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0 pointscanucker20164y ago0 comments

The Ottawa police haven't been able to get any towing companies to come in and tow away any of the heavy trucks. From the articles I've read, the trucks at the border crossing were lighter pickup trucks, which can be towed away with regular tow trucks.

Some of the reasons listed as to the reluctance of towing companies to participate: - the heavy truck towing companies get much of their business from the truck industry. If these towing companies were to tow away these heavy trucks, they may lose much of that business. - many of the towing companies support the freedom convoy and their participants - fear of violence against tow truck operators if they try to tow away these trucks

see https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-protest-truck-t...

the police and government had ample time to prepare for the protest.

They should have restricted vehicle access near Parliament Hill once they heard the protesters were heading to Ottawa.

0 comments

ckdarby4y ago

In this case wouldn't it be fairly straightforward to just have the city buy a tow truck, paint without branding and have a worker of the city just tow? I mean I'd suggest having any department do this.

There must be day to day things disrupted enough that someone's job has been disrupted with this all going on that can be reallocated to this.

canucker2016OP4y ago

from the above CBC article, there are 500 (down to 360 as of today, Feb 15) heavy trucks in the "red zone" - one or even a handful of heavy truck towers is not enough.

also from the CBC article, excerpts:

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While the city likely has some vehicles with heavy-duty towing capacity for large OC Transpo vehicles, they also did not provide a response when asked how many they had.

Hooking up a commercial truck to a heavy-duty tower — sometimes called a "wrecker" — takes at least 30 minutes, Whan said.

It also takes time to tow the trucks to wherever they're being relocated to, and if the City of Ottawa did attempt it, they'd need to find a sizable space to put them.

Police don't think towing the trucks is an effective solution, said Matt Skof, president of the Ottawa Police Association.

"You can tow all you want — they're just going to return to the location, so it hasn't resolved the issue," Skof said. "And where are you putting all these vehicles?"

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raxxorrax4y ago

I don't think you can tow a truck that doesn't want to be towed. You have to have a legal reason to do so as well.

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0 pointscanucker20164y ago0 comments

see https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-protest-truck-t...

the police and government had ample time to prepare for the protest.

They should have restricted vehicle access near Parliament Hill once they heard the protesters were heading to Ottawa.

0 comments

ckdarby4y ago

There must be day to day things disrupted enough that someone's job has been disrupted with this all going on that can be reallocated to this.

canucker2016OP4y ago

from the above CBC article, there are 500 (down to 360 as of today, Feb 15) heavy trucks in the "red zone" - one or even a handful of heavy truck towers is not enough.

also from the CBC article, excerpts:

====

While the city likely has some vehicles with heavy-duty towing capacity for large OC Transpo vehicles, they also did not provide a response when asked how many they had.

Hooking up a commercial truck to a heavy-duty tower — sometimes called a "wrecker" — takes at least 30 minutes, Whan said.

It also takes time to tow the trucks to wherever they're being relocated to, and if the City of Ottawa did attempt it, they'd need to find a sizable space to put them.

Police don't think towing the trucks is an effective solution, said Matt Skof, president of the Ottawa Police Association.

"You can tow all you want — they're just going to return to the location, so it hasn't resolved the issue," Skof said. "And where are you putting all these vehicles?"

====

raxxorrax4y ago

I don't think you can tow a truck that doesn't want to be towed. You have to have a legal reason to do so as well.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse