Our Heavy Recovery Vehicles are ideal for recovering vehicles weighing up to 150 tonnes. They are equipped with twin 20-tonne hydraulic winches with a 12-tonne lift at the crosshead, as well as a 75-tonne rotating crane that can help recover machinery and shed loads. Our vehicles can also provide direct crane lift of a vehicle for loading onto a low-loader or travelling axle trailer.
To ensure that we can recover any type of HGV, we equip our Heavy Recovery Trucks with the highest standard of equipment, including 20-tonne damage-free lifting frames, hydraulic rear anchor legs, and 40-tonne high-pressure lifting mats.
Some new style tractor units are very low to the ground, which can make their recovery more time-consuming and difficult. Our heavy recovery trucks are equipped with VDZ Kits, which helps to reduce the primary and secondary lifts when carrying out recovery operations. This results in less time our team spends working under the casualty vehicle and next to live lanes of traffic, making the recovery operation safer and speedier.
Accidents involving livestock can be a distressing situation. To handle these situations as compassionately as possible, we have arrangements with local Veterinary Surgeons and specialist trailers on all projects.
As far back as 2004, John Saunders pioneered the specialist Recovery Impact Protection Vehicle. He saw the need for protection of personnel working on motorways during vehicle recovery and it is now in common use.
The purpose of this vehicle is to protect the scene whilst a vehicle recovery is being carried out in a live traffic lane or other dangerous situation. Sometimes referred to as a ‘Crash Cushion’ the purpose of the vehicle is for its’ ‘cushion’ to absorb the impact of being hit by another vehicle up to a set speed.
Over the years we have had several strikes on our vehicles when they have been stationary and simply doing their job, protecting their colleagues and members of the public. Thankfully, none of our team has sustained serious injury, but surprisingly, the majority of drivers who have collided with our vehicle say that they ‘simply didn’t see them’, which is hard to believe given the size of the vehicle, flashing beacons and arrows…!!
The Light Recovery Vehicles we provide on Roadworks Projects are capable of removing two vehicles at any one time. They are equipped with a slide bed deck (for the transportation of 4X4 vehicles, automatic vehicles, / trailers and light Luton bodied Vans).
They will also have a second car lift (spectacle lift), 4 tonne hydraulic winch and specialist motorcycle frame.
For customer comfort and safety, all vehicles have six-seater crew cabs and low access facility on the nearside for the elderly or disabled.
We ensure all our Light Recovery Vehicles are also equipped to the highest standard to ensure we can recover any accident damaged/broken down vehicles in any position or condition in the most safe, efficient manner within the designated free recovery areas.
Within our Fleet of Recovery Vehicles, we have several vehicles which act as our Incident Support Units.
These vehicles come in many guises, some are equipped to deal with fuel spillages, others are equipped with additional specialist equipment which can be deployed for speedy arrival on scene and some to carry out routine maintenance and minor repairs to our own recovery vehicles.
Our fuel drain vehicles are great to completely syphon fuel from tanks of crashed HGVs preventing damage to the road surface.
When providing a recovery service within roadworks recovery we aim to provide a complete recovery service.
By providing a Low Loader as part of the vehicle recovery service, we can carry out: -
The removal or recovery of heavy goods vehicles which have:
· Been burnt out
· Damaged front and rear tyres
· Cannot be suspend towed due to time constraints IE: no need to remove drive lines or prop shafts, or other damage preventing a suspended tow.
· Recover and remove shed loads e.g. plant and machinery
It can also be used for the recovery of a fully laden coach using a procedure which has been tried and tested over a number of years and has been approved by Police Authorities.
As part of our fleet of vehicles used in Roadworks Recovery, we provide a Front Line Accident Recovery Vehicle to carry out the fast removal of disabled vehicles via damage free lift from any situation.
This recovery vehicle is capable of lifting a car/van without damaging it from a distance regardless of vehicle position or any access restraints, IE vairaguard.
This vehicle can be used for vehicles where the brakes are locked on (as can happen with modern vehicle electronics/braking systems), or where a vehicle has been abandoned with no keys/driver.
This specialist vehicle can carry out a ‘no wheels to turn’ procedure where there has been a serious injury or fatality, and preservation of evidence is required by the Police Authority.
