HGV recovery cost?

[chaffcutter]

A couple of years ago when our tractor and tanker parted company, by the time I got there the police had already phoned the recovery firm. They wouldn’t do anything at all until I had paid £3000 on my credit card at the scene, and then they only recovered the tanker back to our yard, about four miles. We had emptied it by then and it was a very simple job for that money. They did put the tractor back on its wheels but we recovered that back ourselves.
Luckily it was all covered by insurance.

 

[Andrew]

We called the locals out earlier this year to recover a tractor from a ditch. Was a nearly new tractor and close to overturning, was worried what the insurance would say if it went wrong.
That was a Saturday afternoon, they were out the depot about an hour and it was £300.

I also helped the same crew with an overturned lorry drag trailer, they righted it and I re loaded the straw. At the end when it was all done they parked a wrecker tight agains the truck bumper front and rear and gave the driver a card machine and asked for £2500. They had 2 wreckers on the scene for 2 hours.

Considering the cost of the kit, the lack of ‘planned work’ skill, insurance etc I didn’t think either was over the top.

 

[Exfarmer]

Luckily it was all covered by insurance.

And that is the nub of it, covered by insurance, and we wonder why premiums are getting so high!

 

[7610 super q]

If the op is talking about the TV programme on C4 then it's an intresting look into the job but I hate the commentary, all dramatic about it's getting dark,its raining, will they clear the road by rush hour etc. I m not blaiming the blokes or the owner who appears and I know it can be a dangerous job and needs skill to complete safely but typical TV, they try and make it more tense rather than just film the work and move on.

" But there's a problem......"

 

[Cvx1170]

Don't crash then, you could save quite a bit

 

[roscoe erf]

have any of you actually run a recovery business have you any idea of the costs and hoops there are involved its a very strange set up with police contracts there is usually more than two pairs of hands taking a piece of the action before the recovery operator gets paid and those pairs of hands want paying even if the operator doesn't get paid .
when I got towed a few years ago after a breakdown it cost £300 to go 10 miles at 6am but this dealing direct with the tow company

 

[Exfarmer]

have any of you actually run a recovery business have you any idea of the costs and hoops there are involved its a very strange set up with police contracts there is usually more than two pairs of hands taking a piece of the action before the recovery operator gets paid and those pairs of hands want paying even if the operator doesn't get paid .
when I got towed a few years ago after a breakdown it cost £300 to go 10 miles at 6am but this dealing direct with the tow company

£300 sounds reasonable to me and we used to have a local operator was certainly in that order, but he got pushed out by firms bidding silly money for the rights to attend and once you have such a monopoly , you can charge what you like.
oh and most of these break down trucks are converted, worn out 8 wheelers , they don't even need an MOT

 

[roscoe erf]

£300 sounds reasonable to me and we used to have a local operator was certainly in that order, but he got pushed out by firms bidding silly money for the rights to attend and once you have such a monopoly , you can charge what you like.
oh and most of these break down trucks are converted, worn out 8 wheelers , they don't even need an MOT

yes they do need an mot please get your facts right
and on a police contract they are regularly inspected

they wont be worn out 8 wheelers as they have no train weight usually specially built ones now or stretched tractor units

 

[Exfarmer]

Recovery vehicles do not need an MOT for recovering broken down vehicles, only if used for delivery purposes.
Many local ones are a variety of worn out vehicles.
I do appreciate they have to be roadworthy, just like tractors

 

[Spud]

@Spud

The event to which you refer cost £600 for the winch job, ottomh

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

artic unit ran into the back of a wagon on Dumfries bypass, broken from window and slight cab damage, police call wrecker, it was picked up and taken to the ferry at stranraer, 70 miles away, bill was 6.5k

 

[roscoe erf]

Recovery vehicles do not need an MOT for recovering broken down vehicles, only if used for delivery purposes.
Many local ones are a variety of worn out vehicles.
I do appreciate they have to be roadworthy, just like tractors

that's is not correct they are not exempt from mots regardless

 

[Netherfield]

Good looking motors local to here

 

[Exfarmer]

that's is not correct they are not exempt from mots regardless

I have just waded through the STGO regulations and section 6.6 clearly states they are not subject to testing and plating. But it is also clear that this only applies while doing recovery work. The same applies to smaller car recovery vehicles

 

[bravheart]

that's is not correct they are not exempt from mots regardless

There is a recovery unit round here called Wendy the winch, looks like something from the war, has a column in the local Agri Advertiser but I would doubt very much it has or ever had a mot.
You may be right with mot’s in general but I would guess it is running on red and on a tractor reg.
Always thought recovery winches and mobile cranes were outside the mot regime, had a mobile seed dresser in, no mot or Tachograph required.

 

[bravheart]

Local recovery firm to me at one time was run by a complete bunch of crooks with numerous convictions across the board. However thery were still considered suitable people for the police to use as the go to firm in the event of any incident . How many innocent people were twisted out of thousands of pounds I could not hazard a guess.
I believe the police collect a fat fee for every vehicle they refer to these conmen

This is the problem, local guy has just sold out to the big guy after a few years of uneconomic recovery crumbs from the police while the big guy got all the “good”jobs.

 

[roscoe erf]

There is a recovery unit round here called Wendy the winch, looks like something from the war, has a column in the local Agri Advertiser but I would doubt very much it has or ever had a mot.
You may be right with mot’s in general but I would guess it is running on red and on a tractor reg.
Always thought recovery winches and mobile cranes were outside the mot regime, had a mobile seed dresser in, no mot or Tachograph required.

not any more its all changed very few in the mot exempt list now

 

[roscoe erf]

I have just waded through the STGO regulations and section 6.6 clearly states they are not subject to testing and plating. But it is also clear that this only applies while doing recovery work. The same applies to smaller car recovery vehicles

no it does not recovery is not under stgo any more here is the list of exempt vehicles
Categories of vehicles that are exempt:

1. a Motor tractor.
2. b Track-laying vehicle.
3. c Articulated vehicle that is not a lorry or bus (including bendy buses).
4. d Works trucks.
5. e Invalid carriages weighing no more than 306kg
   when unloaded.
6. f Vehicle used only to pass from land occupied by the person keeping the vehicle to other land occupied by them, and not travelling on the road for more than a total of 6 miles a week.
7. g Hackney carriage or private-hire vehicle licensed by local authorities authorised to check the roadworthiness of this vehicle.
8. h Hackney carriage licensed by Transport for London.
9. i Vehicle provided for police purposes and maintained in an approved workshop.
10. j (GB only) Goods vehicle powered by electricity, and first registered before 1 March 2015.
11. k Tram.
12. l Trolley vehicle that is not an auxiliary trolley vehicle (auxiliary trolley vehicles are vehicles that are adapted to run from power provided from a source on board).
13. m Vehicles authorised to be used on the road
    by a Special Types General Order or a Vehicle Special Order, unless the order specifies otherwise.
14. n Vehicles used only on certain islands that do not have a bridge, tunnel, ford or other suitable way for motor vehicles to be conveniently driven to a road in any part of the UK. If so provide the name of the island in this box.
15. o Vehicles with a maximum design speed of less than 15.5 miles per hour.
16. p A vehicle constructed for gully or street cleansing or refuse disposal, which either:
    • is a three-wheeled vehicle, or
    • has an inside track width of less than
      810 millimetres.
17. q (GB only) A public service vehicle having a date of manufacture before 1st January 1960 and which has not been substantially changed.
18. r (GB only) A vehicle other than a public service vehicle registered or manufactured 40 years ago and which has not been substantially changed in the last 30 years.

 

[Hilly]

lick lizard towing looked fairy dangerous lol

 

[Fendtbro]

Far better with a lowloader, a 20-30 ton excavator and an expert operator.. The whole outfit will be making good profit at £100 an hour and these outfits are scattered all over the country already. They will just be out on construction jobs then hauled away for a couple of hours here and there.. Of course it will never happen, as far too much like common sense..