COMMON GOALS
Tough times can sometimes raise tensions among the various partners in the collision industry, but Lane Bailey, vice president of ELC Solutions and former insurance industry investigator, urged a CCIF Toronto audience not to paint all towers with the same brush when negotiating. Bailey’s talk, “Navigating the Pitfalls of Towing and Storage,” frequently called for empathy from the collision industry when negotiating with the often maligned towing industry, saying that “every industry has those that are not ‘perfect.’”
Bailey’s company, ELC Solutions, offers data insights to the many wings of the automotive industry that partner with towing and storage companies, including collision, allowing them to make informed decisions when working alongside these companies.
He says that one of the main contributors to tension between the factions of collision and towing is that for as long as The Preferred Towing father-son towing team of Gary and Colin Vandenheuval are bidding “Heavy Rescue: 401” farewell as the show airs its final season. Bailey says ELC Solutions works tirelessly to provide regionally accurate data to its partners, by way of tracking local legislation, which also helps inform repair facilities on what is fair market value for their area. a vehicle is in the hands of a towing or storage company, repair facilities feel as though the cycle time is completely out of their control, directly affecting production. Services offered by his company allow repair facilities to compare tow companies based on delivery success, as well as if they offer things like 24-7 dispatching, or the ability to conduct appraisals.
On the tow operators’ side of things, ELC also puts a significant portion of their efforts into staying current on any changes to towing legislation in Ontario municipalities. The point that only 25 municipalities in Ontario have specific towing legislation, compared to more than 400 that don’t, drew a noticeable murmur of surprise from the room of collision experts.
OFF THE HOOK
Sad news for fans of the Discovery Channel’s popular show, “Heavy Rescue 401”, as the father-son towing team of Gary and Colin Vandenheuval prepare to watch the “bittersweet” final season alongside the show’s dedicated fans. The duo hosted an advanced screening of the final season’s premiere in their hometown of Sarnia, Ontario in January, according to the CBC, to celebrate “a great run” as television personalities on the Discovery Channel, dating back to 2016. As among the youngest towing professionals to be featured on the show, Colin says he takes a lot of satisfaction in the influence he has had on other young people who are curious about the towing industry. “You know, now I’ve got kids showing up at the door saying, ‘I watch you, I wanna do what you do,’” he said.
“And, you know, that’s neat for me because I’ve influenced a generation to look at a different career because not a lot of people think of towing as a career.” Gary told the CBC that doing his work while under the watch of cameras was “nerve-wracking” at first, but once he saw the dedication his assigned crew was putting into documenting him, sometimes putting in up to 16 hours of work to cover some larger recoveries according to Gary, the relationship became much more comfortable.
“You don’t even notice the cameras there anymore and it just becomes part of what you do.”
Gary’s wife Tammy has since used the platform provided by the show to help amplify Preferred Towing’s primary community venture, a community housing unit in Sarnia aimed at addressing youth homelessness, called “Ohana Landing.”
Proceeds generated by the Vandenheuvals’ recent season premiere screening, which included a meal and auctions, were put toward funding the ongoing Ohana Landing project, according to Gary. “We’re really happy to give that opportunity to kids in our community.”
