Most people don’t think much about tow truck drivers and what our jobs entail. And for some reason, they seem to have negative opinions about us, even when we are the first to respond to them when they need help and we are the ones that contact the EMS. Well, I just wanted to give you a quick peek into my life as a tow truck driver, show you that it’s not as boring as you think and that hey, we even help out sometimes.
So, I’m ready for work (I usually work the nightshift) I say goodbye to my wife and kids and leave for a night on the streets of San Rafael. I’ve slept during the day before my kids got home from school and then I spent some time with them. My wife says goodbye and I know that she’s always worried about me when I’m out on the job.
The earlier part of the evening is really quiet. At about ten pm I get my first call. I get to the call as quickly as I can. It’s a young doctor who works in the ER. His car has broken down so I load his car on the truck and make sure he’s got a ride. He hasn’t so I give him a ride. He makes arrangements for his car and then we chat about a pile-up from the night before that I had worked. He told me about the drivers that were taken to the ER. We had something in common. It was sad.
I dropped the doctor off and he was very grateful for my help. It’s times like this that I love my job.
It’s starting to get cold now and I know that things are going to start to get busy soon. They always do at this time of the night. For some reason, drivers seem to get more careless as the night goes on.
Next, I get a call for roadside assistance. This is an elderly couple who are on their way home from an evening out, they are happy to see me there so fast. They have a flat tire which needs to be changed. I quickly change their tire and they are on their way.
It’s after midnight and I’m starting to feel hungry. I stop to have my dinner (packed by my wife). I’m almost finished when I get another call. There’s been an accident, luckily no bad injuries, but I must quickly remove the cars which are blocking the road.
Luckily, it’s a rather quiet night. I get a few more roadside assistance calls and then I finish my shift, call my wife to let her know I’m ok and go home to sleep until the kids get home from school.
