You lads surprise me, you’d think bloody lorry drivers would realise the distances and delays likely in recovery, you can’t run that game on a bloody logistics/bus timetable 
I recovered a 4x4 one night. Got all ready to winch on the back, went to check neutral and h/brake off, opened drivers door, reached in and got bitten by the dog. nobody told me it was in there. Was not happy.
Juddian:
You lads surprise me, you’d think bloody lorry drivers would realise the distances and delays likely in recovery, you can’t run that game on a bloody logistics/bus timetable
I’m pretty sure almost all lorry drivers are fully accepting of the delays etc. It’s the planks in their cars who have paid £100s for a promised blue riband breakdown/recovery service and think they have every right to expect to be on their way within 30 minutes. It’s the old “I pay your wages” mentality.
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Roymondo:
Juddian:
You lads surprise me, you’d think bloody lorry drivers would realise the distances and delays likely in recovery, you can’t run that game on a bloody logistics/bus timetableI’m pretty sure almost all lorry drivers are fully accepting of the delays etc. It’s the planks in their cars who have paid £100s for a promised blue riband breakdown/recovery service and think they have every right to expect to be on their way within 30 minutes. It’s the old “I pay your wages” mentality.
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Yep, the same ones who can’t even change a wheel, when you can easily be on your way 15 miunutes later by making sure you can do that job, including an adequate wheelbrace.
Talking of car breakdown services my renewal with Autoaid is up this month, £61.50 ish, anyone got a better similarly priced recovery service that will take you and your car home (if it can’t be fixed by a local garage the same day) for similar price? No reason not to renew with Autoaid, just not sure what else is about.
Don’t need all singing all dancing 4th emergency service ■■■■■■■■ just a bloke with a suitable truck to pick the vehicle up if its more serious than a puncture or cable tie job, don’t need home start.
I broke down in a Mack truck about 30 odd years ago, pulled onto the shoulder and set my warning triangles out then proceeded to walk a mile to the next exit then into town and found a phone. The company said they’d send a wrecker out so I headed back but no sign of my truck, even my triangles were gone. I guess the towing company weren’t busy that night so came out right away and hooked it.
Lucky me had to walk back into town to call my company so they could call the towing firm to come and pick me up. If only we had cell phones back then.
The problem was the Maxidyne engine broke the crankshaft. 
Juddian:
Yep, the same ones who can’t even change a wheel, when you can easily be on your way 15 miunutes later by making sure you can do that job, including an adequate wheelbrace.Talking of car breakdown services my renewal with Autoaid is up this month, £61.50 ish, anyone got a better similarly priced recovery service that will take you and your car home (if it can’t be fixed by a local garage the same day) for similar price? No reason not to renew with Autoaid, just not sure what else is about.
Don’t need all singing all dancing 4th emergency service ■■■■■■■■ just a bloke with a suitable truck to pick the vehicle up if its more serious than a puncture or cable tie job, don’t need home start.
They don’t change…
Wheels any more because the majority of new cars don’t have spares any more. There are some with the skinny spacesaver spare. My 16 plate Ford has the wheel well in the back but no spare, jack or brace is supplied by the factory (maybe it’s an option when ordering from new?) I have a plug-in tyre inflator and a bottle of liquid that apparently seals up any holes and let’s you carry on. If I get a flat now, I’ll just use Ford’s breakdown cover. I looked around on the net for a spare, jack and wheel brace but, it’s expensive, lowers my fuel figures and I’d have to find somewhere else to put my jump leads and other bits and pieces curently in my wheel well.
My local Ford dealer always gives me one year of Ford breakdown cover every time I service my car there, it’s basically the AA top lever of cover free.
I couldn’t have a car without a spare, ocd would have my skin crawling, you can be sure the one time i relied on a pot of glue and toy compressor it would be a bloody great split in the side, don’t want that disappointment at 3.30am on the way to work.
Worth perusing ebay ads for a skinny spare, any half decent scissor jack would do and a suitable six sided socket with telescopic bar in case some numpty has done 'em up with a rattle gun.
Juddian:
I couldn’t have a car without a spare, ocd would have my skin crawling, you can be sure the one time i relied on a pot of glue and toy compressor it would be a bloody great split in the side, don’t want that disappointment at 3.30am on the way to work.
Worth perusing ebay ads for a skinny spare, any half decent scissor jack would do and a suitable six sided socket with telescopic bar in case some numpty has done 'em up with a rattle gun.
Mrs Roymondo’s C3 Picasso didn’t come with a spare (just the electric pump and pot of gloop). I sourced an unused steel spare and (full size) tyre from eBay complete with jack etc. Sadly my little MX-5 cannot carry a spare wheel. I am told that it is just possible to squeeze a skinny emergency spare into the boot on the soft-top cars, but not on my powered retractable hard-top. Even if I could though, in the event that I had to change a wheel, where would I put the (full sized) wheel/tyre that I had just replaced…? Where would I put my luggage and stuff in the first place? Fortunately in several decades of romping around on BFO motorbikes I have become accustomed to doing the odd plug’n’go temporary puncture repair and simply accepting the fact that a major tyre failure is going to leave me temporarily stranded. Haven’t had such a failure in over 45 years on the roads though…
I think we can become too engrossed in our own importance here - If I had a major mechanical issue on the way to work, I’d make one courtesy phone call to tell 'em not to expect me in that day then settle back and sort out whatever needed doing to get me and my vehicle home again and repaired or temporarily replaced ready for the next day. Make it someone else’s problem…
Hi all,
Thanks for all the quick responses. As someone who doesn’t know anyone doing this job (or albeit lifestyle) I wasn’t 100% sure about what it would entail. Pretty much all I knew was that it was 4on/4off with callouts and was hard graft. I don’t mind the hard work in a job, I’ve always said that I prefer to be challenged and doing something that requires involvement so that I don’t get board after a short time.
I currently work in a role whereby I’m loading and unloading my own trailer. This attracted me because of the level of involvement. It pays a good wage but as a result I feel I get treat badly for what I(and others) have to do. I am aware this is the haulage industry in a nutshell but I’ve always wanted to work for a more family oriented firm where your hard work and commitment is appreciated.
I used to work in events and was touring with bands etc for around ten years. So I think I am ok with reference to it being a lifestyle as this job was very similar, months aways at a time! I do have an understanding partner which is great and at least with callouts I’m still home every day even if it’s only for a short period of time! Better than being away for months on end.
I have looked into sparrows so I might give them a call at some point. There are no vacancies currently being advertised but I think I’d prefer to work for somebody like that who specialise in recovery because I feel there would be some form of a night shift making the likelihood of a call out less likely. This might not be the case but I feel more so than a garage with a couple of wreckers who wouldn’t likely have a night shift.
I’m still undecided about the whole thing as I’m not the best when it comes to making life changing decisions. But I appreciate all the info in this thread because if nothing else, it has reinforced everything I already knew about the role as well as thought me a couple of new things too.
Cheers.
Hello, I’m getting into heavy recovery and have been told that using a standard airline and not a coiled airline to assist in connecting articulated lorry up is illegal. Is this something I am allowed to do or is there a law against this as long as I use the correct fittings and leave enough length of hose for pivot points I don’t see an issue. I’m using the coiled lines aswell along side it so there is the flexibility of the airlines there.
Denis95:
Hello, I’m getting into heavy recovery and have been told that using a standard airline and not a coiled airline to assist in connecting articulated lorry up is illegal. Is this something I am allowed to do or is there a law against this as long as I use the correct fittings and leave enough length of hose for pivot points I don’t see an issue. I’m using the coiled lines aswell along side it so there is the flexibility of the airlines there.
Firstly who told you it’s illegal, why don’t you take your instruction off the company you’re intending to work for & use the equipment they provide you with to link your airlines to the casualty vehicle.
We have a straight pipe on a retracting reel to feed air through to the blow up point on a standard rigid vehicle or tractor unit, when we tow an artic then we use another retracting reel to feed the trailer brakes but put a suzie on the end to allow the trailer to pivot as it would behind the unit, I always tie all these retracting lines to something substantial in the centre on the front of the casualty vehicle as the pivot is much less in the centre than tying them to one side.
You always have to be careful about leaving enough length for pivot points as you put it, if you leave too much you can get it caught up when the camber changes or you have to turn tight but you should be planning your turns so this doesn’t happen really, there are times when you have to “command the road.”
Plenty of people think towing a casualty vehicle is just like driving a lorry with a trailer behind, I can assure you it’s a totally different piece of kit.
Good luck with your new venture & ask your company what they want you to use, there’s far too many “recovery professionals” out there who have never even towed a car with a rope for 20 yards to get it started let alone complete a heavy recovery successfully.
Why did the 18t have to be towed ? looks drivable
Suedehead:
Why did the 18t have to be towed ? looks drivable
Customer rang our boss & asked for an 18t to be recovered after the driver had hit a tree, as my old boss used to tell me “ours is not to reason why”
these boys are the heros of our industry in my opinion. last to months I’ve picked up 2 punctures bloody nightmere! long nights for me, but longer days/nights for the tyre boys. Both of them told me they get a basic pay + money on top of each call out.
also here is a link to something I found funny at my time with stagecoach, this is a $$450k motor less then 1 year old!
I wouldnt do it.I would be scared of being underneath the lorry as you operate the equipement to lower the lorry down towards you.
tommymanc:
.also here is a link to something I found funny at my time with stagecoach, this is a $$450k motor less then 1 year old!
What is it that you’re trying to show us? That the door doesn’t close?
stu675:
tommymanc:
.also here is a link to something I found funny at my time with stagecoach, this is a $$450k motor less then 1 year old!
What is it that you’re trying to show us? That the door doesn’t close?
It just might be the cost of the vehicle and the fact it’s less than a year old. Nothing to do with the door I doubt.