Heroes of the Telegraph/Chapter 4

When you put your cool hands against a warm cup of coffee or tea, your hands will eventually get warmer because heat is transferring from the cup to your skin. You have your hands on more cash, which you can use to expand a business. That way, if the former owner calls the police to report a stolen vehicle, the police can explain what happened. As the truck backs up to the target vehicle, a long arm, called a stinger, extends out along the pavement behind the truck. When it's time to tow the target vehicle, the stealth truck undergoes a remarkable transformation. The stinger then extends under the target car and functions just like a regular tow truck. When it goes into action, the stinger telescopes out from beneath the truck, unfolds and then functions like a regular tow truck. When all is ready, the agent approaches the vehicle with the tow truck and deploys the stinger, controlling it with a hydraulic control box inside the truck's cab. Some state laws require that all repos happen without creating a "breach of the peace." That means that if the owner notices the repo in progress and comes out of the house yelling and screaming, the repo agent can't legally repossess the car.

In the United States, each state has laws that cover repossession practices. At each street corner is built a brick chamber, large enough to admit a man, and with a cover flush with the street. When it does, a single Helios airplane flying at 60,000 feet will cover a service area approximately 40 miles in diameter. The only "stealth" option in this case is to try to make the repo when the owner will be away from home or job site for a few hours. A few tow trucks even use pneumatic equipment or electric motors to get the job done. Legal hassles are one thing, but we haven't even started talking about the dangers a repo man faces on the job. People who stop paying their car loans don't always wait at home for the repo man to show up. On the other hand, something the size of a motor home requires a heavy-duty tow truck, which is not at all stealthy. This method is used if a car is too damaged or heavy for a standard tow truck, or if the vehicle has four-wheel or all-wheel-drive. The method is very secure, but it takes a fair amount of time and effort to get the vehicle into position and it can also scratch or damage the vehicle being towed.

An even craftier method of vehicle repossession involves a truck that's more than it appears to be. The repo agent will usually park the truck out of sight while he or she checks the VIN to determine if the vehicle is front- or rear-wheel drive. That stealth gear doesn't come cheap -- a full system, including frame stiffening and suspension modifications, will cost about $15,000 installed. The tow boom is lifted, the drive wheels come off the ground and the tow truck can pull away. Another stealth repo truck design stows the stinger beneath the truck. Really huge repo items might require a massive boom arm or a strong winch and maybe even a semi truck to haul the item away. A true stealth repo truck looks like an ordinary pickup truck. Much like "ribbon cable," its signature shape has earned names like "flat cable" and "multi-planar cable." The purpose of this arrangement is to maximize the potential number of wires while minimizing the footprint, which allows for many wires to fit in tight spaces. The story of the first Atlantic cable is told elsewhere (see Telegraph), and it must suffice here to say that in 1858, after two disappointments, Bright successfully accomplished what to many had seemed an impossible feat, and within a few days of landing the Irish end of the line at Valentia he was knighted in Dublin.

A flatbed truck uses an electric cable winch to pull cars up onto the bed. Once the repo man locates the vehicle, he or she checks the vehicle identification number, or VIN, to be absolutely sure it's the correct car or truck. A repo man can probably make as much as a few hundred dollars per recovery, although for larger jobs, such as boats or heavy equipment, the cost may be based on the weight of the item being repossessed. It can take up to three hours to get a full charge. Would you know what to wear or how to get dressed? Handle all your tools with care, and wear gloves and eye protection if you need to cut into the wall or floor to find or fix your wires. The inventor of Levi's jeans has gone on record saying you never need to wash your jeans, and studies have shown that whether you wear them for two weeks or two years without washing them, they'll have the same amount of bacteria. Twenty years before he had seen whips made of it in Singapore, and believed that it would be useful in the fabrication of surgical apparatus.

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