West York Truck and Auto Body says it’s been their busiest winter in several years. They repair trucks and tractor-trailers, and they’ve towed several totaled cars off icy roads recently.
They expect even more business over the next couple days.
“I’m worried about where I’m going to put it,” says owner Jim Valotta. “If you look around the lot there’s not a whole lot of room left. It’s just a little bit more damage than what we’ve ever seen before.”
They were working on a truck that hit a utility pole in the snow storm last week. Luckily, none of their customers were hurt in the wrecks; but the cars come in with serious damage consistent with higher-speed crashes.
“When you’re going 15 miles an hour and you wreck [on ice], it’s like going 35 miles an hour,” says mechanic Dale Swartzbaugh. “I’ve seen some that actually the insurance companies came in and totaled them. they were pretty smacked up.”
The crew says it’s the ice that sets this winter apart and has caused so many more crashes than they normally see.