Tag Archives: winnipeg towing company

Your car’s least favorite things about winter

Winter DrivingGroundhog day has been and gone, and winter is still here.  It’s not showing any signs of going away for good anytime soon.

One of the problems with the gradual approach of spring is that the temperature is inconsistent, which speeds the formation of potholes. While they form all year round, they’re particularly evident at this time of year. The season’s freeze/thaw cycles really bring out the worst in Winnipeg’s roads, causing the pavement crack and then heave upward when water finds its way into the crack, and expands when it becomes ice.  Potholes can be hard to see, and when they get covered in snow or slush, they’re particularly hard to see.  It’s like they’re lying in wait for you to drove over them too fast, and wreck some part of your car.

Icy conditions are quite common, and can be disguised (and made worse) by a thin dusting of snow.  Even if your car is equipped with snow tires, you’ll slide on the ice and face a potential accident.  Fluctuating temperatures (warmer, sunny days and hard freezing nights) can lead to the formation of “black ice”, a clear covering that looks like wet asphalt, but is really a slick coating of ice that’s ready to throw you and your car into the ditch, or worse.

If your car’s made an unscheduled trip off-road, or you’ve got a flat tire, a dead battery, or worse – you’ve had a traffic accident, remember that Dr. Hook is here to help you.  In an emergency, call us 24 hours a day at 956-HOOK (4665) or Toll Free 1-800-561-4665.  Better yet, sign up online up now for our roadside assistance program, to get the peace of mind that comes with knowing your towing needs will be take care of in an emergency.

 

Call Us Before the Cops

Walking out of a restaurant, shopping mall or even your office, there’s always that breath of relief when you can find your car waiting for you.

It’s a natural reaction. Given the number of auto thefts in Winnipeg, we are always on alert for our vehicles to be sitting safely where we left them.

At times though, we find that our vehicle isn’t where we parked, and the panic sets in. Even if there isn’t evidence of a theft like broken glass or a discarded break-in device, it’s natural to assume that your car has been stolen.

This isn’t always the case though. Your car may have been towed without you knowing it.

Determining if your car has been towed is fairly easy.

First, look for any signs indicating you’re in a tow-away zone. Signage may be obstructed by trees, faded past readability or have been vandalized, so you should do a thorough check to see if any warnings are in your parking area.

Second, check for any reserved parking signs. You may have accidentally parked in an owned space. Contact the property owners to see if they would have had any reports of improper parking. They may have called Manitoba’s leading towing company to remove your vehicle.

Finally, if you don’t see any signage, or don’t believe you have violated any parking laws, then it is still best to call Dr. Hook. We may have information on your vehicle even if you have reason to believe your car was indeed stolen.

Remember – nothing can be resolved by panic, and alerting the police may not be necessary. Take all the steps possible to ensure that your vehicle is indeed secure before calling Manitoba’s finest.

Beware the Re-Freeze!

We were so close… so very, very close to winter being over.

With warmer temperatures over the last few days, pavement and asphalt could be seen again on sidewalks and streets, or at least through murky puddles. Like little kids, we would happily splash through these mini basins of water as we drove to and fro. Sure, we were still digging ourselves out of another large snowfall, but the end was in sight – our warmer days were in sight and we would soon be in the clear.

Then Tuesday evening happened.

With temperatures dropping into the -20 region overnight, freezing once again became an issue on Winnipeg streets, and with that comes the everpresent reminder of cautious driving.

Unfortunately, this cycle isn’t looking like it will slow down any time soon.

With this in mind, we want to encourage you to be mindful of road – and especially highway conditions around Winnipeg. Blowing snow from the previous fall (and another forecast to be on its way next week) is going to make driving harder, along with melt-and-freeze temperatures that look to take us almost through the end of the month.

Should an emergency arise, don’t hesitate for a moment to call Winnipeg’s towing experts. We provide roadside assistance both in the city and outside the perimeter, and can help get you back on the road.

Thanks are Unneccessary but Appreciated

It’s often been said that a smile is all the thanks someone needs after doing a good deed; at Dr. Hook we believe this to be very true.

We often hear tales of this sort of gratitude from our clients after they have been helped from an unfortunate incident, but occasionally our drivers will also go above and beyond the call of duty – not for just rewards but because it is the right thing to do for the citizens of Winnipeg.

Such was the case last night.

This morning, Winnipeggers tuned into FAB 94.3 and heard Kelly Parker retell the story of one of our drivers who had knocked on his and other doors up and down his street, alerting him of the overnight parking ban while the city cleared residential streets of ice and snow.

Naturally, we were happy to hear that our operator had gone above and beyond in helping our city. We always like to see stories of our drivers doing a good deed in Winnipeg.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind Winnipeggers to be conscious of the overnight parking bans. If you’re not sure when your neighbourhood’s streets will be cleared, for an updated schedule from the City of Winnipeg and click here to find out which zone your home is situated in.

What to do if the “Check Engine” Light Comes On

Today’s automobiles are sophisticated machines.  The engine might provide the power, but at the heart of the vehicle is a computer monitoring numerous systems, making compensations for everything from engine temperature to exhaust temperature to the habits of the driver.

When the computer detects a condition that it cannot correct, it will inform the driver, usually by displaying the “Check Engine” light.

Many people don’t notice this indicator on their dashboards, or worse, they ignore it.  “Check Engine” could be displayed for anything from a loose gas cap to failure of a critical engine component that could, if not addressed, destroy the engine.

If your car displays this warning, find out why!  Check any other gauges or warning lights that your car has for other signs of trouble, especially concerning temperature or oil pressure.  Drive the car to a safe location and check to make sure there’s no smoke, steam, leaking liquid, or other signs of trouble.  If you’re comfortable doing so, check the oil level.  Be careful, components under the hood can be extremely hot, especially if there’s been a malfunction.

If you don’t find any signs of immediate problems, it’s likely okay to drive the car (preferably to a mechanic for service).  If you’ve found any of the above problems, or anything else that suggests that something’s not right with your car (noises, smells, etc.) then don’t risk damage – call the experts at Dr. Hook Towing and Recovery for roadside assistance.  A uniformed, trained professional will be dispatched to your location, and will be able to help diagnose the problem further.  If possible, you can continue your journey.  Should your vehicle require towing, Dr. Hook can arrange for speedy and safe transport for your vehicle to wherever you choose.  To reach Dr. Hook, Call 956-HOOK (4665) or Toll Free 1-800-561-4665.  To enroll in the Guaranteed Roadside Assistance Program, which assures speedy service even peak usage times, visit this link.

Roadside Assistance Program

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We understand accidents can happen anytime and anywhere. That’s why our Roadside Assistance is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days of the year. Join our Roadside Assistance Program today to receive priority service. The program is free to join and has no monthly fees. Give yourself a peace of mind this winter season.

Why Us?

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Well, that answer is easy….not simple, but easy.  First and foremost, Dr. Hook has a proven reputation for having a give-and-take relationship with our community.  We happily take the honor of being known as the best, and we give back everything we can to our community.  We contribute back to our community through numerous different programs including Teddy Bear Picnic, Children’s Festivals and Events, United Way Semi Truck Pull, Relay for Life, and many more.

Secondly, we are known for our safety measures to protect our employees, our customers, and the public.  We make sure all of our employees are trained to the fullest extent, and continue this training on a daily basis.  We are certified and insured through numerous different industry leading training programs, and were recently a huge part of the passing of the “Move Over Law” for Tow Trucks, further protecting the public.  Our staff wears additional clothing and equipment, including reflective vests, hard hats, and safety glasses, to push our safety measures even further.

Third, we are the “big dog”.  We are the largest, and most professional towing company in the area and always provide first class service.  Our fleet is large, and in-charge, and consists of more than 10 Heavy Duty Trucks, numerous Medium and Light Duty trucks, over 12 Tilt Deck Trucks, a Trailer Division, and an Air Cushion Recovery Division, all being operated by certified and insured operators.  Add our GPS Dispatch Technology and Roadside Assistance Program, and you have your answer.

That is why we are the Best!

Equipment Moving – Emergent Services

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Being ranked number one is not an honor we take lightly here at Dr. Hook. We strive to maintain our spot in the towing industry on a daily and even hourly basis. We keep up with the most efficient technology, have the highest trained staff, and our machinery and equipment is second to none. We have equipment that is immediate, and on-demand for almost anything you can think of. Drove your plane into a lake? We will be the ones to fish it out, quickly, efficiently, and always with our famous “first class” customer service.

All of our emergency equipment and operators are certified and fully insured. Our equipment ranges from Heavy Duty, Light Duty, Tilt Decks, and even Air cushion Recovery. The Heavy Duty Trucks are the 3 axle trucks that can tow up to 50 tons. These are the trucks that we use for Motor vehicles, Buses, and any other large vehicle that needs towing. Our Tilt Decks are what we use for items such as jungle gyms, golf carts, bobcats, boats, etc. And that predicament that we’ve all seen once or twice before: the jackknifed semi, or that plane that is supposed to be in the air, not in the lake. For those instances we have our Air Cushion Recovery Units. We use these for uprighting large vehicles, up to 5 ton trucks, over-turned containers, and sunken treasures….I mean, airplanes. As with all our services, they are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. These situations don’t always happen Monday thru Friday, so we are available every day.

Roadside Assistance Program

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We pride ourselves on being the company that can give assistance in your time of need, therefore, our Emergency Roadside Assistance Program is the core of our company. We utilize our professional staff and our state of the art dispatch technology to bring you prompt and courtesy assistance. Whether it is a flat tire, running off the road, or trying to make it that extra exit without a fill-up. We’ve all been there, and we would love to be the one that you call on when help is needed most.

As with every aspect of our business, our Roadside Assistance Program exceeds the expectations of our clients, and we are rated higher than all of our competitors. At Dr. Hook, members come first, and always will. Our emergency and urgent services are provided with the utmost promptness and professionalism. Our trained customer service professionals answer your calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. They dispatch your call and an exact arrival time is given. You are then greeted by a uniformed, trained professional, and treated to a first-class experience from start to finish. Our services include: changing a flat tire, refilling gas, dead battery jumps, or helping with a wrong turn into a ditch. These instances are daunting, and troubling for all of us, but they are a fact of life. We would love to be the ones to make your fact of life as easy as possible.

GPS Technology – Efficiency in Dispatch

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Dr. Hook is proud of being ahead of the game and staying current with the times.  We pride ourselves on our excellent GPS technology, and our top spot in the towing industry.  We have over 65 various towing vehicles that allow us to stay in the top ranking spot of Canada’s towing companies.  These vehicles aren’t the simple beastly trucks you are used to seeing on the road.  They are equipped with state-of the-art GPS tracking technology.  What does that mean to you?  The benefits for this technology are endless, and mutually shared between you as a customer and us as a company.

First and foremost, the GPS tracking basically turns our dispatchers into air traffic controllers.  It gives them the ability to see the locations of all vehicles in “real time” and helps with the efficiency of helping our customers, which is always our first priority.   GPS allows us to pinpoint, at any time, where our fleet of vehicles are, which calls have the highest priority, which trucks are en-route, and an almost exact to-the-second arrival time, as well as distinguishing which “type” of truck is nearest to each call location.  This allows us to stay ahead of the competition, and provides tools necessary to keep our customer service, speed, and accuracy above the rest.  Behind the scenes, it also allows us to run more efficiently, simplify staff training, reduces costs, and reduces idle working hours, which means more savings for us.  And you guessed it, more savings for you, the customer.