Tow Professional Podcast
Tow Professional Podcast
Lighting the Way Home: Safety Solutions for Recovery Professionals
Every year, the towing and recovery industry loses over 65 professionals on our roadways. What makes the difference between a safe operation and a tragedy? Often, it comes down to visibility.
Tim Cooper, Regional Sales Manager with Will-Burt Company, brings us deep insights into how proper scene lighting can transform dangerous roadside recovery operations into safer, more efficient processes. With over a century of manufacturing experience, Wilbert has developed the NightScan mobile elevated lighting system that's revolutionizing how professionals approach nighttime work.
Unlike conventional truck-mounted lights that create dangerous glare and blind spots, the NightScan elevates powerful LED arrays up to 30 feet above the scene, directing illumination downward to create stadium-like visibility. This positioning eliminates the common hazard of looking back toward blinding light sources during complex operations. As Tim explains, "If you can't be seen, you can't be saved."
The system's 360-degree positioning capability allows operators to direct light precisely where needed—whether illuminating a vehicle in a ditch, equipment on the roadway, or creating a safety zone around personnel. Weighing just 60-200 pounds depending on the model, these weather-resistant systems can withstand extreme conditions from Arctic cold to desert heat while operating on simple 12-volt power.
Beyond safety benefits, mobile lighting systems represent a revenue opportunity. Many towing companies charge $250 per hour with a four-hour minimum when deploying these systems, allowing the equipment to quickly pay for itself. As insurance companies increasingly recognize the value of proper scene lighting, more states are approving it as a legitimate billable service.
Whether you operate service vehicles, medium-duty trucks, or heavy rotators, proper scene lighting isn't just a luxury—it's a critical safety tool that ensures everyone working the white line makes it home at night. Check out Wilbert's lighting solutions at Will-Burt.Com or call 330-684-4000 to learn how you can bring this game-changing technology to your fleet.
Welcome one and all to Toe Professional Podcast. This is your podcast. It's for the pros that have a need to know, that are on the go. This is truly the voice of the towing and recovery industry. I'm DJ Harrington, your co-host, better known as the Toe Doctor, and the real host of this podcast is the real main man is the president and publisher of Toe Professional Magazine, a very good friend of the industry but a dear friend of mine, darren Weaver. Darren, I'm going to tell you it's beautiful here in Atlanta, so I don't know what it is to Birmingham.
Speaker 2:Man, it's a gorgeous day today, but, man, it's a great day to have a podcast. I can tell you that, dj, this is going to be a good one. It's one of our great friends in the industry. It's Tim Cooper, regional sales manager with Wilbert Company. And DJ, as you know, wilbert's been a loyal partner with Tow Professionals since we started the publication. They came out to the Southern Tow Expo, did that show three years in a row and they participated in our Tim's event and lit up the night man. They turned it into day out there during the Tim's event when we had those scheduled events at the show two years in a row. So unbelievable products and I'm glad to finally have Tim on the show so that we can let our listeners know about it in detail. So I'll turn it over to you to open him up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but is he going to be laughing and lighthearted? See on this podcast, tim. They don't see your face and I want them to know you always have a smile. You're always up to speed it's a nice thing.
Speaker 4:It's the only way to be. It takes less muscles to smile than it does to frown.
Speaker 1:Exactly, hey. It takes less muscles to smile than it does to frown.
Speaker 5:Exactly and hey, it takes seven muscles.
Speaker 1:That's exactly right seven muscles to smile and 28 to frown. So if you're frowning you're working overtime okay, do an extra for no pay.
Speaker 4:It worked, and more than it did.
Speaker 1:That's right. Tell our 20,000 listeners who is Wilbert Company and what do you guys actually do?
Speaker 4:Well, first and foremost, dj Darian, thank you very much for having me on today, very excited to be a part of this. You know Wilbert has always been a big, strong supporter of you guys and a strong supporter of the podcast and I know it's been a while since we've been on and my company gave me the honor to be an offer to you guys today and be in the West Coast. It's kind of nice having a West Coast representation once in a while. So thank you again. So Wilbert is a company about 108 years old. We started in 1894. Two guys, will and Bert thus far Wilbert.
Speaker 4:We became incorporated in 1918, and we just celebrated our 40th anniversary of being an ESOP and those that don't know what an ESOP is, that's employee-owned. So every one of us in the company here in the United States is invested and we're invested wholeheartedly with our families. So we're here for the people out there that we serve and that's never going to go away. I can tell you that we are the global leaders of mobile, elevated products. So we make all sorts of different pieces and pies. You know from first response to telecommunications, disaster management, department of Defense stuff. Over 50% of our products are made right here in the United States, so right in Oroville Ohio. Right here in the United States, so right in Oroville Ohio. And for those that don't know where Oroville is, just look up Smuckers, because with a name like that it's got to be good, oh my Lord.
Speaker 4:So our main facility is in Oroville. That's where our corporate headquarters are. We also have a facility in Florida, along with facilities in the UK and Germany. So my division, the US Lighting Team primarily seven of us on the team and we focus on first response only. So our team towing first responders, including fire, law enforcement, even search and rescue, so that's what we do.
Speaker 1:Wow, and you attend a lot of shows because we see at all of them, at least a majority of them, you're there.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so I know outside of towing, globally we do over 108 shows a year. Yeah, so I know domestically we probably do 90 just here in the US or North America. I should say Right, because we hit a couple up north too.
Speaker 1:For our friends up north, yeah, for your friends up north Love it. We got a lot of listeners and you know what's really funny Chuck Camp, our producer, when we started looking at the numbers. All of a sudden we have over 100 in the European countries, and then we have listeners out of China, we have listeners from australia, the uk, so all of a sudden this thing is just building up and building up, which is good exposure for everybody.
Speaker 4:It's good for you guys, because you're already market there you know, dj, I think a lot of that is the awareness of, of recovering is not just a job. Yeah, you know, I mean, growing up as a kid, yeah, yeah, you saw tow guys, but it was the guy at the gas station with an old Holmes tow truck. You know, it wasn't, I mean it's, it's truly a first response profession. You know, whether you're going out in an emergency or you're going out and changing a tire, you're, you're dealing with somebody else's emergency Right and globally, that that culture is shifting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and for us now the podcast is really for the families that work the white line. All of a sudden now it's our responsibility. If they kiss their loved ones goodbye in the morning, they come home safe and sound that night. Absolutely, and Wilbert has a lot to do with their safety coming home at night too, which is real important that's, uh, that's always a big focus for us.
Speaker 4:Uh, you know, everything that we do in our product development is is wrapped around safety. It's, uh, you know, for the user to make sure we get everybody home.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's the nice thing about it. So, darren, I'm going to hand the second one over to you.
Speaker 2:Man.
Speaker 1:I know you man.
Speaker 2:I am fed to be tired over here. Man, I love this product. I've been able to see it working and, like I said, many of the shows, I've been able to see the demos on it and it's something. If you've got it, you're a leader. You've got to step forward in your market. I'm going to go to you with this, tim. Tell our listeners what is the NightScan product.
Speaker 4:The NightScan is our mobile elevated lighting system. It comes in various forms, including the fold over version, which I'm sure commonly has been seen. They've been on TV, even on a couple shows. We use them quite often in the towing industry, and then we also have the straight vertical option too. So a little bit less mechanical, more pneumatic, and what we do is we get high intensity LEDs, we put them up in the air anywhere from four foot to 30 feet, and then what makes truly the night scan unique is we use a positioner, and what that positioner does allows us to not only rotate the lights, but we can also tilt the lights 360 degrees so we can, once you have that tower up in the air, you can place that light where you need it, not only where you need it to work, but also over the top of you to be safe, so that keeps more visibility on you, especially at night.
Speaker 4:We're working on the side of the road. There's never enough streetlights, even underneath the streetlight. People don't see you. They're distracted, they're lost. They're the streetlight. People don't see you, they're distracted, they're lost. They're out to lunch. They don't see you. We put a bunch of lights on the truck and now you're standing between your light bar or your working lights and a driver and it's just like having somebody walk in front of you when you're looking straight into the sun. And that's where the concept of the night scan is. It gets that light above your head, shines down on you, shines down on your work area. Now you're working on the recovery safely, because you can actually see that big, jagged piece of metal sticking out of the front of the car. You can see what you're stepping down into if you're about to walk off the roadway. It goes beyond just a quick hook and grab it's. It goes to really being able to identify the hazards around you and also for the oncoming traffic and people around you to recognize that you are part of that hazard as well. Right now.
Speaker 4:So, that's the concept of the night scan.
Speaker 2:Man, I tell you, Tim, the the night scan I've I've been up on scenes before where you come up and they've got the light that they're towing behind the their, their vehicle, or so that they're using to, uh, a portable light to use, and a lot of times I've seen lights that will blind the oncoming traffic, um, rather than actually do a good job of lighting the scene, and so what you're saying here is you can actually adjust the head on that light. So you're not you're not blinding your workers and you're putting light right exactly where you need it on the scene, not on the traffic.
Speaker 4:Correct. You know, use an example of a rotator and you, you climb down the hillside and sure you have those nice boom lights on the end of the rotator and it's it's shining down on where you're working. But as soon as you look back up to look at what your winches are doing, all you're seeing is that bright white light shining in your eye because it's sitting on the side of the cab or on the back of the headache rack and it's not really over the top of the truck to where you can see your entire area. And it, yeah, it significantly reduces that blindness. Love it.
Speaker 4:And I need all the help I can get because I'm blind as a bat.
Speaker 1:Now, hey, Darren, before we take our first break, can I ask you this? I have to tell Tim I went out to a construction site. My family has one of the largest construction companies in New Jersey, so I said, what are you using?
Speaker 1:and they said exactly what he was using one of your lights yeah and he was lighting up a wall and, darren, they were putting up a brick wall, you know, like block yeah and it was 60 foot tall and then they were using your light beam and it's stuck there and I thought to myself and my brother just looked at me and he said no, dj, it's the safety of all the men working, because the other lights blind them. Your light actually lights it up like a football field and it was lit up. So the safety for everybody. So nobody, none of these poor guys got injured, so it's a great feature on the night scan.
Speaker 4:We can turn the lights up. So I mean, how many times have guys pulled up onto a recovery and there's a vehicle? Oh, yeah and they're underneath of it. Right, you're not. You're not coming in from the top side, you're coming in from the bottom side. Light it up and now you can see where you're at. I mean, I have a phenomenal picture that I would love to share with you guys.
Speaker 2:After this that, uh, um, I will send to you where I'm lighting, actually a side of a mountain up in urate, colorado wow oh yeah, and it was across the river and we were lighting the entire cliff face up I'll get you my address ready tim, so you can forward one of those over to my, just to make sure to do. I'll send it on well, dj, let's do this. Let's take a quick break for our listeners to hear from our sponsors, and we'll be right back listeners with more great information from Tim Cooper. We'll be right back.
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Speaker 6:For over 50 years, jordan has defined towing and recovery industry standards for performance, reliability and service. Jordan offers an extensive range of light, medium and heavy-duty wreckers, carriers and rotators. Each truck offers superior engineering for strength and stability, reliability and versatility to exceed the expectations of a demanding industry.
Speaker 7:In the heavy wrecker and towing industry, safety and efficiency are paramount. That's why professionals trust Wilbert for their scene lighting needs. Wilbert's NightScan light towers can be installed on wreckers and tow vehicles, providing powerful illumination exactly where it's needed. The remote positioning overhead LED lights do not blind oncoming traffic or your crew. For rugged, reliable and portable lighting, wilbert's rechargeable scene lights by Night Searcher are the perfect solution. Ready to go anywhere, with the FRC scene lights from Wilbert installed on your vehicle, you can ensure the area around your truck is brightly lit, further enhancing safety and efficiency. Learn more about how Wilbert's scene lighting solutions can make a difference at Wilbertcom. That's W-I-L-L-B-U-R-T dot com. Wilbert Innovation Elevated.
Speaker 1:Welcome back listeners. Of course, you know you're listening to the number one podcast in the towing and recovery industry Tow Professional On the Go podcast. Every week, darren and I do our best to bring you upcoming information and good episodes like this one right now. This is important. Make sure you download and listen. Now, this is important. Make sure you download and listen. We're available on Spotify, itunes, pandora, stitcher, iheartmedia, amazon or wherever you get your podcasts, and this has been a great one. So, darren, let me bring it back, because I want to talk a little bit, just a little bit more, about the night scan. So how can the night scan help toe professionals?
Speaker 4:Well as you know, the towing industry is one of the most dangerous industries in the world.
Speaker 1:Amen. Well, we lose 65 or more every year, every year.
Speaker 4:And unfortunately we haven't found the perfect solution to stop that number right. Um, our solution is by putting a light tower on the truck. Gives the light up above them, gives you the visibility to where traffic can see you, where people can see you, but you can also see what you're working on to keep you safe. You know, it's really, really hard and judge a vehicle by a helmet, light or a headlight, to see what it's doing when it's moving. And, uh, you know, unfortunately most are due to other drivers, but we have lost a few due to failures, you know, of a vehicle equipment et cetera. So by putting that night scan up in the air, it gives them the extra safety that no other product in the industry can give. If you can't be seen, you can't be saved.
Speaker 1:That's a good way of putting it too. You know that, derek, if you can't be seen, you can't be safe, and that's the important part.
Speaker 2:That's important, very important, tim. I've been wanting to know about this. Be seen, you can't be safe and that's the important part. That's important, very important, tim. I been wanting to know about this. What application do you so our listeners know, do you typically see night scan installed and operated on?
Speaker 4:so our most common is on either a rotator or on even down to you know, 50 ton, 30 ton, 20 ton, typically that larger recovery effort, just because those never happen at 9 am, to where you got two or three hours and the highway can be closed and you can take your time.
Speaker 4:It's, you know, 10 o'clock at night and you got, you know, highway patrol yelling at you to get the road open and you're trying to drag large equipment off the highway or out of the bar ditch. So that's what we see, the most common application. However, we have tow professionals that use them on their small wheel lift type trucks. They'll use them on their service bodies where they actually provide roadside service also, and they'll put them on that so their operator can be safe by changing tires or fixing an airline or whatever on the side of the highway. Even to these operations that have the large recovery equipment, where they have trailers that they drag out and they have safety vehicles. We even put them on pickup trucks just so that way they can come out and put light on the subject.
Speaker 2:Oh man, that's, that's awesome. I've seen them in various array, from a service vehicle to a medium duty to a rotator, and it's just unbelievable the amount of light they put out. And you, you know, I tell you, tim, when you match it up to the cost of a medium duty truck or a rotator, I mean you're talking medium duties, you know 400, 500, you're talking the rotators, 750 plus, before you even put a gym clip in the cargo box in them. You know you're talking that much. So when you, when you're talking that kind of money, it's just like floor mats, it's like checking a box for floor mats.
Speaker 4:It's pennies and you know we have a lot of tow professionals and every state's a little different on how they can charge, but we have a lot of professionals that use them and do make their money back right away, especially in the recovery side. We see that there's there's definitely ways that they can bill for utilizing that light. I mean examples. We have one of our customers that uses it. They charge 250 an hour, with a four hour minimum every time they put that tower up it doesn't take long.
Speaker 4:I mean, when you start charging for that minimum, it does not take long to recover that. And when you look at, you know amortizer rotator, you know these guys hold on to them for 10-15 years. It really you can, you'll be making money. You know, beyond just keeping you safe, you start making money quickly yeah, it helps resell of the of the truck.
Speaker 2:If you've got one on there, Plus, like you said, just having it on there, I would think you're already. Like you said, you're increasing the value on the vehicle, but you're also you're increasing the safety on your whole fleet by having that out there. So that's the big thing for me is the safety, but just the fact that it'll also pay for itself. That makes it a given right there.
Speaker 4:Put it on the truck I have a customer that gets called out by their local law enforcement agency, even if it's not for a recovery, just that. Hey, we need your light tower. Yeah, they're a community resource. You know, they go beyond, you know, and and so many tow professionals do that they go out and they go above and beyond for their communities. They're not just here for the quick hook and go, they're, they're here because they care and uh, so we have a lot of professionals that go out and do things for local law enforcement, for the local fire department, especially those that don't have the funding to get their own resources, and they go out and help out. And you know, that's truly the ideology of First Responses. We're all in it together.
Speaker 2:I am 100%. I love it, tim Love it.
Speaker 1:I want to tell you, when I asked somebody my own family, because they're in construction but my brother made a comment to me. He said when we use the night scanner, he said it turns day. You know, it turns night into day. And then I thought to myself, it just lights the place up. And then he looked at me and he said and DJ, how much is a person's life worth, man? And I'm like what? That's what I believe. He said how much is it worth? And all of a sudden, for the little investment that you use and then you spread it out and then he uses it and builds the person that they're using it for. So all of a sudden. So let me ask this before we take the break, tim, let me ask this one Can they be installed in other applications?
Speaker 1:So you know, I said, my family uses it in construction, but there's a lot. Anybody who works, you know. At nighttime now here you know you're out west, but we're getting darker sooner now. So all of a sudden now, all of you, you tell people we're working till five and all of a sudden now five o'clock is getting dark. Yeah, it is.
Speaker 4:And then you say oh and I'm on the East side of the Rocky mountains, so sunset goes down an hour early anyway. So it is uh, we, you know we have tons of different industries that use these. Uh, outside of tone and emergency, we have right companies like, um, like your power companies. They'll put them on their service trucks to go out and check lines with. You know, when you're checking 800 miles of line, you have to work through the night. There's just no ifs, ands or buts about it. Um, yeah, like I said before, you know we have customers that put them in pickup trucks. We had them on tahos, you know. So they they can be mounted.
Speaker 4:Our smallest light tower weighs about 60 pounds, you know. Some of our bigger ones are still under 200 pounds. It doesn't take a lot and all you need is 12 volt power. You don't need you know the whole mindset of generators and dragging cords and stuff like that. You don't need any of that now. We can still do 120 volt application, but we can do everything in 12 volt and get you what you need wow.
Speaker 2:Well, tim, tell me if I'm wrong. But I mean you're not just the towing industry, but I mean you guys have have served some. You serve some pretty rugged industries, right from government to oil and gas, uh, marine, which is a rough environment uh, on equipment, law enforcement, border patrol and military. So I mean you guys are ISO 9001 certified, correct?
Speaker 4:And you know we see that a lot, that label a lot, and it's truly not an easy label to obtain the 9001 certification. There's a lot of work way in the background beyond anything that I do. Um, and it's it takes a lot. You have to be at a level of guarantee on that. But we have light towers and pneumatic masts all over the world. Um, from all the way up in the arctic circle or toward above the arctic circle in alaska, all the way up in the Arctic circle or toward above the Arctic circle in Alaska, all the way to the deserts of Saudi Arabia.
Speaker 4:Um, we're able to operate in just about any weather condition that we. We've even tested our light towers to operate with a quarter inch thick of ice on them and it still will stand up. They will extend, they will illuminate. You know negative 10, negative 50. You know there's areas and that wind chill gets out there blowing and it starts blowing things off the road. They'll stand up. You know 60, 70 mile an hour wind ratings. So if you've got bad weather you don't have to worry about it being up in the air.
Speaker 1:You know it can withstand extreme usage yeah, now, darren, you and I see them because tim southern company uses them on their utility trucks. So alabama power, where darren lives, georgia power, where I, they all have it on their trucks Only for the fact that they work late hours and they're 2 o'clock in the morning when a wire comes down. They need to light up that whole area.
Speaker 4:That's right, transformers like to let go at 9 o'clock at night, not 9 o'clock in the morning.
Speaker 1:That's right, you got it right. Hey, Tim, one of our sponsors, INA, they do trains. Now wait till I tell you this. They do the railroad tracks, they do trains, they do power lines on the trains. And INA, when I was with them. I'm looking at Gay Rochester and she said them. I'm looking at Gay Rochester, she said, DJ, this is just what these guys do. They light up the tracks and they need this lighting to do it. So you guys, are all over.
Speaker 4:We all are all over. I run into light towers all the time, in places that I had no idea and in older light towers. I mean I was just talking to a customer last week. Their light tower was built in the mid-90s and it still functions. We're updating it to LEDs finally. I mean it's the old HIDs with ballasts, yeah, but you have LEDs. We do. Everything we do now is 100%.
Speaker 2:LED now.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, wow, that's something. So you take the old one and refurbish it back to the new standard.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it saves them significant costs that they're going to keep that truck another 10, 15 years. It's already 30 years old and they're like, hey, we got to have this working and the the pieces for the individual lights were obsolete, but all the tower pieces were still 100 functional.
Speaker 2:so well, make sure you get some shots of that, because that'd be a great story to put in a magazine about, uh, how a piece of equipment the, uh, the lifespan on it and how it can be refurbished.
Speaker 4:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:PJ, you want to take a break?
Speaker 1:Yeah let's take a break and we'll come back. We've got two more questions to ask. Tim is, you know he's a good guest, but he's a good friend of the industry. So you know that's the good part about this job. All right, folks, let's take a quick break and we'll be right back.
Speaker 6:DRAA is the national association representing the US towing and recovery industry. We act as the voice of America's towing industry by offering representation, education and leadership at the federal level. Much of our focus is on representing the interest of the towing and recovery industry on Capitol Hill, including promoting positive legislation and opposing potentially negative legislation. Traa is the industry's watchdog on Capitol Hill.
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Speaker 1:Welcome back listeners. You got it. This is the number one podcast in the touring recovery industry. I can't thank you enough. I want you to remember to like, review and share everywhere. Tell all your friends about this and I know our guest, tim, got a bunch of friends, so he'll tell them too. But if you have an association and you want to be on the podcast or you're an industry expert like Tim, by all means dial the hotline right here in the podcast center, 706-409-5603, and Dan and I will do our very best to get you on the coming up podcast. All right, so, darren, I'll send it back to you.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir, you got it. Man, this has been a good one.
Speaker 1:We'll find out. Yeah, and the listeners need to know how to get ahold of Tim too.
Speaker 2:That's right. That's right. Well, I tell you this I've went over the site many times, dj, and it is very informative. It lists all the industries served, the different solutions Wilbert companies offers for the industry and you just simply go to Wilbertcom just W-I-L-L-B-U-R-Tcom or call them at 330. That's 330-684-4000. But with the question I had, tim and I love, this part is just like we were talking about earlier how you know. So tell our top professionals how to offset the cost of the night scan and what you see different companies do with this.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so for offsetting the cost, it really truly depends on what the professionals are able to bill within their states. Some states do have some restrictions on what they can bill. A lot of times it falls under recovery and not just a tow, so when that happens then there's a little bit more pliability on what they can do. There are states that you can specifically bill just for lighting and we're seeing a transition of more and more states accepting that and pushing the insurance companies into accepting that because of the safety aspect of it, so you can bill for them.
Speaker 4:I know a lot of our professionals have made great money with just having the light tower itself. As I said earlier in the podcast, we have customers that do $250 an hour with a four-hour minimum as soon as they put that light tower up in the air. So that's a great way to add the safety into your truck while still offsetting that cost. It's not like a vest where it becomes disposable, or a flashlight that falls in the ground. It's truly a piece of the truck that can help make you money. And that's the goal Make you money and keep you safe.
Speaker 2:Without a doubt, without a doubt. Well, let me ask you this just a little different variation is how, how tough is this to be installed and how does that process work?
Speaker 4:It really is not difficult it is. The base platform is six volts and there's a couple of 12 volt circuits. You know I have some customers able to do it in five or six hours, some other companies depending on the degree of difficulty where they're trying to mount it. That's going to be the biggest piece. But as I said earlier, we started about 60, 70 pounds on weight and even our big towers under 200 pounds and even our big towers under 200 pounds. There's not a lot of changes to the vehicle that need to be made. If you want to retrofit one onto an existing vehicle, most of the platforms and the side packs can take easily that much weight. So to bolt it down, run the cabling to it pretty quick and easy. Typically your truck can be down a day and then you have it back up and run.
Speaker 2:Man, that's fantastic. That's fantastic. Well, DJ, I'm going to throw that last one over to you, sir.
Speaker 1:Well, we already got it, Because I was going to ask him about where can the night scan be purchased and installed.
Speaker 2:Well, that's a good answer.
Speaker 1:And I really want to tell them what happens In New Jersey. They actually are allowed to charge for the safety of the person, Because my family's in construction and they're on the road working. And they're allowed to charge per hour, just for the safety of the all the people working love it but they have to have you know a reasonable rate like the 250 an hour, that's reasonable. When the people go crazy, that's when they start looking into it to say what's going on here.
Speaker 4:What's going on? Yeah, you know, yeah, that's exactly it. You know, be reasonable, right, and, and some, and there are some states that already have those, they can be billed and whatnot, and uh, so there's some great resources out there in the interwebs that can uh help direct them on, on helping them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, cause I know at one time state of Florida had a set rate so you couldn't mess around if you wanted to. But how can they, darren? You gave the what's the best way for our listeners can. If they call that number, can they reach?
Speaker 4:out to you, tim, absolutely. So that is our main line. Uh, once they call in and talk to customer service and what they'll do is they'll get they'll get you directed to who you need to talk to. So if you're calling West Virginia, they're going to get in touch with my counterpart, mike Sanchez. If they're calling from Oregon, they're going to get you in touch with me. So we are spread out. There's there's six of us on the road full time covering the, covering the U? S plus our, plus our director and a couple other support staff members that we have. So you can always reach out directly to us. We also have some phenomenal dealer partners in the industry all over the country that specifically know our product well. They they install a lot of our product so that they're as much of a professional or an expert on our product as I am, and so you know the best way is to reach out to us directly and then we can get you guys pointed in the right direction to get you taken care of.
Speaker 1:Gotcha. Well, I want to run behind our listeners. If you want to talk to Tim 330-684-46-8-4 4-0-0-0 or just go to Wilbertcom W-I-L-L-B-U-R-T dot com. It's a great website, just like Darren said. Is there anything, tim, that we should have added that we didn't put in before?
Speaker 4:we have our man close us down you know, you guys, uh, you guys are really willing to, not only on our product, but knowing what to ask for and, uh, like I said, if we didn't answer your questions today with with what we can do for you and how we can help you be safer and be smarter out there on the scene, give us a call. You know, every question is unique, every situation is unique, every application is unique, and that's what we love to do is get you the right solution. So that's all I can say about it is, if you have more questions, dial the number.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I want to tell the listeners. You know, one guy said well, where'd you pick up some information? Dj, my family uses it, but but I wanted to tell you I looked at your recent ad in the magazine and that's where I picked up a lot of the stuff. And I thought that guy, when he used the thing where he used to turn the night into day, that's even in one of your ads. And I thought that guy, when he used the thing where he used to turn the night into day, that's even in one of your ads. And I thought the guy was really smart. And then when I looked at the magazine I said no, that idiot, he ain't smart, he just copied Darren.
Speaker 7:Whoever?
Speaker 1:said he had it. He copied Darren, but Darren, really, you know the nice thing about him, the nice thing about Darren he really cares. He's a genuine human being. He cares about the company but he really cares about the safety of every one of his listeners and every one of the people that put their eyeballs on the magazine or on the website.
Speaker 4:you know, when they do the digital issues, you know, yeah, it makes a big difference I I understand sponsorships and things like that, but I have never seen a product in the magazine that isn't the right product for people, right, that darren just doesn't let anybody advertise. It's it's a very select group for this common goal. It's the common mission, right? And and I think darren opened it up with it that you know very early on and it's something with you know. We got to say goodbye and we all our dj said we had to say goodbye and we got to come home and yeah, you're kissing goodbye and everybody's got to come home and uh, you know, that's what I see.
Speaker 4:So many of the great products in the magazine, uh, advertised on the podcast is the common goals everybody getting home and tim.
Speaker 1:That makes a big difference. When I see people at the shows like Ruthie, landau and all, they come over and they do the magazine in digital. I mean that's the only way she looks at it and I'm the guy that wants to look at the magazine. And then all of a sudden you meet somebody like Ruthie, who's done so much for our industry, and she said, oh, dj, I honest with you, I I looked at digital on all of them. I'm the digital lady. And so digital now is so big. The atlanta journal here in georgia, that big newspaper owned by the new york times, is now all digital, all digital, yeah, all digital as of last week. Wow. So you're learning and that's why the podcast has done so well. And, darren, like usual, you brought the right guy on for our listeners.
Speaker 2:That's right man and the right products. Man Wilberts, everybody I've ever met inside the company is an absolute class act. Everybody I've met inside the company has a heart for the product, like I have for mine. They have a passion behind them about the product and about getting the best results for their customers. So that's what really really draws me.
Speaker 2:So again, listeners, make sure you check them out. Go to Wilbert and that's W-I-L-L-B-U-R-Tcom, or give them a call 330-684-4000. And they can walk you through the resources they have. They have many different products for mobile lighting. So look into it, give them an opportunity. Let me tell you, if you're seeing a dealer, you're looking at your new equipment. Ask for them by name, because if you're in a dealership, they know the product and they can point you in the right direction and show you how you can add it on and finance it right into the vehicle as well. So that's a great way to go.
Speaker 2:But, as always, I'd like to end this one with a prayer. As always, and dear heavenly father, we just, we certainly thank you for our vendors, for vendors like Wilbert that go out there and they go above and beyond every single time just to make sure that not only a product's being made and some dollars are being made, but, lord, they do this to make sure that safety's being built into every product they produce. Every one of our customers is like that, so we just ask you to increase their knowledge for creating more products like that. Increase their prosperity in the market, increase their reach so they can get more products out to our tow professionals that need those to come home safely. And, dear Heavenly Father, we also thank you for every one of our tow professionals, our men and women of towing to have a servant's heart, that go out there every day to help our family members in a time of need, and we just ask that you protect them, cover them with a hedge of protection, bring them back home safe, increase them physically, mentally, spiritually and financially in every way, lord, for their servant's heart and bring them home to their family every day safely, in your precious name, amen.
Speaker 2:Listeners, we appreciate every one of you for listening to Tow Professional on the go podcast. You've helped make us the number one podcast in industry year after year. Keep listening. We'll have more great guests on here, like Tim Cooper, regional sales manager of Wilbert Company. Make sure you check them out, visit the website and see what the products can do for your company. Until next time, it's Toe Professional Darren Weaver, owner, signing out you.