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Almost Made it, Almost Didn’t: Heavy-Duty Towing Required

by cdcidevel | Jul 1, 2020 | Accident Recovery, Heavy Duty Towing, Recovery, Recovery Blog, Semi-Truck, Semi-Truck Accident, Semi-Truck Accident Recovery

Earlier last month, the SR18 was closed. When a highway closes, semi-trucks will take alternative routes to get where they’re going. In some cases, the driver might not be as familiar with the new route. An unfamiliar road and tight turn was the problem in this semi-truck accident recovery incident.

A semi-truck and trailer loaded with paper rolls were on a new route, and the corner was a little tighter than the driver anticipated. He didn’t quite make the turn, and it nearly caused the truck and trailer to flip. This recovery was a job for Pro-Tow and our heavy-duty towing crew.

The truck was about 80,000 pounds, which meant we had to use our heavy-duty crane style wrecker to undo this mistake. After we carefully set it up and rigged the trailer properly, we were able to relocate the loaded container to a better position and location. Then the driver was able to continue his travels and make his delivery of paper rolls.

Semi-Trucks Need To Make Slow Wide Turns

Cornering a semi-truck and a loaded trailer is something any driver will have to do, whether in the city or coming on and off roadway ramps. Unfortunately, even a small miscalculation, when cornering, can cause a big problem. If you have too much momentum and not enough area to turn in, your load will start to push the rig into the turn. In bad cases, this can cause the trailer to want to flip.

The key to safely turning semi-trucks is to take the turn slowly. That’s why you’ll notice most big rigs taking their turns at a near crawl. If they slow down too late, it can cause the momentum to shift cargo, and then accidents happen. Trucks also need plenty of space when turning. Truck drivers need to pay close attention to surrounding traffic, but for those of us in regular vehicles, we need to make sure we are giving them the space they need to turn safely. Remember, both loads and lives might depend on it.

Pro-Tow offers heavy-duty towing services and semi-truck accident recovery. Count on us 24 hours a day.

Emergency Accident Recovery After Car Goes into the Cedar River

by cdcidevel | Jun 9, 2020 | Accident Recovery, Car Accident, Car Towing, Recovery, Recovery Blog

River Runner Best

On March 16, 2020, Pro-Tow received an emergency dispatch for a car that had gone off the roadway and into the Cedar River. Where the vehicle had gone into the river, and where we could safely perform the accident recovery, was about 30-feet below a high riverbank.

Team Pro responded to the scene with a light-duty recovery wrecker and reported to Incident Command. Responders included the Washington State Police, Washing State Fire Department, and King County Parks and Recreation.

Calling for Backup

After we evaluated the scene, we learned that the accident recovery was going to need additional trained personnel and equipment than we currently had on site. After authorization, we dispatched for the extra people and equipment required. That included a heavy-duty crane style wrecker, Recovery Safety Supervisor, and a flatbed tow truck for transporting the car after it came out of the river.

Let’s Go Swimming

After creating a safety and accident recovery plan, our team put on their personal protective equipment and other safety gear and got to work. Very carefully, we brought the equipment down a bicycle path and set up on the riverbank for the accident recovery. The riverbank’s access and strong currents created considerable safety hazards that required mitigation.

Our accident recovery dive team received detailed instructions on how to install the specialty recovery rigging on the car in the river. They were able to get things hooked up properly, so our crane style wrecker could pull the vehicle out of the water. The overhead crane was able to lift the car out of the river without any additional damage to the sensitive wetland area and riverbank.

After that, the vehicle went to our secured storage yard. Another job well done from our team, along with side local emergency services and the county.

Truck Accident Recovery for Dump Truck Ditched in Ravensdale

by cdcidevel | May 28, 2020 | Heavy Duty Towing, Recovery, Recovery Blog, Truck Accident, Truck Accident Recovery, Truck Recovery, Truck Towing

On March 6th, 2020, Sometimes we don’t know how extensive an accident is until we arrive on the scene. With this incident, a dump truck had landed itself in the ditch. We received a dispatch for truck accident recovery and provided a quote to the customer based on the images we had received. He declined but called back later in the day, asking for one of our trucks to come out to help with a straight and forced winch extraction.

When Team Pro-Tow arrived on the scene, we discovered an incredible fuel spill had occurred from the accident. We estimate around 50 gallons of fuel on the ground with considerable groundwater contamination. This truck accident recovery was a job for Pro-Enviro Spill Response. We were not prepared at the moment to safely handle the truck accident recovery properly.

Team Pro Enviro To The Rescue

The next day, we got the call to come to clean up the mess, and we went prepared with Pro-Enviro’s full spill recovery and response equipment and supplies. We also needed some heavy-duty machinery to deal with the ditched dump truck. That included a heavy-duty crane wrecker, recovery wrecker, recovery support vehicle, and all the trained operators to get the job done.

On the scene, we saw that the client had vacuum trucks already working on the initial clean up stages. Once that was complete, we accessed the incident and came up with a plan for spill recovery and truck accident recovery. Once our cranes performed an overhead lift of the dump truck to get it back on the road, we got to work cleaning up the spilled fuel.

Fixed The Leaky Tank

Because of regulations and a general concern for safety and the environment, we could not transport the damaged dump truck before fixing the leak in the fuel tank. We were able to give it a temporary fix to keep it from dripping fuel on the route. Then we took it to a secured storage yard and installed a portable parking stall containment berm to prevent any potential leaks from contaminating the area.

The Faster the Response, the Better

When there is a fuel or oil leak involved, the faster you can get a spill recovery team on the scene, the better. In this case, it took several calls and visits before the proper truck accident recovery team and equipment arrived to help. In the meantime, spilled fuel continued to spread and contaminate the area around the accident. The more extensive the spill, the more expensive the cleanup. Remember, the cleanup and cost is the responsibility of the truck company in the accident.
Keep Team Pro-Tow and Pro-Enviro in your speed dial! 253-245-5454

Seattle Fire Trucks Needs Heavy Duty Towing Service

by cdcidevel | Mar 18, 2020 | Heavy Duty Towing, Recovery, Recovery Blog, Truck Accident

On November 18th, 2019, Pro-Tow was called to assist with heavy-duty towing for a disabled Fire Truck in downtown Seattle. The Fire Truck was a specially equipped Pierce Taylor Ladder Truck, so it required an extraordinary tow truck and special training to handle its recovery. Once we were able to safely secure the fire truck to our heavy-duty towing truck, we towed the truck back to the Seattle Fire Department Maintenance Department.

Heavy Duty Fire Trucks Require Heavy Duty Help

For this recovery, Pro-Tow had to use an extraordinary tow truck to help with this truck accident recovery. The reason for this is because the average fire truck can weigh between 36,000 to 60,000 pounds. At Pro-Tow, our heavy-duty towing services cover class 7 and up trucks. Class 7 trucks range between 26,001 and 33,000 pounds, while class 8 covers trucks that are over 33,0001 pounds. That’s why for a truck this heavy, Pro-Tow used our heavy-duty towing to handle the job!

Fire Trucks Are Different From Fire Engines

Despite looking the same, a fire truck and a fire engine are different from one another. Fire trucks, like the one mentioned in this recovery blog, are equipped with a large aerial ladder. These extend out from the truck but don’t detach. The truck also has special equipment for search and rescue, forced entry and various types and lengths of ground ladders. Fire trucks will always have a captain and three other firefighters. A captain is identifiable by their red helmet, while the firefighters wear yellow helmets.

A fire engine looks like a fire truck but without the big aerial ladder. These are equipped with hoses, tools and ground ladders. Water tanks, pumps and various types of hoses are the key components of a fire engine, which all help with putting out fires. The water hoses on these fire engines can run up to 300 meters in length. The standard fire engine itself is also able to carry upwards of 2000 litres of water.

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