New Legal Action Campaign

The Towing and Recovery Association of America has launched a “Donate to Legal Action Campaign”. We have formed an action network of TRAA members to help defend the rights of the towing industry through contributions of monetary donations, but we need help from all towers. State and Federal regulations in the transportation arena are changing daily and may impact the towing and recovery industry. Should this happen, “with your support”, we can afford to obtain legal counsel to protect the industry if necessary. NOW! is the time to speak up, be heard, and become the supporting voice of America’s Tow Industry.

TRAA has established 5 Tiers of donation levels. Bronze $50, Silver $100 Gold $150, Platinum $200, Diamond $250. Click here to donate now. Or download the legal action donation form (PDF 30k) and mail in a check or money order to TRAA, 2121 Eisenhower Avenue, Suite 200 Alexandria VA 22314.

*Each tier of donations will receive a special gift from TRAA in appreciation of your support*.

New Officers for 2009 - 2011

12th Annual Legislative and Leadership Conference Rated Excellent!

March 13, 2009, Crystal City, Virginia…The TRAA Legislative and Leadership Conference attendees evaluated the 2009 conference as “excellent” for topics, speakers, program relevance and hotel facilities. There were several “firsts” for this year’s conference and one of them was a training summit held on Wednesday prior to the conference.

With tow operator trainers attending from all over the country, their purpose was to begin the process of creating a “blueprint” for training nationwide. The goal of these guidelines will be to provide the towing industry with a basic curriculum which trainers can draw from in their light, medium and heavy classes.

At the conference on Friday the training panel shared their thoughts with attendees and received very positive feedback in return. This summit was a first step in bringing unity to the training programs in the towing industry. These “guidelines” will in no way attempt to define or direct how a trainer manages his or her programs but will hopefully enhance the safety content of tow training overall.

TRAA Education Chair, Glenn Landau, stated that once the training guidelines are in place, the National Driver Certification Program will be revised to reflect the trainer content, thereby unifying the industry’s education program from training through certification.

While there were 24 trainers at the summit several were unable to attend. Minutes from the summit are available for review and any trainer interested in working with this group is encouraged to contact TRAA for a copy of the Minutes and information about future meetings.

Most National Towing News readers know of Dave Helman from the Federal Highway Administration. Dave has been a wonderful friend of the towing industry for many years managing four contracts with TRAA from the National Driver Certification Program, TIMTOW and LAWTOW, Phases 1 and 2. Dave will be retiring in September and attended the conference to say farewell and wish us well. We are very grateful to Dave for his tremendous support over the years…he will be sorely missed.

In 2001 TRAA produced a V-ID DVD and card in an effort to improve communications between law enforcement and towers. The card has been well received and after much use the Safety Committee took on the task of revising it to make it an even more functional tool. The committee presented the new card to the conference attendees for comments and suggestions and received very helpful feedback. The new card in a slimmer format will be available for distribution in the near future…great job as usual by the Safety Committee.

Scott Burrows, Towing and Recovery Association of Kentucky, presented an expanded version of the HATS DVD. Captain Tom Martin in the original version of the HATS Of Incident Management put his emphasis on the HATS’ needs of all TIM responders while Scott concentrated on the many HATS towers wear in the line of duty…from a chauffeur’s cap to a hard hat! Scott’s observations were a reminder of the variety of jobs that towers do every day in addition to towing vehicles.

Every week TRAA receives inquiries about dispatching protocols, techniques and the like. Saturday morning Michele Godwin headed a panel to address dispatching from AZ. The presentation and feedback from the attendees were very informative and very much appreciated. There will be a follow up on this topic going forward.

As we all know, sponsors make all the difference in how TRAA is able to produce this conference. We are very grateful to Miller Industries, Simply Easier Payments and Travis Barlow Insurance for their delicious contributions to our conference…their food was rated excellent as well!

TRAA Announces New Training Product

The National Driver Certification Study Guide for tow drivers is now available in a power point presentation (DVD) format for $29.99. Purchase the software disc to train yourself or the entire workforce at your facility. Plus, you will get a printed NDCP study guide with your order. Training course presentation includes Customer Service, Safety, Appearance, Attitude, Truck, Equipment, and Traffic Incident Management. Also, enroll in TRAA’s National Driver Certification Program (NDCP). Information and an application can be downloaded from our website or email Natasha Patterson at natasha@towserver.net.

TRAA Is Flying You Anywhere in the U.S.

TRAA is sponsoring a contest for towers to sign up as many regular members as they can before July 1st, 2009. The person recruiting the highest number of new members will receive 2 free airline roundtrip tickets anywhere in the U.S... The winner will also be featured in the National Towing News as the winner of the 2009 "Find and Fly Membership Drive."

Be sure to ask those you refer to list your name on the application so that you will receive credit for the referral. Membership applications can be found here (PDF 19k). To have an application faxed contact Juanita Martin at 800-728-0136 or at juanita@towserver.net.

Good luck! and thanks for your continued support of TRAA

Worker Visibility Rule

On November 24th, 2008, a new law will take effect that Federal Highway is implementing regarding High Visibility apparel. The Code of Federal Regulations 634.3- states

What does this mean for all responders? You are going to be required to wear safety apparel that falls in one or three categories and is based on Risk:

Variables to consider:

• Speed of Traffic through the Workzone
• Amount of Traffic through the Workzone
• Time of Day
• Background Clutter in the Workzone
• Amount of Activity in the Workzone
  • Other Construction vehicles, etc…
• Type of Activity the Worker is Performing
  • Where is the worker’s attention?
  • Towards on-coming traffic or the task at hand?
• Location of Work
  • Proximity to traffic or other vehicle

Garment Selection should focus on Risk Exposure Assessment

• Task Load
• Nature of Work
• Color and complexity of the work
• Environment
• Lighting
  
  
• Overview of Garment Classes
• Class 3 – Use in severe environments
• Class 2 – Use in moderately severe environments
• Class 1 – For low risk environments
  

Class 3 examples:

• Roadway construction personnel and flaggers, and flaggers, utility workers, survey crews, and EMERGENCY RESPONSE PERSONNEL, vehicle assistance
• Anyone who has a high task load and is in close proximity to moving equipment or traffic at high speeds
• Highest speed
• Work Occurs at Night
• Worker’s attention is diverted from oncoming traffic and surrounding environment
  “Cluttered” Work Zone with High Levels of activity
• Worker must be visible from all angles and identifiable as a person
• Worker has no separation between them and traffic

Use of Class 2 Garments

• Greater Visibility needed due to Inclement Weather Conditions
• Complex and Cluttered Backgrounds
• Most Work is performed during daytime hours
• Worker’s attention is diverted from On Coming traffic and surrounding environments

Examples of Class 2

• Forestry Operations
• Ship Cargo loading operations
• Roadway construction workers
• Utility workers survey crews
• Railway workers
• School crossing guards in traffic
• Emergency responders
  

Everyone needs to understand that if you are out there you need to have this protection! It is LAW now, where before it was a guideline.

You have a choice to which one you wear, level 2 or 3. This law applies to everyone, even police, fire and EMS. There is only one exception – police are only required to wear apparel during traffic related incidents, traffic control, and investigation. Everyone must comply!

Please note: The regulation does not say safety VEST is says Safety Apparel, but be warned, the apparel must meet all the required standards.

For more information you may visit www.Workzonesafety.org or read this article (PDF 2mb) presented by the ATSSA.

This information was received from Janice Bradley – Technical Director – ISEA and Hari Kalla – MUTCD Team Leader . Based on Webinar on Work Zone Safety. Com.

TRAA article contributed by Angela Roper, Chair TRAA Safety Committee.

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