Winter storm brings business to tow companies | Weather

MEDFORD, Ore. – With a winter storm raging in Oregon for the next few days, the rainy and snowy conditions spell trouble for drivers -- but for tow truck drivers, it can bring a boom to business.

Slick and snowy conditions are known to cause more car crashes, especially more severe crashes, bringing more business to tow drivers, with business at Twedell’s towing picking up this morning.

“This morning, first thing, a person pulled over in a semi-truck up in the Gold Hill area, and they just pulled over and they got stuck over a really simple point off the road.” said Twedell’s Towing owner Edrel Jaime. “Those calls don’t happen during the summer.”

While winter weather is what brings business to the company, it can also bring struggles to the tow drivers themselves.

“It’s really slick, it’s really muddy,” Jaime said, “Even the tow trucks slide around a lot more.”

Jaime said none of his trucks have crashed or drivers have gotten hurt because of the weather, but an experience they are no stranger to is the Oregon Department of Transportation calling them off of a job, deeming it too dangerous. This results in drivers waiting on the sidelines, sometimes overnight until the job can safely be handled.

Rocky Walker is a reporter/producer at NewsWatch 12. You can reach Rocky at [email protected]. 

Credits