DOT's Freeway Service Patrol

[TOUGHLIFE]

Currently these units in the Las Vegas area use cell phones, CB radios, and scanners to monitor the NHP in locating vehicles in need of assistance. You might think they would be using the NSRS but I suspect that makes too much sense for government.

 

[selgaran]

Don't know how it works in NV, but in CA, FSP trucks are private tow companies that provide the service under contract. I'd suspect dealing with getting a bunch of independant private companies to drop the $$ on the radios needed, and then all the bother of getting them set up on the system is too much effort, never mind the issues of having private businesses on a public radio system.

In CA, near as I can tell, most all the FSP dispatching seems to be done on commercial trunked systems, usually LTR. The local traffic management center/CHP dispatch will have the ability to directly communicate with the FSP tows.

 

[TOUGHLIFE]

Freeway Service Patrols in NV

They are a small group of contract personnel who drive one style vehicle and are dressed the same. It would make sense for them to have a radio on the NSRS system but in the LV area they have no difficulty in finding vehicles in need of their services especially on I-15.

 

[edgeman]

I agree that it would make sense to be on the NSRS system. Channel 8 did a story about them last year and the staff are real mechanics.

When I lived in Orange county in the early 90's, they were just starting their patrol, it was 2 tow companies that had won the bid and all the traffic was handled by their own dispatchers. But, they didn't run all of the time.