Mail is piled up, phone messages, faxes and daily book work. Guess that’s what happens when you run a small company and “do it all.” Sometimes I wish I had a secretary.

The reality is, I should have a back-up plan, because – heaven forbid – if something should ever happen to me, no one would know all that I do – or how I do it.

My husband would be an OK substitute for a while. He can get a check written and now knows how to print reports. I was down in Florida when I got a phone call from him. I had forgotten to print out a report for our accountant. I tried to explain to him how to get into the program and print the report. It was very difficult to explain over the phone – for me it’s almost done automatically. Log in, click here, click there and print. We were both getting frustrated as I was trying to visualize my steps and he was trying to type and follow my direction. We both gave a sigh of relief when he was finally able to get to the report and print it.

I’m one of those “organized mess” types and I feel I work pretty well under pressure, but I really didn’t want to come back to this mess. Guess it’s time I write up my job description and start to delegate. Not sure if that will help my messy desk, but I’m sure that once I present my job duty list to my husband, I’ll ask for a raise.

Roadside2Go is available now in the iTunes Store for iPhone users, and on the Google Play site for Android users.

NMC also recently launched its Optimized Dispatch Intelligence System™ (ODIS) which makes use of WISE™ technology (Weighted ISP Search Engine) that ensures the Independent Service Provider (ISP) dispatched to assist the member is the best fit for the member’s vehicle type and specific issue.

ODIS also contains an upgraded GPS location module, which further reduces the time it takes for NMC’s service providers to locate members. Customers do not need to have GPS-enabled devices to benefit from the service, because their location information is obtained from the cellular or telecom network, whether they are calling from a mobile device or a land ine.

For more information, visit nmc.com.

The trees will be planted in areas impacted by natural disasters as identified by the Arbor Day Foundation and NASCAR, including California, Texas, Alabama, Minnesota and the Northeastern Atlantic seaboard.

“Together with NASCAR and the Arbor Day Foundation, Freightliner Trucks is proud to make a positive impact in communities throughout the United States,” said Stacey Premo, motorsports marketing manager for Freightliner Trucks. “From our fuel efficient products to partnerships such as this one, we are dedicated to solutions that benefit the environment.”

As the Official Hauler of NASCAR, Freightliner Trucks transports various NASCAR cars and equipment from race to race, ensuring teams such as Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, JTG Dougherty Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, Penske Racing and Richard Childress Racing are at the track and ready to go on time, every time.

To learn more about Freightliner NASCAR haulers, visit the Freightliner Trucks Facebook page at www.facebook.com/freightliner.

Source: Freightliner Trucks

Out-of-state towing companies will be exempt from licensing requirements under a new amendment to the Philadelphia towing license law. The amendment, sponsored by Philadelphia City Councilman Jim Kenney, was signed into law on April 30. The law exempts out-of-state tow companies as long as they are towing into the city, out of the city, or through the city and have the consent of the owner or driver of the vehicle. The amendments will not authorize out-of-city tow truck companies to complete a tow from start to finish in Philadelphia.

A press release from the Garden State Towing Association offers thanks to John Glass and the Garden State Towing Association Legislative Committee, attorney Pete O’Connell of the Conference of Northeast Towing Associations, the Pennsylvania Towing Association and AAA Mid-Atlantic for their efforts with legislators in Philadelphia in get the legislation passed.

The law and its requirements can be viewed at http://philadelphiacitycouncil.net/. Click the “Legislation” tab and search for 130135.

Source: Garden State Towing Association

As she approached graduation, she made it clear that she wanted to stop swimming competitively. It wasn’t the first time she had taken a stand on the subject, and we felt that she had matured enough to make the decision for herself, and she “retired” from competitive swimming. Her athletic drive did not stop, however, and she started going to the health club once or twice a day to work out.

My family has been attending Portland Winterhawk hockey games for years. They are one of the premier junior hockey franchises in North America. While my wife and I did not regularly attend games, we did occasionally, and my daughter started going more frequently, sitting with my mom, sister, brothers, sister-in-laws, and nieces and nephews. For her Graduation present, we got her a season ticket for the 2012-2013 season, and the Winterhawks were in the Western Hockey League Finals, so she has really enjoyed the gift.

She started talking about playing hockey as soon as the swimming stopped, maybe before. Problem was, she had never ice skated. She signed up for lessons and started learning in the fall. As soon as she had demonstrated proficiency, she signed up for hockey lessons and started acquiring equipment. As soon as she had passed the requirements to qualify to play in an adult league, she signed up for a team. So last Friday night she skated out for her first game, approximately six months after her first ice skating lesson, missing a Winterhawks playoff game in the process. Fortunately (as she sees it) this Friday’s game is at 11:30 p.m., so she can go to the Winterhawks game first, then go to her game.

The other day I was thinking about the term “balls to the wall.” I had no idea where the term originated, or what it really referred to, although I had a suspicion but really couldn’t figure out where the “wall” figured in. So I Googled it and came up with a reference to train steam engines in the 19th century. Apparently, steam engines had mechanical regulators that consisted of a pair of hinged lever arms with balls on the end of each arm, and as the engine sped up, the centrifugal force caused the arms to rise, closing the valves. If you adjusted the regulator so that the arms went to horizontal (with the balls pointing to the wall) without closing the valves, you would not limit the speed of the engine. You could go full-out, top-end, “balls to the wall.”

I like to think about how my daughter is pursuing her hockey passion as balls to the wall. It’s not like she hasn’t had other things to do – she’s taking 16 credits of college, working as a lifeguard and still going to the health club five to seven times a week. Yes, I do have to clean up her dirty dishes occasionally, but you have to admire the sheer volume of activity she produces, as well as its quality. Makes we wish I had used my 19th year so aggressively. I have no doubt that she will accomplish whatever she wants for the rest of her life and I think it’s a great lesson for all of us. You hear it all the time – pursue your passion, follow your dreams, do what you love. What you don’t often hear is “make sacrifices,” but that’s the foundation for all of those things.

Maybe every day at your business or your job or your home isn’t a celebration of success. Maybe you’re tired and overworked and underpaid. Maybe you’ve re-started your dream-chasing so many times that it’s on your desktop calendar as a recurring appointment. Maybe you want something to just be easy for a change. Here’s my suggestion: Stop Whining, and go Balls to the Wall.

Have a safe and profitable week.

Nick Kemper

www.TowPartsNow.com

Lloyd worked as a wrecker driver for Paul Lezina, who was a faithful Holmes tower in New Orleans. In fact, Paul was the one who finally convinced the City of New Orleans to purchase a handful of Holmes wreckers to quickly clear double parked cars in the French Quarter. But Lloyd wanted to go into the towing business, so he moved his young family some 60 years ago to Shreveport in Northern Louisiana where he formed a towing company that he simply called “Lloyd’s”. Later, he was a hobbyist rock collector and pilot who owned his own Beachcraft Bonanza. His wife Patsy was afraid of flying but didn’t want to be left behind, so she would sit in the back seat and pray while they were in the air.

Lloyd was a faithful Holmes user and custom built a special body on which he mounted a monster 850 wrecker for HD recovery work. As an ex-marine he was stout and tireless and built his company from a single rig to a fleet that served the Ark-La-Tex region. His youngest son was named Steven and we all called him Stevie. I remember one day when young Stevie was hanging around the shop and told his Dad, “Y’oid, you yucky dog, y’uore the yucky-ust guy in the world” because Stevie loved the wreckers but was far too young to drive, much less talk clearly.

At a tow show several years ago, this strapping lad came up to visit and we had a nice conversation about wrecker equipment and I got the impression I knew him. We continued to talk until he finally introduced himself as Stevie Evans. He took over his Dad’s business when Lloyd died and Patsy moved back to Southern Louisiana.

Stevie was recently featured on the Tow Times website under the caption “Louisiana Canal Recovery.” He’s proudly walking in his Dad’s footsteps doing some fantastic work, as illustrated in the article.

For more recovery basics, see see the feature article “More Recovery Basics” by Peter Fuerst (International Institute of Towing & Recovery) in the Tow Times May issue.

Daisuke Takahashi of Miller Japan Company Ltd., stopped by the Tow Times booth at the show. Everyone on the tour, he said, had a great time at the plant tour and the show.

I recently received a call from the manufacturer of a towing accessory product. I’ve had a dialogue with this gentleman for a few months to determine if his product has a place in our product offerings. This guy is old school – he wants to talk, not email. Unfortunately for him, I prefer to reserve my phone time for customers. Today I humored him and we came to a decision on a first step, so it was a fruitful conversation but my question to him was what differentiates his product from other similar products in the marketplace? His answer: made in the USA and reliability. Well, the first is cut-and-dry, but how do I assess the second? Someone has to buy one and use it for a long time and not call me to complain about it breaking for me to test that assertion.

In this case, the gentleman was trying to sell me on his product. I do the same thing with our customers, although I generally don’t cold-call anyone, mostly because I’m not receptive to people cold-calling me. Maybe I’m wrong about this, but I feel that most businesspeople are like me – busy – and that business relationships develop more naturally through referrals and what is known as the warm market. Even Internet explosions that happen nowadays are referral-based. Someone shares a video or a link, and it has value to others and it just takes off. But the originator isn’t just spamming people. Spam doesn’t work. Cold calling is first-generation spam.

In the case of advertising, I’m very wary of the value of advertising, so I don’t spend a lot of time researching it to see what my options are. If I do, it’s asking similar businesses what has worked for them. In other words, asking for a referral. In the case of new products and finding manufacturers to represent, I do research those types of things, reviewing trade publications and vendor materials for interesting product innovations, and reading materials sent to me via mail or email. I literally have a pile in my office to go through some Friday afternoon when the phones die down.

I’ve written this before: the only object of business is to make someone’s life better. That’s true whether you sell parts, sell advertising space or manufacture something. Advertising is communicating how you do that. But it’s the actual doing that creates value. If you make someone’s life better, there’s a good chance they tell someone about it. And then that person shares it with more people, and you’ve got a growing business. All the banner ads in the world aren’t going to keep you in business if you don’t consistently make lives better, because negative experiences are shared at a much higher rate than positive experiences (don’t think of it as focusing on the negative – think of it as protecting our neighbors).

So for advertising salespeople out there: Don’t call me to sell me space. Call me with a Referral Generation Program that utilizes our excellent customer service practices. For manufacturers: Don’t call me to tell me about your product. Explain to me how your product makes lives better. And if you really want my attention, call me and ask if you can email the info to me. If you do that, I guarantee I’ll read it.

Have a safe and profitable week.

Nick Kemper

www.TowPartsNow.com

https://www.facebook.com/towpartsnow?ref=hl

From time to time, Texas has had more than one towing association and during Jimmy’s time there were those few towers permitted by the State of Texas and those many who were not. And my memory’s fuzzy but as I recall, a non-permitted tower could not cross two municipalities with a vehicle under tow. Don’t quote me because I’ve slept once or twice since this all happened. Point is, the permitted group was hiding behind a very frail distinction that was supported by the state Railroad Commission. (What’s this got to do with railroads?) And they would join together to protest any non-permitted tower’s application on the basis that one of their own was presently serving the contested market segment, which wasn’t always the case. So, this had the effect of stifling T & R growth and improvement throughout the state. Finally deregulation came along to allow the free market to function again.

I often heard Jimmy rise to speak to this, though his wrecker operation was rarely limited or contested, given his remote location in far West Texas. And to precede his comments Jimmy would say, “Check your egos at the door so we can accomplish something today.”

Oh yes, Jimmy was the only tower in the state of Texas who brought the huge American flag to his hometown, paid for the crane and all related expense and proudly waved Old Glory for all to see for a 100 miles or more.

Jimmy’s gone, but his memory lives on because he was one of the good guys in towing.