Jerr-Dan Corp., a subsidiary of Oshkosh Truck Corp., is rolling out what it calls a “revolutionary” concept in towing equipment – its Side Loading Vehicle Retriever (SLVR), the result of a two-year design effort with partner Sampson Lift.
Jerr-Dan said the SLVR offers faster vehicle recovery – in as little as 45 seconds – and much easier access to tightly parked cars, while never blocking more than one lane during towing operations. That should allow towers to recover more vehicles per day and thus realize a short-term payback to cover the higher cost of an SLVR, said Jeff Weller, Jerr-Dan’s president.
He added that the SLVR is ideally suited for towing and recovery operations on narrow, congested city streets and in one-way traffic due to its patent-pending boom and mast assembly and lift arms that allows pick up to occur on both sides of the retriever, then “lifts and slides” the recovered vehicle onto the retriever’s platform.
Because the SLVR lifts and slides the vehicle from a parallel position, towers never block more than a single lane of traffic for any recovery, noted Weller, while the device’s unique lift arms that allow the operator to access and remove any car, even with no clearance at the front or rear of the vehicle. The SLVR’s arms are hydraulically operated to open and close around the recovered vehicle’s tires and are fully adjustable to accommodate wheelbases from 88 to 145 inches, he added.
Also, the SLVR is completely remote-controlled and monitored from inside the cab, meaning that the operator never needs to leave the truck cab or touch the vehicle being recovered, said Weller. The SLVR is also equipped with dual side-facing cameras to record the entire towing operation.
