Stop & control
Freeze vehicle movement, establish leadership, address people, traffic, fire, weather, and environmental hazards.
Prepare · decide · communicate · stop
Recovery starts before anything is connected.
TrailSmart builds the judgment to control the scene, choose the lowest-energy suitable method, verify the complete load path, and stop when conditions exceed the team or equipment.
Training boundary
This tool supports planning and practice. It cannot certify a recovery as safe, replace hands-on instruction, your agency SOP, a vehicle or equipment manual, or an on-scene competent person. When information is missing or conditions change: stop, reassess, and escalate.
The recovery loop
Use the same six decisions every time
Stabilize
Prevent rollover, sliding, unexpected movement, worsening entrapment, and uncontrolled access to the scene.
Assess
Identify resistance, terrain, route, anchors, vehicle condition, rated points, load path, and changing conditions.
Choose
Prefer load reduction and the simplest controlled method. Treat “wait for qualified help” as a valid plan.
Verify & brief
Inspect every component, enforce the exclusion zone, assign one signal leader, agree on commands and stop triggers.
Execute & learn
Load progressively, monitor continuously, stop on any change, then inspect equipment and record lessons.
Pre-recovery gate
Ready for a method-specific briefing?
Confirm each item for the real scene. This checklist never authorizes the pull.
Learning path
Build judgment before complexity
Operational learning
Brief before. Learn after.
Save a concise training record. For agency work, use the controlling documentation system and SOP instead.