B737 captain reported tugs that are outfitted with led headlights blind the flight crew resulting in...

Attributes
ACN	1322985
Time
Date	201601
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 171 Flight Crew Type 10000
Events
Anomaly	Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown

Narrative:

This has now happened multiple times so I am writing it up. The tugs are being fitted with led headlights that are so bright that it is difficult to see the safety zone right in front of it and; at times; the marshaller. And since we have no way to communicate with them except flashing our lights; they usually think it's a belt loader or towbar too close to the line; not the blinding lights. In my conversation with the ramp tonight I learned that they don't have a light switch; and are afraid that when it's cold; the tug may not restart; so they leave it running.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 Captain reported tugs that are outfitted with LED headlights blind the flight crew resulting in difficulty seeing the safety zone and/or the Marshaller.

Narrative: This has now happened multiple times so I am writing it up. The tugs are being fitted with LED headlights that are so bright that it is difficult to see the safety zone right in front of it and; at times; the Marshaller. And since we have no way to communicate with them except flashing our lights; they usually think it's a belt loader or towbar too close to the line; NOT the blinding lights. In my conversation with the Ramp tonight I learned that they don't have a light switch; and are afraid that when it's cold; the tug may not restart; so they leave it running.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

B737 captain reported tugs that are outfitted with led headlights blind the flight crew resulting in difficulty seeing the safety zone and/or the marshaller.