Grade 8 bolts are not shear pins .
Speaker 2ladies and gentlemen , oh , come on , Don't do it . Come on , don't do it .
Speaker 1There's some of the US listeners going like what's a snowblower ? It's like a lawnmower for your snow , okay .
Speaker 2Yeah , but the blades spin forwards , not downwards . If any of you don't know what a snowblower is on the off chance , look up snowblowers mounted on the front of trains . They'll freak you the hell out . Yeah , those are pretty wild . They are very wild anyways . Enough talking about trains . Hey everyone , I'm Brad from Calgary .
Speaker 1This is Sean from Cambridge Ontario .
Speaker 2I'm Terry from Cornwall Ontario . Hey , this is Larry from Pit Metals , British Columbia , and you're listening to the Towing Life Podcast welcome to the toying life podcast , where the ditches are deep , the trucks are loaded , but the drivers are not . I am your host , toman g , and , as usual , I'm joined by my co-host , friend and former co-worker , the man with very strong opinions , mr plain guy what is going on ?
Speaker 1g . What is going on ?
Speaker 1well , my voice sounds a lot deeper in my head , but I have no idea what I actually sound like , because I can't remember what the last episode sounded like it's funny actually , because when we first sat down to start talking and you didn't bring it up until now , so I was gonna leave it alone I was like , oh shit , gee , hit puberty like he man , why does this guy sound so mature ? And then I realized I was like , oh , he must be sick or something going on , because that's a shame . I I really did think , um , that we , you and I , were going to have to have the talk about the birds and the bees , um , and coming into manhood and what it meant , um , and what those dreams are that you're having a night , but it turns out it turns out that it's just a cold um , it could turn into the man flu , which you weren't right .
Speaker 2I've heard is worse than childbirth speaking of , have you seen the new jimmy carr special on netflix where he has to talk with that one young boy ?
Speaker 1um , okay , maybe I didn't hear , so anyways , the yes . You know what about the ? Okay Off topic .
Speaker 2You went to see Jimmy Carr .
Speaker 1Yeah , that exact set is what I seen . I sat down and I watched most of the special . I hadn't finished it , I was about halfway through , but that set was exactly what he was on tour the doing when we went and seen him in Toronto a year ago , or something along those lines . Yeah , I know it's a . It's a great . Uh , it's a great set . Um , but I don't know , I can't say the story specifically . He did pick on a kid in our audience as well , but I don't know . I haven't watched it to see if it was the same . You know , same way they . Obviously there should be little variations , but yeah , yeah , jimmy carter's and everything .
Speaker 1Yeah , jimmy , yeah yeah , I think it was the same . Yeah , it's probably the same . Uh , same skit yeah , yeah .
Speaker 2So if you haven't seen jimmy carr's new special on netflix , I would highly recommend going and checking it out . He's trying a little bit more long form comedy , beautiful , beautiful I'm uh , I'm a big comedy fan .
Speaker 1I watch a lot of stand-up comedians . It's one of my things I love doing . Most of the podcasts I listen to of stand-up comedians it's one of my things I love doing . Most of the podcasts I listen to are stand-up comedians that have podcasts , and I watched over , uh , last week . Um , I had to watch it over like three sittings . It was the roast of tom brady . Now , it is not for anyone that wants to watch it . You do not have to be a football fan . I want to get that out there . Um , you can get a lot of the jokes , um , even without . Obviously , there's some that you just won't get I'm sure even me no , there's gonna be jokes .
Speaker 1You're just not gonna understand , which is completely understandable . You will not understand why randy moss did not have a ring in new england . Like you'll get that , like you won't under , you won't have a clue , no . But um , there is , and this was streamed live on netflix the day that it came out . The sunday was actually a live event kevin hart hosted . That should say enough right there . The darkness of the things that I heard on that show , like the it borderline , puts chapelle to shame .
Speaker 1Really like yes there is moments and I am a very conservative person in the way that I I believe that people should be able to say whatever they want , as long as it's used in the proper context , right or using comedy , and not used as a direct attack on somebody . I'm all for that . Mind you , these are attacks because that's why it's called a roast , but they went to things where I went oh my god , you can't say that like I laughed my ass off at it , but I was like you can't say that . So be sure to check it out . I won't give any spoilers on the jokes , but let's just say , with all the political times that are going on , with things like you know , rappers like p diddy , uh , the israel , um , palestine conflict , um , they touch on all of it at one point or another in it . So , yes , it is very um .
Speaker 2If you get offended easily , you probably won't be working if you get offended easily , why are you watching our show ? Because you're probably . Well , that's what I was going to say .
Speaker 1You're probably not going to be in the towing industry long enough , so we'll say hi , goodbye . It was nice of you to stop by , but , yes , if you want a good laugh , it's about three hours long . No commercial straight through . There's goods and there's highs and there's lows . There's bad parts .
Speaker 1But if you've watched it , I want to hear about it . Right like , let me know in the chat , if you watched it , what you thought . Was it , you know , as as tough as what I'm saying it is , or was it soft for your liking ? So I'll be able to judge our audience based on their answer to that question . Uh , you can let us know if you're watching over on youtube down below in the comments . Um , as usual . If you're not , you can head over to our face , our facebook page , the towing life podcast . You can visit our website at wwwtowinglifeca , or you can email us directly at the towing life at gmailcom . On our website you'll find a contact us form . That's the main way that a lot of new listeners or or people that we haven't received messages from in the past have been reaching out is through that contact us form . So head over if you got a question concern anything for the show , um , you know , or to hear your thoughts on if you have watched the roast of tom brady .
Speaker 2You can text us over on spotify now .
Speaker 1Yes , if you're listening over on spotify , you will see in the episode description that there is an option to text us , which will go directly through to us . Um , I'm not sure if we can reply . I haven't tried that . Um , I ran a test on my own phone . Um , maybe it's something , maybe we can have a little text thread going . But , um , be sure to check , be sure to check it out . Let us know what you think about it . If you haven't watched already , go ahead and watch it . And as for the jimmy car , huge dark comedy , really enjoy it , much darker than we are just one quick thing .
Speaker 2Uh , with ai on the rise , I just want to know is there any place for ai and I'm not saying artificial insemination for horses and cows and stuff , I'm talking about artificial intelligence like chat , gbt , um and stuff like that . Is there any place for that in the towing industry ? Moving forward besides this podcast ?
Speaker 1right . So what she's referring to is in our last episode . You will notice that our description , our title and everything seemed a little bit more fancy than we're used to . Yes , and I will be the first to admit it , the service that we use offered an opportunity to try out this new model that they're running , which the computer listened to . Our entire episode put together an entire description , a blog post .
Speaker 1Everything else that is not I . I enjoy writing . I have dabbled in writing here and there . That was . I mean , that was me . I could have done that same thing with a lot of work into it , for how quick the ai did it . So it is an ai feature .
Speaker 1Is ai um ? You know ? Could it be involved in the towing industry ? I think so , but obviously from an admin side of things , whether that be through dispatching , whether that be through um . You know processing of you know I . I currently in our office um implement and working on a new project that is done through what's called power apps . It's a microsoft program . It's been awesome . Power apps forms um and then there's power automate and different things like that .
Speaker 1So there is a certain level you can make AI keep an eye on your email and keywords can force it into doing something , or it can try and evaluate the tone of an email , which I could use as a self-review before sending out . I haven't dabbled too much with it . I think AI in all industries is something that's going to come , but it's obviously on the hands-on side of things , right , like it can't do , it can't tow a car , not yet . I still cannot tow a car , not yet . Um , however , it can help in , you know , doing things . It's a lot more I believe in the automation side of things rather than the AI side of things .
Speaker 1Um , cause it's all rules , right , just pretty much what AI is . You can set up AI to follow guidelines and rules , the same way that you can set processes up , um to do it . You know , like I have , if a driver requests a time off , okay , I get a request for the time off . I accepted it . If I accepted it , does this the steps . If I rejected it , does this steps and forwards off emails to the appropriate departments and everything else . Um , but as for ai in the towing industry , other than when it comes to social media and all those kind of things , I can't see a much at this point , much of a use for it outside of that I think I pretty much agree with everything you said there yeah , you can't .
Speaker 1Until I can tell a car I'm not hiring ai no , no and uh , I think a lot of .
Speaker 2But let's be frank , most people in the towing industry I want to say a majority of them are in the older demographic . Still , that is changing , but that's just what it is and unfortunately they're not , you know , not so uppity with the times , I guess you could say . And they've done it the same way for 20 , 30 years and it hasn't failed them yet . So why would they change now ? And you can't really fault them for that I'd like to see .
Speaker 1I mean , maybe there's an option in dispatching that it could go into somehow . Maybe maybe it can coordinate calls and and dispatch trucks out at a more efficient rate or with a system like you have where all your trucks are gps'd and everything and you're using tow soft .
Speaker 2Shout out to tow soft and it's got that whole system already built in that it can access and play with . I could see something like that going on and then that's replacing a dispatcher's job . I wouldn't want to switch over a call taker's job to AI , because people get pretty pissed off when there's AI in drive-thrus now , let alone when a car breaks down inside a highway and they call your friendly local tow company and they get talked to by a robot .
Speaker 1I think that would Wait through what drives throughs or what fast foods have . Ai now am I . Am I missing ? How do you know about this ? And you're dink ass down that you're from of five people well , no , I'm seeing it on the internets .
Speaker 2People are going into drive-thrus and I think it's more so in the states like some mcdonald's drive-thrus have AIs now and what would you like to order today ? And then you say okay and anything else . And then you say something else , okay and anything else . And it's just annoying as hell , yeah .
Speaker 1Oh yeah , I did not know .
Speaker 2Honestly .
Speaker 1I did not know .
Speaker 2Self-checkouts , and AI is taking over a lot of jobs in america .
Speaker 1I mean I can't wait for them to be able to tell yeah like I don't know . I'd love to see my ai help my drivers with billing so they don't have stupid mistakes . And it just goes like calculate how much this bill should be . I mean , it shouldn't be hard . How many kilometers did you go this many ? Did you use this , any of this equipment ? Yes , yes , no , no , no , yes , okay , the bill is this much , not , I don't know . It said 50 bucks , so I'm charging 50 bucks .
Speaker 2I was like that wasn't like what speaking of equipment , we got a slide here that I want to talk about briefly and , uh , I'm not sure if this gentleman just wanted to inflate the bill a little bit and using two sets of dollies , but uh , we've got a picture here of a extended cab wrecker towing a toyota all-wheel drive suv . It's on dollies and the little toyota is towing a tiny little single axle trailer , which is also on a set of dollies huh yeah no , I've been in a situation like this before .
Speaker 2I had a front wheel drive buick suv towing a u-haul trailer and I was like , yeah , I can tow you both . It's fine , I can tow your trailer , we don't need to separate it . And when I picked up the front end of the suv my ride height even if I ran the front end of the car a little low the trailer hitch was going to be too close to the ground and risk causing damages . So I put dollies underneath the ass end of this buick just to get that hitch height that I needed to go safely down the road and that works it also makes it nicer for backing up , because now you got the two sets of tires on the ground instead of just one pivot point .
Speaker 2So it slows down that maneuverability to when you're trying to back up okay , I was like pretty sure it's no pivots .
Speaker 1But no , I know what you mean . It's dollies do change how a vehicle will pivot on a point . It's a slower um . You know it's a slower to cut and a slower to come back um scenario . So , yeah , no , I've , I've , I've been in that same situation as you have where I've dollied a vehicle um a front wheel drive only because of the trailer to move it off to a spot
I got . You think this guy charged twice for dollars , like you think if you had a set fee of 40 , let's say if you had dolly or whatever his pricing is . I don't want to get chewed apart in the comments because I said you know a stupidly low or a stupidly high price for dollies . Do you think he charged twice ? I'm a big believer in billing what you use . I'm also a big believer in billing what you need .
Speaker 2If you think about it , this situation he's only going to carry one set of dollies on his truck . So either this was in his yard and he grabbed another set of dollies off of another vehicle just to fuck around and find out , or he had to have someone come and bring him another set of dollies , in which case you've got another vehicle . You're at least gonna have to go to a shop and grab another set of dollies , in which case you've got another vehicle . You're at least gonna have to go to a shop and grab another set of dollies and load them up onto your truck somehow and then use them in the field . So you should really be charging more if or like . We don't know the full story . We only see half the picture of this little trailer . The other wheel could be off or flat or whatever , and the guy one of the chances like the suv .
Speaker 1This little trailer the other wheel could be off or flat or whatever , and the guy ? One of the chances like the suv is dead and the trailer is dead .
Speaker 2One of the you know what I mean or has an issue now I could hit a nail on the driver's side of the vehicle and pop the trailer tire and the rear tire .
Speaker 1The fair , nice , fair enough that there's a possibility . Um , you'd have to double check in on what the legality is in your area for doing this Right . But the other question I have , and again it comes down to legality maybe the trailer wasn't plated and could not travel on the road . Where dollying the trailer would eliminate that , even though it's being drawn behind a tow truck ? There's , you know , depending on your region , different things apply to that . Maybe it's something like that . Maybe you couldn't have those wheels in the ground because it wasn't plated , or or insured , or , you know , depending on what the requirements are for that area . I don't know . There's nothing in the . You know , even the description says double dollies who all pulled this off before . I thought it was pretty cool when my customer showed me this picture , and this is posted by wrecker warehouse of texas llc .
Speaker 2But he's saying that it was his customer showed him this picture , so we have no idea . So it's another company somewhere .
Speaker 1So we don't know where , um , where , how , what the circumstances behind any of it are , but it is . It is a cool photo . It is something different to see . Um , you know , I'd like to know the reasoning behind it . Can't really see any safety chains or anything else . Also , it's a self-loader , it looks like .
Speaker 2Yeah , I don't see any straps on the dollies either .
Speaker 1But again he's in a parking lot at this point , I'm not , I'm not , uh , I'm not a uh criticize you for a photo on nothing secured . I mean , I've moved shit around too I've moved shit around for a long distance that I really shouldn't have before I will never admit to any of that because I don't know what can be used in a court of law against us at this point uh , what do you mean ?
Speaker 2it's , I'm just taking it from this parking lot to this parking lot , sir , that's 60 miles away from here . Well , it's just a quick shunt . I don't know what you're talking about ?
Speaker 1I'm bringing it to the next safest spot . What about that parking lot ? That's private property ? That doesn't look safe . The next safest spot .
Speaker 2I know a guy got shot there last year . That's not safe yeah .
Speaker 1There's definitely loopholes in towing and people are going to find a way , one way or another , to exploit them . You may be those people . Um , the other thing we really want to get into I thought it was cool . A company called clover towing posted this up and we talk about we always like to talk about different equipment , different tools , different ideas for things . Now we kind of had the same conversation where this seems like a very simple um one use . I don't know what their other plans are for it , but what it is , it's a newer style Dodge Sprinter van with a motorcycle . I don't think that's just a ramp G , I think that's one of those like loading , like a full loading mechanism .
Clover towing's latest innovation the new motorcycle transportation van . Are you searching for a high quality motorcycle ramp to transport your bike this summer ? Look no further than the new motorcycle transportation van . Are you searching for a high quality motorcycle ramp to transport your bike this summer ? Look no further than the latest motorcycle ramp . This ramp features innovative tilting capability allowing for easy loading in tight spaces , followed by safe transportation in an enclosed van . Its adaptability to different tire widths and diameters make it ideal for any type of bike . We are thrilled to welcome this new truck to Clover Towing family . Our team of experts is committed to serving you with the highest level of professionalism , ensuring that your motorcycle is transported safely and efficiently . We pride ourselves on our dedication to quality service and our commitment to customer satisfaction . So it's a Sprinter van that you know hauls motorcycles around . I'm not going gonna shit on it , first of all because I like the idea , even just looking at the ramp , like you can use that sprinter van for anything , right like that ramp system is what like ?
Speaker 1what do you think you're ?
Speaker 2using it for this . This , uh , it's actually a pro master van by the looks of it , um , sorry . So it's got this ramp that comes out the back with a little , uh , shuttle system on it , yeah , a tray system that goes down . You lock the front tire and then it looks like there's either a hand crank or an electric winch at the top of the ramp winches the bike up and then I'm hoping there's another winch at the front of the van to actually drag this ramp up and into the van .
Speaker 2My problem with this is and there's a couple it's very single use . You're spending $30,000 , $40,000 on a van and all the equipment for it , when you could probably get a little single axle trailer for about $10,000 , you could even put the same ramp setup that you've got in this van into a trailer and then you have a designated trailer . My problem with this is is okay , you say , okay , I'm gonna buy this piece of uh , this van for an asset for my company , but then you do something like this to it and you're like , okay , well , I've lost the ability to haul around airbags with it , because if that's my only tool .
Speaker 2Well , if you say this is the vehicle I'm going to haul around airbags with , you're probably going to leave airbags in it . And then , oh , I've got a motorcycle tow , I've got to take the airbags out . Well , it's a tow on a motorcycle . Now you've got an airbag . Call come in . So you're switching things around . Anyways , if you're going to have a designated piece of equipment to do a designated job , make it ready for that job right where a $10,000 trailer would do the same role that this van is doing and anything in your fleet can tow that trailer .
Speaker 1I think is a lot better okay , so let's use the argument of that with the trailer . So , that being said , would you not ? So you're arguing that it's a one-trick pony in sense . Right , it's a one-trick pony because so they don't have to switch and put the airbags in it and possibly take the airbags out . Well , the trailer would be the same thing . Then you would say , by having an airbag trailer . Well , it's a one-trick pony , because all I can do is haul your airbags around . Now I need a separate trailer for the motorcycle .
Speaker 2Yes , but you're also talking about a $30,000 to $40,000 van or a $10,000 trailer . Hell for an airbag trailer . You probably only need like a $5,000 trailer . They don't need to be very big , 100% . Well , I'm saying dollars to donuts for the return of investment and practical use for your company . But then you still need a yeah , yes , but if you're a company , now , how many times have we ran into this situation ?
Speaker 1you and I worked for a company which we loved , where they bought a , a van , or not a van a trailer . We had a pretty much a dedicated motorcycle trailer . That was a very simple concept that just had a wheel chalk mounted in it with some extra tie-down rings . That trailer was very , very versatile . Yes , it could be used for multiple things , if need be , correct . Yep , how many times were you we were towing that now , instead of losing ?
Speaker 1Our theory was , instead of losing a flatbed , we can set a wrecker right because the wrecker can tow the trailer and put the motorcycle inside . But then you had to tow the trailer back empty all the time , like we don't know what clover's business model is right . I looked them up . Um , just based off their area code . They're in southwestern british columbia . We can't neither of us know what their bike volume is true . Their bike volume alone might justify this . Not to mention how many times when you showed up with that trailer that the enclosed version of this right , how many times were customers thrilled ? They loved it ? Through the moon , through 100 , they would . They would rather see it on that than than inside or just on the back of a flatbed every day .
Speaker 2They'd rather not see it because it's in an enclosed trailer and seeing it on the back of a flatbed yeah , 100 , it's the back of the flatbed .
Speaker 1You got to pull it on . You got whatever . This is rolls in like a trailer , like Like it's designed specifically for that . Yeah , but this to pull your first of all . Have you ever loaded or unloaded a set of airbags ? No , I didn't think so . Okay , don't get me wrong . They're not pleasant to haul around , correct ? But I mean , in a situation like if you needed to load airbags into this van , it's not a problem . And don't forget , an airbag job for the most part that is not a hat yeah , exactly right .
Speaker 1There's planning , there's coordination , there's everything that goes into it . So the time that it takes to load them up is kind of part of the job . So it is practical that it could still haul you know , cleanup material . Who knows ? This thing could have a full battery rack inside it where it's selling , installing batteries or or being used , you know , probably for service calls in between stuff . So instead of getting a service car , it went a little bit bigger and got something that can be not just a service car .
Speaker 1This thing isn't just dedicated to tire changes , boosts , unlocks . It's still probably more efficient than setting a full-size tow truck again just cost If we want to go donuts and dollars right . And instead of getting a smaller car , they've now taken the idea , like we have , of a Prius and made it be able to do a lot more . So I don't think it's a one trick pony . I think they're introducing it as a motorcycle . Clover towing , I believe , has been out there . I've I've heard that name before out in southwestern British Columbia , you know . Obviously they're a decent-sized fleet if they're adding that kind of equipment to it too , like that is not something that a two-truck mom-and-pop shop adds , you know , and there's probably people that are smarter than you and I behind making some of these decisions .
Speaker 2Oh yeah .
Speaker 1But I imagine there's other purposes for that banner . There's another revenue stream planned within that van . Yep , oh , no , no way am I . Yeah , what's up ? Yeah , like if that revenue stream for that specific unit was strictly based on , like , just bike . Unless you have regular , you know , and and maybe they do , maybe they have have massive amounts of motorcycle trips that come through there . Maybe they're doing in the summertime and even part of the winter , depending on what part of BC you're in . Maybe they're doing motorcycles daily , where that kind of tool makes sense . For me , a van dedicated simply to motorcycles wouldn't make sense For you . You know , in your area probably wouldn't either . No , but like Daytona Beach , maybe Something like that might make sense for you . You know , in your area probably wouldn't either .
Speaker 2No , um , but like daytona beach , maybe something like that might make sense right I'm a british columbia I'm a firm believer in the trailer thing , because if you've got a full down ramp , atvs , snowmobiles , gotta help your buddy move right . It's gonna be harder to especially like . I'm not sure how easy this ramp device is able to get in and out of the van or how much room it takes up when it's actually folded up in the in the van itself . Um to where ? What else can you actually put in the back of this van ?
Speaker 2Obviously , clover towing is more than well of a big enough company to where this makes sense for them . Right , they wouldn't have done this if it didn't make financial sense . I'm just coming out from a perspective of it wouldn't make sense for me . So I'm criticizing it for that realistically , because there's cheaper , easier alternatives out there . Does it make my way better ? No , doesn't make their way better . Who knows ? But for me personally in my area , having a dedicated van just for bikes and service calls just you know , just doesn't grab , doesn't get my gears in motion like something else would you know what .
Speaker 1It's funny that you say that , it's great that you know I . I really think this cold and this deep voice and this puberty in which you've hit is really maturing you . Oh , really , because it's nice to admit , to say that just because it's not something I could use or a tool that I think would be beneficial for a situation that I can see , doesn't mean it's a stupid tool . If the Internet could just be a little more on board with that , it would be great , right .
Speaker 2Like I don't know . That could be a little more like G , it'd be a better place .
Speaker 1Well , no G in this . In this state of mind that he is in right now , I wouldn't want the internet to be more like you . Want a day to day basis . Come on , but no cause .
Speaker 1I don't know if you remember back when there was a post going around on social media I don't know if you've seen it and it was about a guy asking um or explaining to people a , a GM approved method of towing . I don't remember what kind of vehicle was . It was one that caught me off guard um , that you wouldn't expect to be able to run without dollies . It was an all wheel drive version that you could run front wheel drive without dollies , and it was right there in the owner's manual . And and I seen that I went oh , that's interesting . I want to say it was like an equinox or something .
I don't remember the specific type of vehicle and I remember going like that's interesting , like that is something that I will keep into the back of my mind in this situation where maybe it's needed right , I don't know what like an underground that my flatbed can't get in , and maybe the dollies are too . I I don't know what , like an underground that my flatbed can't get in , and maybe the dollies are too . I don't know a situation where maybe I could use that information . I'm not saying I'd use it on an everyday , um , you know , day-to-day basis , cause it might , you know , might not be a great idea . I'd still rather keep an all wheel drive on a flatbed four wheel and all wheel , two different things willing to . You know , there's something that I'm willing to do things with , there's something I'm not . But I thought about that and I went like , oh , that's cool , good information . And then I read the goddamn comments and the comments are just like guys are lazy , guys are stupid , don't do this . You're going to pay for a transmission . Da , da , da , da , da da da name every excuse you'd have thrown at you for thinking outside the box . And I just sat there and I went like cool , you might not want to do it , I don't really overly want to do it . Like I still believe I would put that on a bed .
Speaker 1But don't beat the shit out of somebody for giving a tool that you can use Again . We've ran into this before . Backpole hitches was the same thing . It's a tool tool . I'm not telling you to tow all your goddamn cars with that thing . I'm not telling you to do that . I'm not telling you to just give that to any rookie in your fleet and say here , go tow everything with this , but it's a goddamn tool in the toolbox that somebody could use at one point or might benefit .
Speaker 1I've ran into a situation where I needed that tool . It's the same thing with this , and there's so many goddamn arrogant tow operators out there that'll look for the error and everything . And that's what made me think of the van . Right , we're like no , it's not right . But you know it's not right for me , but maybe it's right for somebody like , and I don't know , I feel like these arrogant assholes probably don't listen to our show anyways , because you know they couldn't stand .
Speaker 1You know people talking about something and them not being able to give a goddamn opinion on it , um , because if they could , they wouldn't fucking comment on social media . I'm going on tangent um , but . But it's true , it's nice to hear that maturity in the towing industry where somebody can go hey , wasn't the way I would have done it , or something that I would do . But like I'm in handy one day , I'm going to take that , I'm going to , you know , use what I can from it and maybe you get an Equinox one day where you I don't know right that you know you can do this and move it out of a garage without it locking up , or whatever you want to use that tool for , or that information for , you do not have to apply it every goddamn day , but do not sit there and run up a hundred comment , absolutely just beating the shit out of somebody .
Speaker 2Right for for posting a piece of information that you might not have known about like most all-wheel drive vehicles , if you pick them up from the front , as long as you stay like under 20 kilometers an hour , so like 10 , 12 , 13 mile an hour the rear end spins freely . So like , if you do got to get it out of that garage , you can do that . But that's not a one-trick pony because , like if you've ever tried to pick up an Escape before , that's all-wheel drive you might make it two feet before the S-end locks up on you .
Speaker 1Yeah , exactly , drive , you might make it two feet before the sn locks up on you . Yeah , exactly right . So , again , having that information is probably a tool . Yeah , so , um , we've stayed away from a lot of . We've tried to really gear the show a lot more over recent time to general towing information and to stick away from our main home province of ont , only because , um , our listenership is not from Ontario .
Speaker 1Some people do like hearing what's going on in other , you know , other provinces or other states and that kind of thing . So there has been an interest in it . But we have for the most part tried to just get back to the basics of towing and obviously the beginning of the show , comedy , um , but there is some interesting news coming out of Ontario and I am I promised myself from the beginning that I would do my best to stay , um , neutral on this matter . I just realized this putting it up here . I can't actually read the whole thing , cause your head's in the way , um , but I do have it open on another screen , luckily . So I will be okay . Your head's in the way , my head's not , that's true , your head's away . So Ontario Towers . I will read over this letter . It is a little long-winded , I do apologize . However , ontario Towers are threatening a day of action in May coming up in a couple weeks , and I think there's some interesting points made in this . I'm going to stay neutral on where I stand , whether I believe or not believe in this . I'll try my best to stay neutral because I'm not always good at that . I can't promise the same .
Speaker 1So to the Towers of Ontario , a group of professional Towers from throughout Ontario have been in discussion as to what steps need to be taken to get Ontario government back to the table to begin an open , honest dialogue with the towing industry to discuss solutions to the issues created by the Towing and Storage Safety and Enforcement Act . That is to see it . We have had episodes in the past . If you go , look back about to see it . We want and need to work towards a common goal to safely and efficiently service the motoring public of Ontario and keeping Ontario's roadways open for business through a partnership that creates fairness , support and sustainability to the towing industry . These issues include , but are not limited to , designing it to see a price sheet that works for all stakeholders right . There's been obviously confusion , misunderstanding , anger about how the maximum rate schedules came out in Ontario and what it was to follow them , Regulations that fairly protect the Ontario motorist towing and insurance industry as a whole .
Speaker 1So in all these regulations that we read out back , when there is no protection given to the towing industry right , the protection was getting a lot to the consumer , to the insurance companies , but nothing given to the towing industry . Stop the abuse of rsla , section 24 loophole by the insurance industry . This is the option , uh , under the repair storage liens act , section 24 , where they can file it into court . Um , if they don't agree with the bill , kick-starting a long-standing issue , uh , they get the vehicle out right away . Towing companies don't get the money until either a settlement is agreed to or the issue goes to court , which can be up to and over a year away . So they're pretty much threatening companies with Section 24s if they don't take a cut on the bill , and a lot of companies can't afford to float that money for up to or over a year .
Speaker 1A fairly priced insurance program for the towing industry , including the ability to insure new drivers , that is obviously , and then we're seeing that across . I'm seeing complaints out of every state , every province right now , and the cost of insurance and being able to get new drivers on has increased significantly . If you can get insurance at all right , a lot of insurance companies won't touch drivers under three years . They've really pushed this into a monopoly because a very limited number of companies will do it and if they do do it , they're obviously going to do it at a massive increase or premium . A fair and legal program for drivers with legal records for which they have paid their dues . So , in other words , allowing a driver who may have had a criminal conviction in the past an option to um , you know , still work within the industry as long as you know a set time or whatever is passed . Um , oh , never mind with legal records for which they have paid their dues . Maybe not what I'm thinking cvr regulation compliance that allows 24 7 365 service for all of ontario . I don't really know what that one is getting a fair pay for every service , and that is a big thing , right ? Yeah , the professional towers of this province are certainly not opposed to the regulations of the towing industry if structured fairly . It is clear that these regulations are written , were heavily influenced by the insurance industry and the auto club industry . The towing industry's request for fair regulation was almost entirely ignored , even though we were a stakeholder at the meetings with the Ontario government .
Speaker 1Despite numerous attempts over the last five months to get the Ontario government back to the table with the towing industry , who are the subject matter experts to discuss changes that need to be made in order to have a healthy the towing industry , who are the subject matter experts to discuss changes that need to be made in order to have a healthy , sustainable towing industry in Ontario , all lines of communication have fallen silent , left , with no other option . Towers across the province are starting to withdraw their services from the police , excluding life-endangering situations . This withdrawal is not intended to affect our regular customer base , only tow requests for which we are not guaranteed payment . The first withdrawal will be at 12 pm May 17th and continue until 8 am May 21st . These scheduled withdrawals will continue until the Ontario government agrees to open a meaningful dialogue with the towing industry to work towards an equitable solution for all the towing industry . To work towards an equitable solution for all . Equitable solution for all .
Speaker 1We understand this may not be possible for everyone to participate . However , it is important to recognize that this is your livelihood , your business , your industry and we believe it is worth fighting for . We do not condone any violence or acts of illegal activity . We are simply asking the ontario government to get back to the table with the towing industry . We are the only responder to a provincial municipal roadway that is not publicly funded and , as such , we must have assurance of payment to perform our work . The towing industry is under no legal obligation to clear Ontario roadways . We must be paid for our work .
Speaker 1It is time for the insurance industry , provincial and municipal governments , police agencies and auto clubs to recognize the invaluable service tow companies provide day in and day out , 365 days a year . We ask that you put aside your differences for the betterment and fair treatment of the towing industry and better future for us all . This is your equipment , your business , your livelihood , your profession and your future . Know your worth , put your chains down and take a well-deserved long weekend off . So I'm sorry , that is a long , little long-winded . I do apologize , not my words um , and and it is words and I mean it's up on the screen , I don't have to call it out um , it's words by a , a very well-respected , uh , professional in the towing industry within Ontario . A lot of people know this person . Yeah , a hundred percent , and I if you're on YouTube , you can find the name pretty easy .
Speaker 1I support the message . I do . I agree in all of those things . However and this is where I will stay neutral but give an opinion somehow the government has not fully even launched the program . The final stages has not even come in . I agree with everything that you say .
Speaker 1The payment part has been a big thing from the beginning . Right , a lot of this has been big for beginning . Two things this legislation was written and available up to a year before it came out . You're right . Maybe , maybe the towing industry , as a stakeholder , was at the table and and thought that they would have more influence before the it started to come into effect . Maybe , right , obviously there was meetings that were held . Obviously , opinions were ignored .
Speaker 1I don't deny any of these things . But when the program isn't fully even incorporated yet , right , it's not , it hasn't fully launched yet and you are going to them pretty much fundamentally wanting to change this from the ground up , to incorporate these things and to stop these practices and to incorporate all these good things that I believe are good things for the industry that we need . I feel like I need to keep reminding reminding myself and the listener of that . They're not taking our calls , they're not negotiating with us , they're not sitting down at the table ? Of course not . They're too busy trying to manage this program . That they launched this program ? Well , you got to remember when the TSEA regulations were drafted . If you want to say the original idea behind TSEA was to do what ? Right ? What was it to do , gene , in your opinion ? What do you think Tasea was built to do ?
Speaker 2Well , it was to throw more regulations at the industry that had very little to begin with , to make the bad actors within the industry that were just skating by and mistreating customers and consumers to where they would either have to smarten up and get with the program and provide fair service for a fair price or get out of the industry entirely . 100% .
Speaker 1Has Tasea done that , and this isn't a direct question , this is more of a . You know that is the question at hand . Has Tasea , in its early infancy , been able to do that ? I think to see it has taken steps in order to do that . Is there more progressive ways or more efficient ways to do it ? I think it's possible .
Speaker 1I think any program that launches like this is not going to be , you know , a one from the beginning , but you cannot expect them to redesign the program and I know they're not using the word redesign but you cannot expect them to veer far enough off course with with the request that , again , I believe the requests are reasonable . I just don't think that a program launching in this state , like where it's at it hasn't even come fully into effect yet that you can implement those
changes . To see , it was meant to give the government teeth . To give the government teeth in order to eliminate these bad actors , as you so say . Right , and the act does that . The act does give the government teeth , right .
Speaker 1The act gives the government teeth against possibly good towers too , and that was a fear , I mean . How many times , though , have we seen this over and over and over again ? Like unfortunately , good players are going to fall because of Tessia . Yeah , it's an unfortunate reality . It is from the day that you requested , or you know needed , to be regulated by the government because we couldn't self-regulate . I'm from the government , I'm here to help , right ? We've said that line out here multiple times .
Speaker 2Episode four I think , is when we first said that .
Speaker 1Right , I can give an example of those stories . My dad would tell me where the Ministry of Labor couldn't really touch farms , especially family farms , because they weren't workers , right . But then there was having all kinds of injuries and all kinds of issues and we want your help . And then they came in , but then they didn't like the help that they got . Right . The towing industry went through a very similar phase with that . Right , we need your help to get rid of all these terrible people that are charging absorbent amounts on the highway and everything and making the rest of us look bad . Well , guess what happened when the ministry got involved in some of those family farms , when the rules started to come into play and they had to follow them , there was many good family farms that took the hit too . Yep , these are the natural progressions of these .
Speaker 1Now , I'm not saying just sit back and not accept .
Speaker 1You know and accept that this change is the be all , end all . And I do respect the fact that what they are saying is not that we are going to do a province-wide strike of any sorts or day of action . It is only for police requested tows , other than if there is a , you know , imminent danger to somebody , right ? So what that means is if the police call you because a vehicle is partially submerged in water and they need the tow truck to , you know , support the vehicle , whatever the case may be , they will say yes . But if you call me for a van that is rolled over and hit a box , culvert on the 401 a 500 van that I know is just going to end up owning in my yard , because I have no guarantee of payment and no legal repercussion other than just let the towing company deal with it , they can scrap it and get their money back . Other Other than that I'm not responding to that call . That is the step that they want to take , which isn't a terrible step .
Speaker 2I think from reading this letter , it states that they were in the decision-making board when these regulations were brought into effect , and I don't disagree with that or drafted , even Drafted even . I think what honestly happened was you've got the governing body and you've got lobbyists from the insurance companies , auto clubs and , of course , the towing industry there . Well , the government looks down and they see the auto clubs that make billions , maybe a billion dollars , and pay taxes on that , and they see the insurance companies that do the same , and then they see the toying industry sitting there and and I believe up to three different associations represented in that yep .
Speaker 1And so when they went to the roadsides they went hey , big roadside , okay cool . Hey , insurance companies , you guys are all on the same page ? Yes , we are . And then you got three bands of different groups of towers .
Speaker 2That are all bickering amongst each other probably , or we can't ever get it on the same page .
Speaker 1Exactly right , there's different views that each of them have , just with different boards of directors . I'm not saying one's right and one's wrong .
Speaker 2Um , just you know , they're not a collective group , I don't think as much as these road guides insurance were and I honestly think it might have been pushed to the wayside all these other things when the original thing was drafted , because , like you said , what this was drafted for was to get the bad actors out of the industry . And whenever the government says , I'm from the government , I'm here to help , there's always overreach , and that's what we're seeing . Obviously , the time to say this is what we need was a year and a half ago , two years ago , when this was being brought up . Unfortunately , it's the same analogy of when was the best time to plant a tree . The best time was yesterday . The second best time is now .
Speaker 2Um , and unfortunately my side of things , if we don't get on this and saying , hey , we don't agree with this , we need to do something about this , if we let it sit for another year or two , the chances of them changing something goes down . If we start making a little bit of noise and say , hey , we need to relook at some of these things , I think we have a better opportunity to get this in now , because it is still in its infancy . Nothing's set in stone yet per se right , set in stone yet per se right . Um , the fact that they're not actually coming and talking to us . Like you said , they're busy doing other things , but they're still . They still need to listen to the industry , because if the industry goes poof overnight , it will never go poof overnight . But let's say you lose .
Speaker 1There's always some dumb millionaire with money somewhere yeah , exactly .
Speaker 2But if you lose all these big rapid pull towing companies because they just say you know what ? I've made decent money over the last 30 years . My family set , my kids are set . I'm just done . I'm not gonna play by these unfair rules anymore . Who's gonna suffer the most ? It's gonna be the the police officers that didn't request this that now have to deal with subpar service . It's going to be the the police officers that didn't request this that now have to deal with subpar service . It's going to be the consumers that are now going to have to deal with subpar service . It's going to be everyone except the towing industry . Whoever's left in the towing industry trying to pick up the pieces after all , these good players just exited .
Speaker 1But that's what I mean . I'm not saying that I want to see good players exit , but if you can go , you know you get through the three years of this program Right , and good players will . You know , some good players will make it , some good players won't . It's the reality of it and I don't want to see anybody not make it . You get through these three years of it and you go .
Speaker 1You don't think you're in a better spot to be able to approach the government as a collective whole and go look , when you brought out to see it , it was to do this . Yes , you have accomplished that . If you look , this has gone down . This has gone down . You know what you set out succeeded . You eliminated the bad actors within the towing industry . You took a lot of good ones with them , unfortunately , but you , you know what I mean . You lowered , you know these , these incidents of major fraud and everything else . Like you , you've done that so , but now the industry is not sustainable . We have floated and we have fought through this with you to get , to help you achieve the goal that you were at . But the profit , you know , I mean the business model isn't sustainable and we are going to start having to pull out of stuff , but the problem is they're not willing to talk currently if they're not willing to talk , you can't have that conversation .
Speaker 2They're not talking .
Speaker 1I know , but I'm not asking to have that conversation right now . I'm asking let this program run its course , let it get to its point . You say that you know what's going to happen is the cops are going to have to deal with subpar service , that this is going to have to deal with sub . That's when the change is going to need to happen . Yeah , right now . Unfortunately , there's a lot of good companies in this province and there's a lot of fucking bad ones . There is a lot of bad companies right , and we're seeing , and some bad companies are still thriving . You know , and you're seeing the bills and you're seeing that .
Speaker 1You know and I'm not wanting to criticize someone's books unless you're there it's very hard to you know . Know what you would have charged or what you would have done , yep , but we know that there was corruption in our industry . We know that . The people that wrote this letter know that , and I get it . You do not want to see a single good tower get taken out or forced out or pushed out when we've already seen them drop because you're right , they say screw it , I'm near retirement , anyways done , and then you got . You know , you do have some bigger companies that are thriving off that and expanding their territory , and some of those big companies aren't great companies either , right , but you can't . You have to let the program fully come into place . You're going to lose good operators , so you can use this as a virtue signaling . You know what I mean ? Hey , I no person left behind and I have a lot of respect for this poster . I have a a lot of respect for this poster . I have a huge amount of respect for this poster .
Speaker 1I've had many conversations over the years of this poster and I you know , I , you know , if you're listening . I want you to be aware of that . It's nothing personal where everyone has different views . You , in my opinion , though I still don't believe this is the right approach . Right , I believe in everything that you were saying . I believe and I would love to see all of that the end of the day , good businesses are going to fall because of this and unfortunately it's business . Good businesses have fallen many times because of changes to an industry . Right , do everything you can to not be that good business If you care enough to want to continue in this industry . If you do not , I mean , I would never fault a guy for , at this point , getting out of it with all the changes , like
we had . Friends of ours that you know shut the doors and moved on hindsight . I think it was the right time for them , nope all right I don't think all these changes would have been so .
Speaker 1You know , it's just it's , it's part of the game and unfortunately , it's a game that we went on taking advantage of , whether we did directly or you know , to the .
Speaker 1You know , some of us did it to bigger extents than others , but it was a system that was unregulated , that we took it , that was taken advantage of for a long time . The overreaction is here . Find a way to make , instead of taking the time saying stop doing this police work , work with towers on ways to be able to get through this , whether that be crossing your T's and dotting your I's , to make sure that consents are taken care of , to make sure that you know what I mean People are taking these regulations seriously , that they're not going to get screwed on a $5,000 bill on a storage invoice because they didn't do a proper notification where they didn't do a proper consent or all that . Like , take the time , you know what I mean . Like , let's take our resources and help build up the good companies in these situations , rather than taking that same energy and applying it to just this , this day of action , this , this idea , this you know it's again , I have all the respect for you in the world . I just don't agree .
Speaker 2I . I think it's not even so much the day of action part , it's just trying to get the community of towers together , because I think that that's always been one of our biggest weaknesses in this industry is 100 . We don't have the ability to come together as a collective whole right . And I'm not advocating for a towing union or something . I think the organizations are just fine , but I think more people need to get involved in the organizations and actually be able to get involved with the ability to lobby and have their voice be heard .
Speaker 2And I think that's what this is a main call for . It's saying , hey , this is what we're doing , we want to be able to get the word out and get that support behind them . So then when push does come to shove and they get to be able to talk to the government again , they actually listen to us and say we are hurting , we are bleeding financially for this reason and this reason and it could be no fault of our own , because other the cards are stacked against us and we need to fix this . And here are some possible solutions to fix this problem , because if you come to me with a problem with no solution , well then you haven't really thought about the problem too hard and that you just got to have everything fully thought out , and I think , with more people standing behind them , it's going to be easier . And I think that's just what this is for it's a call to action to get that support that they need , regardless of how much of an impact it actually has in the now of stopping service .
Speaker 1That is fair . You know what that's ? What's great about the show is that we can have two different views to it , two different sides to it . Um , we can have a conversation about all the things that people shouldn't have a conversation about or , you know , say that you shouldn't talk about , or you know what I mean . It doesn't have to be an argument . It can be an an honest , open , uh , discussion about it . So , um , no hard feelings to you know , whether it be the poster or anyone who thought otherwise . Um , that is kind of starting to wrap up towards our time .
Speaker 1It took a little longer than we were expecting . I know we did miss one thing . It's something we can gladly get to on the next week's episode . So , yeah , let us hear your thoughts . Right , if you are a tower in Ontario and you've seen this call for a day to action or this call to action period , I guess it's a weekend of action . Let me know what your thoughts are . You can . You know you can send us a text .
Speaker 1If you're listening over on the audio side , just look in your episode description . Don't tell us , hey , playing guy , you're way out of line . Tell me , angie , I fully agree . Or , or you know . Vice versa , whatever the case may be , you can visit us at wwwtowinglifeca , where you can find a contact us button . There . You can email us directly at the towing life at gmailcom , or you can find us on Facebook at the towing life podcast . If you are watching on the YouTube side , do not forget . Leave a comment down below , hit the like , subscribe all the buttons . All the buttons you can click , just click them all . And on behalf of myself and my wonderful co co host , mr Tomangie , we , on behalf of myself and my wonderful co-host , mr Tomanji , we appreciate you coming out to another episode of the Tone Life Podcast and we cannot wait to see you again next week . Take care , toodles .