Are You TIM Trained Yet?
Randall C. Resch
At the Texas Tow Show in July 2026, I asked a room full of owners, “How many companies sent their towers to TIM training?” Only a handful raised their hands. Considering Texas has the second-highest fatality rate of all states, you’d think TIM training would be a doable priority.
Years ago, Towman’s, Terry Abejuela and I attended the National Traffic Incident Management “Train the Trainer” course at Visalia’s Fire Department in Visalia, California. Having worked in responder industries for more than 50 years, this particular TIM course was the best safety and survival course I’ve ever attended.
Forty-eight responders attended, representing CalTrans, fire departments, law enforcement, California Highway Patrol, and seven tow companies. Having various disciplines participate together provided different perspectives on highway response as a group effort, far beyond responsibilities assigned only to tow operators.
The importance of on-scene safety was made noticeably clear by TIM instructors Ron Moore and Grady Carrick, both veteran police and fire administrators. Ron and Grady are commended for their commitment to training and dedication to a program I describe as “potentially life-saving.”
Course topics included:
TIM Fundamentals and Terminology
Non-Traffic Side Safety
Notification and Scene Size-Up
Safe Vehicle Positioning
Command Responsibilities
Traffic Management
Special Circumstances
Clearance and Termination
Training With Purpose
TIM stresses the importance of “Quick Clear” methodology, including problems caused by congestion, depleted emergency assets, secondary crashes, Haz-Mat, medical response, extrication, financial impacts, and tow and recovery.
Discussions focused on the importance of law enforcement providing accurate dispatch information to tow companies. Accurate locations and equipment needs are paramount. The intention? Towers should arrive on-scene with the proper equipment and trained operators based on a detailed assessment by law enforcement.
Day two’s tabletop exercises involved participants working through scenarios relating to arrival assessment, vehicle placement, Quick Clearance priorities and problem solving. Attendees also went outside for situational-awareness activities demonstrating angled and linear placement of fire trucks and arrow-board trucks, effective cone-flare patterns, and how to safely enter and exit working vehicles.
Command and Confidence
Comments by instructors and attending law enforcement officers praised tow operator abilities. I felt proud of what we towers do after seeing the total presentation on incident management. In fact, I sat with a goofy smile nearly the entire time.
TIM’s nationwide program is available to highway responders. Currently, some states require towers at all levels to attend four-hour traffic incident management courses. Accordingly, operators serving California Highway Patrol Tow Service Agreements (TSA) require a TIM certificate in the operator’s file.
Fatality numbers confirm highway responders are at great risk. Consider that approximately 12 police officers are killed monthly across the U.S., along with five fire department personnel. It’s estimated that more than 120 Public Works/Tow/DOT/Safety Patrol workers are killed each year. At the highest count, as many as 32 towers were killed in 2012 industry-wide.
Don’t listen to imprecise reporting claiming “one operator is killed every six days.” That’s bunk! However, there’s an industry expectation that through repetitive training, towers can work smarter and lower fatality numbers.
The course videos and pictures demonstrated the importance of working on the “non-traffic side” to reduce pedestrian strikes. TIM demands towers replace old highway attitudes with awareness that provides tactical advantages.
Taken to Heart
Distracted driving won’t go away. Not even all the enforcement in the world will correct or eradicate distracted driving, DUI, extreme weather conditions, excessive speeds for conditions, and other factors that create crashes and ultimately kill or maim innocent responders and towers.
A “live-taught” TIM course, at its basic level, is outstanding training that gives towers a better understanding of the carnage caused by distracted driving. Move-Over laws don’t work alone. On-scene survival is the responsibility of every responder, regardless of position or discipline.
I urge tow company owners, tow operators and dispatch staff to attend a TIM course to fully understand processes and techniques that could mean the difference between coming home alive and not coming home at all.
A free, four-hour TIM course is available online through the National Traffic Incident Management Responder Training Program.
Operations Editor Randall C. Resch is a retired, veteran, California police officer, former tow business owner and industry advocate. As consultant and trainer, he authored and teaches tow truck operator safety courses approved by the California Highway Patrol. For 57-years, he has been involved in the towing and recovery industry. In 30-years, he has contributed more than 800-safety focused articles for American Towman Magazine, TowIndustryWeek.com and POLICE Magazine. He is a frequent seminar presenter and beauty pageant judge at tow shows. In 2014, he was inducted to the International Towing and Recovery Industry Hall of Fame, was the 3rd recipient of the industry's "Dave Jones Leadership Award," and is a member of American Towman’s Safety Committee.
Email Randy at rreschran@gmail.com.
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