Hey everyone , I'm Brad from Calgary . This is Sean from Cambridge Ontario .
Speaker 3I'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 towing life podcast , where the ditches are deep , the trucks are loaded , but the drivers are not .
Speaker 1I am your host , towman g , and , as usual , I'm joined by my co-host , friend and former co-worker , a man with very strong opinions , mr plain guy what is going on ?
Speaker 3g . What is going on ? It looked like you choked on your coffee when I was doing the intro no , I realized that I had a little bit of phlegm built up that I was trying to clear out before I actually had to speak and it's still slightly sitting there .
Speaker 3Um , I find that's the thing about first thing in the morning when we do recordings is that still phlegmed up from the morning the night before ? Welcome the joy of being a smoker . It happens , we've all been there . If you haven't , congrats on you . Good for you . Got to love the bad habits , exactly so . Caffeine , nicotine my two best friends .
Speaker 1Fast food preferably .
Speaker 3Yes .
Speaker 1Asian fast food .
Speaker 3Don't know what it is about Asian fast food . I love Asian fast food . What is Asian fast food ?
Speaker 1Don't know what it is about Asian fast food . I love Asian fast food . What is Asian ?
Speaker 3fast food . What do you mean ? I've never had Asian fast food Like a Thai Express or a Walkbox or like I'm an uncultured swine .
Speaker 1I guess you are .
Speaker 3No one's ever denied that fact . That is 100% a true thing . So , as G said , welcome to episode 141 of the Towing Life podcast . We've got some great stuff once again on top . Before we get into it , it is a good time to mention your questions . Comments , concerns everything , are always appreciated on the show . So where can you find it ? You can head over to thetowinglifeatgmailcom is where you can email us . Thetowinglifeatgmailcom . Visit our website at wwwtowinglifeca or find us over on Facebook at the Towing Life Podcast . If you're watching over on the YouTube side , you can always comment down below . Be sure , while you're there , to hit that like , hit that subscribe , hit the little bell so you get notified when new episodes come out . You guys are what make the show worthwhile worthwhile whether it be us doing it for you or your input into the show . So don't forget to do all that . Have your say on the show and , uh , keep it .
Speaker 1Keep our continuing , continuing efforts relevant , um you could be like joe and last week and just take up half our podcast . Yeah , exactly thank , exactly .
Speaker 3Thank you , joe . So I had a fun little week before we get into the deep downs of towing . My dog , for the first time in six years , has found out why you don't play with the stinky kitties with the white stripe .
Speaker 1Oh .
Speaker 3Yep , wonderful , it still lingers slightly . We've almost gotten it all out . It uh 11 o'clock at night . I let my dog out to go to the washroom before we go to bed and she is .
Speaker 3So I have a German shepherd and she is down off the patio and she is nose to the ground . She has a scent of something and so I'm kind of ignoring it , scrolling on my phone , not really paying attention . All of a sudden I I can still hear it going , chasing , you know , looking around the yard , and I'm like what is going on ? And all of a sudden I smell skunk and I go , okay , sasha , in the house , now let's go . And so she like runs peace , which is what she was out there to do in the first place and come and comes running in and I'm like , oh man , there's a skunk out there somewhere and I closed the door when I get her inside and all of a sudden I can smell the skunk and I'm like , oh , you got it .
Speaker 3So it wasn't a direct I don't believe spray . I don't think she ever actually seen the skunk . Yeah , it was where it snuck out of our yard . It's a fenced in yard . Where it snuck out , there's leaves and all that and I I think it's sprayed when it was running and and then she rubbed her face . It was in the leaves rubbed up all on it and she absolutely stunk and it is . Have you , have you ever had the encounter ? Have you ever had a dog sprayed ?
Speaker 3not a dog , but I've been around skunks that have sprayed , yeah it's almost impossible to get off in the first shot , like my wife and I had some concoction of baking powder , because they say don't get them wet like , do not just take a hose to it right away . It's the worst thing you can do . It spreads it .
Speaker 3So we've got a concoction of dish soap and baking soda and and you make that , you rub the whole dog in it and we're doing that in our living room or kitchen at 11 30 at night and then like gotta get the dog into the bathtub after you gotta let it sit for half an hour , get the dog into the bathtub and then start grabbing the anything that she touched when she came in , because she went right to her bed because she thought she was in trouble . So her bed stunk and and you clean it all and it smells like like skunk is one smell . Skunk is not a great smell , but when they get sprayed it smells like burnt skunk . Yeah , like that's how I can describe it . It's very burnt and it's amazing because you do all this cleaning okay , I think we got it all you go to work the next day .
Speaker 3You come back , you walk in the door and you're like , no , it's still in the house . You know , we're changing filters on our furnace . We're , you know , just doing everything to try and get that smell out . Bother , that's yeah . Yeah , it was a late . It was a late , unexpected night , that's for sure that .
Speaker 1That makes me worried because I don't have a bathtub . I got a stand-up shower right , so like that instance would be definitely hard , because the old wives tale that you used to be told was fill the bathtub up with tomato soup like tomato juice .
Speaker 3Yeah , yeah , I've heard that like wash them in tomato juice , yeah yeah , and that gets the stink out apparently .
Speaker 1I think it just kind of masks the smell of tomato juice . No , there's something with the acid .
Speaker 3There's something with the acid in the tomato . Uh , because it's an oil like the . The spray is like an oil and so no for anyone that ever . Because my wife was sure to yell at me when I told her this happened . Do not get , not get them wet . You take a , you make a paste of baking , baking powder , baking soda I don't know what the difference is , baking soda and that Arm Hammer stuff you leave in your fridge forever , baking soda and dish soap , and you make like a paste with it and rub them all down with that , let it sit for about 30 minutes in their fur and then give them . You know , in your case , take the , the hose to them right .
Speaker 3And and don't forget your , your dog's got a shorter haired dog right . Mine with the german shepherd , with the fluffy like she's a shorter , short-haired german shepherd , but they're still . It's like a husky right , like it's getting under there .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 3And yeah , so it was a very unexpected night .
Speaker 1Well , you didn't need a coffee when you got home , because the smell would wake you up .
Speaker 3Oh man , did it ever hit you and it stuck in your nose that night when you go to bed and it was terrible .
Speaker 1I wonder what the dogs smell like .
Speaker 2I wonder if it's a pigeon , it's got to be terrible .
Speaker 1Yeah , but they're going after the smell yeah , yeah , but that's .
Speaker 3I think they're going after the smell because instinct is this is my yard , I've got to get . You know what I mean . Like I don't think it's . Oh , this smells nice , let me see what it is . Like .
Speaker 3I don't think that theory applies , um , but , uh , yeah , no , not her , um , not her smartest moment , like I said , first time in six years . Um , it's always bound to happen . I think it's something that I know people that their dog gets sprayed every year , right , so I mean , or multiple times a year , so they just don't learn . No , no , 100 , I think my dog has learned . She was the saddest looking thing . I should have posted a picture up while we were giving her the bath that night . She was not happy about this . So , um , that , and the other thing I wanted to touch in um , mrs plan or mrs plane guy and I , who we had on the show , right , my wife celebrated , as of yesterday actually , our 10 year anniversary . Nice , six years , married , four years together . I was smart gentleman . I married my wife on our anniversary . That way I didn't have to remember a new one . Smart , yeah . That is smart .
Speaker 3It's very easy to remember . So congratulations to her on having the pleasure of being my partner for 10 years . Lord knows that . You know that's a gift in its own .
Speaker 1Yeah um , lord knows that you know that's a gift in its own . Yeah , yeah , congratulations to her to be able to put up with you for 10 whole years it's uh , she's got it pretty easy .
Speaker 3Let me put it that way she's got it pretty easy .
Speaker 1Uh-huh , she doesn't think so , but okay , no no , I don't think anyone who listens to this show thinks that being with you for 10 years would be an easy task gee , we've known each other almost 10 years and it's been an absolute treat for you as well yeah , because I've lived like 600 kilometers away from you for the majority of it . I have to see you once a week that's true , that is true .
Speaker 3So all right . That being said , it's time to actually get into towing related content for our wonderful listeners who are here for that . Um , first thing we'll talk about , we'll get to the older stuff , kind of first well it's older to us , it's not .
Speaker 3It's new to you regardless yeah , it's new content for you , but it it's older on us . It's stuff that we wanted to talk about last week that we didn't get to . Thanks Joe , thanks Joe , so we'll get to it this week
. Everyone has heard the saying across the towing industry and I hate the saying , but it's true is , if it fits , it ships Right . That has been a joking subject that has been put along in the towing industry for years . That has been a joking subject that has been put along in the towing industry for years and this hotshot trailer guy posted above decided to put that to the test . So I'm not sure if he's actually a towing company or related to any towing companies , but he's obviously heard the saying and said if they can do it , so can I . Out in BC , if I'm not mistaken this , or somewhere on the west coast I think it was bc , though a gentleman decided he's got a dovetail gooseneck tandem axle trailer looks about 25 feet long .
Speaker 3Give or take yep , yeah , and he decided that he was going to load a 40 foot C container onto said trailer . So he has this trailer , if you can imagine , um , flat , with the dovetail section of the trailer , coming straight up over the flat deck , over , sitting resting on the goose neck and overhanging the entire cab of his uh , f two , 50 , f three , 50 , single rear wheel , maybe , um . Hey clear , clear entire cab of his f-250 , f-350 , single rear wheel maybe um a clear , clear violation .
Speaker 1Like I'm , I'm , I appreciate I always look at these things and go god , that's dumb , but god , I appreciate the effort the effort it would have taken to get it on that angle , like to rest it on the gooseneck and to get it and get , get the ramps up . The reason why this guy probably just didn't butt it right up to the gooseneck and let it overhang was the ramps wouldn't come off . He probably didn't want to try to strap up the ramps .
Speaker 3Maybe I , I guess . I don't know all the details to it , I just know that it's dumb . But what's crazy about it being dumb is that it took some intelligence to secure it . You know , I mean like to get it rigged up like it is 100 stupid . I don't know what his height is , but you know bc's got a history of people hitting overpasses . I feel like this guy might have been next on that list . It's hard to tell when you use the truck as a scale right , like if you put that truck at seven feet tall , like a truck six , you know , a truck like that's probably six foot at least , right , most 1500s or or over six foot tall yeah so you can double .
Speaker 3Let's say , let's say , six and a half , you double that . He's at . Yeah , there's still another couple of feet above that Right , like again we're we're guessing at numbers . But if you double the height of that truck , I think there's still another foot or two above that . Yeah . And I don't know what the height laws are in BC . I know that in Ontario it is 13, . Six is your max height .
Speaker 3You can run up to 14 foot with a permit and oversize and all that kind of stuff which this guy has none of . But I'm going to say this guy's everything good at 15 feet , oh yeah . So just because it fits , just because you find a way to make it on a platform and and secured again , I see straps , I see extra wood rails that he's kind of put in like I see some , like some thought that went into this . But just because you can doesn't mean you should . Just because it fits doesn't mean it should ship . It's my advice for the day playing guys , advice of the week just because it fits doesn't mean it should ship . I think that's pretty solid . I think that's pretty solid .
Speaker 1Anything else you want to add to this couldn't fuckery well , I mean , the height thing is something that you always got to watch out for Wreckers , flatbeds , hauling shit on decks like this but I think it's easier to have the mindset of if it fits , it ships towards weight on flatbeds or on trailers like this , on wheel lifts . If you're overweight , you can feel it because your front tires come up off the ground and you're SOL . Right , if you're overweight , but on decks it's a lot easier just to be like ah , it fits , I'll just hammer down the road . Your rear axle could be way overweight , your tires could be way overweight , but it's up on the deck , so why do you care ? Right , as long as the deck folds up , you're going down the road fuck it right .
Speaker 3I have to look at this depending on if that C can is empty . Like weight isn't really an issue on this one , no , it's not like wait , it might be again . I'd have to , you know , see the specs and and go over it and , you know , see if there's anything in that can , whatever .
Speaker 3but like C cans are empty C that 40 foot can maybe 8 000 pounds yeah , 85 , 85 around there , let's say um , so yeah , and like a , you know , if that was actually , if I was 8 500 pounds on that trailer , he's perfectly fine . But yeah , no , weight is . At least the dimensions a little bit come into play . Um , no , 100 , like I don't know how many guys carry um , if they , if they don't , they should Um , there's some people that don't carry like height sticks .
Speaker 3Like that was one thing that we put in all of our floats , not our light duty stuff , because our light duty stuff is just doing cars and vans and like you can measure a cube truck and you and you know , we know what our set height is , that it has to be under and all that kind of stuff , but has to be under and all that kind of stuff . But when you start to get into these , like weird pieces of equipment , like the one I sent you the other day with the telehandler , um and all that like height sticks are hugely important . Like I remember there was a , a load that came into our yard from a wreck and what was ? The highway tractor ? Yeah , it was the highway tractor . The highway tractor was tall . We brought it into our yard . Um , um , on a low boy . Mm .
Speaker 3And we were everything of just under 14 feet . Yeah Right , so we , we have permit , we were running on permit , everything was legit . We brought it back to our yard after a wreck , no-transcript , and he loads it up onto a land , all right . And so I'm looking at it and I go buddy , I think you're over height . And he goes , no , no , I have permit . I'm like so do I , and I know what your permit is good for and it is not good . I'm like if I was everything of 14 on my low boy , you're at least a foot higher . Okay , let me talk to the boss . Okay , this is , after this guy struggled to get this thing on , like this was an adventure , getting this truck on . Yeah .
Speaker 3Calls his boss , I go in the office . Two minutes later I look out he's honking to get let out of the yard . Good luck to you , sir . Enjoy those power lines on the way down the road , because can't you can't you get like a generic over height permit in ontario yeah , so you're , you're over , you're over dimension that you're allowed . Um is up to 14 feet yeah and then anything past that .
Speaker 3You're starting to get into escorts and and you know there's a lot more to it . It's not just a . You know you can just oh , I have this permit . No , with permit , because you shouldn't hit anything under 14 feet yeah power lines are nowhere near 14 feet , like 13.6 is your max height . But unless marked there's nothing . Like you know , you get bridges that are marked well yeah , 13.8 or whatever .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah . So you got nothing . Like you know , you get bridges that are marked .
Speaker 3Yeah , 13.8 or whatever , yeah , yeah . So you got to have some , you know , and there are different areas . Again , this is Ontario . I don't know how the states work for permits for the oversize and stuff , but yeah , you can get permits for that . This guy was definitely way overweight or way over height , I think we ended up hearing , because I think one of the guys went out with a measuring stick , and I think he was 15 too , and I was like you don't want to , like I don't know what you're gonna do with it , because you know , short of knocking the , the fairing off the top of the highway , tractor right , you're not gonna gain a foot , no matter what you do . But , uh , or I guess 14 inches in that case .
Speaker 1But no , he was dead set and he sent the goddamn thing and you didn't hear anything on the news about a tractor hitting an overpass or anything .
Speaker 3No .
Speaker 1So I guess whatever route he took was good .
Speaker 3Was the right one . Yeah , I don't know what he did . He finally he figured it out . So , yeah , no , so just because it fits doesn't mean it's a chip . Moral of the story yeah , a little bit sad . Oh , not really sadder news , I guess it's still . We hate to see it , but my understanding was there was no injuries or fatalities in it .
Speaker 3There was a tow truck flop that hit down in Illinois . To my understanding it was a beautiful tandem with a lift orange flatbed that looks like a transport ran over it taking out the cab . Um , I'm not sure if that's an nrc deck , but if it is , it looks like it withstood it pretty sure it is an nrc deck .
Speaker 1I think I've seen that truck in nrc facebook pages before okay , very possible , very possible .
Speaker 3Yeah , so , um , loading up , it looks like on the side of an interstate . Again , slow down , move over right . We can't talk about it enough . There were some minor injuries , I think , to some vehicles , some people on some vehicles , like maybe the transport driver .
Speaker 1Well , yeah , we've got two cars up on yeah , two vehicles up on their lids , semi on its side . The flatbed has no cab left . They hazard that deck and they ripped the winch right off . That's a strong hydraulic cable , because hydraulic , yeah , and the winch just dangling off the side of the truck yeah , yeah , no , it was .
Speaker 3Uh , it was definitely a hard hit . I don't know what . I'm assuming he was loading one of these vehicles . Um , we never did figure out which one .
Speaker 3If I had to guess , I would say the white one on the opposite side of the barrier yeah if I was , if I was playing my best traffic cop inter , you know , uh version , I would say that white vehicle was being loaded got hit at the angle which sent it off the bed that way and the transport and the other car just barely hitting the bed , or I'm guessing maybe the transport landed on the car hit the car . However , the hell it worked . I don't know that part is relevant . I'm just saying the white car , uh , that's on its roof on the other side of the barrier is more than likely the car that that was being loaded , the disabled casualty at the time . Um , what a traffic nightmare that would create . I love there's no cones or anything up yet . It must have just happened like fires got the whole other side blocked off for the one car yeah and then this side , they're just like single filing it around the shoulder .
Speaker 1Yeah , there's like four or five different pictures in this group and in each picture you can see more emergency equipment arriving on scene and blocking off more things .
Speaker 3So like these pictures were fresh yeah , yeah , they were like in progression of this incident happening . So , no , we hate to see it . We're glad to hear the operators Okay and nobody was hurt or killed in this , because I mean it can happen that fast and yeah , there's sometimes . Sometimes you get away with one , and I think that driver and operator got away with one .
Speaker 1So now let me ask you this If that was you in that position , you were running that truck . Would you stay in the towing industry after that ?
Speaker 3I don't know , I don't think that's a fair question . I I mean that in the sense that I don't think , until you're in that situation , you can , you can make that I mean .
Speaker 3I've had my trauma that you would have after that , yeah yeah , like , I've had my fair share of close calls and problems in the towing industry throughout . You know the whatever years I'm at now , um , so I'd like to say that , yes , I'd like to say that it would . You know , the only thing that might get me out is being in that cab when the guy hit it . But I don't know , I and I think a lot of people , you know our industry is full of macho , macho men . Right , that would be like , you know , that's just nothing , that's a Monday around here .
Speaker 3And then you get the realist that would go like , no , it's , I think so , like , I think that could be something that would , would push me out of the industry for good , and I don't think anyone would blame someone for getting pushed out of the industry because of that . No , like , I think , if you , you know , you dodge that bullet and that's that's dodging a bullet , that's not just , I had a close call , I got , you know , I got winged by a car . Um , that's happened , that was , was , like that was , you weren't going to be able to identify the body very easily , kind of kind of stuff . Yeah , and it happened and yeah , I don't think you blame anyone for it , but I don't think anyone can really say , unless they were involved in that directly , whether they would want to continue in the towing industry or
not .
Speaker 1I wonder if the operator bought a lottery ticket that morning I wouldn't .
Speaker 3You already got , you already got your win man . No , I mean like before this .
Speaker 1So let's say that guy bought the winning lottery ticket in the morning and used up all his luck on buying that lottery ticket when that would have happened later on in the day you don't buy it after , because you've already won yeah you know , people always say that you're lucky .
Speaker 3You know you should buy a lottery ticket .
Speaker 3No , because you've already used up your luck yeah you know , I don't think luck is uh , you know , luck is kind of a weird thing , but at the same time , no , you've definitely used up your luck , so do not . Uh , yeah , we don't wish that upon anybody , um , but hey , the fact that everyone walked away is probably the godsend . And you know what ? It's crazy because photos like that photo just because the scale of it isn't something that will just circulate within our echo chamber , as we call it that is more likely to get out into the public , and I don't think it has an effect on the public the way that it should , but I think it's a good . You know , the an operator hit and killed , as terrible as it is .
Speaker 3We've talked with people you know that have had family members and and co-workers that have had it happen or or that have been hit themselves , right , or uh , mr bush , that we had way back . You gotta go check that episode out . Who was hit on the side of the road and one of those viral videos that we had way back . You got to go check that episode out . Who was hit on the side of the road and one of those viral videos that we seen all over the towing industry . We see it and go , oh my God , and , and I open her and wake up the public season .
Speaker 3It goes , oh , I guess , like , yeah , maybe you should move over , but then it's gone , yeah , then it's onto the , the huck to a girl or the . You know what I mean . Like it , it , it lives very quickly in their minds for a very short period of time . It doesn't have any long lasting effect . Where us it has a longer lasting effect , don't get me wrong . I still see those videos and then I still see the huck to a girl . But , um , it's , it's . You know it lives a little more rent free , a little longer in my mind than I think it does in the general public or in your mind or in the towing industry . Anyone in the industry's mind .
Speaker 1It all comes down to a basic road etiquette , right , like ? I'm not sure about where you the listener is , but for me , the further I get away from the city , the more courteous drivers are . That could just because they're not so much in a rush drivers are that could . Just because they're not so much in a rush they're more willing to say , hey , that guy's another person over there and maybe I should give him some space . You can see it very easily . Just like in the two lane highway roads , like the four lane divided highways , everyone pretty much drives in the right lane , they get into the left lane to pass and then they get back into the right lane and then you see that one guy from the city just driving in the left lane the whole time and once you get down into the city it's a free-for-all anyways . Um , so you have that type of roadway etiquette . I want to call it just because that's it's kind of sort of the law , but it's also just helping out your fellow motorists .
Speaker 1And there is situations . So let's say you're behind a 53 foot van trailer and you can't quite , you can't see around it . You're coming through a set of lights . You can't see the light because you're behind the van or van trailer , you can't see what's on the side of the road . The good thing to realize if you are coming around a corner and you are following a semi is was there anything in front of that semi ? No , so as soon as you see that left turn signal , come on to get into the other lane . You should be thinking about doing the same . If he can see , but you can't , you should just kind of automatically follow the person in front of you's direction , because by the time that gentleman or lady , whoever driving that rig in front of you , gets over , you might already be upon someone working on the side of the road right yeah , I know 100 , and I think the trick is to not be that far up , a 53 foot to us that you can't see , right , because that is a scary thing .
Speaker 3And we've seen that wreck happen , right , we have all seen videos of that wreck where a you know a car moves over and then you know , because there's something stopped at the last second , and the car behind it , because they're just focused on their taillights , just drive into it , whether it be a car , a truck or any of the whatnot . So now road etiquette is slowly , I don't know . I see flashes like the americans , no offense are actually no offense meant at all . I will take a drive down the 81 every day of the week , over a drive down the 401 . Yep , I've driven the 81 . Their , their trucks can drive , they're not limited . Don't forget that too , right there . So you don't have this daytona 500 of the , uh , you know , passing each other at one kilometer an hour over , exactly , I don't know . The drivers seem to be just overall better quality . I mean , they've got some wild roads and every time I look there's not random marks through the , the median , or you know , sections of guardrail the need replacing yep so there is something said there .
Speaker 3Now I recently took a drive up to um . Where was it ? Where'd I go ? Smooth rock falls , cochrane , ontario . So it's a , it's a hike , it's northern I . I think you can consider that northern ontario , I'm not sure yeah right , ontario goes pretty goddamn far north .
Speaker 3Yeah , I'm not sure where that threshold exactly , uh lies , but anyways , they've got to figure it out , because they're a two-lane highway , um , for the majority part of that now . The nice thing is , though , is that they have constant passing zones , and the passing zones are 90 on the uphill yep which makes the most sense .
Speaker 3Right , because that's where your loaded transports are going to struggle yep right , it does suck when you can't get you know up past one and then you know you're stuck for the next because they'll tell you next one's like 10 kilometers yep then they also have the oncoming ones , like the oncoming passing sections , where you actually can use the middle lane yep , you have to yield it to them but it's like , yeah , no , but it's like using a regular checkered , uh , passing , you know , section um , as long as it's clear and safe to do so , and it is really well structured , right , because every time you get , because you get some hills up there , you know you're not going to be stuck behind a guy for 50 , 60 , 70 kilometers , which means you're less likely to make a stupid move . Yeah , right , you're less likely to try and make a pass in a bad area if you know there's one coming in two kilometers . Don't get me wrong , there's always going to be some city , it who is going to , you know , still do the stupid move when right before the passing zone , right , like , you're still going to see that , but it was , it was really nice . Um , the only part of that trip that was scary to me is they had a section , probably about 30 kilometers give or take , um , so I'm not doing the conversion for our american listeners but um , about 30 kilometers of fresh asphalt . So black , black , black , no markings that I can see on it , or little squares , yeah , little dots at night , and it was raining . Yep , there's construction barrels on both sides and you were using those kind of as a guide to know where your side is .
Speaker 3And you've got if anyone knows this term , I'm a big fan of it Mississauga Missiles coming head on at you at 105 . And you're hoping that they know where the lane is , because a lot of times they don't know where the lane is on a clearly marked highway , let alone in the dark , in the curves up and down the hills , for that length of time . So that was definitely a sketchy time . But road etiquette kicked in . And it's true , guys stayed behind each other like no one was passing , because it is a construction zone . We knew no one was working in the construction zone . It was pouring rain . It was pouring rain at night . No one's working there , but no , the road etiquette is definitely something that I feel like .
You see flashes of improvement and then you see just absolute terrible drivers out there that make you question it all .
Speaker 1Well , even off the highway . So like I've grown up in a fairly rural area , so I grew up on dirt and gravel roads , and there is people out there that have never been down a dirt or gravel road before in their life and the speed limit is 80 kilometers an hour normally . These are fairly tight roads .
Speaker 1a lot of times there can be bushes overgrowing mailboxes too close to the road , so you normally drive in the center of the road when there's no one coming yeah , exactly , and when there you do see someone oncoming , the appropriate thing to do would be to slow down a little bit , whether that's 60 , drop down to 60 , drop down to 54 , whatever , and pull over to the right .
Speaker 3Yeah , and to make sure that you guys go by each other , and then you can reaccelerate , correct ?
Speaker 1Exactly Because I don't know if you've ever been driving down a gravel road and the guy oncoming is doing 95 because he's doing his 15 over and kicks up a piece of gravel and that hits your windshield . That's not pleasant , it's not pleasant at all . It can cause stone chips , it can scratch your paint and it can also disorient the driver . If he gets a piece of gravel bang into his windshield , that's what the hell is happening to me .
Speaker 3Well , not to mention the dust trail that's normally thrown up behind you , that you're going to have to slow down anyways because the oncoming car , like as the oncoming car , you can't see past the guy because of the dust trail he's got behind him . Like , yeah , there's some courtesies that apply , but again , city , it's right . City , again city-its , right , city-its 90% of it's city-its I hate to pick on them , but absolute city-its Like that , just again , have never driven on a dirt road and just go , bah Like these are the people that just know to put it in drive , that's all they know .
Speaker 1The same thing is you're on the same gravel road and there's a couple of people walking going the opposite direction . You slow down . I normally slow down to like 30 , 40 . And how much time does it take out of my day ? I might waste 40 seconds in the time . I slow down , pass them and re-accelerate . Ooh , 40 seconds out of my day Just to make sure those people are in a safer environment , because I am in control of their environment at that moment in time .
Speaker 3I am in control of their environment at that moment in time , 40 seconds in a day that you will not be able to recruit those people to your convent because you slowed down to go buy them .
Speaker 1Yeah , now , if I took two minutes out of my day , I could have stopped and had a conversation and maybe got them in the back of my truck and back to the convent .
Speaker 2You're doing it wrong , See when you're passing people walking down the side of a gravel road , you are not to slow down and what you are to stop .
Speaker 3Yeah , ask if they believe in our lord and savior , jesus christ , and ask them if they want to take a ride in your pickup truck back to the , the holy land , um , where they where they will be accepted for who they are and abandoned of all their sins . Sorry , if there's any Bible thumpers listening that I offend , but no , it's 100% true , especially when you're in a 4,000 , 5,000 pound piece of steel rolling down the road .
Speaker 3You have responsibilities and I think that's what a lot of it comes down to is people don't realize the responsibilities . The same way the drivers don't realize the responsibilities they have in their tow trucks . You are not driving a Honda civic , you know . You are driving an upwards of 10 , 20 , 30 , 40 , 50 . You can continue on and on and on . Thousands of pounds of units . Um , um , you have a lot of responsibility in your hands . The etiquette is you know , guys , oh , it was 50 , I was only doing 60 . If you're doing 60 in a loaded tow truck like that , like that is where the speed limit more applies to you you want to do 90 and then 80 loaded , I'm okay with it . 60 and a 50 loaded , no , no , there's no need for it . No extra braking , extra everything . You're in the town , like you know , there's , there's things that come into it .
Speaker 3We we recently had it was really funny we have a guy who called a little while back um to our company and complained because our drivers went by with jake brakes on and he's a former trucker as a truck , I don't know and he , uh , he knows that we don't need Jake brakes and it's a residential zone . First of all , it's not a residential zone . It's a 70 kilometer an hour section leading out of the city where there's like four houses . The rest is all farmland and it comes up to a light . So 70 kilometer an hour road up to the light . Guys use the jakes . Hey , you get into these bigger rotators and stuff these things weigh 80 90 000 pounds loaded or , uh , empty , right .
So calls the one day , complains um , my dispatch gives him my number , um , he leaves me a voicemail . Hey , you know he's a bit arrogant about it , but not too bad right I'm tired of you guys .
Speaker 3Jake breaks and blah , blah , blah . All it's used for is to pump out your chest . And so , listening to the voicemail , I didn't feel that there was a need to respond to him . It didn't look like he was looking for a response , he just wanted somebody to yell at . No problem , he calls back again one day . Driver using j breaks . Okay , I'm gonna follow up with this guy . Get busy , don't get a chance to follow up with him . That day yesterday , guy calls and says I'd like a rotator . What ? Yeah , I want a rotator up in this town . Okay , well , what do you got ? What are you like ? What name ? No , I'm not giving you my name . My name is Fucky McFuckface . That's what he said . I quote Um , and he goes . He's like well , I can't just send you a rotator . Like , I need to know what's going on , I need photos . Whatever he's like .
Speaker 3Oh well , you guys can drive around with your jig brakes all day and my dispatch hmm , and he goes yeah , and this guy goes on a , on a tangent , and so he calls me and he lets me know , and I'm like , okay . So I did a little research , went back to my voicemail , found the guy's name , found out where he lived , um , and I said I'm gonna go over there and I'm gonna have a conversation , not a dick , you cannot approach it , as I'm gonna show up at your house and be a dick yeah especially because he , you know he doesn't want to leave his name .
Speaker 3We have his phone number , his caller id . Um , he left the name the first time . A google search showed that he worked for a crane company , which I think is where maybe the problem comes from . I'm guessing we might have hurt his feelings with a rotator at one point in our lives . Yep , and I just showed up at his house . I knew about where he lived because of the traffic complaints like the , the jake breaking there's only like four houses there .
Speaker 3There's only four houses there . But , like now , I got the address and I pull into his driveway or park out on the road , sorry , in front and , uh , he comes up in a vehicle behind me . I'm like , hey , you must be mr . You know , jake break yeah and we had a conversation about it and he goes . Oh , you know , I'm sorry , it's just , it's a lot like and this house is set back like a good 200 feet from the road and our trucks are like . We have a couple of trucks that are loud . Yeah .
Speaker 1But like they do sound good though but they're not waking you up . Yeah .
Speaker 3You know , like they're not , and like today it was . It was seven , 30 in the morning , the day that he complained . There's never , it's not 2am , like we don't run these things at 2am coming down , coming down there , but like , yeah , three o'clock in the afternoon , sure . And so I had a conversation . I said , look , here's what I'm gonna do . Here's my personal cell phone number . Next time you have a problem , you call me . Right , you call me . I will have a talk with my guys . Yeah , sure , but my dispatch does not need your shit yeah like that part .
Speaker 3I made very clear . My staff does not need your , your abuse . You have a problem ? You can talk to me , we can have a conversation about it , yep . But to just keep calling over and over again and just absolutely getting a chance to tear a strip and it's funny because he tore a strip on the phone and my dispatcher I'm not gonna lie gave it right back to him , good right , like it was not his best customer service experience , was nowhere near it , yeah , but my dispatch gave it back to him , because sometimes you have to sometimes on people like that .
Speaker 3But what I , what I enjoyed about this guy is when I showed up now again , I'm a big enough guy . I didn't show up in you know an intimidating way or anything like that , but people , I love people like him because they just shut up when you show up . You know he was very apologetic from the beginning . He never swore once . You know what I mean . It was like very like . You know I'm going to watch what I say , because now this person is in my face , like now this person is here , I can't be a tough guy . And so that was the part it was like . You know , you can complain , that's fine , I'll hear you . But it was like you know you can . You know you can complain , that's fine , I'll hear you . But you talk to my staff like that . I'm very much one of those people . You can talk to me however you want . I don't , I don't . You don't hurt my feelings , but you abuse my staff . Yeah , we're going to have an issue , right , abuse me all you want .
Speaker 1That's one thing I noticed and so , like when I was towing , my tow truck was identical to my pickup . Only my pickups are 3500 , tow trucks 5500 right interior identical . So jumping from my pickup , where I can drive a little bit more like a dick , and fly under the radar into a tow truck it's very easy to get complacent of I'm just driving a truck but everyone else sees that it's a tow truck and it's got the name on the door and I feel like when you scale up in vehicle size it's still . It's a little harder to get into that mentality and especially with some of the new trucks out there that drive like go-karts , they can be very nimble feeling . It's easy to . Oh well , I'm gonna do 10 , 15 over the speed limit . I don't have to maintain the good following distance because I'm in control of this vehicle . I know my stopping distance . I I could leave 200 feet , but I know I only need about 80 feet to get this rig to stop in this circumstance and you get complacent .
Speaker 1But the general motoring public just sees a big truck flying down the road , being an asshole , yeah , but from your eyes you're like I'm in control of this vehicle so you always got to stop . Well , not stop , but slow down and realize that you always have to worry about the other people , not so much yourself . So you should drive according to what's going on around you , not just because you feel like you're in control . The guy in front of you might just decide to make a lane change into the car that's driving next to him and crash in front of you Like you just don't know , and I think that's one of the issues , especially once guys get into this industry and start driving these rigs for an extended period of time . Always the first month you get into a new vehicle , you're very cautious I think it's a learning curve for you and you're very polite on the road . Giving away your right away to you know to be courteous After that time you start , there's a fake level of confidence that comes out like a complacency , like you said .
Speaker 1Yeah yeah , and that's when these things can happen . Now , in your instance , the driver using his jakes whoop-dee-doo-dah-day . Yeah , like it's , it's , it's a feature on the vehicle . It's not like he's going through a 40-kilometer-an-hour subdivision , shoving it down in a second to get down to 5 kilometers an hour using his jakes , like that's just not what he's doing . So in that instance , can you blame the driver ? Not really , not really . But if I don't know like , should he really like be blowing down that road , going that fast ?
Speaker 3Who knows If he knows he's supposed to , but if he's going at 70 and like this light , the way it's set up , like , yeah , you have to have your brakes on for that light . Like that light is it's a quick city light because it's a 70-kilometer-hour road . It's not a long light , yeah , so you know what I mean . Like if you see it farther back , yeah , I'm not going to encourage my guy to to ride his brakes because this guy you know . Again , it's not a residential area , it's trucks . Like this route is a main truck route yeah right .
Speaker 3So I mean our tow trucks might be a little louder than you know most of the automatic freight liners you're seeing out there nowadays , but it's not you know it , I don't know . The guy's looking for a reason and now that he's latched on to something he is just going to continue . So hopefully our in-person visit , you know , has an effect where it's . You know what I mean . Okay , well , you know , he came out , he talked to me , he's gonna try . Okay , if I hear once or twice I'll let it go , kind of thing , and maybe it might be enough to get this guy onto some new target that he's got , some new hate that he has towards something , um , we don't know , only time will tell .
Speaker 3Um , that being said , before we go , I wanted to move on to one of the last things that we did have on . Have you ever had an instance and I have , because I do a lot of quiet price quoting , right , you get a call from a customer . I mean sheds , god , I hate sheds , especially when it's like sheds moved on property . Hate those jobs yep you ever ?
Speaker 3you know you get customer calls and hey , I need this shed moved on my property , it's only going 30 feet . Blah , blah , blah , blah , blah and you know it's been sitting there for 20 years , whatever the case is , and you come up and you give them a , a price and they go , you know , and that price is your , your fuck off price Right , I've definitely been there , where I've been , like it's going to be like $600 . Yeah .
Speaker 3And they're like okay , can we book that for tomorrow ? And you're like son of a and now you have to do it , yeah , because a you you priced it and b it's normally financially rewarding . But it's like you kind of gave that price . It wasn't to try and screw somebody , it wasn't to whatever . You pretty much gave them that price , thinking they would go . I'm gonna call the next guy , yeah , and you're like that's fine , cause the next guy can have it .
Speaker 1Yeah , let me get a few other quotes .
Speaker 3Yeah , exactly . And instead they just go , no , that's fine , and I'm like , oh , no , I've had a couple of those with sheds . I have definitely sheds have been my killer . For that one where it's like , all right , don't want to do it , I'm gonna like up it this much and , you know , make it somewhat ridiculous , yeah . And then they go , yeah , okay , we'll take it . And they're like what ?
Speaker 1what ? Yeah , no , the flatbed fee is going to be 125 . Should add an extra 75 for a bullshit fee .
Speaker 3Add an extra hundred dollars for labor , and then I'm just gonna double it and that's the fuck off price pretty much , which , again , it's not .
Speaker 3You know , when prices are explained ahead of time like this , it's not , I don't believe it's taking advantage of anyone , it's it's doing the job , and then giving them a fucking ridiculous price is crazy , yeah . But if you come up with a price and they go okay and you're like huh , it's probably one of the worst I I've . I've been guilty of it many times . I've probably gotten screwed on that like three or four times in the last but are you getting screwed because you're making yourself in the cup ?
Speaker 3Oh , you are but you go and you said , yeah , you're making good money for the work you're doing and you know you might have to do a bit of slugging , but it's mainly like when it's like my brain doesn't want to work that hard to figure this out , to do this one out , and then I go take it and I'm like now my brain needs to work a lot harder to figure out how I'm going to do this . So yeah , I know Like I want to hear . I'm sure everyone in the towing industry who has ever priced a job has a customer accepts your fuck off price story . It has to . I'm not the only one who gets one a year , right , it has to . I'm not the only one who gets one a year , right . So if you do have a great story of a , you know a fuck off price that a customer is absolutely accepted , put it down below in the YouTube comments or email us at the towing life at gmailcom . Visit our website , wwwtowinglifeca , or visit our Facebook page where you can leave usa message as well at the towing life podcast on Facebook .
Speaker 3While you're on the YouTube side , if that's where you are , do not forget to like , comment and subscribe and all that good stuff If you're listening over on any of the other audio listening sites Spotify , apple music , uh , everywhere there's . There's like 20 of them . I can't remember all of them . Um , be sure , if there is a rate and review option , leave us a review on there . It does help push our podcast into better directions . Your comments , questions and everything are always appreciated on the show , so do not hesitate . I think it was a fun episode . I'm happy that we did it .
Speaker 1I'm now awake and ready . Could it be a shorter of an episode ?
Speaker 3this week . We're sitting at an hour , we're sitting at 50 minutes . We lost about two minutes on the . Don't you worry about it . Okay , we've got things to do , places to be , people to be , people to be and places to see . I think that's what it's called . What , what , on behalf of myself and my wonderful co-host , mr Tomangy we appreciate you coming out again . We cannot wait to see you again next week . Take care , toodles .