Tow Truck Driver Training

The topic was tow trucks

By Tim Switzer, The Leader-Post May 17, 2010

Bruce Campbell is pulling for a change.

Campbell, a Banff-based instructor for the WreckMaster towing program, hopes to someday see training for tow-truck operators mandatory across North America.

While most operators will receive in-house training when hired by towing firms, not all are required to be taught by certified instructors.

"One of the most expensive purchases people will make in their life is a car," said Campbell, who was in Regina over the last four days doing training sessions for Warner Industries and several other tow-truck drivers from Saskatchewan. "So why would we let people who are not trained touch one of our prized possessions?"

But Campbell believes more and more people across the continent are beginning to recognize the value of tow trucks and many places are starting to see a need for training.

"There's lots of towing companies in Canada who say, 'Either we send you for training or you don't have a job,' " said Campbell, who has been in the industry for 33 years.

But while some in the industry have come to that decision, Campbell does not know of any jurisdictions within Canada that require certification for tow-truck operators by law.

"There's some big cities that are truly thinking about that," said Campbell. "There has been some discussion of that in Alberta and Ontario in some of the bigger cities."

Some of that, said Campbell, is coming from a desire to see roads able to stay open more often when a vehicle rolls. Often, several lanes are closed when vehicles are put back on their wheels. Campbell believes many rollovers can be cleaned up with only one lane being closed.

There is also a need to convince some towing companies, noted Campbell.

"We've had some comments in the past where people say, 'What will they teach us? We've been in the business 25 years,' " said Campbell.

"Towing training has been handed down for generations, but cars and other vehicles have changed. There's special techniques to towing hybrid cars."

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