An increase in the demand for towing services has also led to more challenges within the towing industry. An increase in marginal costs, competition from other industries for labor, and ever-increasing fuel prices are some of the challenges that tend to keep towing companies below water. The Governments and other stakeholders must step in to help these companies stay afloat. How do these challenges affect them?

a.     Competition for labor

Towing companies require well-skilled drivers and operators to provide their services. These services need the operators to work during all-weather conditions. They also operate on the side of the roads where they are at risk of being struck by other vehicles. Therefore, we can see that this is a high-risk task that requires highly specialized skills. Other related industries require drivers. Such industries such as Uber and Amazon don’t demand many skills. They offer more safe and convenient tasks.  Our drivers will opt for these other tasks for better working conditions.  Thus the ever-growing demand for towing services doesn’t match the labor.

b.    Increase in Marginal costs

An increase in the number of vehicles on the roads implies more demand for towing services. This increase means that the companies need to get more trucks that would demand more fuel, labor, and operational costs. These marginal costs sometimes tend to outweigh their marginal profits. Therefore, as towing companies, we are at risk of not meeting our needs, and thus, we provide poor customers services. These trucks require massive operations and fuel usage. That only accounts for more costs.

c.      Insurance policies for Business

Laws and regulations require that as businesses, we need to insure ourselves. As for towing companies, we need to cover our services given that the nature of our activities tends to put us at higher risks of accidents.  The size of our operations and trucks requires us to pay more for commercial insurance. Over the years, there has been an increase in insurance premiums for the towing market. Therefore, we will pay service costs that would reduce our profits and our ability to meet our operations.

d.    Gasoline and Diesel fuel prices

Our towing activities tend to use more gas mileage. More gas usage relates to the more weight and force that we exert on our engines that would use more fuel. Further, the wind drags on our loads when we are towing also increase the use of more gas. This activity shows that we need more diesel and gas for our towing needs. Over the years, there has been a spike in the prices of fuels. This spike means that we will pay more operational costs associated with gasoline and diesel.

e.     Careless Motorists

Towing entails working in jam traffic. Therefore, as operators and drivers, we are fixed at roadsides where other vehicles are busy traveling past us. Some of these other motorists tend to be careless when approaching us even though we’ve already secured the place. They, therefore, put our lives at risk since they can strike us or even strike pieces of equipment that may hit us. Get more info about what you need to know about towing safety here.

There are different types of towing rules that have to be followed in different countries and in case these rules are not followed then people can be liable under the law. In most cases, these rules vary from one country to another while in some cases, they might also be different in different states or regions of a country such as in the United States. Over the course of time, amendments are also made in the towing rules depending upon different factors due to which it is important to keep up-to-date knowledge in this regard. In this article, we will discuss some of the important factors that are regulated by the law in different countries, which should be considered before performing the towing process. 

License requirement 

It is one of the most important requirements that have to be ensured before performing the towing process in the case required by the towing rules. In the case, towing has to be performed for commercial purposes then it would be necessary to obtain the towing license. In some cases, it might also be necessary to obtain permission from the authorities before performing towing, however, in most cases, it would not be necessary for performing doing under normal circumstances. 

In most cases, it would be necessary to have a driver license for performing the towing process and those people who do not have an active driver license might not be able to perform the process. For example, according to the UK towing rules, it is necessary to have a driver license before being able to perform the process.

Weight limits

The weight limits are also regulated by towing rules in different countries and they are applicable especially for performing towing heavy vehicles such as trailers. The rules may cover requirements for the towing vehicle to be of appropriate capacity and requiring appropriate equipment before starting the process. Similarly, the experience and license of the driver may also play a role in this regard. For example, in the UK, those drivers who obtained their license before January 1997 can perform towing of a trailer and a vehicle having a combined weight of 8250 kg or a minibus and a trailer having a weight of and 750 kg MAM. On the other hand, those drivers who obtained a license after January 1997 can only perform towing of a maximum weight limit of 3,500 kg. 

Limitations of Routes

The limitation of routes is also an important consideration before performing the process of towing. In different countries, there might be a limitation on different routes where towing cannot be performed and drivers may have to follow some specific rules for the purpose. Therefore, before starting the process of towing, a proper towing route should be developed as per the towing rules for avoiding any trouble during the process. In the case, the route plan is not properly prepared or followed then it could lead to various problems due to which proper evaluation should be made in this regard. Get more info about what is the useful long-distance traveling tips for avoiding the need for roadside assistance here.