do you just respond and hope for the best. When I was faced with this call, I asked for more information and was called back with “it’s not toxic”
I asked for the trucking company to fax me the information about the product, they did before I responded. It turned out to be glue, which was used to make plywood. What I received was the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) which BY LAW, they have to provide when asked for.
This information sheet is just like one of the ones you hopefully have in your shop, which covers all the chemicals that are in your place. Yes, it should even include one for white out, the correction fluid used by all of us who can not type.
How about a tractor trailer on its side, which is loaded with Ammonium Nitrate, located on a suspension bridge. In case anyone forgets, Ammonium Nitrate, mixed with diesel is an explosive. Farmers use it to get rid of tree stumps, and terrorists used this mix to try and get rid of the World Trade Center Towers in New York City. It was also used at the Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
Ever seen a truck wreck that did not leak diesel, well this one was leaking, and the cargo was inside an overseas shipping container. Oh yeah, we were about 200 feet up over another roadway on a 4 lane suspension bridge.
What about doing a police tow on a vehicle that is part of a mobile drug lab. The stuff that they use to make illegal drugs can kill you slowly (cancer) or just do it as fast as a bullet. This is one area of tows that is increasing as more and more drug makers have to travel to get their ingredients. Certain states are making the possession of these chemicals illegal to purchase. So they are forced to travel to get them in other states, and they often use their cars to do such. And you know how accidents happen; you might get such a vehicle.
Or what about when you arrive on scene and everyone is wearing their funny spacesuits. They you are told to get it cleaned up and out of there? This kind of wreck is what got me interested in Hazardous Materials training. I responded to a solvent truck that had overturned and everything leaked. They had their suits; I had jeans and boots (which fell apart the next day). My rule now is if they got the suits on, I won’t do the call unless they provide me with one, or convince me that its safe. And believe me its hard to convince me when they will not go out to the vehicle with me, WITHOUT their equipment on.
Keep this method in mind, because if they think it’s too dangerous for them, why is it safe for the tow truck driver. We are not superman, nor are we invincible, despite what they think. We are just the wizards with the cables and air cushions.
I did however have a call where my training was a plus, involving a pickup truck that ran under a gas tanker and damaged the valves. A fire chief told me that I was to listen and not make any suggestions. I walked over to the Fire Departments Hazardous Materials van (these people trained me in the community college program I took) and found someone I knew. The chief was put in his place, and I used a different hook up point than they wanted. Theirs MIGHT of produced a spark or two, and with gasoline vapors present, well I did not want my wife to collect all the insurance money that is on me.
Common sense is that you need to do your job correctly, and information is one of the keys that you have to use. Keep informed and you might become more of a professional.
This is a subject that most towers seem to know. Some do not do repo’s, some do not do motor club calls. Well for the operators of big trucks, when do you say no, when dispatched on a truck wreck?
Would you respond to a call, for a tanker on its side, leaking a white liquid? Do you ask for more information or do you just respond and hope for the best. When I was faced with this call, I asked for more information and was called back with “it’s not toxic”
I asked for the trucking company to fax me the information about the product, they did before I responded. It turned out to be glue, which was used to make plywood. What I received was the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) which BY LAW, they have to provide when asked for.
This information sheet is just like one of the ones you hopefully have in your shop, which covers all the chemicals that are in your place. Yes, it should even include one for white out, the correction fluid used by all of us who can not type.
How about a tractor trailer on its side, which is loaded with Ammonium Nitrate, located on a suspension bridge. In case anyone forgets, Ammonium Nitrate, mixed with diesel is an explosive. Farmers use it to get rid of tree stumps, and terrorists used this mix to try and get rid of the World Trade Center Towers in New York City. It was also used at the Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
Ever seen a truck wreck that did not leak diesel, well this one was leaking, and the cargo was inside an overseas shipping container. Oh yeah, we were about 200 feet up over another roadway on a 4 lane suspension bridge.
What about doing a police tow on a vehicle that is part of a mobile drug lab. The stuff that they use to make illegal drugs can kill you slowly (cancer) or just do it as fast as a bullet. This is one area of tows that is increasing as more and more drug makers have to travel to get their ingredients. Certain states are making the possession of these chemicals illegal to purchase. So they are forced to travel to get them in other states, and they often use their cars to do such. And you know how accidents happen; you might get such a vehicle.
Or what about when you arrive on scene and everyone is wearing their funny spacesuits. They you are told to get it cleaned up and out of there? This kind of wreck is what got me interested in Hazardous Materials training. I responded to a solvent truck that had overturned and everything leaked. They had their suits; I had jeans and boots (which fell apart the next day). My rule now is if they got the suits on, I won’t do the call unless they provide me with one, or convince me that its safe. And believe me its hard to convince me when they will not go out to the vehicle with me, WITHOUT their equipment on.
Keep this method in mind, because if they think it’s too dangerous for them, why is it safe for the tow truck driver. We are not superman, nor are we invincible, despite what they think. We are just the wizards with the cables and air cushions.
I did however have a call where my training was a plus, involving a pickup truck that ran under a gas tanker and damaged the valves. A fire chief told me that I was to listen and not make any suggestions. I walked over to the Fire Departments Hazardous Materials van (these people trained me in the community college program I took) and found someone I knew. The chief was put in his place, and I used a different hook up point than they wanted. Theirs MIGHT of produced a spark or two, and with gasoline vapors present, well I did not want my wife to collect all the insurance money that is on me.
Common sense is that you need to do your job correctly, and information is one of the keys that you have to use. Keep informed and you might become more of a professional.
A good reputation is more valuable than money.
Publilius Syrus (~100 BC)
Publilius Syrus (~100 BC)
