Jonathon Gutierrez is an outside service technician with Pomp’s Tire Service in Wyoming, Michigan. He previously handled roadside commercial tire calls and helped train newer technicians. His firsthand account of the dangers of roadside tire service comes from a 2021 call on I-96, where a box truck struck the semi his team was working on and their service truck.

In this episode…

The dangers of roadside tire service become immediate when a technician is working beside highway traffic. Jonathon was supervising a trainee on a semi truck’s left steer tire when he saw a box truck drift across the shoulder line. It struck the semi and their service truck while the trainee was underneath.

For multi-location operators, roadside technician safety depends on consistent preparation across service trucks and shops. Jonathon searched for a medical kit in the damaged truck, then gathered supplies from people at the scene while caring for Josh. The conversation also covers Josh’s recovery and the demands of nighttime roadside calls.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[02:04] A roadside call becomes a training opportunity

[04:15] A box truck strikes the service site

[10:09] Jonathon gathers supplies to care for Josh

[17:34] Josh recovers and returns to tire work

[19:51] Roadside technicians keep truck drivers moving

[21:05] Night calls place more demands on technicians

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Pomp’s Tire Service Website
• Tread Partners
• Gain Traction Podcast on YouTube
• Gain Traction Podcast Website
• Mike Edge on LinkedIn

Quotable Moments:

• “You cannot have a bad day with a good attitude.”
• “So I want to say, from the time I seen it to the time it stopped, about 15 seconds.”
• “It's like we got to get you patched up, and that's when I started looking for medical supplies.”
• “So it's like every time those truck drivers are down, we're there for them.”
• “All you have is your wits, a phone, and just everything you've learned throughout your you know your career.”

Action Steps:

1. Flag highway shoulder calls during dispatch. Confirm who is supervising a trainee before sending the service truck.
2. Inspect each roadside service truck’s medical kit and make sure assigned technicians know where to find it.
3. Rehearse an emergency response in which a coworker is injured and the service truck is damaged. Assign who calls for help and who directs responders to the scene.
4. Review the dangers of roadside tire service at the next operations meeting. Compare dispatch procedures and emergency contacts across locations.
5. Check the phones used for night calls and confirm technicians have the current shop and emergency contact numbers.