Ride along with the Lehigh Valley Freeway Service Patrol, a ‘big-time help’ to stranded motorists, disabled vehicles and first responders

ON ROUTE 22, NEAR ROUTE 512 — And, we’re stuck, Glen and me, after an apparent accident on a recent rush-hour Friday afternoon..

Glen is Glen Greiss, an affable, jovial operator of a super-duty truck that he rides most weekday mornings and afternoon rush hours along Route 22.

“They’re calling out the cavalry,” Greiss says to his radio dispatcher from inside the truck. “I don’t know what’s going on there. I’m stuck in traffic.”

Then he tells me: “The only way we’re getting there anytime soon is if a trooper comes. We’ll go down the center [of the highway].”

Moments later, a trooper speeds along the shoulder of the road, but Greiss stays in the right traffic lane, because the police cruiser is going too fast to his liking. Soon, a firefighter driving between lanes blares the horn from his truck and parts the sea of traffic, enabling Greiss and his tow truck to quickly follow behind and arrive at the scene of a two-car crash, both vehicles off the road but still snarling the motorists heading east.

‘Get the road open’

It’s all in a day’s work for Greiss and the Lehigh Valley Freeway Service Patrol, a free program that’s been operating here since 2005. Sponsored by PennDOT, two tow trucks help move stranded motorists’ vehicles out of the way each weekday during rush hour, 6-9 a.m. and 3-7 p.m.

Greiss patrols a section of Route 22 from the 15th Street exit near Allentown to the Route 33 interchange in Bethlehem Township, about a 25-mile round trip. Other drivers, including Cory Ingram of Bethlehem, routinely cruise and safeguard the roads as well. On one recent afternoon, Ingram traveled along Interstate 78 from Exit 49 in Upper Macungie Township to Exit 60 at the border of Lehigh and Northampton counties.

Dressed in a fluorescent yellow-and-black uniform, Greiss, who used to be an auto mechanic, has driven four years, making him the elder route statesman among the Lehigh Valley operators. They work for EVB Towing of Plymouth Township, Montgomery County, which has had the contract with PennDOT since December 2022, according to Andrew Dorley, the company’s vice president of operations and human resources.

“PennDOT just wants a vehicle off safely to get the road open again,” Dorley said.

It might sound cold, he acknowledged, but that’s the goal: Motorists whose vehicles are involved in mishaps during peak traffic times are safely moved, but have to figure out what to do after that, he said. The company merely provides emergency assistance; it is not a towing service. It is, as someone said on this day, a “keep-the-traffic-flowing service.”

Beyond the roadside assistance and removal, operators like Greiss are trained in first aid and CPR.

Shortly before the crash and response, Greiss couldn’t recall an episode where his first-aid training kicked in. He recalled being on the road during an incident involving a shooting, but he was not called to provide medical aid.

The East Allen Township resident said his favorite parts of the job are being alone and that the job is constantly different.

“Honestly,” Greiss said, “doing this job every day, you try not to think about what happened the day before, because you’ll never be able to figure out how [drivers] do the things they do out here.”

Lesser known but valuable

Most motorists — including the ones stranded that Friday afternoon along Route 22 near Route 512 in a fender-bender accident that led to no serious injuries and one car being towed — don’t realize the service exists, according to Becky Bradley, executive director of Lehigh Valley Planning Commission.

Bradley, who recently wrote about the service and other lesser-known transportation projects in a column for The Morning Call , noted not only do the patrol operators get unfortunate motorists’ vehicles off the region’s most intimidating roads, they also lessen traffic jams, prevent rubberneck accidents and ultimately reduce carbon emissions with motorists spending less time sitting idle on the highways.

“It’s a good thing to have them out here, especially when we’re out here on the road,” said Mark Bakanowsky, who towed one of the cars in the accident for Bath Auto Towing of Hanover Township, Lehigh County.

“I love it when [Greiss] is out there with that sign. It does help the people slow down,” Bakanowsky said. “It’s a big-time help.”

The billboard-like sign atop Greiss’ truck alerts motorists to slow down. It has amber and white lights and directional signals that usher motorists to move over.

Taxpayers help fund the two roaming tow trucks, whose drivers are trained to respond as quickly as possible to incidents on the Lehigh Valley’s major highways, at an estimated annual cost of $582,000.

PennDOT spokesperson Sean Brown said in 2023, patrol drivers responded to 1,564 incidents, with about three-fourths of the assistance provided for disabled vehicles or crashes. He said half the cost is covered by federal funding, with the state kicking in the other half The cost over the span of contracts varies based on items such as fuel.

Greiss would make nearly five approximately 25-mile roundtrips along Route 22 during his recent four-hour shift. He said he clocked about 1,100 miles during the week of April 22 alone. Between shifts, he drives from the Upper Macungie Township depot to his Northampton County home, then back to the depot not far from the Route 22 split with I-78.

He stopped a couple of more times on the tour, once to check on a family that had pulled off to the shoulder near the Route 33 interchange, but they had just stopped to allow their dog to stretch and have a drink. The other stop was near the Fullerton interchange of Route 22 for a motorist whose car stalled.

It was a seemingly quiet day, all things considered, in terms of emergencies. During the morning rush hour, Greiss assisted with traffic control for one motorist who replaced a busted drive belt in his Mercedes Benz’ engine, while a second driver dealt with a flat tire.

Greiss said he responds to a higher number of crashes in nice weather.

“I have more accidents when it’s sunny out than when it’s rainy,” he said, letting out another round of laughter.

Morning Call reporter Anthony Salamone can be reached at asalamone@mcall.com .