Thanks for the website. That's a whole lot easier than that AAA book even though it is the same info. We'll see how it goes but so far I am enjoying it. I have about 9 years of flat bed experience, and while all of that doesn't necessarily translate to towing it does give me a background in cargo securement and care for cargo.
As for training, that is kinda hit and miss. I do get support at the end of the phone but some of it I will have to figure out on my own. I do enjoy the customer service side of things though. Rollbacks in the rain can be a special kind of fun.
I did my first roadside recovery during rushhour traffic today. Seems I keep ending up in a rollback when I have a low ground clearance vehicle. Great once you have it hooked but getting there can be fun.
OHhhhhhh you aint kiddin' !!! Just wait till you get a car up against a curb and you have a roll back and you have to lay in the fuggin gutter full of running water to hook a mini J. There are times when I have used only side of my briddle and pulled from the left side only and said to hell with the right side. Then when you get it up on deck, set your park brake or put the car in park, let your winch out a little and jump up on deck and then hook the right side. For a light car, like just yesterday, I did a Honda Civic. Hooked it Left side only, and so I chained the rear left side only. You don't won't to do opposite corners. IF you do, then as you hit bumps and traveling, the car will just get sideways on your deck and then you have loose chains and loose chains lead to mini J's, T's and R's dropping out and then you have a loose vehicle that can get away.
Another big tip, I'll always have the Big old fashioned J hooks on my trucks, roll back or conventional. You can use for special situations like a totally smashed vehicle etc, but really, you want to pretend you don't have J hooks and use the provided hook points provided by the manufacturers as intended. I've seen guys hook J hooks around struts, trailing arms and every damn thing else, winch down and then you now bent strut towers, trailing arms etc and then the customer comes to you wanting to know why there front wheels are in the left lane and the rear wheels are in the right lane.
Gotta be careful of bending suspension parts on these cheap ass cars these days. Even on full size trucks, I will use J hooks but prefer not to. You can smash brake lines that are anchored to the axle and all kinds of problems. Just gotta pay close attention. I'd say if you're a flat bedder by trade, then you have some mechanical mentality and know about load shifts, leverages, lifts, anchors and **** like that. You're right, that AAA book sucks compared to Tow Spec.com. With that little help, I think you'll do just fine. Just get fluent with that mental checklist and it becomes automatic on every single tow and you won't even have to think about it and it will be 2nd nature before long.
