Hey everyone. I'm Brad from Calgary. This is Sean from Cambridge, ontario. I'm Terry from Cornwall, ontario.
Speaker 2Hey, this is Larry from Pit Metals, British Columbia, and you're listening to the Towing Life Podcast.
Speaker 1Welcome to the Towing Life Podcast, where the ditches are deep, the trucks are loaded, but the drivers are not. I am your host, Tow man 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.
Speaker 2What is going on? G. What is going on?
Speaker 1playing guy. What is going on, gee? What is going on, oh, in the land of milk and honey, except for milk it's better than that and honey it's not feeling well.
Speaker 2Yeah, it's a beautiful long may weekend as we sit down and record episode 138. Um, so you cannot complain about the weather that we've had and that does suck that you're feeling bad. It's. We're in June, july, weather up here it is. It is absolutely unreal. Um, as you said, welcome to another episode of the tone life podcast. We have some good stuff on tap a little bit of followup from last week, a little bit of new stuff for this week. Uh, we have it all, um.
Speaker 2That being said, your questions, comments, concerns everything that you have for the show is always appreciated. So where can you find us? You can reach out. You can head over to our website at wwwtowinglifeca. You can visit us on Facebook at the Towing Life Podcast, or you can email us directly at thetowinglifeatgmailcom. If you're watching over on YouTube, do not forget, you can comment right down below. Hit that thumbs up everything else while you were down there. If you are listening over on spotify or any of the audio apps, uh, there is a text us option that sends us an email directly with any comments or questions you have. I don't think we can reply to it, um, but if you have an idea for the show. It's that easy. You've already got it open. You're listening. Pull over into a safe spot if you're driving, click the tab, send us over a message and we will do our best to get to any questions that you may have on the show. I did all that while uploading the slide for the show. That I forgot to do.
Speaker 1I was wondering why my internet really went to shit, yeah, yeah. You haven't moved for a solid 20 seconds on my screen.
Speaker 2I realized as I got into that intro I'm like I didn't upload the slides that we wanted to talk about today, so I've got the script so memorized that I'm able to do it while working in the background. It only took 138 episodes.
Speaker 1Speaking about the comments and questions. Speaking of the comments and questions from last week, I do. We did get quite a few comments on uh youtube from the last oh, did we ever looked at?
Speaker 1we had one from joe saying good show guys, joe. Yeah, he also says I just had a meeting with my area rep for the us three-letter roadside and their supervisor told him it's real interesting how we as drivers are told what to do and how to do our job by someone who has never driven or even does the job for a period of time to understand it. They were telling us on how to get greet members and explain to them everything that we're doing while loading the vehicle so that we can have good reviews. So I mentioned everything that we're doing while loading the vehicles so that we can have good reviews. So I mentioned everything that we do is all about reviews and it's not for their safety.
Speaker 1After a long silence by them and a bullshit answer, that's pretty much what it is. So in a way, it's like the government telling us what to do because they have no idea how to do our job or what it requires. Just think the higher ups as the government and, to be frank, most big three-letter roadsides are corporations and they have a lot of bureaucracy and they run a lot like governments do. And yeah, it's all about our three-letter roadside Cover ass always. That's all they got to do and they just want what's best for their stockholders, and that's to get the bottom line up, make the company.
Speaker 2Look, yeah, but that is that's. That's it. That's where you can't compare them to government, because the government is working with publicly funded money, um, so at the end of the day they're they're not overly concerned. There's, there's very little accountability lately, especially for um. You know what I mean, what the bottom line is with the government, where there is a lot more when it comes to these three letter road sides and these corporations. So I get the comparison you're trying to make, um, but there's obviously big leading factors between the two decision-making Um.
Speaker 2I'm reading, actually, the comments that I do like playing. I really missed the boat on to see uh sounds, I really missed the boat on. Tasia sounds a lot like regurgitated Doug and Joey rhetoric. Sorry, you feel that way. Anyone that knows me knows that I respect those individuals on what they have done for the industry. However, I have my fair share of difference of opinions. That has been, you know, not publicly talked about on the show, but definitely throughout my career I've not shied away from. So, if you feel that way, you know again, I'm not influenced by anything that they say or do, but maybe there is some you know. So I say there's, there might be some in. You know there might be some truth to what they're saying. They're they're professionals in the industry that have been around for a long time. Right, obviously they know what they're doing, one much more than the other. I would like to make that abundantly clear. I won't say which is which, but I think they know, and I think you will know as well. One has successfully grown a massive towing company. The other is kind of just a play setter, in my opinion. It's true, and you know what. I wasn't going to get into this, but let's get into this. Um, okay, it was ironic, uh, the timing, because I don't think we talked about that part on the show. So we talked last week about ontario's call to action and and I know there's probably some ontario companies that are starting to their ears, are going up with this kind of stuff, and and you know they're listening to specific episodes because we cover things directly involving them there was a letter put out sent out. Sorry, it wasn't a letter, it was a news article. I'm going to try and pull it up here now. It was a news article that was put together in trucker news. I want to say, um, in regards to this day of action. Now I hated it. I absolutely hated this article.
Speaker 2The government, the insurance companies and everyone have given us a run around in the towing industry because we have failed to stay united, at least on a certain amount of of. You know our points on what we want we're trying to accomplish with the towing industry. Right, we have three different towing or towing associations that are talking to the government. We have the ORG, the Ontario recovery group. We have the ORG, the Ontario Recovery Group. We have the PTAO, the Professional Towers Association of Ontario, and the NAAPTD. I don't know what it stands for. It's still an association. Whether we acknowledge that it's a, you know it's still an association. It's a stakeholder in the industry. So the PTAO unofficially I don't really want to even say them towers within the pta or the ones that called for this day of action.
Speaker 2I'm not saying the pto was behind it. They don't. I don't believe they support it. I don't think they publicly come out and say they support it, but clearly, by the message sent here, the org is in disagreement, which is fine. You can disagree with another towing association's direction, an article put out in trucknewscom. Our members will not be participating in this job action. Many of them will likely be ready to assist the police in any matters deemed necessary. I have serious doubts that 50 tow companies will be participating in this job. Action, said nelson uh, which is doug n, the executive director of the ORG, in an email to trucknewscom. When you do the numbers, even as CTV News has provided, it comes out to less than 4.5% and not likely to be a problem. Joey Gagne, president of Abrams Towing, agrees it'll be a non-event. He noted there are 1,260 towing companies in Ontario. While many of them, who work in remote areas, have a legitimate gripe, he admits none of the GTHA-authorized towing companies are expected to participate. So that is the tow zone pilot companies in Toronto. He adds we, the Ontario Recovery Group, continue to have a robust dialogue with the government to find solutions to these challenges and expect some progress in the near future.
Speaker 2Here's my problem with this the government's already got you by the balls, towing industry, because you can't get your shit together, and I mean that respectfully. I mean you guys can not all get on the same page, let alone in the same goddamn book, when one association whether you agree with the day of action, you can disagree with the day of action, you can disagree with the day of action. I did not participate in the weekend of action. I have no problem. I'm not trying to away from that. I did agree with certain points that they had, but I would not publicly come out and show that divide in the towing industry to only further empower the government and insurance companies. If you don't agree with the day of action understandable we will not be participating in this weekend of action, a day of action, whatever they want to call it. However, we understand that there is issues within the towing industry and government that need to be resolved and we look forward to working on that solution together.
Speaker 2That is all you have to say. You do not have to say it'll be a non-event. That is all you have to say. You do not have to say it'll be a non-event. You do not have to say you know that you have serious doubts that this many companies will do it. All you are showing is the misorganization and the division that still exists within the towing industry.
Speaker 2Put your egos aside. Right, this is the them versus us. We have a different view, they have a different view. They have a different view. Egos are very high on this one and it is causing. It's causing the government not to take us seriously. Let's be honest. So, um, it's been an interesting time in ontario, we know that. So, um, I won't call your name just because it looks like it might be a towing company, but your comment over on YouTube, that sounds a lot like regurgitated rhetoric. Like I said, I can assure you there is no love lost between those individuals. I respect what they've done for the industry for many, many years, but our views align very differently whenever it comes to the current tides within the towing industry. So, that being said, mr Towman G once again has reconnected after losing internet service. Welcome back, sir. Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 1Hi, the webpage hasn't even loaded yet. Okay, okay, I'm unable to load the layouts of our stream yards.
Speaker 2That's fine. You just need to sit there. You're up up, you're looking pretty and, uh, you're participating. That's all that matters.
Speaker 1You get a trophy, perfect it is 2024 and I expect a participation trophy.
Speaker 1However, I did miss pretty much most of everything that you talked about, but I can reiterate that that's the biggest issue in our industry is not being able to come together as a collective whole, and we've talked about this previously on the show is, if you go into, like facebook groups for police officers or firefighters, you don't see each other bashing each other the same as you do in the towing industry.
Speaker 1We are are very cutthroat to each other and when the public looks in at this or articles get written, they're like the towing industry just looks to be in shambles because they're going after each other when we are should all be fighting for the collective growth and goal of the industry, in whatever manner that is, regardless. If, like you were saying, if you don't see eye to eye with one person's push to better the industry, respect their effort to at least try to do something to better the industry, whether you support it or not, and just sit at the sidelines. If it fails, it fails, but at least if it succeeds and you didn't bash it, well then it's still a success for you and you're not spiteful because you're like I didn't agree with that, but it worked. Now I feel stupid, or I can't align myself with them again, because instead of staying on the straight and narrow together, you've divided even more in a why, and I feel that's when a lot of resentment can show up and a lot of this.
Like you know, it's one thing to go on a level and people might want to call me a hypocrite for it and knock yourself out where, oh well, you guys are showing the divide by talking about it on the show. Yeah, fair enough, right, like? And even last week, when we talked about, uh, the post put out on facebook about this whole action that was being taken, and I didn't agree with many parts of it, and that's fine, I didn't bash it, I, there's there, you know, the points are valid. I I didn't think it would be effective. The difference is is I'm not the head of the associations that is going out to the media, that is going out to the um, the, the government, and having these conversations. They are the ultimately the ones that are going to make the decision.
Speaker 2And when egos get involved and I believe a lot of it is about egos you have one ego over here saying this is what we need to do. You have another one over here saying no, this is what we have to do. Both of these men are well-represented and well well established in the towing industry and what they? You know their opinions carry a lot of weight, right, and you need to be able to put that aside, and I feel like it's a race to say, well, I want to be the guy that says that I fixed the industry. Well, guess what? The right leg can't do anything without the left leg. Right, and I don't think the option is amputation. The option is to start working together to figure out how we're going to better the industry through. You know, you don't have to agree with everything, right, it's just, it's it's been a pain in the ass and, and as much as I respect individuals on both sides of the argument, they have both come out with very, very stupid ideas, in my opinion. Um, you know, I'm not gonna give them out loud, because one has already threatened my job years ago, um, or at least tried to um. So you know, it is what it is.
Speaker 2I really, really hope the association in Ontario can turn it around, but I have my fears, and I have. I, I don't have the faith in the leadership that we have. You know, I don't have faith in I shouldn't say the leadership, but the direction we have with the government right now. I'm really worried about what the future holds for the industry. So enough government talk for all you Americans. They're goddamn Canadians, and what do they have to complain about? They got year-long maple syrup and free healthcare, and all these guys can do is bitch about how their towing industry is so goddamn broken.
Speaker 1Yeah, we also had a comment, I think, from Chris. I can't. I lost it being pulled up saying that they have a F-250 with one of the ramps.
Speaker 2Motorcycle lift.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, yeah and uh, something like that. I can get behind 100% of pickup truck, yep.
Speaker 2I don't know where the comment said came from, from ACE, ACE diamond, uh, Hayes laser lips. So I know that line hey laser lips. Your mama was a snowblower.
Speaker 1Uh, no blower. Uh, did I come up in last week's show that I?
Speaker 2don't remember or I don't know, did we? I saw that. I was like I don't know. Do you know that line? Do you know that movie? No, I don't. Oh my god, um, short circuit. It's an old school movie. It's fairly old now and it's about a robot that comes alive. I mean, it's like it is not like ai shit alive, it is like a box of magnets and bolts that got put together somehow comes alive. And it's like a box of magnets and bolts that got put together somehow comes alive. And it's like a military uh robot. Old school, very old school. And he has a line where he, you know, he gets a conscience and he's fighting the other robots. You know it's comedy. He goes hey, laser lips. Your mama was a snowblower and I always like that line.
Speaker 2So I'm not sure where the line, why the comment popped up, but I definitely get the reference.
Speaker 1You know something that's sad and this was brought to my attention we are closer to 2050 than we are 1990.
And you saying that the movie is old, just reminded me of that. Okay, so Short Circuit and I'm terrible for remembering I, the actor in it, short circuit the original was 1986. Wow, um, yeah, like it is not a. That's why I say it's an older movie. Um, it's starring I don't know any of these people who's the main guy. I don't even recognize him.
Speaker 1I think, just getting older, like I'm not that old by any means, I'm approaching my thirties and that's kind of shitty to say, um, but time just keeps marching on and it doesn't slow down for nothing and it's just, I don't know, nope, all all my friends now are now having kids and stuff and married or getting married. Now having kids and stuff and married or getting married, and it's like, uh, I'm sitting here doing a stupid little internet show with this asshole over here oh, you're calling the show a stupid little internet show.
Speaker 2Yeah it's a stupid little internet show that's kind of comedic and sometimes informative don't, don't take yourself loathing out on the show, okay, don't take your you know, depressive state that you're in out on our wonderful podcast. That is, that is just mean. So anyways, let's talk about me. Let's talk about something that's very controversial and no, it's not ontario towing laws or the people behind them. We recently, recently, have started a trial with a company. I can give the company a shout out, I don't care, it's a trial, I'm still on the fence about it. It's called Samsara. Samsara offers fleet tracking services as well as dash cams. Dash cams for tow trucks. It's all integrated. It's a fairly nice system of what I've seen on the play. On the play uh, on the you know trial, so far very expensive system comes with a cost. Right, like everything in the world, it comes with a cost.
Speaker 2The argument becomes with dash cams in the towing industry. We are currently trialing out two dual facing dash cams. What I mean by dual facing is obviously one faces outwards and one faces inwards towards our drivers and their passengers. Now I'm sure there's been something that has been debated for a long time, but dual facing versus front facing, cameras, pros, cons, concerns of drivers I want you to try, and I know g with his cult mentality, probably has so many privacy concerns about this that he is going to voice to me and I will try and answer the best that I can on reasonings why, or justifying reasonings why, or with my experience through this, this company, already, if there is things that that put your, your at ease, so it's funny that you bring this up.
Speaker 1I'm not sure if you've seen it, but a little while ago there is a semi truck that drove off a bridge. Yes, and the dash cam video was released. Yes, and the lady driving when that truck came out and she hit it, she turned the wheel to the left and proceeded to steer the truck off the bridge. I didn't notice that part. Yeah, so the truck hit and she's like whoa all over the place and then proceeds to keep turning the wheel left because I guess a semi oncoming, that's like 300 meters away. She was worried about hitting that and would rather go off the bridge instead of turning right and trying to control the truck and stay on the bridge. And that's if you don't know why trucks don't have airbags, because if you get into an accident, you're supposed to be able to hopefully maintain sight lines and hopefully steer to avoid secondary collisions is that really reason why that they don't have airbags?
Speaker 1correct? Yeah, because if you think about it, if you're in an 80 000 pound rig going down a hill and a smart car that pulls out in front of you, yeah you, you're killing the person in the smart car. As bad as that is, you are. But if you lose control of the rig that's 80 000 pounds, it's not stopping. And now you can't see what's going on in front of you. You don't know if you're going to drive into another minivan full of kids or into a brick wall or into a ditch and safely crash a truck into the tree and hopefully you make it out alive okay I'm not calling I'm not calling you a liar, but I just re-looked at this footage and you are incorrect.
Speaker 2What happened is is you got to look at where, in relation to the cab, she's steering? She's steering towards the passenger seat, but the overlay of the cameras, I think it got you confused. It looks like she's steering into it whenever you overlay the cameras that way, but no, she is actually steering towards the passenger seat. She's trying, cranking, cranking, and there was obviously some damage. That probably. So there goes your argument. Now.
Speaker 2Okay, um, front-facing dash cams, I believe, are a bare minimum within the towing industry nowadays. Yeah, um, right on, most vehicles are starting like. Dash cams are becoming ever more popular. Dual facing got some backlash right now. I made a joke. Some people took it well, some people didn't. I said it's no problem if you don't want a dual facing dash cam in your truck, I understand. So here's the steps that you can take you can go to the bank and you can take a loan and you can buy your own goddamn tow truck and then you can decide what kind of cameras you want to have in your truck. Until then, when you were driving somebody else's piece of equipment there, you know what I mean there is lines to to draw.
Speaker 2Now again, it isn't about a trusting. I can tell you this app that I have. I get incidents and I'm still figuring out how to set the parameters to what I want. Right, one of the big ones cell phones. It is ai. It does have ai technology, which means that it will recognize a cell phone in your hand and it will alert, it'll warn the driver first put down the phone. If the driver does not put down the phone, then it sends off a video. Okay, so there's a nudge that the driver receives first, because I'm hoping that is something that corrects itself.
Speaker 2Yeah, okay, that being said, I I'm playing now with the speed threshold on it because you know I got a violation that pops up and it's a guy going through our yard, moving, you know, just doing 10 kilometers an hour, crawling through our yard and he's, you know, checking the call that he just got. Okay, that's fair, you can dismiss these. You know these incidents, yeah, right, now again, it's where you play with the speed threshold and you get everything going else, right, harsh braking, incidents, all that is on it. You know, I mean the biggest, the biggest for me, is the cell phones and the distracted driving in today's day and age, because I mean those tickets are no joke. Like if you get in ontario, if you get convicted of a distracted driving, like of a cell phone ticket or a handheld device ticket, there is, I believe, a one or a two-day suspension of your license upon conviction. That happens, yeah, like it does not just pay a ticket and move on with it, like there is a suspension involved with it it's short but it's still involved and the insurance costs and the increase and everything with that. And then, not to mention if that cell phone caused, right, like when that dash cam footage, that outward dash cam footage at least, and even inward, would protect that driver. In that instance, here's the vehicle that popped out in front of you. Here is the fact that you were not on a phone. You were not. I mean, she looked like she was falling asleep at first, like she was quite relaxed. But you know what I mean. It can go two ways. It can either validate the driver or it can help convict them. Yep, the main.
Speaker 2I I'm a big believer that the people that do not want inward facing dash cams is because they don't do things that they should be doing or they do things that they should not be doing. Yep, because it's not a spy tool. And now I'm not saying that there isn't companies that would use it as a spy tool, right. But you know, most managers and owners, depending on where you're at, don't have the time of day to just randomly like I still haven't figured out. I think it's an extra feature that I haven't unlocked that you would have to pay for. Extra. That I have no interest in is a live view. I I don't need a live view. I don't need to go see what it is you're doing at that time.
Speaker 2My concern is for coaching whenever there's an incident that comes up, because, hey, you can put all the policies you want out. You can put a policy of no cell phones right, no distracted driving policy. How are you enforcing that, unless a customer is calling in because they spotted it, they got a ticket or you witnessed it yourself? You cannot, yep. So the policy is bullshit and it's just a piece of paper that gives you a right, if you do catch them to, to take action. But instead of that, how about actually being able to, you know, monitor it and regulate it Right?
Speaker 1So able to, you know, monitor it and regulate it right. So I think and this is going out on a limb here and just from what my personal experience is a lot of people that are against the inward facing dash cams are smokers that are smoking in a company vehicle. That is illegal, right, and I've had the conversation with managers before where they say I don't care as long as you don't get caught and I don't see it, and as long as the truck doesn't smell and no customer complaints. If a customer complains, then there's going to be hell to pay and I understand that and I respect that and I know it's illegal and I have taken the onus because that ticket is a driver ticket, not a company ticket, and I understand that. Um, it's a workplace, so you can't smoke in the workplace, you can't vape in a workplace. Yada, yada, yada. I understand that.
Speaker 1Um, the cell phone things unfortunately, with our job, a lot of drivers aren't set up in a way, or they weren't provided or they didn't go out on their own accord and get a proper mount to mount a cell phone or whatever the excuse is.
Speaker 1A lot of times we have to take calls while we're driving. A lot of times, dispatch might send a text with information that you might need. Um, sometimes the the tow destination might get changed and the excuses that I've made and I'm sure a lot of other drivers have made is well, if I got to do that, okay, right. If that's, if that is the threshold, if you are going to lose 20% of your productivity, to be legal, right, that's the law is you can't operate your devices while driving. If that is what the law says, then in theory, the inward facing dash cam is holding you accountable, holding the company accountable, and it gives the ability to do that. It's just like the smoking thing if you get caught, that's on you, okay. Well, if you got your cell phone in your hand and you get caught, well, we, there's proof of that, right, you we can either.
Speaker 1It's not just on you, though, that's on the company I know we can confirm it or we can deny it if something bad happens because we have that camera now. I worked for a company previous that had inward facing dash cams and a lot of people covered them up. The owner got upset when the inward facing dash cams were covered up, and rightfully so. But it wasn't a hill that he died on Right, it wasn't a big thing. Obviously, if something happened and they're covered up, he was pissed that the only way they could get a live feed into the cabin of the vehicle that we're driving is if they're sitting at home on their computer, bored and had nothing better to do. It's not something they could pull up on their cell phone nice and easy while they're themselves are going down the road or just being nosy right and at the end of the day at the end of the day, it is their equipment, it is their investment.
Speaker 1You are their employee. I don't think there's any sense of privacy in the workplace per se that you are entitled to. I'm not 100% sure on the legality of that, but I highly doubt that there's anything illegal about inward-facing dash cams. You might have to sign off on something, maybe to for the company to cover their ass. I think companies could do something like that just to avoid pointless litigation down the road, in case someone is real butthurt. But uh, personally, do I like it as on an individual level, no. Do I understand why the company does it and why they're protecting their asset? Yes, would I probably put an inward-facing dash cam in my own tow truck if I had one, especially letting someone else drive it 100% Just because Cover your ass always.
So I want to touch on a couple points that are there. So, yes, there is the the you know the productivity argument that can be made. Now, um, it depends on the company as well. I can. I can assure you, like the way our trucks are currently set up, I have a doubt. I have a tablet mounted in the trucks on every truck. Every tow truck has a tablet mounted with all of the apps that the driver needs google maps, uh, you know we're a big fan of tosoft. Um, all you know all that stuff. It's all. It's all mounted on tablet. They can remove the tablet when need be to do calls and pictures, whatever. It's mounted right up in a good spot, so yep. As for the texting issue, um, you know, dispatch calling whatever, first of all calling. There's no reason in 2024 that you don't have a wireless headset, a bluetooth or bluetooth in the truck or bluetooth in the truck.
Speaker 2There is zero excuses that can be made for that. You can get them for 20, 30, 40 dollars, like they're. As a driver, that one would be one if they went. Well, I don't have a way to then go buy one like that, come on. But amazon, it'll be here tomorrow, yeah.
Speaker 2But a big solution to that is even we have added in all of our trucks radios, a full radio system, because although you cannot operate a handheld device, you can use a radio, a push-to-talk two-way radio. Yep, yeah. So push-to-talk, not necessarily a two-way radio, but, yes, a push-to-talk open-air radio, whatever you want. So again, we're a little privileged in that sense. Um, it was an investment obviously we made for the company.
Speaker 2It's great when trucks can communicate together and dispatch can communicate with them. Do they use it as effectively as I would want them to? God, no, still constantly calling each other on cell phones, dispatch calling the driver, like there's still flaws in the system that we need to work out. But so to say that you would lose efficiency, not really other than having to re-punch in an address and god, google maps, is voice activated, for christ sakes. Like there is a mic button that you can say an address now, concessions might play into that and rural areas right. It's a lot easier to say this hey, plain guy, you live in a small town, you know a lot of those town roads are picked up. It's very easy, um, you know to adjust things on the fly, um, but if not, I mean pull over five seconds, punch in the new address and go. I don't think. I think I'm in a boat.
Speaker 1I think I'm in a boat with a lot of people you're in a boat all right, I embrace the technology to a certain extent. I very rarely use voice-activated stuff on my cell phone just because I don't like it right. Why are you worried?
Speaker 2about the government stealing your voice. I hate to break it to you. You have a weekly podcast where they can get everything they need and more.
Speaker 1I'm well aware. I'm well aware AI could be able to steal my voice and call my mother and say I'm in jail and eat bail. That's, that's a real thing. That's happening, um, anyways, but I'm a firm believer in the technology that we have, but I also don't like implementing all these things in my life, because I'm at that point now where I'm getting stuck in my ways of what I grew up with and I don't like change, and I think a lot of people in the industry don't like the change, and that's where we're seeing these issues of well, I've never had an inward facing dash camera before. I've never talked to my phone before to change the address on Google, and I understand that as well. But times are changing and they could be changing for the better or the worst, depending on the path everything takes. But you see that a lot Everyone wants to go paperless and we can talk about that more later and it's just.
Speaker 2A lot of things are changing and it's if you embrace it and what avenue you are embracing, and I think that's where the hiccup lies for a lot of people well, and it's funny that that is a problem in the towing industry, and the reason I say that is because the towing industry is constantly pushing new innovations, whether it be with equipment, whether it be with recovery techniques, whether it be with all that stuff. The towing industry is evolving constantly, you know, like exponentially since its inception, and so it's funny that you know we talk about being stuck in the old ways when you know how much everything is changing as a whole in the towing industry regulation. You know everything else. So, yes, it is something I want to talk about. Like, we have almost, almost, almost gone completely paperless. Yeah, we are so close to it. I, recently, I'm I'm testing out with my drivers right now an app that we created, um for commission entries. Right, that was one of the few paper things that the driver still had in his truck where he had a piece of paper and he'd write down his calls like a run sheet, and I've now found a way to make a very smooth um, you know, web, like app-based setup. Um, we're in the process. I got a couple drivers trying it out this weekend to see how it goes.
Speaker 2Um, that is the problem as you start to go paperless and and as, start to evolve, like the dash cameras, like the. You know what. Ironically, the dash camera the one guy that I don't get cell phone violations from is my oldest guy in the fleet Because, again, they you know what I mean. They weren't born to texting and driving. They weren't you know what I mean. Like it was if you had someone who called somebody and he's got you. He has a headset, whatever, like it it's. It's actually the newer generation that's giving me more of the problems with the new technology.
Speaker 2Um, but that being said, yeah, some of the older generation towers coming in and you try and and and onboard them with an application like tow soft, which tow soft is is so user-friendly from a driver's point. It has its glitches, like like everything, it has glitches. Sometimes our page doesn't load, a vehicle won't allow you to impound it, whatever, like minor, minor, minor glitches. And this is coming from a guy who does a ton of volume on towsoft. Um, you know, there is the odd thing it's gonna happen. That being said, like towsoft is so user-friendly. And, man, the guy who's not getting caught on his cell phone is also the guy that has a. I mean, I hope you can see it on the youtube side, because on my side it looks like a blurry mess you have going on there, yeah, um, but the guy that's not getting caught on the cell phone is also the guy having a hard time with this technology.
Speaker 2Right, it's when you, when you come from a generation where technology you weren't born with it right, it came out when you were in your later years, like you said, you getting set in your ways in your late 20s yeah, are you 30, yet 28? Then you are not setting your ways. Shut the hell up, jesus christ, I'm 35 and I'm not set. I think I'm 35, I think I'm maybe 35 I don't know what I am and I'm not even setting my ways yet. I'm a very old man at heart. I don't care. You get set in your ways now and that's when we worked at the company together.
Speaker 1The owner says you remind me of my grandfather when I was 20?
Speaker 2yeah, because I was an old man then because you're lazy and stuck in your ways when you shouldn't be and you're not up for change yeah, I don't like change.
Speaker 1I'm just not a big change type of person and that's okay. I feel like a lot of people are like that. I think one of the issues is is the world is evolving so fast and that's why time just feels like it's just going even faster. And I think a lot of people my age are like no, no, I don't like, let's slow down and this avenue or a different avenue, because you just want some control and the whole world just seems so out of control. You want to be able to control what you do.
Speaker 2Yeah, I know, but at the same time, you have to embrace innovation, the towing industry as a whole, especially if you're going to be in it. You need to embrace innovation or you're going to fall behind, and you're going to be in it. You need to embrace innovation or you're going to fall behind and you're going to be, unfortunately, like the company in which we we work, that fell behind and then eventually the. You know the best option for them was to to exit. You've got to stay on top of things. You've got to stay on top of change, whether it be in the world or whether it be in the industry. It's the only way that you're going to move forward. Right, we've said that before. The towing industry is very much in a state where it's either adopt or die, and so if you have this old school mentality on you that you know are stuck in your ways, mentality where I've been doing this for 20 years and it's worked well, it's it's that your the clock is ticking well, I think another thing I think another thing is.
Speaker 1So let's say you've been in business 30 years and everything's been all hunky-dory and you, you've been making consistent increasing and profit, just as inflation and everything goes, and you've done everything with paper bill copies and everything's just been all hunky-dory. And then you, you see all these new things like ToeSoft and I love ToeSoft, toesoft's a great piece of equipment. Or you see different innovations like the dual-facing, the inward-facing dash cams, and you're like okay, I make let's say, the company makes $50,000 worth of profit a year. That's a very low number, but anyways, you make $50,000 profit a year. That's a very low number, but anyways, you make fifty thousand dollars profit per year. And you're like well, if I bring in tow soft and I get these subscriptions for the dash cams, and well, those things might not necessarily increase my revenue anyway, it's just taking away from profits.
Speaker 1And if you're a small company to begin with you'd be like well, it's been working fine, I don't really see any profit being added to my company. Sure, it might make a couple of jobs easier, it might save a little bit of labor here and there. Investing in a bigger and better truck, like, instead of getting a new Sentry or Jordan bed, I'll get a 20 TB NRC bed and now I can frame fork things. You can see where that is going to potentially increase your revenue In your company when an app on your phone just might not do the same. And for a lot of these small guys, I can see where they're coming from and I respect that. Of these are the numbers that I have, and that truck could drastically increase my profit where this app or different applications might not.
Speaker 2Oh my God, that is a problem with a lot of the industry. It is. You cannot look no, no, no, no, no, no, no, because your situation that you just gave is 100% the thought that is going through people's minds at times. The problem with that is it's all wrong through people's minds at times. The problem with that is is it's all wrong. You cannot look at an app like toe soft, let's say and say, well, it's not going to generate me any more revenue. The argument I cannot make. The argument on that one, you're right. It will not generate you any more revenue, right. But to say that it won't affect your profit is bull. That'd be reason for it. It's going to make some jobs easier. No, it's going to make some jobs more efficient. Right, it is going to take your admin staff, whoever you have, whether it be your dispatcher, whether you have a secondary person in the ability to track these calls, see these calls, do the billing on them, send the invoices out to clients, put the statements together. All of that. It is going to do that more efficiently, which means it is going to leave that time that you can either amalgamate that position or give that position more responsibility. You start to throw that in with with geo tracking on the trucks. Not only now are you going, yeah, if I put a fleet tracker on my trucks, well, it's not going to make me any more money. It's not it could, but it's going to cost you less money, meaning you have to justify these investments in that way.
Speaker 2You cannot just go well, I'm not going to make any more money if I put fleet tracking. No, you have to look at it, it goes. How many times do I have trucks crossing each other empty? How can I be more efficient with my dispatching? Fuel prices are going up up. How can I save on my fuel? I can save my fuel by having fleet tracking, by possibly tracking idling time, by calculating, you know, if I'm leaving extra guys on call at night and they're driving 20 minutes home every night in comparison to a guy who lives in town.
Speaker 2There's all these things that you can evaluate through that to offset the cost of the product. But no one looks at it that way. Everyone, everyone just looks at it as well. I'm not doing this because I'm not going to make more money with it. Well, at the end of the day, you can make more money with it. It will not come in the form of just generated revenue, but it can come in the form of profit. It can be that you are spending less in other ways because of these products, right, okay, perfect example Can a cell phone, a cell phone ticket and the increase on the driver's insurance for getting a cell phone ticket within the fleet could be thousands of dollars. Yep, right, thousands of dollars.
Speaker 2Now I'm not saying the dash cams can fully solve it, but when you start to retrain your drivers and give them the nudge with the thing now I'm avoiding it. You know, the argument would have to be I'd have to avoid getting a ticket because of this system. That system can then offset. Or if he does get the ticket and he's no longer insurable and I have to relieve that driver, I need to bring in a new driver, I need to train a new driver. That comes with a cost, right, so can this system? Right, you cannot look at it as this system will not make me money.
Speaker 2And I I'm not saying you need every system.
Speaker 2I'm not saying you're a two-truck operation that needs dual-facing dashcams, fleet tracking, tow soft.
Speaker 2I'm not saying that's realistic necessarily for you, but what I'm saying is, as you start to grow in five, six trucks would be the threshold you need to. You know what I mean. You need to invest the money in the right ways in in to to get the right outcome that you want, and too many people the industry has been so stuck in that way of the exact thing and what you mentioned. I'm not buying that because it's not going to make me more money and that is how you don't innovate, that is how you don't grow and that is how you just continue in the same spot. There I'm not saying you won't grow, but you're gonna grow and now you're gonna be a 10 trucks and, oh shit, I gotta start implementing this kind of equipment, this kind of support. You know what I mean. If you can justify it, at the point that you can justify it financially, is the point that you should start doing it, because it'll help progress your growth and really help elevate you to the next level.
Speaker 1You see that in everything like especially when I was young and just getting into vehicles it's like, okay, I could spend my money on getting some new LED lights for my vehicle and make it look a little bit nicer, I could get a new set of mirrors and bigger tires, or I could get a new front axle, which the truck desperately needs, and get the four-wheel drive working, but no one will see that. I know it's something I need to do, but no one will see it. I can't show off right, and it could be the same thing.
Speaker 2There might be a little ego involved in that, exactly.
Speaker 1It's like I could go out and I could spend this money that I've been saving up and get a new truck and make my fleet look good, and I can show off and beat my chest and be like, oh look at me, I've got big tow truck. Or I could make my existing fleet that there's nothing wrong with better on the back end and be more streamlined for all my drivers, all my office staff, myself being the owner, and yeah, it's. All those things are good things and things that should really be done. But the new truck that can potentially always make you money has always been a more of a priority, I feel like, because it's something you can see. It's like tangible evidence in your hand, immediate satisfaction.
Speaker 1I don't have to sit down and look at numbers and say, okay, well, is this more efficient. I don't have to do the book work per se that no one really enjoys. I can go out there and do those rollovers and tow two or three cars at once and do the big cool things that I can post on Facebook and beat my chest some more right, and you get that with everything. Do I buy a turbo for my car or do I do fix the uh, the low compression on cylinder one. Well, if I put the turbo on, I'm going to really notice that I've got low compression on cylinder one, but I got a turbo now. So you're going to buy the turbo first and then deal with the repercussions afterwards.
Speaker 2No, and that's the problem, and that is the view, unfortunately, g, that you're coming from, from a driver, and I mean that with no disrespect, because anybody in their right mind that is running a business does not look at it that way. And if you do run a business and you look at it that way, you won't be running a business for very long.
Speaker 1Well, I think some old guys are looking at it that way still, and they are running businesses I'm sure there is.
Speaker 2Egos in the industry exist, right? Egos in the towing industry are definitely a thing we've gone over it before whether it be types of personalities and whatnot within the industry. Egos, you know, egos unfortunately exist in the towing industry and until the day that we can eliminate egos in the towing industry, we may be cursed to continue on with the same pattern that we've been going through year after year after year. So, that being said, it was a great talk. We will check both of our egos at the door as we gracefully bow out until next week.
Speaker 2Don't forget if you have any questions, comments, concerns for the show. Give us your opinion on the dash cams. You can visit us at towinglifeca. Um, you can email us at the towinglife at gmailcom. Visit us over on Facebook at the towing life podcast. Don't forget, if you were on YouTube, comment down below. We always enjoy reading them. We'll get to them again next week. Uh, those that thought my opinions were off. Thank you for those that thought my opinions were on. On behalf of myself and my wonderful co-host, mr Tomangie, we thank you for joining us for another episode. Take care, toodles.
Speaker 1I wonder how long this is going to take to upload. I don't know.