The towing industry is increasingly growing in popularity thanks to the many numbers of vehicles on the roads. Heavy traffic essentially means higher chances of breakdowns on the roads necessitating roadside assistance, rescue, and recovery from tow trucks. While it is expected that handling such breakdowns would be very straightforward, there are numerous hitches that are encountered by these operators and the industry in general.
Every time a tow truck driver is out at work, there is always some danger that glares at them. Not only is it a hazardous work but also a niche kind of occupation where not anyone can pop in and carry out the required duties.
Road navigation
It is common knowledge how difficult it is to navigate on the roads pulling a trailer or towing a car. Towing requires a lot more than just driving skills to be able to effectively navigate on the roads. This danger becomes even compound when the roads are either slippery, have potholes, debris, floods or even animals. To survive, the driver will need to have a very strong sense of knowledge of situations and circumstances.
Bad Weather
Driving in harsh weather conditions is harsh for every motorist on the roads. Not only does it interfere with vehicle control but also it hampers vision and navigation. If it is challenging to drive under these conditions in an ordinary car, imagine how this turns out when you have to drive a tow truck with another vehicle either mounted on its flatbed or being towed behind it.
Poor drivers
It is already clear that driving a tow truck requires lots of skills, discipline, and alertness. While all these are elements that a tow truck driver will possess by virtue of the demand of their work; there are other road users who either don’t mind other motorists or are just careless to consider safety on the road. Quieter roads tend to be less challenging as they have less traffic, but the more the traffic the higher the chances of coming across road users who pose danger. They might either hit the truck from behind, cause the driver to swerve off the lane or even knock over the drivers when they are outside the trucks during mounting or when offering other types of assistance.
Fatigue
Driving a tow truck is a tiresome affair. Fatigue is definitely going to set in at some point when the drivers have had long working hours. Fatigue predisposes the driver to other hazards which include accidents or other health-related challenges.