scene, this assistance serves to reduce
the clean-up time and allows for lanes to
be opened in a more timely fashion.
Through a grant from the DOT, TRAA
established national standards for tow
truck operators and developed the
National Driver Certification Program.
This program is based upon light, medi-
um, and heavy duty towing and recovery,
and covers the following areas:
• Customer service
• Safety
• Incident management
• Truck
• Equipment
When assisting with traffic incident
clean-up involving a hazardous material,
the type of requirements for tow truck
drivers will depend on the type of inci-
dent, the severity of the spill, and the loca-
tion of the spill relative to the damaged
vehicles. More information on the levels
and curriculum topics, including handling
of hazardous material, is available on the
TRAA Web site at http://www.towserv-
er.net/certification.htm.19
The applicable levels for TRAA tow
truck driver certification when dealing
with hazardous materials are:
Level 1: For most vehicular spills (car
wreck) with only minor amounts of haz-
ardous material spilled, Level I (Light Duty)
requirements should be sufficient, provid-
ed that tow truck operators are not com-
ing in contact with the spilled material.
Level II: For vehicular spills (medium-
heavy duty truck wreck) with moderate
amounts of hazardous material spilled
(partial saddle tank emptied), Level II
(Medium Duty) requirements should be
sufficient, provided that tow truck opera-
tors minimize their time near the spilled
material.
Volume 4 • Issue 2 | www.towprofessional.com | Tow Professional 35