A MECHANIC DESCRIBES THE NUMEROUS RUNWAY INCURSIONS INVOLVING RUNWAY CROSSINGS; RUNWAY APPROACH THRESHOLD CROSSINGS; CLOSE CALLS AND GO AROUNDS NOT BEING REPORTED THAT INVOLVE HIGH SPEED SUPER TOW TRACTORS AND APPROACHING ACFT.

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I WAS PART OF A 2-MAN CREW; ASSIGNED TO MOVE A B747 ACFT FROM THE N RAMP OF THE HANGAR TO THE DOMESTIC TERMINAL. TO SAVE FUEL; WE WERE TOLD TO USE THE LARGE; HIGH SPD SUPER TUG TRACTOR. THE WX WAS FOGGY AND RAINING. VISIBILITY WAS APPROX 1/2 MI. RWY XXR WAS IN USE FOR TKOFS AND LNDGS. GND CTL WAS VECTORING ACFT FROM THE HANGAR AREA TO THE TERMINAL AREA HAVING THEM HOLD SHORT OF THE APCH AREA FOR RWY XXR FOR RWY XXR ARRS. AS IS STANDARD PRACTICE; THE CTLR WAITS UNTIL THE CURRENT RWY XXR ARR ACFT CLEARS THE APCH AREA THEN CLEARS THE TRANSITIONING ACFT (USUALLY REQUESTING A GOOD RATE OF SPD) THROUGH THE RWY XXR APCH AREA. DURING OUR HIGH SPD TOW; I WAS IN THE ACFT COCKPIT COMMUNICATING WITH THE GND CTLR. I COULD NOT SEE THE CTL TWR FROM THE RWY XXR APCH AREA DUE TO THE LOW VISIBILITY NOR COULD I SEE THE INCOMING ACFT ON APCH FOR RWY XXR. THE INBOUND ACFT WOULD ONLY BECOME VISIBLE WHEN BREAKING THROUGH THE FOG. AFTER AN INBOUND ACFT FOR RWY XXR PASSED OVER; THE CTLR CLRED US TO MOVE AND REQUESTED A 'GOOD RATE' UNTIL WE PASSED THE RWY XXR APCH THRESHOLD AREA. I RESPONDED AND SAID 'WE WILL GIVE YOU OUR BEST RATE WHICH IS ONLY 10 MPH.' WE PROCEEDED AND WHEN WE WERE ONLY APPROX 2/3 OF THE WAY THROUGH THE APCH AREA; THE NEXT INBOUND ARR ACFT FOR RWY XXR PASSED OVER THE TAIL OF OUR ACFT. AFTER WE HAD EXITED THE RWY; I ASKED THE CTLR IF HE WAS AWARE THAT HE HAD MADE A BAD CALL GETTING US THROUGH THE RWY XXR APCH AREA; AND THE INBOUND ACFT PASSED OVER OUR TAIL. THE CTLR RESPONDED AND SAID HE THOUGHT THE INBOUND ACFT PASSED BEHIND US AND THAT THE LNDG ACFT WAS AWARE OR MADE AWARE OF OUR POS. I TOLD HIM THAT I DIDN'T KNOW HOW IT LOOKED FROM THE TWR BUT FROM MY VIEW; FROM THE COCKPIT; PART OF THE INBOUND ACFT PASSED OVER OUR TAIL. I THEN ASKED THE CTLR IF HE WAS AWARE OF OUR MAX SPD OF 10 MPH. HE ASKED ME IF WHEN I INITIALLY CALLED FOR CLRNC; I ASKED FOR HIGH SPD TOWING CLRNC. I RESPONDED THAT I DID; AND THEN WE BOTH MUTUALLY AGREED THAT 10 MPH SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED A HIGH SPD TOW. THIS INCIDENT IS BY NO MEANS AN ISOLATED EVENT. THE USE OF THESE HIGH SPD TRACTORS HAS BEEN IN EFFECT FOR APPROX 18 MONTHS BY OUR COMPANY HERE. DURING THIS TIME I HAVE SEEN AND HEARD OF MANY SUCH INCIDENTS INVOLVING RWY XINGS; AND RWY APCH THRESHOLD XINGS; INCLUDING CLOSE CALLS AND GARS UNDER SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES. I BELIEVE THAT MANY OF THESE INCIDENTS QUALIFY AS RWYS INCURSIONS BUT ARE NOT BEING RPTED AS SUCH. SINCE USING THESE HIGH SPD TRACTORS; AND SEEING THE HIGH FREQUENCY OF THESE RWY INCURSIONS; I ASSUMED THAT THE ATC CTLRS AND THEIR SUPVRS WOULD TAKE CORRECTIVE ACTION TO PREVENT THEIR RECURRENCE. I WAS WRONG. JUST THE OPPOSITE HAS OCCURRED. THEIR FREQUENCY HAS INCREASED BECAUSE OF THE NEW TOWING SPD RESTRS ON THESE HIGH SPD TRACTORS. DUE TO SEVERAL ACFT DAMAGED AND ACCIDENTS WITH THESE HIGH SPD TRACTORS; WHILE TOWING ACFT ON WET PAVEMENT; NEW RESTR SPDS ARE NOW IN EFFECT. ACFT MAX TOWING SPDS: DRY PAVEMENT -- STRAIGHT -- 15 MPH MAX. TURNS -- 10 MPH MAX. WET PAVEMENT -- STRAIGHT -- 10 MPH MAX. TURNS -- 5 MPH MAX. OUR COMPANY TOLD US THAT THESE RESTR SPDS WERE DISCUSSED WITH THE CITY AND FAA; AND THAT EVEN AT THESE LOWERED SPDS; THESE TOWS WERE STILL TO BE CONSIDERED HIGH SPD TOWS. THEY ALSO SAID THAT THE CTLRS WERE MADE AWARE OF THESE NEW SPD RESTRS. I HAVE OBSERVED JUST THE OPPOSITE IN DAY-TO-DAY OPS. THE CTLRS SEEM TO KNOW THAT THE HIGH SPD TOWING SPDS ARE LESS THAN THOSE FOR TAXIING ACFT; BUT THEY DO NOT SEEM TO KNOW OUR MAX SPD RESTRS; ESPECIALLY ON WET PAVEMENT (10 MPH); NOR DO THEY SEEM TO REALIZE THE SLOW ACCELERATION OF THESE HIGH SPD TRACTORS FROM A STOPPED POS. TO ILLUSTRATE THIS POINT; THE FOLLOWING EVENTS OCCURRED LATER ON THE SAME FOGGY DAY OF MY RPTED INCIDENT. A CTLR ASKED 2 DIFFERENT ACFT; UNDER HIGH SPD TOW; WHAT THEIR MAX SPD WAS AND IF THEY THOUGHT THEY COULD MAKE IT PAST THE SAME RWY XXR THRESHOLD BEFORE THE NEXT RWY XXR ARR. LATER; A CTLR CLRED ANOTHER COMPANY'S HIGH SPD TOW THROUGH THE SAME RWY XXR THRESHOLD AND HAD TO URGENTLY AMEND HIS INSTRUCTIONS TO 'STOP; STOP' WHEN HE SAW THAT THE SLOW PROGRESSION OF THE HIGH SPD TOW WAS NOT GOING TO CLR THE RWY XXR THRESHOLD BEFORE THE NEXT RWY XXR ARR. UPON THE COMPLETION OF OUR HIGH SPD TOW TO THE GATE; I DISCUSSED OUR INCIDENT WITH MY TRACTOR DRIVER. HE SAID THAT THE EXACT SAME OCCURRENCE HAPPENED THE DAY BEFORE AT THE SAME LOCATION. A RWY XXR ARR ACFT FLEW OVER THE HIGH SPD TOW IN THE APCH AREA. I UNDERSTAND THE ECONOMICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL REASONS FOR USING THESE HIGH SPD TOW TRACTORS; ESPECIALLY WITH THE PRICE OF OIL AT OVER $100 A BARREL; BUT I BELIEVE THE LIMITATIONS OF THESE TRACTORS SHOULD BE REALIZED; ESPECIALLY AT ZZZ. TO TRANSITION BTWN THE HANGAR AREA AND THE TERMINAL AREA YOU MUST CROSS (AT THE VERY LEAST) THE RWY XXR THRESHOLD. WHEN THE PAVEMENT IS WET; AND THE HIGH SPD TRACTORS ARE LIMITED TO 10 MPH STRAIGHT AND 5 MPH IN TURNS; I WOULD NOT CONSIDER THESE MOVEMENTS AS HIGH SPD TOWS. BEFORE THE USE OF THESE HIGH SPD TRACTORS; ANY TIME AN ACFT WAS TOWED; ANYWHERE IN THE MOVEMENT AREA; A CITY ESCORT WAS ALWAYS REQUIRED AND SPECIAL ATTN WAS GIVEN BY THE ATC CTLRS BECAUSE OF THEIR SLOW SPD. THE WET PAVEMENT SPD LIMIT RESTRS OF THE HIGH SPD TRACTORS (5 AND 10 MPH) APPROACH THE SPDS NORMALLY USED BY CONVENTIONAL TOWS; YET NO CITY ESCORT IS REQUIRED AND NOT ENOUGH SPECIAL ATTN IS GIVEN TO THESE (SO CALLED) HIGH SPD TOWS BY THE CTLRS. RESOLUTION: TO RESOLVE THIS ONGOING PROB; I SUGGEST (AT LEAST) THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS BE TAKEN: 1) EDUCATE ALL ATC CTLRS AS TO THE SPD LIMITATIONS OF THESE HIGH SPD TRACTORS WHILE TOWING ACFT ON DRY PAVEMENT AND WET PAVEMENT. FURTHERMORE; INSTRUCT THEM ON THE SLOW ACCELERATION RESPONSE TIME OF THESE TRACTORS TO ACCELERATE TO THOSE MAX SPDS FROM A STOPPED POS. THIS KNOWLEDGE WOULD HELP THE CTLRS MAKE BETTER DECISIONS ON WHEN TO TRY TO CROSS THESE HIGH SPD TOWS ACROSS A RWY OR RWY THRESHOLD. 2) DO NOT PERMIT THE USE OF THESE HIGH SPD TRACTORS DURING WET PAVEMENT CONDITIONS. AT 10 MPH MAX SPD; THESE TOWS ARE NOT HIGH SPD TOWS. THESE TOWS ARE SLOW TOWS AND THE EXTRA AMOUNT OF CARE REQUIRED TO 'SAFELY' GET THESE TOWS ACROSS A RWY OR RWY THRESHOLD; IS NOT WORTH THE DISRUPTION IT CAUSES AT A BUSY ARPT. WHEN A CTLR HAS TO HOLD THESE TOWS FOR EXTRA LONG PERIODS OF TIME (WAITING FOR AN ABNORMAL WIDE SPACING BTWN LNDG ACFT AND/OR ACFT TAKING OFF) TO SAFELY CROSS THESE TOWS; ALL THE ACFT BEHIND THESE TOWS ARE DELAYED IN GETTING TO THEIR DESTS. DURING BUSY PERIODS; I HAVE HAD THE CTLR REQUEST OUR HIGH SPD TOW (DURING WET PAVEMENT CONDITIONS 10 MPH MAX) TO PULL OFF ON AN INTERSECTING TXWY TO LET THE LONG LINE OF ACFT BEHIND US GET PAST US. WHEN YOU CONSIDER ALL THE ACFT BEHIND THESE SLOW TOWS; WITH ALL THEIR ENGS RUNNING AND HOW LONG THEY ARE DELAYED; I FEEL WE ARE WASTING A WHOLE LOT MORE FUEL THAN WE ARE SAVING. NO ONE WOULD BE INTERESTED IN FUEL SAVINGS IF ONE OF THESE RECURRING INCIDENTS EVER TURNED INTO A DEADLY ACCIDENT. PLEASE TAKE ACTION SOON.