In past posts I have mentioned Life
After The Hook, and this past week a close friend and once teacher of mine
decided to hang up the hooks after 9 years. Now to some 9 years may be a short
time in comparison to their career. But in my opinion this man still deserves
his fair respect as he wanders away from an industry that was such a passion to
him!
Jeff Derouchie from Cornwall, Ontario was the first supervisor I ever worked for. He always had a passion for the industry, a knack for chasing and a perfection in recovery. I truly owe alot of what i have learned over the years to Jeff.
Here are his words after 9 years behind the hook:
My
Journey, 9 years later
What most people
don't know about me was all my life I wanted to be a police officer, the
thought of helping others is all I ever wanted to do ... Unfortunately that was
not in the cards, life had other plans in life I guess. In October 2006 I
started my journey towing! A job or I guess lifestyle I quickly fell in love
with working right along side the police officers I once wanted to be. This
story I've always wondered how it would go, would I write about the negative? 9 years later not making 2 pennies
more then day 1 or all the broken promises like incentive bonuses,
partnerships? Trips? All the hopes and dreams crushed ... But instead I take a
deep breath and let it out with a sigh, I will focus on 9 years of greatness,
I've worked for them all.... If anyone has seen things it's me, here's a few
facts over the years and yes I'm about to blow my own horn.... Every tow show
I've taken my truck too (4) but no
ones counting this boy has taken 1st place at each show in the beauty contest
and lights! When I attended my Wreckmaster course with 29 other guys, I was the
only one to ace the test 100%! I have towed for Formula1,Indy car, NASCAR!
Rolex series, Ferrari series, and everything that races on dirt.
For
those who are not familiar with towing it is like you see on TV well most of it
lol ... in Cornwall it is very competitive, you don't just sit around and wait
for the phone to ring lol... We all have police scanners, when we here an accident
on the scanner it's like dropping the green flag at Daytona! The race is on ...
We try our hardest to arrive on scene first to secure the job! With that said,
it also means that sometimes (actually most times) a tow truck is the first on
scene! Think about that .... Most of my 9 years I ruled this industry, on scene
way before emergency personnel, but this means it's often time to jump into
action to try save someone's life! I'm proud to say because of us Tow Operators
getting there quick I've saved 3 lives over the years, CPR is the best
investment anyone can have!
Towing
... An industry that never sleeps, there's no 8 to 5 here, when your
desperately trying to get off the roads cause there glare ice, we're gearing up
to go out on them! The towing biz never closes it goes 24/7 .... All to make
enough money to just get by!
I
will definitely post another story some day as right now things are still a lil
sour, but for now I'll say goodnight as I prepare for tomorrow's final ride, I
will suit up one more time, one more day till I say Goodbye.
"See you in the
ditch"
071028
This man has put his time
into the industry, and I personally
would like to wish him all the best in
whatever journey comes next! Thank you Jeff Derouchie for all you have done!
10-39 buddy!
Shawn Michaud
Cornwall, Ontario
WM 140989
Today is about the dispatcher. This past week I had the opportunity to man the phones for an entire shift, which happened to be our busiest day so far this winter. Was it ever an eye opening experience! I've formed an all around new respect for what it means to be a dispatcher.
As an operator, we normally only see the calls we are dispatched and don't realize the concentration and talent it takes to manage 3, 4 or even 5+ operators at the same time, while keeping ETA's down and driver efficiency up! Planning driver routes that are constantly changing with new calls appearing rapidly, phones never stop ringing. Not only is the amount of income rising - but so is the stress level. I cannot even begin to fully explain what our dispatchers face on a daily basis, but what I can tell you is that the work they do deserves the utmost respect!
Today was an great experience... remember boys and girls your dispatcher might not have it as nice as you think sitting at that desk all day. That being said, thank god my computer mouse was wireless or I might have tried to strangle myself with it a couple times.
Hats off to all of you with the honour of calling yourselves a DISPATCHER! I think I'm going to stick to doing the actual calls. 