Tow trucks in Minnesota work overtime to help stranded drivers

Tow truck drivers across Minnesota are putting in a lot of overtime this week to reach people stranded in their vehicles and help motorists who need a push or a pull out of deep snow during two days of busy storm activity.

Tony Robinson, with Bobby and Steve’s Auto World, told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS he has already worked 30 hours this week and he’s scheduled to be on the job through Saturday.

“We can’t leave our customers on the road, you know. They got a family to go to, and we try to get to them and help them,” said Robinson. “I try to make a bad situation into a good situation by the end of the night.”

Robinson said at one point Wednesday afternoon he had more than 50 people who called needing help and he and his crew members were scheduled past midnight to try and reach as many customers as possible.

“If you call to get a tow, we’re looking at, like, maybe five to six hours until we can get to you,” said Robinson. “AAA is our No. 1 provider, and they just stack up the calls, and so we have to get to them first and squeeze in the other people in between.”

Robinson said he would like to see motorists treat tow trucks like any other emergency vehicle on the road and asked them to slow down and pull over to the next lane when passing a tow truck to help keep the drivers safe.