Tow truck

This article is about vehicles used in towing. For general information, see Towing. For towing techniques, see Vehicle recovery#Types of tow.
Heavy spectacle lift type tow truck
Flatbed recovery vehicle

A tow truck (also called a wrecker, a breakdown truck, recovery vehicle or a breakdown lorry) is a truck used to move disabled, improperly parked, impounded, or otherwise indisposed motor vehicles. This may involve recovering a vehicle damaged in an accident, returning one to a drivable surface in a mishap or inclement weather, or towing or transporting one via flatbed to a repair shop or other location.

A tow truck is distinct from a motor carrier that moves multiple new or used vehicles simultaneously in routine transport operations.

History

The tow truck was invented in 1916 by Ernest Holmes, Sr., of Chattanooga, Tennessee, a garage worker inspired after needing blocks, ropes, and six men to pull a car out of a creek. Upon improving his design he began manufacturing them commercially.[1] The International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum in his home town displays restored antique wreckers, tools, equipment, and pictorial histories of the industry Holmes created.

Types of towing equipment

A heavy-duty sling type boom truck
Loading a flatbed tilt-tray tow truck

Five general types of tow truck are in common usage, usually based on the type or size of vehicle to be towed:

These are the most common arrangements, but are by no means exclusive, as there are flatbed units that offer a wheel-lift, boom trucks that can recover but not tow, and wheel-lift units that offer a combination boom with sling.

Operations

Main article: Towing
For towing techniques, see Vehicle recovery § Types of tow.
4700 International Flatbed Tow Truck
Heavy tow trucks working in tandem on a recovery
An improperly parked car in Moscow is being towed by police

Tow trucks are usually operated by private businesses, except for major highways and toll roads, where the road authority may operate the tow trucks for that stretch of road. Businesses who operate a large fleet of vehicles, such as school bus companies or package delivery services, often own one or several tow trucks for the purposes of towing their own vehicles. Government departments with large fleets (such as the police departments, fire departments, transportation authorities and departments of public works of major cities) may similarly own tow truck(s). Police department tow trucks may also be used to impound other vehicles.

The military also deploys tow trucks for recovery of stranded vehicles. In the US Army, a variant of the HEMTT truck is used for this purpose, the M984 wrecker. For recovery in combat situations while under fire, many armies with large vehicle fleets also deploy armoured recovery vehicles. These vehicles fulfill a similar role, but are resistant to heavy fire and capable of traversing rough terrain with their tracks.

Each State and Territory of Australia has their own regulations and acts for the operation of Tow trucks. Tow trucks are generally divided into two categories, either by standard, trade and private towing or Accident Towing. Accident Towing tow trucks are clearly identifiable by number plates ending in either "ATT" or "TT". Tow trucks which are not endorsed for "accident towing may use general number plates of any combination pursuant to each states own registering system. An example of a statute regulating the operation of tow trucks and the towing industry in Victoria is the Victorian Accident Towing Services Act.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tow trucks.

References

  1. "Entrepreneurial Hall of fame inducts three". University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. May 17, 2007. Retrieved August 29, 2009.
  2. "How to tow a four-wheel-drive vehicle". HowStuffWorks. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  3. US patent 4451193, "Wheel lift apparatus". Retrieved 24 August 2012.

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 16, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.