Holy fuck I had no idea heavy duty wreckers were so expensive
Posted by Washedhockeyguy@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 33 comments
Posted by Washedhockeyguy@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 33 comments
StocksInSkirts@reddit
anyone else watch highway thru hell
BlueHerringBeaver@reddit
I remember back around 2007 working with a guy who’s 80 ton rotator cost just shy of $1M then. I imagine $639k is a bargain today.
Yeet_PC@reddit
Yeah I’ve heard $1M per unit is fairly common, but they can get far more expensive for units that have specialty uses, like being winter storm capable.
BlueHerringBeaver@reddit
This guys machine was set up to handle wrecks in upstate NY, very winter oriented. We hired him frequently for mobile crane kind of work at a manufacturing facility building railroad equipment. Any lift was expensive but a heavy wrecker was way cheaper and infinitely more responsive than a conventional crane service. We wanted stuff done yesterday and he was always there a day early. The work was always abnormal and a good wrecker operator thrives in adversity. Every penny was well spent.
Massive_Confusion_23@reddit
The day rates they charge tho. Youll make 639K back fast if youve got business
BlueHerringBeaver@reddit
Well a return on investment and eventual profit is the basic goal of any business, so I certainly hope so.
homucifer666@reddit
Pretty sure there's going to be plenty this winter. 😬
MTsummerandsnow@reddit
Upside is almost every owner is a mechanic or the fleet is belongs to a repair shop. Skilled in house maintenance saves a fortune and keeps your mechanics happy with all the bonus hours and chance to get out of the shop and into the field.
amazingmaple@reddit
That's a used truck.
Sledge1989@reddit
My buddy got out of fuel a couple years ago to operate one of these or something similar, he calls it a rotator. He makes 200K a year lol
Washedhockeyguy@reddit (OP)
They do work in awful conditions, but for 200k I’d try it for a year. I have 0 mechanical knowledge tho hahah
Whend6796@reddit
How so? What is so awful?
Washedhockeyguy@reddit (OP)
All the different weather conditions that cause semi’s to crash - especially snowstorms. They work in rain, serious wind, extreme cold. They’re on the side of the road while traffic flies past them. Also, some of those crashes are such a mess, they take hours and even days I’d imagine to fully clean up. It’s a good job but they work for their money it sounds like
RhinoDK@reddit
Not to mention the on call shifts too. I got about 2 hours of sleep last night because of some broken landing gear on a trailer. And it’s -4f. Oh well, I could still be doing construction for $50k.
robitt88@reddit
When the roads are covered in ice and they're parked on the shoulder pulling someone out of the ditch.... thats awful enough. Add the steering wheel holders that dont move over and it becomes a pretty shit situation.
jabber1990@reddit
Holy fuck, I had no idea people didn't know that
I hope you're not a driver,
ohhrangejuice@reddit
Whats the typical cost for a call from one of these to get someone out of a ditch
RectumRavager69@reddit
If you're actually stuck - mind you not wrecked, just stuck, and loaded heavy, and need a heavy wrecker to come out to unfuck you - it's 5k just for them to show up. The 2k just to pull guys up a hill the other guy mentioned is because that wrecker is already there working that hill and is honestly pretty cheap all things considered.
Shit gets hella expensive if it goes actually wrong. Five figures in a hurry and six isn't impossible if it's truly a doozy. Seven has happened but at that point you're dealing with a situation where people have likely died and the county is footing part of the bill with taxpayer money and it's a gigantic calamity.
Washedhockeyguy@reddit (OP)
In wyoming last year during a snowstorm, wreckers were charging $2,000 just to pull trucks up a snowy hill
truckinfarmer379@reddit
Well now I know why tow rates are so high. I knew wreckers were expensive, but I didn’t realize they cost that much.
MTsummerandsnow@reddit
Plus call-outs, weekends, nights, damage that needs to be resolved before the wrecked vehicle can be safely towed, and a 100 other ways to blow up the bill.
Brs8604@reddit
We had one last year... The tow bill alone was 31k. We ended up scrapping the trailer as it was cheaper to buy a new trailer over repairing the wrecked one.
GlomBastic@reddit
Just thinking about those 50 vehicle ice pile ups through this lens. Damm
bulldog522002@reddit
Yeah I've heard they charge both by the hour and mile.
lost-in-the-sierras@reddit
A ‘26 F Cascadia fairly loaded is an easy 200hun
olenamerikkalainen@reddit
Yeah, because that's a brand new truck.
Exciting-Car-3516@reddit
That’s why they charge $2k an hour
Ok_Length7872@reddit
Doesn’t surprise me, to imagine the work it would do is one thing, and the revenue that you would make depending on where you are at and time of season, like if you did a lot of snow work, but you were also contracted to do local work during the off-season, (when it’s not winter) you can make pretty good money, plus the equipment itself is pretty expensive to maintain so if you came in solid with some good contracts and winter work, you could do pretty well with the rig like that thus providing o
yes-disappointment@reddit
cheap, I seen units near 1 million.
MTB2470@reddit
That’s actually pretty inexpensive for one.
amazingmaple@reddit
1.3 million for a 70 ton rotator.
Lanky-Present2251@reddit
Yeah. You but the truck first and then you get it retrofitted unless buying used.
NCRaider1@reddit
Yea man you he crazy insurance on top of it, not to mention the maintenance!