Hub911 - Emergency Services Information for all First Responders; Fire, EMS, LEO
LIKE us ->
  • Home
    • Free Medical Information Card
    • Contact Us
  • EMS
    • EMS Dept. Links
    • EMS Sponsors
    • EMS Classified Ads
    • EMS Events
    • EMS Forum
  • Fire & Rescue
    • Fire & Rescue Dept. Links
    • Fire & Rescue Sponsors
    • Fire & Rescue Classified Ads
    • Fire & Rescue Events
    • Fire & Rescue Forum
    • SOS Supply
  • Law Enforcement
    • Law Enforcement Dept. Links
    • Law Enforcement Sponsors
    • Law Enforcement Classified Ads
    • Law Enforcement Events
    • Law Enforcement Forums
  • Towing & Utilities
    • Tow Equip
    • Towing Company Links
    • Towing Company Sponsors
    • Towing Classified Ads
    • Towing Events
    • Towing & Utilities Forums
  • More
    • Dispatch
    • Explosives
    • HazMat
    • Lifeboat
    • Search & Rescue
    • U.S. Military >
      • Army
      • Navy
      • Air Force
      • Marines
      • Coast Guard
      • National Guard
      • Air National Guard
  • Forums
    • EMS Forums
    • Fire & Rescue Forums
    • Law Enforcement Forums
    • Towing & Utilities Forums
  • Info
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising >
      • Rate Page
      • Classified Ads
      • Links
      • Sponsorship
    • Resources
    • Disclaimer
    • State Listings
    • Site Map
  • Design
    • Website Design
    • SEO
    • Social Media Marketing
    • Hosting
    • Branding
    • Graphic Design
    • Printing
    • Signs and Banners
  • Blogs
    • Health Blog >
      • Mold Test Sale
    • Hub911 Blog
    • EMS Blog on Hub911
    • Fire Blog on Hub911
    • LEO Blog on Hub911
    • Towing Blog on Hub911 >
      • Positive Spin on Covid-19
      • COVID-19 and Isolationalism
    • PSA Blog
    • Hub911 Products Blog
    • Contests
    • Hub911 Recipies
  • Store
    • Service Animal Memorials
    • Contests
  • Print ID card
  • Parts Department Managment
  • New Page
  • New Page

Gatecrasher Saga with Nick Kemper

6/12/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
In the impound tow world, we sometimes experience gatecrashers, vehicle owners who like to redeem their vehicle from the impound lot by force.  A common practice is to ram the gate full-force with a vehicle to knock it down.  You can do a lot of things to prevent this activity, or to prevent it from working.

At one of our impound lots, a vehicle owner did this successfully in the wee hours of the morning, but he was especially clever.  He hotwired a car to crash the gate, and then he drove his own vehicle out.  That prevented him from damaging his own car.  The next day we called the fence company out to fix the gate, which was damaged but didn't have to be replaced.

Well, apparently that 100-yard trip across the lot and through the gate in the hotwired car had impressed this guy with the performance of the car, because he came back the next night and crashed the gate AGAIN with this car, only this time he kept the car.  You have to appreciate the combination of skill, guts, and persistence this particular gatecrasher had.  My boss was in a tizzy, of course, but to us drivers, it was kind of amusing.

The story doesn't end there, of course.  Two nights later, I was sent out to impound a car from someone's driveway in the neighborhood of our impound lot.  It was a little strange, but someone had simply left their car in a graveled side driveway next to someone's house, clearly off the road and on private property.  The homeowner called the police first to make sure it wasn't stolen, and he was advised to have it towed away.

In the 20 minutes between the homeowner's call and my arrival, a DIFFERENT vehicle, being chased by the police, crashed into this first vehicle.  The driver t-boned this illegally parked car, pinning it against the homeowner's fence, bailed out and ran, and when I got there, the police were scouring the neighborhood for him.

I had to wait until they authorized me to move the escape vehicle away from the vehicle I was supposed to tow.  I wrote up an incident report while I was waiting, and another tow company showed up on a police rotation tow to impound the escape vehicle.  Then I completed my tow and went on my way.

The next day my boss was reading my incident report, and he recognized the vehicle description and license plate number of the escape vehicle as THE CAR THAT CRASHED OUR GATE TWICE.  This guy really got around, and this little Corolla he liked was very durable.  I hadn't recognized it, because there were several hundred cars in the impound lot, and I had never known for sure which one was creating all the havoc.  I don't think they ever caught the guy.  My boss called the other tow company and talked them into letting us get the car from them.  We blocked it in with two other vehicles, and no one ever claimed it.

Imagine the story from the gatecrasher's end.

Have a safe and profitable week.

Sincerely,
Nick Kemper
www.TowPartsNow.com


0 Comments

Towing with Nick Kemper

3/31/2012

1 Comment

 
Recovering a vehicle off railroad tracks can be a tricky maneuver.  I was reminded recently of one I did several years ago.  An inebriated driver had driven into an industrial area, where about 8,000 sets of railroad tracks cross, ran alongside, and, in some cases, ran down the middle of roads.  One set of tracks forked off to the right, and he mistook it for the road and made it about 50 yards down the tracks with his mid-70s Ford Torino before getting stuck.  The County Sheriff's Deputy arrested him and called for a tow truck.  When I got there, I turned my truck around to winch the car out the way it went in.  I ran my cable out, fixed a recovery chain on the vehicle, attached the cable, and walked back to my truck.  It was a nice, clear evening, and everything was calm in the deserted industrial district.

I had engaged the winch and just pulled up the slack when the Deputy jumped out of his car and ran over to me.  "How long is this going to take?" he asked, very excited.

"I'm not sure," I answered, "Ten, fifteen minutes."

His eyes opened wide.  "A train is going to be here in three minutes!"

My mind started racing.  Did I even have time to let out the slack, disengage the winch, run over and unhook the winch cable, and move the tow truck off the tracks?  Or would I have to abandon the truck to save myself?  I had to try to get the truck off the tracks, but every second I stood there frozen was one less second I had to act.  The Deputy saw the panic on my face and held his composure for several seconds before bursting into laughter.

He was kidding.

He had waited for that perfect moment, when the cable was tight and I was standing at the rear of the tow truck, where it would take the maximum amount of time to disengage and vacate, and he knew he had gotten me good.

I guess even Sheriff's Deputies need to find a way to amuse themselves at Midnight on a Tuesday night.

Have a safe and profitable week.

Nick Kemper

www.TowPartsNow.com

1 Comment

    Hub911.com

    Please tell us your story!

    Archives

    March 2020
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012

    Categories

    All
    2013
    911
    9/11
    Accident
    Amanda
    Anger In The Work Place
    Animals
    April Fools Day
    Auto Trans
    Bathroom
    Beer
    Being Chased By Car
    Briefcase
    Broken Wrecker
    Ca
    Cab Mess
    Cars
    Catch 20
    Catch 21
    Catch 22
    Changing Tire
    Chasing Car
    Claw
    Close Calls
    Clown Car Towing
    Commission
    Crash
    Datsun
    Dirty Shirt
    Dispatch
    Driving
    Drug Screen
    Drug Test
    Drunk Driving
    Eagle
    Emergency
    Emergency Disneyland
    Emergency Service Information
    Emergency Services
    Emergency Services Info
    Emergency Services Information
    Employee Drug Test
    Employees
    Employees Caring
    Employee Turnover
    Equipment
    Escape
    Fall Back
    Federal Building
    Finding Something Lost
    Fixing Your Truck
    Friends
    Frustration
    Funny Tow Story
    Gatecrasher
    Handle Angry Employees
    Harley
    Hate My Job
    Hib911.com
    Hiring Ems
    Hiring In The Towing Industry
    Hiring Nightmares
    Hiring Warm Bodies
    Hook And Book
    How To Motivate
    Http://www.essentialnow.com
    Http://www.hub911.com
    Hub911
    Hub 911
    Hub911.com
    Hub911.com
    Humor
    Impaired Driving
    Impound
    Impound Lot
    Info
    Information
    It's The Law
    Jobs Are Like Boats
    Kids
    Late
    Law
    Lazy Co-worker
    Lonely Road
    Lot
    Love Hate Relationship With Job
    Love My Job
    Luck
    Mad Customers
    Mad Man
    Management Difficult Employee
    Messy Truck
    Mi
    Motorcycle
    Municipal Contracts
    N
    Newsletter
    New Years Eve
    Nick Kemper
    Night
    Nissan
    Not Short
    Offended By Drug Test
    Oklahoma City Bombing
    Olds
    Painted Truck
    Paint Job
    Parking Violation
    Pets
    Police
    Police Tow
    Priceless
    Pride In Your Ride
    Professional Dress
    Respect Tow Truck Operators
    Restuarant Parking
    Road Party
    Rtto
    Runaway Car
    Sheriff
    Sherry Wood
    Shortcut
    Slow Down Move Over
    Spilling Pop
    Spring Forward
    Stolen
    Subaru
    Tactic To Cope With Anger
    The Hub
    Tickets
    Time Change
    Tire Friction
    Tires And Suspension
    Tow-agencies
    Tow Call
    Tow-company-managers
    Tow Crash
    Towing
    Towing And Equipment
    Towing Complaints
    Towing Mishap
    Towing Wrecker
    Towpartnow
    Tow Part Now
    Towpartsnow
    Tow Parts Now
    Towpartsnow.com
    TowPartsNow.com
    Tow Show
    Tow Truck
    Tow Truck Mess
    Train
    Trains
    Trick Or Treat
    Tricks Crossrails
    Trucks
    Uniform Compliance
    Vacation
    Vacationers
    Vehicle Owner
    Work
    Wreck
    Wrecker
    Wreckers

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.