If your car breaks down, no matter where or when, you’re going to require the assistance of a professional towing company like Towing Chicago. Vehicle breakdowns can be caused by dead batteries, mechanical malfunctions, leaking fuel, or accidents. Roadside assistance is an absolute essential when you are in this situation. Here’s a brief guide to roadside assistance, as prepared by the experienced towing technicians at Towing Chicago.
The expert towing service providers at Towing Chicago know all the in’s and outs of the various issues that cause drivers to require towing service. Many accidents that cause car’s to end up needing towing service are a result of poor merging and lane switch practices. Here’s a list of essential tips to safely switch or merge lanes.
Now that it’s December, the towing experts at Towing Chicago are regularly fielding calls regarding our expert Windy City towing services. Countless vehicles get stuck or break down in the snow every year – and we thought it was important to share the essential safety protocols of this scenario with our loyal customers. Here’s what to do if you’re waiting for towing in the snow.
Tow truck drivers have a hard job – putting their lives on the line every day to provide assistance to broken down vehicles when drivers need it most. Towing can also be very complicated – and the entire process is always made easier when customers understand the best practices to follow when hiring professional Chicago Towing services.
Tow truck drivers are employed in a wide variety of professional industries, as well as dealing directly with civilian clients who may require towing assistance. Whether a vehicle gets somehow disabled, in an accident, ends up parked in an unauthorized place, or needs to get re-possessed, a tow truck driver will bring it to it’s required destination. The requirements stipulated for tow truck drivers vary state-by-state, but all in all they are present in order to ensure the full level of competence for all tow truck drivers on the road. In this brief blog post, the experts at Chicago Towing will detail some of the intense requirements for our professional tow truck technicians.
All qualifications including certificates and licenses for tow truck drivers are distributed and administered by either, or both, locally based or State run governing agencies. The standard age requirement is usually 18 years old at the minimum. Many State regulations stipulate that all prospective tow truck drivers submit their fingerprints so their criminal background can be investigated – and others require the payment of a fee- and of course, the holding of a valid driver’s license. The United States Dept. of Transportation requires large haul tow truck drivers to carry a separate commercial tow truck driver’s license.
The United States Dept. of Transportation requires possession of a commercial driver’s license for tow trucks or cargo exceeding over 26,001 pounds, many local or state agencies require the possession of a commercial driver’s towing license for every kind of towing job. Commercial licenses are only rewarded after attendance of classes, accredited training, and the successful grade of a written test as well as driving test. The major benefit of gaining a commercial driver’s license for drivers is that it leads to an increase in employment opportunities for them.
Local, state, and federal licensing agencies require that tow truck drivers are in good physical health states. Tow truck drivers are required to qualify a selection of assessment tests that measure vision, hearing, response time, and physical fitness. Many employers also issue required drug tests in order to qualify for their insurance policy. Tow truck drivers often work strange overnight hours, as well as during weekends and holidays. Anyone interested in being a tow truck driver has to be willing to work according to this strange schedule, and even work overtime sometimes.
Many organizations exist like the Towing and Recovery Association of America, as well as the Professional Truck Driver institute that can provide tow truck driver certification. While certification isn’t always required by employers, official certification can vastly increase employment chances for prospective drivers, so it’s a common professional route. These non-governmental organizations also require passing of coursework or maintaining current employment as a tow truck driver, filling out an application, payment of a fee, or the successful passing of a nationally administered credential exam.
There’s few everyday day-ruiners like automobile trouble. However, you’re lucky that Chicago Towing can always help provide roadside assistance to you when you need it. Here’s some of the most common vehicle issues that might lead to calling for roadside help for a good fix.
Sometimes you place your key in the ignition slot and turn it, only to find that it has no effect. This can be unbelievably annoying when you’re in a huge rush to get somewhere, or if someone you know or are related to can’t get there in a rush to help. Calling Chicago Towing for roadside assistance is a fantastic quick solution to get a jumpstart and get you back on the road. If you find that your car needs jumpstarts often, it should have it’s battery completely replaced.
Flat tires are a very common cause for roadside assistance. It’s always smart to carry a spare tire inside your car, but it can be very very hard to change your tire when you’re all by yourself. Getting professional roadside assistance can help you swap your faulty tire for a good new one, and get you back on the road in a matter of minutes.
Roadside assistance can help when you get locked outside of your car. This is one of the most common issues for motorists. Within a matter of minutes from your call, a technician from Chicago Towing will arrive directly at your location, get your car unlocked instantly, and get you back on the road right away.
Sometimes you’re in a hurry to leave your house, so you leave bevor checking the gas meter, or hoping that you have enough to pull you through the day, and just refuel at a gas station after work. However, you’re driving down the street and your car begins feeling weird – this means it needs to be refueled, but this can be difficult especially when you’re in the middle of nowhere. Gas delivery is a commons service performed by roadside assistance groups – one of our technicians will simply drive to your location and refill your gas tank as soon as possible.
There’s tons of misunderstanding about the professional towing industry. And yes, there’s many scam artist fake towing professionals out there that can not only provide poor service, but actually damage the vehicles that they poorly tow, Here’s how to understand how to find a professional towing company. At Chicago Towing, we take pride in our expert towing service, and for providing our customers high levels of serious service. Here’s exactly what makes a professional towing company.
When professional towing companies make their customers happy – or even exceed their wildest expectations, they will receive a growing healthy public perception. Any trustworthy towing company will make sure to put special emphasis on customer service and the upkeep of a loyal customer base. If you’re looking for a professional towing company, check out their online reviews – or even call them in order to get a feeling on how they treat even potential customers.
Not all tow trucks operate at the same level of quality, and some faulty tow trucks can actually seriously damage your vehicle. Any really trustworthy tow truck company will provide many options for towing including flatbed truck towing, winch recoveries, and heavy duty towing. When you all the tow company pay attention to whether they ask questions about what kind of vehicle you have – this way you know they are figuring out which specialized equipment to send you, which is always a good sign.
You can never predict when your car or vehicle will break down. Nobody plans for it really because nobody wants it to happen. It might happen in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere – and if this happens, what good does it do to have a contact for a tow truck company that can only come in the morning? You don’t want to sleep outside! A trustworthy tow truck company should be able to cater to your roadside emergency breakdown at any time of day or night, any day of the week, any week of the year. Any respectable quality company will come rescue you from your situation right on your call.
Any reputable towing company should have full license and insurance. Any company that is not licensed or does not have insurance should not be trusted. Any tow truck driver should proudly display their DOT ID number right on their truck along with any of the other particular licensing information required by their specific State. This ensures customers that the towing company has full liability for any potential damage, and allows the customer to have peace of mind in knowing that their vehicle will be handled by a truly trustworthy towing company.
We at Chicago Towing care about our customers safety – and it’s important, deep in this winter, to understand safe driving techniques for icy or snowy roads that might have slippery traction and low amounts of visibility. In order to lower the chances of having an accident, follow our tips for preventing winter car accidents. And if you do have an accident, don’t hesitate to contact us for expert roadside assistance.
Ice is going to cause your car to slide whether you’re braking slow or fast, but what really makes the difference is when your car is going to stop. If you slowly decelerate your vehicle before stopping, it gives it less physical momentum while it’s on ice. This means even if you’re going to slide, you won’t be sliding as far, and it will be easier to reclaim control of the vehicle. If you’re on ice and suddenly break, you will skid for a while, which can be potentially very dangerous.
Poor visibility causes many snowy weather automobile accidents. It’s important to keep track of when it will be rainy or snowy by keeping watch of daily weather reports before heading out on the road. If you have to drive around inside the snow, make sure that your windshield has been cleared of snow or ice, and that the window wipers work.
It can be a smart move to inspect and upgrade your vehicle. Get your car checked out by expert technicians, and perhaps install brand new winter tires with a strong tread that can easily work with icy or snowy conditions. We also recommend applying a rust coat before taking it on salty roads, which will prevent exponential corrosion and damage. Also, make sure your brakes are always tested throughout the year – and if they slip, make a weird noise, or feel generally like their not working, make sure to replace them before embarking on an icy journey.
Any low air temperatures will cause the tire pressure of your car to drop, and if it drops enough, it can be quite dangerous. Make sure that your tires are always fully filled, and even regularly tested. Full tires work much better, and are much better equipped to handle any cold weather related challenges that might pop up on the road – for reasons such as an increased efficacy of the tire’s treads.
There’s three main kinds of tow trucks commonly used, but five common categories of equipment. The three main kinds of trucks are used for different crisis or labor scenarios like emergency towing, and determine what kind of tow truck that a service will send out. The three main kinds of tow trucks are:
Hook and chain tow trucks are rarely used today because, due to their design, damage is often sustained to the bumpers or front end of the cars. This truck works by looping a chain around the frame or axle of the vehicle, which is then wound up with a boom winch. Sometimes the sling truck is used on towing vehicles that have suffered an accident, or are missing one or both of the rear wheels, since the car can’t be securely towed by another kind of wrecker truck.
These trucks are fit with beds that can be hydraulically positioned at an incline, and slid down to ground level – the truck is then driven onto the bed, or pulled on to it with a truck mounted winch. This is the most common and popular kind of tow truck used for emergency towing.