The First Post!!!! Where to begin?

I think introductions are in order. My name is James R Maurer. In short I am a towing and recovery Nut. I love the industry, all that it was, all that it is, and all that it has the potential to be. I work for the Illinois Toll Highway Authority (the Tollway), (u may be asking, why if this guy is a towing nut does this guy work for the Tollway? simple answer, the money and benefits. I will be going into much more detail as time goes by.)

at this early stage of the game (blogging) I think I will start off by posting a large introductory post to give an overview of me, some cool pics, ect... as time goes by I will have different posts for different topics and pics. But who knows, this is new to me and sky’s the limit


Yates Wrecker service, performing a flawless rollover. see more at www.yateswrecker.com

The Towing and Recovery industry, the diamond covered in motor oil. All too often, when this industry is referred to by "outsiders," unfortunately, it is in a negative way. Though my meager contributions are almost insignificant, I will never stop trying. If 1 person's prospective on our industry is changed for the better, than there is hope.


Rollover semi with large earth mover in haul

I enjoy rollovers, many uninformed people will say "towing and recovery requires no skill, any shmo can do it) and in some rare cases, that may be true. But for the most part, it takes a skilled and trained operator to pull off a flawless, Additional damage free, recovery.


Airline Towing performing a single lane upright of a trailer

I believe that a perfectly preformed rollover, one that is flawless in everyway, follows all safety guidelines and industry standards is Art. Art by its very definition: 4 a : the conscious use of skill and creative imagination also : works so produced. Unfortunately, even in our industry, things can go wrong, and when they go wrong for us, it’s much more ironic.


Flatbed Tow truck with crane rolls into water after trying to pick up more than its capacity

Fortunately this is rare and, but when it does, it gets more attention than your highly trained operator doing his work flawlessly. I have a tendency to focus on the wrecks that involve "emergency responders" not because I have a morbid curiosity or I like to see us look bad but simply because I want to learn from them


In this case there were 2 wreckers attempting to upright a cement mixer, and unfortunately, a winch line snapped and rolled the wrecker over. this pic was taken from this post on Tow411.net - http://p223.ezboard.com/ftow411frm54.showMessage?topicID=867.topic

This is one of those cases where it was unavoidable and not the operators fault. One of my favorite things about recoveries is the challenge. Each situation is completely different. If 2 semis hit the same bridge 2 hours apart, it will be 2 completely different situations, requiring 2 completely different coerces of action and different equipment.


In this case the local helicopter from CBS 2 Chicago captured this semi that was hit by a train

Let’s not forget about the magnificent machines that make this all possible. They are all different and all serve different functions. I like to focus on the Government towing operations


LA Fire department has this beast on call 24 hours a day for any rescue operation that may require some lifting

Though rare, accidents can involve situations where a semi roll onto an occupied car and often the only way to do that is to call a wrecker to lift the semi off the car. La has there own unit and in Chicago we have the IDOT Minuteman



These workhorses parole the expressways of Chicago helping anyone who has broken down or has been in an accident. There roll is the blueprint for highway incident management and quick clearance. Essentially what that means is that they get the road open from accident ASAP. This will be discussed further as this blog continues.



These were taken in the Upper Peninsula in MI

As I mentioned before, one of my favorite things is photography and though it focuses mostly on towing, it encompasses anything I think is pretty or interesting.

One of my other fascinations involves other emergency personnel, police, fire, EMS, ECT...


The Chicago Police gave an awesome show of force to the Anti war protesters in Chicago.

It is these demonstrations of power, comradely, and teamwork that show why the Chicago Police are the best.


Well, until tomorrow,
Be safe out there

James R Maurer