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TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

April/May 2003

Tow Truck Service Crosses Historic Milestone

Freeway Service Patrol tow drivers Jessie Galicia, Larry Miller and Louis Ray pose with tools of their trade.

Freeway Service Patrol tow drivers Jessie Galicia, Larry Miller and Louis Ray pose with tools of their trade.
(Photo: John Blaustein)

“Angels” Unclog Freeways and Rescue Stranded Motorists
On a Monday morning this spring, the gleaming white tow trucks operated by the Freeway Service Patrol (FSP) stopped to rescue stranded motorists, clear accidents, tag abandoned vehicles and pick dangerous debris off Bay Area freeways 244 times. In so doing, the region’s “guardian angels” — as the fleet’s crew of 140 specially trained drivers have been called — crossed a historic milestone: their millionth assist.

The tow trucks deal with the accidents, stalls and other incidents that cause up to 50 percent of freeway congestion.

They also can be a driver’s best friend. “Yesterday, my car blew a tire right smack in the middle of commute traffic,” wrote one commuter recently. “As my car came to a stop, zillions of cars whizzed by and I felt like a sitting duck. Lo and behold, a tow truck pulled up behind me and guided me back into a safer spot. He was a gift from heaven.”

MTC’s Service Authority for Freeways and Expressways (SAFE) administers and operates the FSP in partnership with Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol (CHP).

FSP drivers provide basic services such as changing a tire free of charge. If they can’t get stalled vehicles running within a few minutes, they tow them off the freeway — at no charge to the vehicle’s owner — to the nearest safe location identified by the CHP.

In the 10-plus years of its existence, the FSP has grown from a single, three-truck beat in the Interstate 680/Highway 24 interchange area to a network that today includes 33 service beats, 74 rescue vehicles (primarily tow trucks, but also flatbed and pick-up trucks) and some 450 miles of coverage all around the region.
— Réka Goode

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