A Day In The Life Of A Tow Truck Driver

Thad Campbell has been working as a tow truck driver for less than a year.

FARGO, N.D – On average, Thad Campbell rescues about 10 to 15 stranded cars everyday. But after a snowstorm, he rescues more than double the amount.

‘We had at least, as a whole we had about 100 calls that we had to get through. On average you get about 15 done per driver. And if you were on call maybe 30-40,” he says.

He says most of the calls were about people needing to get out of snow banks.

“A majority of them. I’d say 90% were about towing or winches,” Campbell says.

Work starts at 7am when he gets his first dispatch call.

“Dispatcher sends us out the call, and we call the customer and let them know we’re on our way and then we get on scene and do what we have to do. Either do service call for them or we tow it for them to a shop,” he adds.

Lee Mahn was one of the customers he helped during the day.

“When I came outside for me to get out, my tires were punched, so I couldn’t drive it,” he says.

He also got into a small incident a few weeks ago due to icy roads.

“I was driving it and when I got over the bridge Fargo and Moorhead, I slipped tripped and I hit the wall. And this is where you can see my bump. So, it’s kinda hard when the winter comes it’s difficult for people to drive,” he adds.

Campbell says although it’s normal in those situations people’s first instinct is to hit the brakes, it’s the last thing you should do.

‘If you’re at a little bit higher speed like in the freeway, and you start to spin out, I wouldn’t hit the brakes, just let off the brakes and kind of coast. Don’t over correct too much, but if you’re coming into a stoplight and you’re skidding through don’t mash on the breaks, just pump’ em. That’ll help you stop faster,” Campbell says.