In the spring of 2007 we ran an article series about industry standards. Though there is certainly more that could be added, that series has been well received and is often requested for reprinting. As a result, we decided to reprint this article series as one large article in this issue. As before, we have a disclaimer and we will use it to bookend this article:

The standards presented here are only one take on the many that could be developed. These are not meant to be your company’s standards. Though you may use them as a guideline, your interpretation of these standards and the building of your own company standards, no matter how different they may be, is what’s important. By providing standardized professional service to those who depend on the towing industry and providing a quality, safe working environment for our employees, we will raise the bar and increase awareness that we are a professional industry here to serve the public.

It’s important that you define a standard for your company in many areas and we at towPartners encourage you to build these standards. They clearly define the expectations you have of your business, your customers, your employees, your suppliers and, most importantly, yourself. The standards for your own company are certainly yours and yours alone but as a guide as you work to build them we will be providing you in this series of articles some ideas about standards for your company. You can customize these or build your own. The important part is that you set some standards and help raise the bar, not only for your company, but for the industry overall.

Safety & Training

SAFETY TRAINING: It’s important to have safety training for your employees, particularly those who operate tow vehicles. Safety training can be everything from ensuring they understand the capacity of the wire rope and chains they use each day to the best way to operate a truck’s controls. It could encompass safe driving techniques and training or the importance of safety equipment. Training employees in this can include educating them about the differences in reflective gear that needs to be worn when working on the side of the road. Safety is something that can save lives. Our industry loses a large number of operators every year on the side of the road and under vehicles. Some of theses tragedies can be avoided. Anything we can do to help avoid injuries and fatalities to the men and women of our industry is something we should all make a priority.

A standard for safety training can include things as simple as operating controls on the non-traffic side of the vehicle or evaluating whether a vehicle needs to be towed before its tire is changed, regardless of whether you get paid for that tow. Whether you get an additional payment for towing that vehicle several hundred yards to a safe location to change a tire or not is not nearly as important as your driver’s safety. Again, we lose too many of our industry’s men and women in the line of service. Safety training is a key standard for a more successful industry.

Training can save you money too. The better trained your people are, the more efficient they will be. They will damage less and have to spend less time away from work because they are taking care of themselves. The equipment will be down less because proper procedures are followed. Safety training also sets you apart from the competition and can earn you an account or two because businesses know that if you are sending out trained operators, they will protect their customers and cause less damage.

SAFETY APPAREL: Safety apparel is very important for tow operators. Whether it is the gloves that keep their hands warm and safe or the reflective vest that makes them highly visible to other motorists, safety apparel is absolutely a requirement when working on the side of the road.

Not only should our businesses require employees to wear this safety apparel, but it should be provided for those employees. It is absolutely critical to the safety of our operators that they are seen by the public and that we take every precaution to make them safe while doing their jobs. If steel toe boots are required then we should provide them. Maybe the cost is taken out as a payroll deduction over time, but everyone should be furnished with safety apparel and standardized safety apparel in your company can only serve to improve your professional image. Employees should be required to wear this apparel in situations where it is needed with strong penalties if they do not comply. This raises the level of professionalism and certainly can save lives. Incorporate retro-reflective materials into your uniforms, add them to cold and warm weather apparel, to jackets and to vests; even make it a point to include high visibility materials in work shirts. ANSI standards for high visibility garments are becoming recognized by most agencies. ANSI recommends that all workers exposed to the risks of moving roadway traffic or construction equipment wear Class 2 or 3 high-visibility safety apparel. The safety apparel must use a combination of fluorescent and retro-reflective materials to increase their visibility under the worst lighting conditions. The standard also requires break-away features.

Garments secured by velcro strips rather than zippers or buttons allow for the garments to be removed quickly, freeing the wearer after their clothing has been caught on a piece of equipment or moving vehicle. Just make sure your drivers are highly visible when they’re working on the side of the road.

SAFETY PROCEDURES: Develop procedures for your drivers to use when working. Again, this comes back to operating controls on the correct side of the truck or towing a vehicle to a safe location to change its tire, but certainly have documented procedures for your drivers.

When should they put out cones or flares? What is mandated in your state? When should they wear reflective garments? What is the proper procedure for re-tensioning a winch cable? When should they call for backup on a tow job because of where it’s located? When should they not tow without police assistance? These types of requirements and guidelines that you set in place for your business should be documented and a copy should be provided to employees. Once this is done, explain your company rules to your employees and have them sign off to show they have been trained and have received these documents. Make sure everyone knows what their safety responsibilities are. Not only should they adhere to them, but as a business owner or manager you should measure your employee’s success on the job by how well not only do they perform at producing revenue and running calls but how well they adhere to safety guidelines and follow safety procedures.

SAFETY LIGHTING: Lighting on your trucks should be designed such that it provides adequate work lighting as an operator is loading a vehicle or even filling out tickets and enough lighting to let other motorists know there is a tow truck working. There is no need to have hundreds of lights running at an accident scene. Often times it’s been said that some types of lights attract drunk drivers. Whether this is true or not, lighting is key to how you set up a truck. Set it up for the utmost visibility and safety for your driver and the ability to work properly. Avoid strobes facing on-coming traffic and things that could cause distractions or disorient motorists as they approach a scene. When your driver stops and steps out of the vehicle he is truly in harm’s way. Take all precautions with lighting to ensure that he is able to quickly do his job in an adequately lit environment that also provides safety from other motorists.

SAFETY MEETINGS: Have regular safety meetings at your office. Bring all of your employees into these meetings. Whether office staff, maintenance personnel, lot clerks or towing operators, everyone in your operation should be involved in safety training. Look at new ways to add a new level of safety in your business every time you meet. Do these meetings monthly or bi-weekly, but have regularly scheduled safety meetings with your employees. Let your insurance company know that you’re doing these meetings and be sure to document who attends and which topics are covered at each meeting. Your insurance company, the publications in our industry, or your state association can help provide material for these safety meetings. You may not have a need for a weekly meeting but you should certainly institute a safety training program and have regular safety meetings in your business today. This will create a mind-set that safety is to be considered at all times. Taking shortcuts is not considered something to be bragged about. Safety training also tells your employees you care about their safety.

TRAINING: A key part of the employability of a person is their ability to be trained and a key part of being a professional towing operator in today’s market is to have a training program for your employees. Whether you pay for and send your drivers to formal training classes, train them in-house, or require them to attend those classes at their own expense, have a standard in how training is performed in your operation and be sure that training is something that continues. The same is true for office personnel. If someone is in the accounting department, send them to advanced training for Quick- Books® or whatever product they use for their work. Maybe you have someone in a clerical position that would benefit from learning more about Microsoft Word® or Excel® . This office suite of products is certainly beneficial for word processing, spreadsheets, and account tracking. Formal training will often show even experienced employees new and faster ways to do the work they already perform each day.

CERTIFICATION: The other component of training that’s very important, particularly for vehicle operators, is certification. Certification is not only a measurement of someone’s ability but it also provides a sense of pride. It is important that your drivers become certified and it’ll become more important as time goes on. We, as an industry, need to step up and build quality certification programs adhering to national standards and actively take part in them on a regular basis (including continuing education). It’s very likely that if our industry does not do this, someone external to our industry will force us to take part in training and on-going education through an external source. Before we’re regulated into a training program designed by bureaucrats, let’s take the ball ourselves and take the initiative to get our employees certified

Image and Business Practices

UNIFORMS: Uniforms are important to your business and are an important part of your image. A standard in your business for uniforms can include simply a shirt that all your drivers and/ or your office personnel wear. A standard uniform may include a specific shirt, pants, boots, belt, jacket, hat, etc. It can be extended to winter or summer components. The key is not whether it is a head to toe uniform or a common shirt. The key is to professionalize the appearance of your employees, particularly the operators in the field. Image is very important and a uniform portrays a professional image for your organization. Set a standard for uniforms today.

OFFICES: Change the image of your facilities. If your facility needs a paint job, paint it. If it needs some landscaping, do some landscaping. Make it reasonably inviting to the public. Look at other businesses around you and raise yourself to the level of those businesses or above. You want people to look at your business and know that your company is a professional company and one that they can count on in their time of need. A professional appearance inside your office is important to this when people see where you work. Whether you’re inviting vendors and potential commercial customers to your business or just dealing with the motoring public, a professional appearance goes a long way in creating a positive attitude and willingness to do business with your company.

TRUCKS: The image that your truck portrays is seen by thousands of motorists every day. Your truck should be clean in appearance and should carry your brand effectively. Many companies choose to have their trucks painted several different colors; which is fine if it’s what you choose. Maybe your brand stands out enough that there is some unity between the trucks. If not, or if you have a simple lettering scheme for the name of your trucks, coloring them all the same could be very beneficial. Certainly if you do graphic paint jobs or those types of things on your trucks, tying them all together as part of the same fleet is a benefit. Just be sure that whatever is on your trucks is something that will encourage the public to use your company and your brand. Keep it professional and set a standard for how this is done in your company. Most of all, be sure others can read the name of the company and the phone number while on the road. All too often the lettering blends in on trucks or is hard to read. This defeats the purpose of lettering the trucks in the first place.

TRUCK AGE: Standards should be set regarding truck age. For light duty trucks maybe your company replaces trucks every 2, 4, or 5 years. This could be dependent on whether you slip seat, how many jobs each truck runs per day, whether they run five or seven days a week, ten or twenty four hours per day, or other criteria. Somewhere along the line it is based on the cost of the truck and your amortization schedule. As you determine this time frame, keep it the same for all of your trucks in the same class. Maybe for medium-duty trucks it’s 6 years and for heavy-duty it’s 10 years. Always keep it the same. This will allow your accountant to predict what’s going on in your business and it’ll help you schedule when you’re going to need equipment replacement and to stagger it. For instance, if you replace light-duty trucks every four years and your business has eight light-duty trucks, you know you need to purchase two light duty trucks per year. The other benefit of this truck refresh is that it allows you to maintain a newer fleet, one with the latest in towing technology and to provide a very positive image to the public.

TRUCK MAINTENANCE: For truck maintenance many services are performed through an external maintenance channel, but as downtime is incurred in this maintenance you’ll often find that it’s better for your business to do your own preventative maintenance or even other light maintenance work on your trucks. In time, whether you have a shop for external repairs or not, you may even find that the heavy maintenance is better done in house than outsourced where your truck can sit and not be productive while awaiting someone else’s idea of the best time to repair your truck. You may be able to turn around repair jobs in house in a shorter period of time as well as possibly saving money on labor. The key with truck maintenance standards is to keep your trucks well maintained. Nothing looks worse being towed than a tow truck, particularly when it’s your truck on the hook.

Using a software system such as sure- Fleet Maintenance Software to track the preventative maintenance needs for your vehicles can help you prevent this from happening. sureFleet is a complete record keeping tool allowing companies to enter maintenance, mileage, fueling, and equipment data using the internet. Using sureFleet will help you manage your vehicle maintenance needs internally. By streamlining the management of fleet maintenance with software like sureFleet, you will be able to control costs, avoid vehicle downtime, and increase productivity with your fleet.

Keep your trucks up to a standard level of maintenance and keep them clean. As important as maintenance is to your engine and drive line, it is equally important to keep your fleet clean. The general public sees your trucks every day and the trucks go to many of your customer’s locations everyday. A clean truck is as important as a clean and presentable employee. The inside of the cab should also be clean and comfortable for passengers you may have to carry on jobs. The outside of your fleet should be clean in appearance and must have legible lettering. We are not advocating that you spend $10,000 to paint a $35,000 tow truck; we are advocating that your trucks be clean and presentable.

FAIR BUSINESS PRACTICES CODE OF CONDUCT & EMPLOYEE MANUALS: A standard Code of Conduct for your company and how its employees deal with customers and each other is very important. There are many possibilities on how to build a Code of Conduct and even resources where you can find a complete document or template for your company. The key is to implement something which will provide your employees with details on your company’s rules, procedures, and standards as well as how the company deals with deficiencies and discipline. It’s very important that your employees have a manual to refer to for your policies and procedures. This prevents arbitrary interpretations of the company’s policies. By setting these expectations, it gives you the ability to measure their performance. At the same time, providing them a manual and having them sign a document showing they have been provided with that manual, lets you enforce your policies associated with employment in your company. Put a Code of Conduct and Employee Handbook in place in your operation and you will be well on your way to providing a clear, firm, and fair picture of your company and its values to every employee. Undefined expectations cannot be purposely met. Give your employees a purpose.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION: It is important that your company have a dispute resolution procedure and an escalation process for customers with complaints. Whether it is a customer complaint about a rate, reporting erratic driving by one of your operators or someone claiming damage to a vehicle that has been in your custody, an appropriate procedure for a dispute resolution and an organized chain of command for that process is very important. Whether that process always starts and stops with you as an owner or it starts with someone in customer service and is escalated to a driver, supervisor or manager of your operations and then to you, is not nearly as important as simply having a standardized procedure for dispute resolution. Create a procedure today and share it with your employees, making sure everyone understands their role in solving customer disputes.

ETA and ATA: It’s very important that you give customers an accurate expectation regarding when you will arrive. If you believe it will take an hour for a driver to get to the customer, tell the customer frankly that it will be an hour. Set the expectation appropriately and be honest with the customers. At the same time, live up to the times you provide. If you tell someone your ETA will be 45 minutes or less and 35 minutes later you’re not there and you believe it might be an additional 30 minutes, call the customer and let them know. Maybe there’s an opportunity to pick the customer up and take them where they need to go while leaving the keys with the vehicle to tow later. The key is to set an accurate time upfront and deliver it whenever possible and when you cannot, to let the customer know you cannot make the time given and try to help them in any way that you can.

While providing these times, listen to the customer and their situation and help them in any way that you can. If someone has an emergency or they have an appointment, perhaps the best answer is to help the customer do what they need to do and then you get to their vehicle when you can.

ATTITUDE: An important standard for everyone in your business, including you, is attitude. The attitude that you portray to your employees impacts how they will interface with your customers. The attitude that your employees have with your customers is a representation of your company brand and of our industry. When someone comes to release a vehicle from impound you should be courteous, help them understand the costs, how they can pay, and help them through the process. Even if this takes a couple minutes longer, it’ll make the customer feel better about your company and they will potentially use your services in other situations. When dealing with customers on the side of the road, your driver should approach in a courteous manner and offer the customer a place to sit out of harm’s way.

Make an attitude of quality customer service a priority for your employees every day and it will help raise the bar within our industry.

ACCEPTING PAYMENTS: It’s important to standardize the way you accept payments in your business. Your business may chose to accept payments in various forms including cash, check, credit cards, or electronic payment services such as Comdata or T-Chek. You may go so far as to accept Pay Pal or even to barter for your services.

Let everyone know what you accept for payment and make the payment options as flexible as they can be for the consumers of your service, particularly for the motoring public. By making it easier for the consumer to pay they’re able to redeem their vehicle easier, whether it’s off the back of the truck or out of an impound yard. This also keeps from continuing the image of negative towers who add fees because someone is unable to pay by a certain method. It’s much better to release the vehicle that has a $300 value and has been stored for a few days with a $200 or $250 ticket to someone with a credit card rather than to wait until they get cash. Most likely, they never get cash, you keep it around for 30-60 days and then you end up selling it at auction for an equal or not much gain over what they could have paid to release the vehicle.

Many companies don’t take credit cards because of chargebacks and fees that credit card companies charge, while some don’t take checks because they are not guaranteed. The credit card fees and a check guarantee service are very similar in cost and should be a part of your cost of doing business. These should be factored into your costs before you determine your rates. This will allow you to accept checks and credit cards while making a profit, despite the fact that there is a cost associated with accepting that payment. As far as chargebacks are concerned, certainly those things are going to happen where a charge is disputed. However, they are few and far between and provided you accept the credit cards correctly, you have a swipe record of the transaction and if it’s a large transaction such as a vehicle release (in states where you’re able) keep a copy of a driver’s license and always get a signature for the charge. Your only additional charge on a chargeback is to respond to the chargeback. You can even create a standardized letter to respond to the chargebacks that shows the documents such as the credit card swipe, a signed credit card receipt and that the customer was redeeming a vehicle from impound or even a police storage impound. These things typically let the credit card company be aware that it’s the case of a service where there is a greater likelihood of something similar to buyer’s remorse, in which case the charges will stand. The key is to make sure to check your mail and respond to chargebacks quickly. If you do not respond in the timeframe they require the chargeback will remain. That is typically where the notion comes from that chargebacks are a large cost to taking credit cards in the towing industry.

Many industries and public servants have standardized their appearances in order to provide an appropriate level of recognition by the average citizen. Big red trucks are usually fire trucks, just as police cars used to be black and white and are still often white or blue. Boxy white vans with red stripes are ambulances and big blue or green trucks are often garbage trucks. UPS took it to another level to not only have brown trucks, but to build a brand around a color. A blue uniform is often that of a police officer and the military has variations of uniforms for every battlefield, climate and surrounding, including dress uniforms for fighting off the advances of the opposite sex (these also tend to cause those advances). The helmet of a fireman is a unique object and is easily recognizable, as are the badges worn by many in public service. Uniformity creates a consistency that makes the consumer comfortable. If our industry could adopt a standard of appearance it could work to improve our overall image. It is understood that we are an industry made up of many individual companies but a uniform appearance with a uniform way of setting ourselves apart is needed. Maybe we should paint every tow truck yellow to start? Maybe everyone should adopt similar uniforms with ANSI retro-reflective stripes? There are many ways we could create a uniform appearance for our trucks, our field operators and our office staff. This uniformity would go a long way toward creating an image of professionalism in the eyes of the public we serve.

BUSINESS GROUPS: There are many groups and associations that you can belong to and, in most cases, can have a positive impact on your towing or roadside business. Many of the other members of the organizations you might join are potential customers and many of them look to clubs and organizations as a great place to network. Take advantage of these opportunities to socialize while being a contributing member of groups such as Toastmasters, Rotary, your local Chamber of Commerce and other business oriented clubs.

You can also benefit from becoming involved in local community programs. Not only are these things worthwhile and personally fulfilling, but you can improve your company’s image and the public awareness of your services by supporting little league teams, sponsoring street cleanup, volunteering at youth facilities, working with the PTA and more. There are dozens of organizations, drives, fundraisers, charities, etc. that need your assistance and also allow you to promote your business. The personal and professional benefits you get are considerable, but the fact that the organization receives a benefit makes it a true win-win.

The most important type of group to belong to is your local, state, and national trade association. In so many other industries there is a huge percentage of the industry that is part of one or more of these groups. In towing it is often less than 10% of the industry that participates. It is important, for the industry as whole, that your company not only be a member and pay dues but to be an active member as well. All of our industry associations need volunteer support and though they may also need funding, there is a bigger need for your time. Even those who are members get caught up in thinking “What has my group done for me lately?” or “I paid my dues and even donated to internal funds. Why do they need my time?” Bear in mind that without time from members, most organizations are doomed to fail. Don’t ask what the association has done for you as you try to justify your membership. Instead, renew your membership and ask how you can help further. Don’t stand on the sidelines and complain about the playing or the coaching. Get in the game. There are very few associations in our industry that do not need all the help they can get from volunteers who are willing to serve on committees, work on legislative efforts, raise funds, run for board positions, help grow membership, develop member materials, train towing operators, speak at meetings, assist with calling campaigns, and much more. There is a lot of work to be done to improve our industry. Help the associations help you and stop sitting back waiting for the good news on the latest legislation affecting towers. Be a part of the solution.

Your membership in towPartners is also an excellent way to improve your image and one you should be proud to communicate to potential customers. The public prefers to deal with companies who are part of professional groups and associations. These memberships show that you are active in your industry and that you have a strong potential to be around tomorrow. Use the towPartners logo and the logos of other organizations to which you belong (with permission of course) in your yellow page and other advertisements.

The standards presented here are only one take on the many that could be developed. These are not meant to be your company’s standards. Though you may use them as a guideline, your interpretation of these standards and the building of your own company standards, no matter how different they may be, is what’s important. By providing standardized professional service to those who depend on the towing industry and providing a quality, safe working environment for our employees, we will raise the bar and increase awareness that we are a professional industry here to serve the public.