Towing Issues: towing without disconnecting driveshaft, zf meritor, tow truck driver

Question
Hi,my name is Bek, with G.V. Express Transportation. Can you give me ur expert opinion on this situation.  We recently had our 2003 Peterbilt stalled inside a warehouse dock.  The truck has the ZF Meritor fully automatic transmission, which was stuck in reverse and would not start because it was in safe mode due to not enough time to allow the air pressure to build up in the air tanks before shutting the truck off. Warehouse personnel told my driver he had to shut it down immediately because they were indoors.  We called a wrecker and explained the situation, but when they arrived, the tow truck driver did not disconnect the driveshaft on the Peterbilt.  Not only that, his own wrecker kept stalling over and over due to the sheer weight of the load (almost 80,000 lbs.)as he was trying to move it uphill out of the dock.  Well he finally got enough momentum to DRAG the truck and trailer, fully loaded, out of the (inside) dock, around the whole building for about 600-800 feet.  Long story short, got the truck started, along with a burst of smoke emitting from the engine compartment.  Tow truck driver said that was normal.  My driver said it was NOT normal.  But truck was running, so down the road my driver went.  Not very far because a few miles down the road, the engine blew up, causing the bearings to seize and the rods to go through the block, through the head, and it even hit the ecm, causing a fire.  Now, this truck was just warrantied by a third party that did a full engine oil analyses and dyno, so there was NO pre existing engine failure.  I am told by mechanics that definitely the driveshaft should have been disconnected, and that dragging the engine caused a "reversing of the engine" effect which is detrimental and caused the engine failure.  Any info on how dragging a fully loaded automatic truck, while stuck in reverse, could cause such damage would help.

Answer
Bek, can you send me an e-mail about this question.  Flatman57@aol.com  with "all experts follow up" to get though spam filters.

There is a lot here to discuss and it will get a bit complicated..

I have been talking to a few mechanics here and I am getting some different answers.. I will keep up on getting more information on this question...

But I do believe that there were a few mistakes made here, and while I can not speak for every tow truck driver, I would of removed the driveshaft before I moved the truck.

I understand how the transmission affects everything and while locked in reverse it also poses "severe risks" to the tow truck operator when he is removing "the loaded driveline" (several operators are injured each year by them.

I am looking forward to talking more to you about this issue as in the next few days I should have more information.