American Towing and Recovery Institute onThe Go
American Towing and Recovery Institute onThe Go
Upcoming Events and Honoring the Fallen
Ever lost someone close and felt the weight of carrying on their legacy? Join us as we honor the memory of those we've lost in the towing community, including a heartfelt tribute from Matt Spencer to his late son, Keegan. DJ Harrington and towing industry veteran Wes Wilburn kick off the episode with an impassioned discussion on the critical importance of safety campaigns like "Slow Down, Move Over." Through emotional stories and personal experiences, we underscore the daily risks tow truck operators face and the unwavering support needed from the community to ensure everyone's safety.
Relive the poignant moments as DJ recounts his early days with Jimmy's Towing in Fairfax County and the tragic loss of its owner, Jimmy. We dive deep into a sobering story from Florida involving Kevin Fox and a fatal accident that brought back painful memories of DJ's own father's death. These narratives highlight the gravity of our responsibilities and the ever-present danger on the roads, stressing why drivers must slow down and move over for tow operators.
Celebrate the generous spirit of the towing community with us as we recount the incredible fundraising efforts at the Ohio show. From auctions supporting the Widows and Orphans Fund to the energetic participation of a young child, the event was a testament to our industry’s solidarity. We also preview upcoming highlights like the Chattanooga show, the Wall of the Fallen ceremony, and the relaunch of a comprehensive towing and rescue information app. Stay tuned for details on upcoming training events and make sure to check in with us on the floor in Chattanooga—there's a lot to look forward to!
Welcome one and all to the American Towing Recovery Institute podcast. Remember this is your podcast to promote safety, education, positive public relations and networking within the professional and business-minded towing and recovery industry. I'm your co-host, dj Harrington, better known as the Tow Doctor, and my other host is Wes Wilburn, over 40-year towing industry veteran, the founder of American Towing Recovery Institute of Fayetteville, north Carolina. He has produced and conducted training and certification programs for leading towing companies, equipment distributors, towing associations, dot, fire departments, rescue, as well as military installations across the United States. Wes has been published over 100 times in major towing publications published over 100 times in major towing publications.
Speaker 1:Wes has developed many courses, including the most recent awareness-level course for all responders that specialize in electric vehicles as well as hybrid, natural gas and hydrogen vehicles. Wes has provided insight as the main speaker for over 30 years at more than 900 training classes and has been recognized as one of America's greatest towing trainers. He is well known for his straightforward but down-to-earth teaching style. West Wilbur and his American Storm Recovery staff have developed an electric vehicle phone app, wwwev-clevercom, with over 700 passenger vehicles and over 100 heavy-duty vehicles, bringing you a new level of convenience for information at your fingertips for all responders and their groups Without further ado. Here's my dear friend and a great guy for our industry, wes Wilber.
Speaker 3:Well, DJ, as always, I can't thank you enough for that very warm opening you gave for me. I appreciate it more than you know. I thank you very much for it. Just got back from the school we did with the professional towers of Rhode Island Great group up there, DJ, they're getting an association going trying to do all the right things Getting the towers represented in the state capitol, things like that. So we had a good school up there. It was a light and medium school. Big shout out to Adam Branch and Jimmy.
Speaker 3:Martin. Both of them, as volunteers of the association up there, put in a lot of effort and a lot of work to make the class a success, so it was real good to see all our friends up there in New England Got to have some seafood DJ. It was a nice trip. I know you love seafood, there's no doubt about it. It makes me want to come to town quicker when I hear that's involved. We're going to a place. There's a lot of it After two out of the three nights I was there.
Speaker 2:Oh, my Shout out to Nick Muzzy for coming out and helping with the class.
Speaker 3:He did a great job, as always. So, yeah, we're excited as we're recording this. We're just about to head to Virginia but as people are listening to it, we'll be after that recording a couple days ahead of time.
Speaker 1:You just went to the.
Speaker 3:Ohio show. How was that DJ?
Speaker 1:The Ohio show was very, very good. They had a program, a guy that was on the podcast with you and me the American Tone Recovery Institute podcast. Matt Spencer spoke to the audience about his son Keegan, who of course, was killed by a disoriented driver last year. And Matt Spencer, who all our listeners have heard on the podcast, he's a special guy. He remembered how kind you were and how nicely you handled the whole thing. Letting people know slow down, move over is very important to your life. Wes, and so the people at American Thorne Recovery Institute, are proud that they are a sponsor of Slow Down Move Over. They want everybody to kiss their loved ones goodbye in the morning and come home at night.
Speaker 3:That's right.
Speaker 1:Pat Spencer spoke and you know you and I, because of you, wes you know I landed up donating to Keegan's daughter, Nora, who was in the truck. She's only a year and a half one year and one and a half year old, and not even two yet, and he really it was nice. The celebration of life I represented Bobby Unruh and Linda's only son, who died in May 17th of 2017. And I had a picture of him on my car and Brian Riker was my passenger in my car, and so there was over 50 cars in the parade and they did a celebration of life sponsored by INA Towing Network, and it was very well done. And then the candlelight service, where Matt Spencer spoke. So you know you're out working and I was working the show, but everybody, when they come by the booth, they always want to know how's Wes doing and what's Wes up to. It's good to hear your voice. You know that kind of thing.
Speaker 3:Well, that's very humbling DJ. That really is. It does amaze me how many. We have over 15,000 subscribers, now that a lot of people listen.
Speaker 1:So, we're very thankful for that and it's very humbling, very, very humbling Well the people in this industry, because Wes you have given back to this industry continually. I just want you to know that everybody up at the Ohio show they speak so highly of you and of course the American Thorn Recovery Institute, but you bring people together Like if it wasn't of you. And of course the American Thorn Recovery Institute, but you bring people together like if it wasn't for you. Matt Spencer would never have met me. I introduced him to Linda Unruh and go from there.
Speaker 1:So now his son's being recognized on all of the Fallen this coming week up in Chattanooga.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we have a group going to the show and they definitely plan on attending to support that great event and the horrible event they have to have. It's so good for the families that we support them like that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's 23 people being honored on the wall this year and, of course, the guy right here in my own hometown, frank Ingram. Years and years ago my wife told me I should tell our listeners this. Today at breakfast my wife said when you're doing the podcast with Wes today, remind the listeners that it was Frank Ingram that unlocked my car. I had a Hispanic gentleman working here at the house he cuts the lawns and lawns and does the shrubs and we were going to a 7-Eleven store and by accident he locked my car doors. We called the fire department. Fire department came, could not open my car, so Frank Ingram is called by the fire department.
Speaker 1:Frank Ingram shows up, looks at my face, wes, and goes aren't you the tow doctor? And I thought, oh, how embarrassing this is. I am locked out of my own car by a Hispanic guy at a 7-Eleven store. And Frank said no charge. No charge because I was the tow doctor. And years later it was Wes Wilburn that had to tell me DJ, have you turned your TV on tonight? And I said no, why? He said your friend Frank England was killed today Working the white line. Frank Ingram was killed today Work in the white line. Yeah, a distracted driver killed Frank instantly.
Speaker 3:And it was just five miles from my house. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And it was you that told me have you looked at your TV tonight? And I said no, why Wes? And he said well, frank Ingram died. What yeah, right there in Woodstock, right there on 575. Right near your house, dj.
Speaker 3:I knew it was near you.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:When you called me I said I know Frank and I know 575. He said well, he's deceased. So you're the type that does those type of things, wes, and people don't realize how influential you are in getting people just to sit down and listen to a brother or sister who's in the industry.
Speaker 3:Well, thank you, dj again. You're too kind. Let me make a couple comments here. The first towing company I ever really hung around because some of the older kids worked there was a place called Jimmy's Towing. It was just down the road from the junior high school I went to in Fairfax County. There Jimmy was the first person who let me back up. I knew of Jimmy's Towing. He had these purple trucks. Let me back up. I knew of Jimmy's telling he had these purple trucks. I saw him and for some reason paid attention to them, and Henry's was right there too and they had green and yellow trucks paid attention to them.
Speaker 3:So anyway, fast forward a couple years where I'm a 15, 16 year old teenager kind of hanging around and stuff looking for stuff to do. I used to go down to Jimmy's and offer to do work for him, and what had happened was about a year before this. I didn't know about it when it happened. At the time Jimmy was the first person I'd ever heard of killed in a hit-by-vehicle accident.
Speaker 3:Oh my, he was on the side of 495, interstate that runs around washington dc, 10 miles from where I grew up, and a drunk driver hit him and, uh, crushed him between his tow truck and the passing vehicle and basically cut his body in half and it left a widow with a towing service and she ended up uh becoming in love with uh someone that I I knew from my neighborhood and he was managing the tow company. Uh, mismanaging it on some levels too got you know the whole nother story but anyway, but that was because he was managing it. He kind of knew me from the neighborhood. He would, he would allow him, allow me, if I was there, to jump in one of the trucks and ride along. But some of my first tow calls really kind of had to do with the fact that principal of a local towing company got killed out on the highway.
Speaker 3:This happened probably in the late 70s, and I wasn't you, I was just a young teenager when it happened. So, for whatever that's worth, I've been thinking about that.
Speaker 3:He was. His name has been enshrined on the wall of the fallen down there, but I question if he was still around running his business. He probably wouldn't let young kids go ride along. He was a real strict type you want to understand, but anyway, I don't know if any of that makes any sense, but in a way I'm connected to the beginning of my connection to this industry had to do with roadside death. On some level I guess there's a connection there. Is there a connection there?
Speaker 1:There's a connection, it just.
Speaker 1:I sat with people at the show and of course they had their candlelight service on Friday night after the trade show floor closed sitting and somebody brought up the fact that we in the towing industry see so much death.
Speaker 1:I think you've been on a lot of calls where the person dies in the car from the accident and you have to wait for the ambulance to remove the body. Well, I'm in Florida in the passenger of a tow truck with Kevin Fox and Kevin Fox was laughing because he said DJ would not get out of the truck. And I watched a police officer on a high speed chase and a poor Asian gentleman was coming out of a store and the police officer did not see him and collided right into him and instantly killed the Asian man. Well, the Asian man was still in his vehicle when foxes were called to the scene and I sat in the truck and I cried and Kevin and this is only 10 years ago and Kevin sat there saying you know, people don't realize how these towing accidents happen. And I sat in the car because all I could think about is my own father dying on Highway 95, being hit by a distractive and an 18-wheel loaded tractor trailer. Who was on drugs?
Speaker 1:Oh, wow I didn't know that it killed my father, so here I'm sitting in the truck and all I could think about is my father.
Speaker 1:So here I'm sitting in the truck and all I could think about is my father. And here's kevin, and kevin says are you all right? And I said, kevin, I I just got to sit here and that's what I did. I sat and cried and this poor asian man was finally removed from the vehicle and Kevin towed it away. They had to wait for the autopsy, they had to wait for the coroner to come out and then they had to do all these police reports, because a poor police officer on a high-speed chase of course hits the poor guy. It was devastating.
Speaker 1:But the reason why I'm telling our listeners is that we have so many loved ones that are on the wall of the fallen because of the irresponsible, distracted drivers, and we are the ones responsible for taking care of the community. So it's our job to make sure we got to work the white line. That's why you're always saying you know, watch where your position are, get off to the other side of the vehicle. All your tips, wes, is for the one purpose that you kiss your loved ones goodbye in the morning and you want to see them that night. Even though we have a very dangerous job. We work for the community and the community has got to be. They got to slow down and move over.
Speaker 1:They got to learn.
Speaker 3:Well, it's definitely something that is a societal problem. There's no doubt about that. We're up against a hard break. We're going to take a quick break. Listeners, come right back. We've got a lot more we're going to talk about. See you in a minute.
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Speaker 1:You know you're listening to the number one show, the the American Tone Recovery Institute podcast with Wes Wilburn and DJ Harrington, and I can't thank all of our listeners. I know Wes always thanks everybody, but make sure you download and listen. We're available on Spotify, itunes, pandora, stitcher, iheartmedia which is number one podcast Amazon or wherever you get your podcast. I can't thank you enough and we're over 15,000 listeners almost 16,000. So this has really been booming and it's because of social media, but it's because our listeners, wes, tell a fellow co-worker or someone in the industry to listen to the podcast. So this is really how it's grown Leaps and bounds because of what you do.
Speaker 3:Well, we can't thank the listeners enough If you have done it, do it again. If you haven't done it, do it twice Like share. Subscribe is the biggie. So thanks for listening. We appreciate it.
Speaker 3:So at the Ohio show, one of the things- they do that's unique to other show shows is they have an option. They raise money for the Widows and Orphans Fund. I believe they call it One of the very few telling associations that has something to supplement what the Wall of the Fallen does, but also in addition to it can just be an injury and they help.
Speaker 1:Wounded Driver Fund, they call it, and you have been in the past. When you're there they have you, you know, helping them. They had an auctioneer this time come in Very nice young man. He did a great job and they raised a ton of money for the wounded driver and for the association. For the wounded driver and for the association and through the generosity of Wes Wilburn in April and the American Tow and Recovery Institute, they raised a lot of. I brought the picture you gave me to bring to Ohio. I brought that picture and donated it. Then they had some other stuff that you donated, wes, that was more tow truck related. Is that what stuff you had?
Speaker 3:Yes, it was some different towing memorabilia. I believe one of them was an ad that had a connection to Ohio. Okay, and I'm sorry I don't remember better. This time of year we've supported several of those different ventures, but I'm almost positive that stuff was there was one of those pictures in particular that we sent that Andrew Boppler took to the association event. And I think that was actually already in motion when you said you were going to do the other. So a little bit of a cross up there.
Speaker 3:But it all happened for the good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it happened for the good because you got a big heart. So what happened is you guys donated they raised a lot of money. I don't know the exact amount, but the auctioneer did a wonderful job. He even brought a little kid out of the audience. He said to the little kid now is that your grandpa over there? Just say Grandpa, how about 200? Kid out of the audience. And he said to the little kid now is that your grandpa over there? Just say grandpa. Uh, how about 200, grandpa, how about 200?
Speaker 1:grandpa said okay that's right, boy oh yeah, and of course he kept going back to the grandpa and grandpa, are you in again? Grandpa said, okay, I'm in again, and the audience howled because there's a kid I don't think he was in kindergarten and he was just precious. And sure enough, they raised a lot of money for the wood, the driver fund.
Speaker 3:So that's a good technique right there.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, it was. And the generosity of towing people is just phenomenal, just phenomenal. Chuck Camp's band played Chaos. They played and they sat in part of the auction. And the one man who plays the guitar leans over to me and says doc, these people are either crazy or just plain generous. And I said they're just plain generous. They're doing this to raise money for the industry, and that's what's nice about a state show. All the proceeds go right back to the industry and the state, for lobbyists and for the Wounded Driver Fund in Ohio. So it was all right there. So it was a great night.
Speaker 1:The visual was very good and, of course, the celebration of life. We had over 50 trucks. It took six and a half minutes just to get out on the road so everybody could line up just to get out of the parking lot. That's how long the 50 cars, the 50 trucks were. And Brian Riker was in my car and I had a Bobby Unruh poster on my car. But as we went through the town of Wilmington everybody stopped, just like it was a funeral procession. All the lights were on and all the trucks had their lights on and it was called Celebration of Life. And then when we came back. Ina Towing had a pig roast and Wes it was just like one of your functions. The food was there and everybody had seconds, thirds, and there was plenty for everybody and it was a delicious meal.
Speaker 3:That sounds wonderful. Yeah, it was very very that was sponsored by INA you said INA Gay said INA Gay, rochester's INA Towing Network.
Speaker 1:So that's awesome, adds off to them. So the next show is really the big emphasis, because this podcast is going to go out right before the Chattanooga show.
Speaker 3:Right, Right, Of course. The Chattanooga show Right right, Of course. The Chattanooga show is connected with the museum event. So they'll have the Wall of the Fallen ceremony. They'll have the Hall of Fame inductions, Very esteemed blooper towers entering the Hall of Fame this year.
Speaker 1:So you're going to be there, DJ. I'm going to be up there. You guys have a booth there, don't you?
Speaker 3:Kim and April and Margaret are going to go and man a booth. There's some really exciting stuff going on they're going to do. First part is going to be kind of a relaunch of the app. We've now made it to the big leagues. It's available on Apple and Google Play. I probably should have talked about this earlier in the podcast. We've done this relaunch. That's a big part of why we're having the booth of the show. Kim will be there. She's the designer of it Right now.
Speaker 3:Dj. We printed out just the one set of information, what's called the master set of information, complete information on each vehicle. It's over 11,000 pages of information and, of course, what the team has done is they've broken that down into quick links where you can, within a click or two, get exactly what vehicle you're dealing with, and then it's another click or two to get to the specific information you need, whether it's how to tow the vehicle, whether it's information for the fire department on how to tow the vehicle, whether it's information for the fire department on how to reach a vehicle in a heavy rescue situation. So, like I say, it's a relaunch and it's kind of an exciting time for us. So that's the main focus of the booth, but the other focus is, um, all this memorabilia I've collected over the years.
Speaker 3:Dj I'm have started the process officially of getting rid of it all. I've got a lot of original homes, brochures and ads. You know the factory brochures. They they gave me years ago. Yes, that's part of that kind of stuff, professionally framed them. At it we got a lot of die-cast vehicles and April and Margaret have taken all that along with just a little bit of the regular kind of rigging stuff we sell. So they'll be at the show focusing on that type of stuff. So yeah, we're going to have booths. We're excited to be there, whether we go to the show or not. We've donated some items to their auction.
Speaker 3:Of course their auction is a little bit bigger event, I guess this year Miller and one of the truck manufacturers. They have a new carrier to be auctioned off and there's a lot of other things done and it's awesome to see the industry come together and support the Survivor Fund Right those people at the museum do a lot of work this weekend oh boy, don't they?
Speaker 3:and there's different volunteers that show up and help them. And what not those people to be committed. I know Michael Lilly out of Kansas makes a point every year to be there to the museum and I help with tasks such as setting up chairs, taking care of the flags Right Several things Him and a group of his friends take care of he comes in all the way from.
Speaker 3:Kansas every year to be a part of that, and I think he's done it I don't know, maybe it's six or eight years consecutive now and as long as he's able to, he tries to make it every year. So people like that we should also, you know, recognize as well, and the kind of people that aren't doing it for recognition but they put put a lot of effort into making things happen Well.
Speaker 1:A lot of your friends. You know your buddy built from Michigan and Danny Horton and all of them guys, they're all involved with the Wall of the Fallen, absolutely.
Speaker 3:People don't realize that that's a sheer donation of their time and efforts. No one's getting paid for any of that. So I did it for a few years and it's challenging to make the events and be there to donate your time. When we moved the museum, there was a group of us that went and spent I think it was 10 or 11 days down there for the core group. Those kind of things are a huge commitment. I mean absolutely honored to be there to work with some of the different people Warren Roosevelt out of New York State comes to mind, Peter Espazia out of Massachusetts, York State comes to mind, Peter Spacey out of Massachusetts. Several people spent that whole week there. Exactly. Earl Johnson recorded it all and put it in one of the world's greatest tow truck books he used to produce.
Speaker 1:Yeah, earl Johnson was in Ohio. Wow was he. Yeah, mr Johnson was there. Oh yeah, what a you know for a guy his age. He has a memory, phenomenal memory. He came by and visited with me two or three different times. He's a great guy, that's good to hear. He's out and about, yes he is.
Speaker 3:Yes, he is, yes, he is. Oh, mr johnson, so we probably should take a quick break. After the break, I want to come back and tell you what's going on, with some training and education highlights fantastic.
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Speaker 1:Welcome back listeners. You know you're listening to the number one podcast in the towing recovery industry, the American Towing and Recovery Institute podcast. Wes Wilburn, dj Harr. Towing and Recovery Institute podcast Wes Wilburn, dj Harrington and our hotline number here at the center 706-409-5603. By all means, that comes to the podcast center, if you want to get a hold of anyone at the American Towing Recovery Institute, if you want to get a hold of anyone at the American Torment Recovery Institute, dial 910-747-9000. And the team there will be more than happy to help you in any way you need. Now, wes, I know, before I break off the air, you and I were talking what's going on in the training segment of your business.
Speaker 3:Well, we're at a really good pace right now. For me, dj I'm going about every other week. It's a perfect pace and that's part of the reason I'm not at the shows.
Speaker 3:I can't tie them in. But I did the Rhode Island class two weeks later which, as people are listening to it, this is just past that. I just finished up. Virginia, Lynchburg, Virginia. So, as people are listening to this, October 5th and 6th I'm headed out to Medford, Oregon. Got a one day light duty out there on the 4th and a two day heavy duty 5th and 6th. First time I ever taught a class in Oregon, so I'm super excited about that, Looking forward to a great weekend. Come on back. I'm in Lake Station, Indiana, October 19th and 20th for a two-day heavy duty, tone and recovery. October the 18th we're doing an electric vehicle class at the lake station in Indiana, northern Indiana, bottom side of the lake. Two more weeks later we'll be right back here in Indiana, just a little bit east of there Tom's 24-hour towing and L-Cart Medium-duty class.
Speaker 2:Last one. We have planned for this year.
Speaker 3:So they're a great host. They put together a great event, that's.
Speaker 4:November 2nd and 3rd.
Speaker 3:November 16th and 17th, sumner, south Carolina, for a two-day fire tow cross-training class Me and Ron Moore doing that at Sumner Fire Department with Sumner Rector Hal Watts. Youtube Sensation Starting out 2025, we're working on possibly a West Coast I don't know if it'll be all the way to the ocean or maybe Vegas is what we're talking about. Trying to put something together for early February, so that's a projected date. Everything else I want to talk about is happening. Opa-locka, alabama, march 8th and 9th Today, heavy towing and recovery with some rotator. It's hosted by CP Record, but also Griffin and Griffin DJ. It's a great story here. These two companies are about I don't know 20 miles apart and over the last couple of years they've worked together with training to bring it to the area. But the burden doesn't have to be on one company each year and they work together real well, the two companies. They're both excellent, fruitful individuals.
Speaker 1:Yeah, griffin and Griffin. They've been on our podcast and you could not pick a nicer couple.
Speaker 3:Well, right there in the running would be.
Speaker 2:Cody and Heather Post too.
Speaker 3:We've had them on the podcast and it isn't a competition, but they're both class acts. Michelle is such a sharp business mind. I still think about that podcast she did where she talked about her past experiences and other businesses and creating a culture just a literal guidebook on how to how to run any kind of organization in this day and age well at the florida toast Show.
Speaker 1:You know, because I took her to dinner. It was excellent, she loved it, michelle loved it, but it's because there's another contact. I would not have known Griffin and Griffin had it not been for you. Wow.
Speaker 3:Thank you, we're blessed with that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah yeah, wonderful people. So march right now I've got northwestern north carolina class plan for march 21st for that electric vehicle, class 22nd and 23rd for a two-day heavy towing with recovery. And in april we're going to work with estra, the empire state tone and recovery association, and one of their members all. And in April we're going to work with ESTRA, the Empire State Tone and Recovery Association, and one of their members. All County is also working with rapid recovery. It's kind of the same situation but All Country is taking the lead. We're bringing some training to Long Island, new York, on the fourth electric vehicle class.
Speaker 3:Of course that's free. That's a Friday evening event. The founder sponsor will have a light dinner Friday night. On all these electric vehicles there's a light dinner at 5 o'clock Classes at 6 o'clock, that's on April the 4th. On the 5th we're going to do a one-day light duty class, and on the 6th it's going to be a one-day heavy duty class and you know, if you pre-register we offer a discount, dj.
Speaker 3:sometimes it's $75, sometimes it's $100. Depends on how far ahead of the class, etc. But on this class ESTRA, the Empire State Talent and Recovery Association, has scholarship money and every one of their members will get, if you're current on your membership, when you register for the class. And let's say you register three students they're, they're going to pay a hundred dollars of each student's tuition and that's going to be in addition to that.
Speaker 3:You know that early bird discount that's already hanging out there. So literally they've cut the price of the training almost in half. On this event and another one, that's the state association really working together to make things happen, isn't it? Dj?
Speaker 1:It sure is. They have the right attitude, because we have to educate as we progress here. Right, that's correct.
Speaker 3:So then that's in April. We're excited about that. Then in May we're going to start a complete training program. On Friday, may 2nd, we're going to do a one-day light duty. This is all going to be in St Louis. It's actually going to be out a little bit west of St Louis, kind of out in the country.
Speaker 3:We've got a piece of farmland reserve that we can get something really stuck on, so we're not doing a bunch of recoveries in a parking lot. So this is Warrington, missouri, just a little bit west of St Louis, a little bit west of where Purpose Record is. Purpose is going to be a lunch sponsor for this. So, anyway, complete training program. Friday, may 2nd a one day light duty. On saturday and sunday, a two-day heavy duty. Both of those will be taught by myself with my atr, atrit jg reasoner.
Speaker 3:Hopefully we're going to get Nick out there, a couple of people like that, to help make it happen. Then on Monday we're going to start a three-day class Monday, tuesday, wednesday. It'll be led by Tom Luciano and I'll be assisting him. So it's going to be six complete days of training, going to see our light our heavy duty, medium duty, information, along with our extreme heavy duty, equipment recovery, et cetera. So that's something I'm really looking forward to, really excited about. Me and Tommy haven't talked together in probably close to a decade. At this point he still talks about a class we did in North Carolina years ago and, if not the best, one of the best classes of his life. I can do nothing but agree it was a very special class.
Speaker 3:A lot of people came from all over the country. A lot of lifelong friendships were made at it, so we have an extreme package deal. This is due to the 1st of November. Right now, the only way we're selling seats to this is a complete package the training, the hotel rooms, all your meals would add up to three thousand two hundred sixty three dollars. They have a package special we're offering through november the first November the 1st $2,745.47. The savings of about $500, a little bit over $500. Now we're only going to sell right now, seats to the complete package.
Speaker 3:We get into the first year and, depending on how that's looking, we may open up selling seats to the individual classes. Right now it's a package deal. We'd like to bring a group of operators together. I created this type of training in the early 90s, conducted many of these sessions, and doing the courses back-to-back allows you to do so much more with the students. It's really a great event, so we're super excited about that. Of course, we're going to make some regular stops next year. We're working on putting the dates in there, but I've got one more on the map that I'm going to talk about. This is October of 2025.
Speaker 3:October of 2025, me and Tom are going to do an advanced level extreme recovery. Of course he's doing with all the information he's learned from doing the recovery with the armies all around the world.
Speaker 3:We're going to do that in Buffalo, New York, the Niagara Falls Buffalo area, Rusniacs is going to host a great company up there and that's going to be a three-day event with me and Tom Luciano instructing together. We're also trying to get one more date together for the two of us working together in 2025. Event with me and Tom Luciano instructing together. We're also trying to get one more date together for the two of us working together in 2025. I'll keep people posted as that progresses. So, dj, as you can tell, we've been working a lot on training, got a lot of stuff on the calendar. We're super excited about it.
Speaker 1:Well, training is the future of this industry, so I'm with you. 100, tommy luciano and you together, it's like a reese's peanut cup. It's peanut butter and chocolate meeting together, and I don't know if you ever had a reese's, but it's delicious.
Speaker 3:Had one of the other night one of my wife's favorite favorites, and I enjoy them as well.
Speaker 1:Yep, well, you and Luciano together that's what it reminds me of, it's the Reese's, the two best in the industry together. And then all of a sudden you play off each other and you help each other. And actuallymmy has gone all over the world. You've gone all over the united states and canada, and and this guy has been to dubai, he's been all over. He is a real gift for the industry.
Speaker 3:Absolutely so. I'm super pumped about where we're headed in the future, as more details become available let our listeners know. I want to thank our listeners for listening today. I know we didn't have an interview, but I feel like sometimes it's just good to get caught up on what's going on out there you folks are. I know this is only a couple days before the show, but if you're going to the Tennessee show, make sure you stop by and say hello to the ATRI team in the booth.
Speaker 2:They've got a small booth there.
Speaker 3:April, and Kim will be there, along with Margaret and make sure you go by and visit Doc as well. Where will you be at Doc?
Speaker 1:I'm going to be partly in your booth and partly in Coe's professional booth, and the one day you know, coe Times has and TRAA has a vehicle, a race car. So Chuck Camp, the producer of the podcast, he's going to be up there taking videos either Friday or Saturday afternoon, but Saturday morning is the wall of the fallen and then the show opens after that, and so probably that Saturday he'll be up there. So I'll be floating the floor, but I won't. And I will definitely go by and see Kim, april and Margaret, because the three of them are like three musketeers and you're very brave giving them your credit card, because they'll be all over Chattanooga, you know that.
Speaker 1:Hey let their conscience be their guide.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they can do anything they want. They definitely earned it around here. Make sure you go by the booth and ask him about the EV app that is something we're really excited about.
Speaker 1:You got it.
Speaker 3:All right, thank you. Be safe, we'll talk to you next week.