by Judy Frank
posted August 5, 2008
Should towing companies be required to have wreckers equipped with rotator booms and meet strict employee-training requirements before they can qualify to clear highways of wrecked or overturned tractor trailers?
That’s the question that Chattanooga City Council members are now wrestling with, as they struggle to come up with guidelines that are both fair to towing companies and protective of the general public.
A moratorium delaying enforcement of the 2003 ordinance requiring rotator booms has expired.
Now many wrecker companies – unwilling or unable to purchase the required equipment – are asking that the Chattanooga Wrecker and Towing Ordinance be amended to allow wreckers without rotator booms “to perform towing duties on controlled access highways in the same manner as recovery class wreckers with rotating booms,” Assistant City Attorney Phil Noblett explained during an informational hearing held Tuesday afternoon.
City council and Chattanooga Wrecker Board members also heard from experts across the nation on the best and safest ways to clear roads following major wrecks.
Consultants included Gaynell Rochester of the American Towing Alliance, John O’Laughlin of Emergency Transportation Services in Seattle, and Donald Gedge of the Federal Highway Administration.
All stressed that while the trend in the recovery industry is for trucks to be equipped with rotators that enable then to winch up wrecked vehicles with minimal traffic interruption, it is equally important that the people who operate that equipment be thoroughly trained.
Mr. Noblett, the assistant city attorney, explained that Chattanooga’s wrecker ordinance applies only to companies on the city’s call rotation list.
When a wreck occurs, law enforcement officials summon the companies on the list on a rotating basis to clear the road and remove affected vehicles.
The law was changed in 2003 to create two classes of wreckers: those equipped with rotators, and those without.
It mandated that only recovery class wreckers containing rotator booms were to be dispatched if:
* There is major structural damage to a large truck, road tractor or trailer which could result in an unstable situation and potential spillage of contents,
* There is wreckage in an uncontained state at the site of an accident,
* Recovery of large trucks, road tractors or trailers requires multiple pieces of equipment to clear affected thoroughfares,
* Law enforcement officers and/or firefighters and/or a Tennessee Department of Transportation official determine the equipment is needed for life safety purposes.
Mr. Noblett said the city attorney’s office has been asked to amend the Wrecker and Towing Ordinance “to allow more operators to participate on the Call Rotation List for controlled access highway collisions, and to establish certain minimum standards for towing large trucks, road tractors and trailers . . . All efforts at amending the current ordinance are aimed at allowing more people to participate in the Call Rotation List as long as it can be done in a safe manner to protect the citizens of our community who may be involved in collisions or waiting in traffic jams until debris may be removed.”
| Dining Out | Business | Movies | Focus | About Us |
| Church | Living Well | Memories | Outdoors | Real Estate | Student Scene | Travel |