I guess I became a real tow operator today...
At least that is what they tell me now that I dropped a truck.
Had a bad day in the best way possible I guess. I was sent to pick up an old ford bucket truck that weighed in at around 11,000 lbs. This was the largest vehicle I had towed to date and apparently there have been a few gaps in my training. I wheel lifted it and secured it for transport and things were going well until I popped the clutch going through a traffic circle. Safety chains held but I had to stop in the middle of the traffic circle to fix it. Of course this was at 4 pm. A wonderful time of day to tie up traffic, let me tell you.
The good news... I learned some things I did wrong and have questions that need to be answered. I was passed by a deputy about 90 seconds before this happened and so he was gone and I got out of there without a confrontation with LE. I have a feeling that would have been expensive. Best part... Even though the wheel lift went through the radiator the customer won't file any kind of claim. I was hauling it to the recyclers.
Customer say it happen and even tipped me afterwards.
Now I just have to talk to the boss about it when he gets back on Monday. Fortunately his partners think it won't be a problem.
Now, lets try to not let that happen again.