Tow Trucks Research Articles

An Autonomous Tow Truck Algorithm for Engineless Aircraft Taxiing

The aviation industry has proposed multiple solutions to reduce fuel consumption, air pollution, and noise at airports, one of which involves deploying electric trucks for aircraft towing between the stand and the runway. However, the introduction of tow trucks results in increased surface traffic, posing challenges from the perspective of air traffic controllers (ATCOs). Various solutions involving automated planning and execution have been proposed, but many are constrained by their inability to manage multiple active runways simultaneously, and their failure to account for the tow truck battery state of charge during assignments. This paper presents a novel system for taxi operations that employs autonomous tow trucks to enhance ground operations and address deficiencies in existing approaches. The system focuses on identifying conflict-free solutions that minimise taxi-related delays and route length while maximising the efficient use of the tow trucks. The algorithm operates at a strategic level and uses a centralised approach. It has the capacity to cater for multiple active runways and considers factors such as the tow truck battery state of charge and availability of charging stations. Furthermore, the proposed algorithm is capable of scheduling and routing tow trucks for aircraft taxiing without generating traffic conflicts.

Legal regulation of an emergency lane creation during a traffic accident: international experience

The article is devoted to the analysis of the experience of such countries as Germany, India, Austria, the USA, Belgium, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Canada in the field of legal regulation of the creation of an emergency lane on roads during traffic accidents.
 Emergency and rescue services, ambulance, fire protection, police are important components of providing emergency assistance during a traffic accident.
 The efficiency of emergency services, which must reach the scene of a traffic accident in a short period of time, in addition to subjective factors (the driver's psychological unreadiness/unwillingness to give priority to the vehicle), is significantly affected by the flaws of the road transport infrastructure, but the most - by a large number of vehicles causing numerous traffic jams. The problem of an emergency lane creation during traffic accidents is extremely relevant to rescuing victims.
 It is proved that the emergency lanes on the roads almost double the probability of avoiding fatal consequences caused by traffic accidents.
 By definition, the emergency lane is a free lane on the road intended for vehicles with priority. Such vehicles include: ambulances, firetrucks, police vehicles, tow trucks.
 Since the procedure and specifics of the emergency lane creation in foreign countries are fixed in legislation provided by the Traffic Rules or other normative legal acts, drivers may be sentenced to the following types of punishment for non-compliance: fine, penalty points, deprivation of a driver's license, imprisonment.
 Global experience suggests that the issues with the emergency lane creation and compliance monitoring should be regulated by the state bodies. Such approach contributes to the strict compliance with the traffic rules and therefore to the efficient and timely work of emergency and rescue services, ambulances, fire brigades, traffic police, etc.

Environmental impacts of using electric tow trucks

The article quantifies the emissions-related impacts of introducing battery-powered tractors for aircraft handling. It outlines various scenarios based on the extent of tractor utilization and compares emissions produced by aircraft engines that could be saved through the use of emission-free tractors, with the amount of emissions generated during electricity production. The case study focuses on the Czech Republic's environment and Václav Havel Airport Prague.

The use of serial automotive equipment when performing special lifting tasks

The solution to the problem of increasing the productivity of tow trucks and cranes on the chassis of serial cars largely depends on the solution to the issues of mastering the production of new types of heavy lifting capacity, the development and creation of progressive technological processes of maintenance and operation. Compared to a simple truck, vehicles equipped with a manipulator have a number of advantages: higher technical and economic indicators; the ability to vary the carrying capacity over a wider range; service by one driver of several transport units and others. The efficiency of using such units is mainly determined by the totality of their operational properties, which require rational management at the stages of design, production and operation. There are many types of lifting mechanisms for loading units, the most common of which are structures in the form of a telescopic boom and in the form of a combined loading device. The aim of this work is to create and parametrize the invariant structure of a telescopic boom in such a way that, when changing its parameters, it would be possible to obtain an arrow of any kind. The presented consideration shows that the use of such machines and assemblies is a wide area, in the study of which it is necessary to apply many branches of modern natural science and technology. There is no doubt that both the growth of research in this area and an increase in the volume of practical applications of objects of this type will continue.

Methods of evacuation of cargo (passenger) transport

This article discusses the issue of evacuation of cargo and passenger transport from the streets of large cities, for example, such as St. Petersburg. To solve this issue, the methods of evacuation are described in detail, the analysis of existing tow trucks and the problems of evacuation in St. Petersburg are considered. Keywords: evacuation, freight and passenger transport, freight tow truck, partial loading, full loading, transportation of evacuated vehicles, method of evacuating vehicles, road traffic accident

Perancangan Aplikasi Mobil Derek Berbasis Android Menggunakan Metode Scrum

Transportation is one of the facilities in an area to improve accessibility or the relationship of an area because accessibility is often associated with the area. The Central Bureau of Statistics explained that the increase in motorized vehicles in 2015 - 2019 was a significant increase of 6.13%. Under the high demand for mobility, there may be barriers that impede this mobility. The problem with the vehicle used is due to engine damage. To overcome this problem, one solution is to call a tow truck. A tow truck is a vehicle that is used to tow a vehicle that has a traffic accident that is unable to move on its own. In the use of tow trucks, there are still problems experienced by customers and tow truck drivers, namely it is difficult to find the position of the customer's whereabouts with information or addresses that are not necessarily accurate for tow truck drivers and the lack of information about the nearest tow truck for customers. By using the Scrum method, this tow truck search application is designed to be able to place orders by displaying maps to find out the pick-up point, destination point, and tow truck location and can display the availability of tow trucks around the customer. Testing on this application is carried out using Black Box to obtain a percentage of eligibility results of 99.16% and System Usability Scale (SUS) gets an average value of 76.6 these results in SUS getting a grade B percentile rank score. Keywords : Tow Car, Scrum, Android, SUS, Black Box

СОЗДАНИЕ ДЕЙСТВУЮЩЕЙ МОДЕЛИ БЕЗВОДИЛЬНОГО АЭРОДРОМНОГО БУКСИРОВЩИКА

The purpose of the research in this paper is to develop a promising airfield driverless tow truck to increase the economic efficiency of aircraft towing facilities, including unmanned aircrafts as well as to ensure reliable operation in various climatic conditions.
 The research methods include the analysis of the experience of using such driverless airfield tow trucks abroad, the theory of calculating traction and speed indicators and experimental studies conducted during the creation and study of field tests of devices used to load the driving wheels of a tractor.
 To achieve the goal, the configuration of the structure being designed and its intended composition are determined analytically. The operation of the designed device in the traction mode is considered, and the characteristic of calculating its indicators when moving along the support surface is presented.
 The presented material briefly illustrates the process from creating a model of a driverless airfield tow truck to the created design of an existing sample, which will later be used to conduct its full-scale tests and a comprehensive assessment of its strength traction and speed characteristics.

Operational efficiency of tow trucks: a case based evidence from an Indian automobile manufacturer

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine and model the in-plant operational efficiency of tow trucks of an automobile manufacturing plant. Even though, tow trucks contribute toward the improvement of operational performance, little case-based evidence prevail in the literature. For this purpose, a case study has been conducted in an Indian automobile manufacturer to address the prevailing issues in material handling (MH).Design/methodology/approachInitially, this paper focuses on grouping of the sequence parts and finding the shortest path among the groups. To elucidate this, an analytical framework based on the distance and stuffing quantity is proposed. A fuzzy Dijkstra’s algorithm is used to solve the issues in grouping of the sequence parts and shortest path among the groups.FindingsThis study addressed the four aspects of MH: move cost, time, distance and material by integrating the function of grouping, finding the shortest path and communication with low cost devices. The result shows that logistics routes and activities should not be interrupted by any of the external factors. The availability of stock is a key performance variable to attain efficiency. In addition to this, effective communication between the truck operators and the production line managers is key performance indicator.Originality/valueThe paper helps the automobile practitioners on increasing the efficiency of tow truck by systemizing the routes. Logistics routes and activities should not be interrupted by any of the external factors. The availability of stock is a key performance variable to attain efficiency. In addition to this, effective communication between the truck operators and the line managers is key performance indicator.

Motor vehicle towing: An analysis of injuries in a high-risk yet understudied industry

Objectives: National fatality rates for commercial tow truck operators exceed those of other first responders who also perform traffic incident management services. The objectives of the current study are to (1) characterize causal factors associated with injuries among commercial tow truck operators engaged in roadside assistance through analysis of coded and free text data obtained from U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigation files, and (2) utilize supplemental data sources to analyze environmental factors for injuries in which commercial tow truck operators were struck by roadway traffic. Methods: Searches of OSHA’s online IMIS database were performed to identify investigations of incidents in which tow truck operators were injured while performing roadside assistance duties. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests were submitted to obtain full investigation files for each case. Coded and narrative text analyses were performed to identify causal themes across the identified cases. Results: One-hundred and six cases of tow truck operators being killed or severely injured were identified in IMIS; 41 FOIA requests for related investigation documents were fulfilled. Two major event type themes were identified which accounted for 9 in 10 of the cases identified. These were (1) ‘struck-by’ incidents, which were primarily injuries resulting from contact with roadway traffic, rolling vehicles and equipment or other non-motorized objects; and (2) ‘caught-in or -between’ incidents, which were primarily injuries resulting from being pinned beneath and between vehicles and being caught in moving parts. Conclusions: The towing industry should provide initial and refresher safety training on vehicle loading and unloading, defensive techniques when exposed to traffic on roadways, and proper wheel chocking and braking procedures. States should include tow trucks as a first responder vehicle type in their “Move Over” laws and implement public awareness campaigns to protect all first responders, including tow truck operators.

MODELING THE MOTION OF THE ROBOT-TRACTOR FOR TRANSPORTING AIRCRAFT ON THE AIRFIELD

Towing aircraft ensures the effective functioning of the modern airport, including the military. In military aviation at alarm efficiency and coherence of work of tow trucks is the extremely important task. The article is devoted to solving the actual problem of automation of the process of towing aircraft on the territory of airfields. The paper describes the design of a three-wheeled mobile robot with two independent driving wheels, designed for the transportation of aircraft at airports. The driving wheels are located behind the center of mass, which ensures stable straight-line movement of the robot at all velocities. Robot moves along the horizontal plane along the contrast strip applied to it. Sensory system of the robot is represented by the opto-matrix that includes two opto lines. The criteria of design parameters of the robot, ensuring its stability when moving along a given trajectory are defined. The computing scheme of a three-wheeled robot as a system of three absolutely solid bodies, one of which is the platform together with the optometric matrix of electric drives, the other two-driving wheels is given. In the mathematical model of the robot, the following assumptions are made: the robot is considered as a system of absolutely solid bodies, the motion is carried out without slipping, the driven wheel moves forward. Robot has four degrees of freedom. The equations of the dynamics of the robot with two independent driving wheels on a horizontal rough plane, using the form of Maggi’s equations for electromechanical systems with non-holonomic links are given. A Coulomb model of dry friction is assumed. The conditions of steady motion of a wheeled robot without transverse sliding of driving wheels are also determined.

Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? by B. Sayers

Sayres, Brianna K. Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? Illus. Christian Slade. New York: Random House, 2012. Print.If the title Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? seems a tad familiar, well, it probably is. In the same vein as the ultra-popular Good Night, Good Night, Construction Site, Diggers presents the sweet nighttime rituals of diggers, trucks and other heavy machinery. At first I thought this was a simple effort to take advantage of a similar, bestselling title however Sayres’ work does indeed hold its own.In this picture book aimed at ages 3-6, first time picture book author Sayres gives young heavy equipment aficionados a delightful take on the bedtime story. In rhyming couplets and often in a humorous manner, all sorts of trucks, cranes and tractors get ready for rest under the watchful headlamps of their caregivers: “Where do garbage trucks sleep / when they’re done collecting trash? / Do their dads sniff their load and say, / ‘Pee-yew—time to take a bath’?” Sure to get the young ones giggling.The sleepy-eyed dozers and tow trucks eventually give way to an equally sleepy young boy in his cozy bed, with a reminder that the trucks will be waiting for him when he wakes. Save for one naughty truck, winking, under the bed (my five-year-old happily pointed this out).Though the illustrations by former Disney animator Christian Slade are rather cartoon-like and not realistic, they match the text well, are in soothing nighttime colours and allow for the trucks to have droopy eyes and smiling faces. Read in a lyrical fashion, or even as a song, this would be a nice end to any wee truck lover’s day. This would make a nice addition to any public library or as a gift.Reviewer: Debbie Feisst Recommended: 3 stars out of 4Debbie is a Public Services Librarian at the H.T. Coutts Education Library at the University of Alberta. When not renovating, she enjoys travel, fitness and young adult fiction.

A Scenario-based Model for Fleet Allocation of Freeway Service Patrols

As one component of traffic incident management systems, freeway service patrols (FSP) facilitate quick removal of incidents through faster response and reduced clearance time. This paper is to investigate how to strategically allocate tow trucks among patrol beats to optimize the performance of the FSP system. A mixed-integer nonlinear programming model is formulated to minimize the expected loss with respect to a set of high-consequence scenarios of incident occurrence, which may be solved in polynomial time for realistic networks. Moreover, the data required for the model can be easily obtained from practice.

Optimal Fleet Allocation of Freeway Service Patrols

As one component of traffic incident management systems, freeway service patrols (FSP) facilitate quick removal of incidents through faster response and reduced clearance time. This paper is to investigate how to allocate tow trucks among patrol beats to maximize the effectiveness of the FSP services. A min–max bi-level programming model is proposed to determine an optimal fleet allocation that minimizes the maximal system travel time that incidents may incur. A heuristic iterative solution algorithm is proposed to solve the model. Both the model and the algorithm are demonstrated and validated through a numerical example.

Emissions Reductions Enabled by Improved Airport Surface Operations

Capacity constraints in the United States national airspace system (NAS) have coupled with the growth in air traffic to increase congestion in airways, terminal areas and on the airport surface. In this paper, we discuss the growth in aviation emissions from ground operations in the United States from 1995 to 2000 and investigate the potential for emissions reductions under 3 scenarios: improved operations, single-engine taxiing, and use of tow trucks to move aircraft to and from runways. Emissions estimates, unlike with previous models, are based on actual mission times and aircraft types from the Airline Service Quality Performance (ASQP) data, compiled by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) from information provided by the ten largest US carriers. Results indicate that surface emissions have been growing faster than airborne operations or total mission time in domestic US aviation, and may therefore become a constraint on airport expansion. The potential for emissions reductions through improved ground operations and single-engine taxiing is significant. The net environmental benefits from using tow trucks are unclear and should be investigated further.

Emergency vehicle maneuvers and control laws for automated highway systems

The operation and transit of emergency vehicles (EVs) on an automated highway system (AHS) designed under the control architecture proposed in the California PATH (Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways) program is described. The term is used in a general sense to describe vehicles such as police cars, ambulances and tow trucks, that may service faults inside or outside the AHS. The transit of EVs requires intensive participation of the coordination layer, which directs the interactions of neighboring vehicles, and the link layer, which regulates traffic flow along stretches of highway. Various strategies for these two hierarchical layers that are needed to assign high-priority transit to EVs on the AHS are described. These coordination- and link-layer maneuvers circulate other vehicles around the EV in both free-flowing and stopped traffic.

Static and dynamic analysis of tow trucks with tag axle during towing manoeuvres

This paper presents a complete analysis of the behaviour of a heavy tow truck-towed vehicle combination during towing manoeuvres. Both static and dynamic simulations are carried out to investigate the effects of adding a tag axle to the tow truck. The tag axle is intended to ensure that a minimum load remains on the tow truck's front axle during towing manoeuvres. The results presented in this paper show that the tag axle improves the manoeuvrability of the loaded tow truck but must be carefully used since it also significantly reduces the load on the drive axles, which could limit the traction capacity of the tow truck.

Evaluating a Roadside Assistance Program: Penn-Lincoln Parkway Service Patrol

The results of a preliminary evaluation of the Penn-Lincoln Parkway Service Patrol are summarized. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation contracts with a local towing company to operate the Service Patrol on the Penn-Lincoln Parkway (PA Route 60, U. S. Route 22, and Interstates 279 and 376) in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The Service Patrol, consisting of specially equipped tow trucks driven by specially trained drivers, provides assistance to disabled vehicles along the parkway, thus reducing traffic delays and congestion. Service patrol hours of operation are during the morning and afternoon peak travel hours. The length of highway included in the evaluation is approximately 32 km (20 mi). The evaluation compared data from the period January–April 1997 with incident data collected by the Pennsylvania State Police during the corresponding period in 1996. The data were analyzed to determine the effect of the Service Patrol on incident response times, incident clearance times, and incident-related congestion factors (i.e., vehicle-hours of delay, fuel consumption, and vehicle emissions). This evaluation yielded the following results: ( a) the Service Patrol reduced incident response times by approximately 8.7 min; ( b) the Service Patrol cleared incidents approximately 8.3 min faster than before implementation; ( c) the Service Patrol reduced hours of delay by approximately 547,000 h per year; ( d) total monetary savings resulting from implementation of the Service Patrol are approximately $6.5 million per year; and ( e) the public response to the Service Patrol is overwhelmingly favorable.

Deriving Incident Management Measures Using Incident Probability Models and Simulation

Incidents cause a large part of congestion and subsequent costs. Incident management is aimed at preventing the occurrence of incidents as well as minimizing the impact of incidents that occur. Two elements of incident management are addressed: the modeling of the incident occurrence probability for freeway sections and the modeling of the logistics of incident removal by various emergency services (tow trucks, ambulances, etc.). Models are presented that relate incident probabilities to road and traffic variables such as number of lanes, type of section (e.g., weaving sections), and traffic volumes and composition. These models give insight into the factors determining incident frequencies and may be used to design incident prevention measures. The results indicate that, for example, the splitting up of weaving sections into a series of joins and forks may be a very effective way to reduce the number of incidents. Traffic characteristics and the number of lanes also play important roles. These incident probability models can be used to generate the input for a logistics model. Such a model is presented. It was developed to test the effectiveness of various procedures aimed at minimizing incident duration. Examples of such procedures are the optimal location of emergency and recovery vehicles, given the spatial pattern of incident occurrence; optimal assignment of such vehicles to incidents; and various strategies for going from the vehicle's station to the incident site. These strategies include the permission to use the shoulder lane for emergency services. Experiments with the models for a heavily trafficked part of the Dutch freeway network indicate that a combination of such strategies can reduce incident congestion costs by nearly one-half.

Deriving Incident Management Measures Using Incident Probability Models and Simulation

Incidents cause a large part of congestion and subsequent costs. Incident management is aimed at preventing the occurrence of incidents as well as minimizing the impact of incidents that occur. Two elements of incident management are addressed: the modeling of the incident occurrence probability for freeway sections and the modeling of the logistics of incident removal by various emergency services (tow trucks, ambulances, etc.). Models are presented that relate incident probabilities to road and traffic variables such as number of lanes, type of section (e.g., weaving sections), and traffic volumes and composition. These models give insight into the factors determining incident frequencies and may be used to design incident prevention measures. The results indicate that, for example, the splitting up of weaving sections into a series of joins and forks may be a very effective way to reduce the number of incidents. Traffic characteristics and the number of lanes also play important roles. These incident probability models can be used to generate the input for a logistics model. Such a model is presented. It was developed to test the effectiveness of various procedures aimed at minimizing incident duration. Examples of such procedures are the optimal location of emergency and recovery vehicles, given the spatial pattern of incident occurrence; optimal assignment of such vehicles to incidents; and various strategies for going from the vehicle's station to the incident site. These strategies include the permission to use the shoulder lane for emergency services. Experiments with the models for a heavily trafficked part of the Dutch freeway network indicate that a combination of such strategies can reduce incident congestion costs by nearly one-half.

THE ROLE OF TOWING SERVICES AT MOTOR VEHICLE CRASHES

A survey of tow truck services operating in a defined area of the south-east suburbs of Melbourne was undertaken to determine their potential for delivering emergency medical care at the scene of crashes. Most towing firms have an association with a panel-beating shop, and operate within a limited area of one to three miles radius. The rapid response of tow trucks to crash scenes is due to their well-developed intelligence network of "spotters" and the short distances the trucks travel. Very little first aid is provided by the drivers, although one-fifth had some first aid training at some time. In about one-half of the calls to crashes a damaged vehicle is still at the scene, in about 20% an ambulance is called, and in about 5% a hospital admission occurs. Direct observation of 22 crashes suggests that on average, tow trucks arrive at a crash scene five minutes before the ambulance, and fifteen minutes before the police. There is a good case for making first aid training a preerequisite for issue of a tow truck operator's license.