Some stories punch through noise because they’re more than stories—they’re proof. Manny lost a leg at the hip in a car crash, powered his way to the Paralympics as a competitive powerlifter, and now shows up on Oregon roads as a tow operator with a calm focus and a hunger to work. He loves being the person who brings relief at the worst moment of someone’s day, and he’s chasing a bigger future: a CDL, longer runs, and eventually heavy wreckers.

We sit down with Manny and Cody from AE Towing in Eugene to share what the job really demands—fast response on police calls, safe movement on tight shoulders, and the ability to rig and roll under pressure. The missing piece is a modern, custom prosthetic socket built for hip disarticulation. His current socket cuts into his skin within an hour, forcing him to rely on crutches during long shifts. That steals his hands when he needs them most. The right socket would change everything: safer transfers in and out of the cab, fewer skin breakdowns, more stable footing around traffic, and the endurance to handle five- to six-hour stretches behind the wheel.

You’ll hear how the towing community rallied—shop owners, vendors, and friends sharing Manny’s journey across TikTok and Instagram—and why a GoFundMe with a clear goal can unlock a full career. Beyond the gear and the grind, this conversation hits the core of towing culture: service, resilience, and the quiet pride of getting people home. Manny doesn’t want favors; he wants tools and a shot to prove what he can already do.

If this resonates, help spread the word, share the episode, and consider contributing to Manny’s socket fund. Subscribe for more stories from the towing and recovery front lines, leave a review to boost the show, and tell us: what part of Manny’s journey fired you up most?

A tow operator flagged down on I‑10. A man trapped under a semi. A rotator lifts, the team coordinates with fire and EMS, and a life is moved toward safety. That’s where our conversation with Hall of Famer Kevin Goodyear begins—not with chrome and horsepower, but with service, training, and calm decisions when seconds matter.

We trace Kevin’s journey from riding in tow trucks as a kid to leading a multi-faceted operation built on faith, grit, and community. He shares the mechanics and mindset behind a 500,000‑pound dragline recovery that ran through the night: deadman anchors, D8 bulldozers, thirty-eight lines, and five heavy wreckers working in sync. It’s applied physics under floodlights, where load transfer and line angles decide whether a plan succeeds. Along the way, Kevin explains how cross-training with fire departments, understanding PTSD, and building a culture of purpose keep teams ready for the hardest calls.

Beyond the roadside, we dig into the policies that shape daily work. Kevin makes a compelling case for state towing associations as the thin line protecting lien laws, rotation fairness, lighting standards, and move-over enforcement. He’s raising the next generation inside his own company—operations, marketing, and legislative advocacy—and tapping national 20 groups to avoid tunnel vision. We also talk vendor partnerships and why reliable support after the sale matters as much as a spec sheet. The through line is unity: compete in business, collaborate in the halls of advocacy, and present towing as the professional emergency service it is.

If you care about safety, professionalism, and the future of the towing and recovery industry, this conversation will give you tools, stories, and a clear direction. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway—what’s one standard we should all raise next?

A lifted truck tracking into oncoming lanes. A repo driver on hot asphalt, thinking fast. That’s where this story starts—and where real innovation in towing tools begins. We sit with JB Tow Accessories co-founder and VP of Sales, Jason Giddens, to trace the gritty path from first-week mistakes to thousands of field-proven tools making recoveries safer and faster.

Jason breaks down the real-world problem that led to the Fat Boy wheel adapters—wide tires, hard steering angles, and no safe way to strap. He shares how he and his team turned that sketch into a Tampa-built solution that’s now a go-to for operators facing big rubber and tight streets. Then we go deep on the Big Stiffy lockout tool: stainless steel to protect seals and paint, a stiffer rod and larger handle for leverage, and a lifetime warranty backed by relentless show-floor stress tests. If you care about durability, clean entries, and fewer comebacks, you’ll appreciate the why behind every design choice.

Beyond tools, this conversation is about service, safety, and unity. Jason answers every message himself and drives long routes just to shake hands, demo gear, and earn trust—because the towing business still runs on relationships. We explore practical safety moves operators can use today, like working passenger-side controls when traffic is hot, setting proper scene lighting, and investing in training that cuts liability and injuries. We also spotlight the power of community: small-town rotation group texts, blocking for each other on busy roads, and a shared commitment to the move over message that sends more people home at night.

If you’re a tow operator, dispatcher, or owner looking for reliable gear and a brand that shows up, this is your playbook. Hear how authentic content, better tools, and a customer-first mindset can elevate your operation and strengthen the towing community at large.

Subscribe, share with your crew, and leave a review to help more towers find conversations that put safety, service, and smart gear first.

A single button can change the way a tow fleet moves. We brought on Tony Pierce from EMCI Wireless to walk us through how Motorola WAVE PTX delivers true instant communication—push to talk with nationwide reach—so dispatch, drivers, and recovery teams stay synced without towers, repeaters, or the wait time of phone calls.

We dig into the gear that makes it work in the real world. Tony breaks down the rugged TLK 110 handheld with GPS and Bluetooth, the in-vehicle TLK 150 built for loud cabs and hands-free use, and the ultra-compact TLK 25 that pairs with Bluetooth accessories for low-profile comms. All three connect to the same cloud backbone used by the WAVE smartphone app and dispatch console, so you can form talk groups for heavy recoveries, night shifts, or regional crews and reach everyone at once with one press.

Safety and reliability sit at the center of the conversation. With GPS tracking, dispatchers can see trucks in real time, and an emergency button on the devices sends instant alerts when a scene turns risky. Audio stays clear over rotator noise and highway traffic, and encryption protects your communications. Because WAVE PTX runs on Motorola Solutions’ mission-critical platform—the same DNA trusted by public safety—you get uptime and voice quality that off-brand apps can’t match. EMCI Wireless adds live, personal support and device programs backed by 50 years of Motorola experience.

We also unpack the business side: subscription pricing per device, flexible purchase and lease options, and zero infrastructure to build or license. That means you can start with a few units, add more as your fleet grows, and avoid the hassles of sharing personal phone numbers with company contacts. Real fleets are already seeing faster dispatch, fewer missed calls, and calmer, safer recoveries.

Ready to modernize your communications? Check out ptanywh.com or call Tony at 954-376-3235 to get your team connected. If this conversation helped, follow the show, share it with your crew, and leave a review so more pros can find it.

What if your marketing didn’t feel like a coin toss? We sat down and unpacked how towing and recovery companies can stop guessing, aim their message at real decision makers, and turn print plus digital into results you can actually see. From building a verified list of owners and check writers to pairing ads with editorial that spells out features and benefits, we map the steps that move a prospect from curiosity to a confident yes.

We get candid about the print versus digital debate and why it’s the wrong fight. Print lives on the desk and cements brand memory with fewer touches. Digital boosts frequency, speed, and measurement. The real win comes when you combine them: a smart print presence that educates, reinforced by e-blasts and social that deliver transparent metrics—opens, clicks, and device data—so you can refine creative and targeting with each campaign. You’ll hear how we help vendors track results even when buyers say “I saw you online,” thanks to topic-specific editorial that anchors the response.

Beyond placements, we dig into relationship-first support: honest ad critiques that steer creative toward benefits and action, warm introductions to distributors on the show floor, and fast, flexible publishing choices that larger outlets can’t match. We also pull back the curtain on services many don’t expect from a magazine—booth design, video production, ad design at no extra cost, podcast features, social amplification, and print collateral like inserts, flyers, banners, and calendars. Plus, we highlight our work around TRAA Hill Day and why advocacy matters for every operator’s safety and livelihood.

If you’re ready to reach the right people, clarify your message, and measure what matters, this conversation gives you a practical playbook. Subscribe, share it with a colleague who handles your marketing, and leave a review telling us which tactic you’ll try first.

What if a few workflow changes could cut your average arrival time from 44 minutes to nine and reduce secondary crashes by 30 percent? That’s the lived experience industry veteran and Hall of Famer John Borowski brings to our conversation about modernizing towing operations with digital dispatch.

We dig into the real reasons teams resist new tools—fear of the unknown, comfort with paper and radio, anxiety over ROI—and show how unified software turns chaos into clarity. John breaks down integrations that matter most: seamless connections with motor clubs, police calls, GPS, billing, and reporting so jobs, photos, timestamps, and signatures live in one clean record. The payoff is immediate: calmer dispatchers, fewer errors, faster ETAs, and accurate invoices. For owners watching margins, a simple per-truck subscription with no upfront fees and a free trial lowers risk while surfacing cost-per-call, profitability by account, and the data you need to negotiate smarter.

Safety takes center stage. John shares how tighter dispatch, real-time tracking, and automated statuses helped DOT teams clear scenes faster and curb dangerous secondary crashes. With location visibility and dwell-time alerts, operators get an extra layer of protection and customers spend less time on the shoulder. We also tackle data security and compliance, explaining how audit-ready logs and access controls protect sensitive information while meeting agency and motor club requirements.

We wrap by celebrating John’s new book, Towing Through Time, and his upcoming column in Tow Professional Magazine—two more ways he’s investing in the industry’s future. If you’re evaluating dispatch platforms or still juggling paper logs, this conversation offers a clear blueprint to scale safely and profitably. Subscribe, share with a shop owner who needs it, and drop us a review with your must-have dispatch feature.

Proof beats promises—especially when an adjuster is deciding whether to pay your bill. We sat down with industry veterans Shelly Hawkins and Dennis McGowan to explore how modern towing operations turn documentation, telematics, and smarter software into real margin, safer scenes, and faster approvals. From factory-ready cameras and scene lighting to driver apps that capture four-corner photos and timestamps, we break down how to connect the truck, the operator, and the back office so the job record tells the full story.

We dig into the industry’s next chapter: consolidation driven not just by ownership, but by unified workflows. Shelly shares the operator’s view from accessories to software, while Dennis brings the builder’s lens on product strategy, showing how tow management systems now handle live dispatch, media capture, invoicing, lien letters, and impound-to-auction timelines. The result is fewer wrong trucks dispatched, less backtracking, and higher jobs-per-shift without adding headcount. We also get practical about AI—using large language models for consistent call intake, drafting recovery narratives, and decision support that suggests the right driver based on proximity, equipment, shift timing, and customer history. AI doesn’t replace people; it removes repetitive friction so teams can focus on safety, judgment, and service.

If your business runs on slim margins, the cost of not adopting these tools is higher than the software itself—lost time, missed jobs, and claims you can’t defend. We close with the launch of the Tow Trend Podcast, where Shelly and Dennis take on future-focused topics across trucks, accessories, software, training, safety, and legislation, featuring operators from first trucks to large fleets. Subscribe, share with your team, and tell us what technology changed your shop most. Your feedback shapes the next episode—rate and review to help more towers find the show.

Family legacy meets industry expertise at Austin Insurance, where the second generation of tow insurance specialists continues their father's tradition of hands-on, personalized service. Tyler and Todd Austin share how their father Rob built the business by actually visiting towing companies in person when competitors were simply mailing forms—a practice they proudly maintain today.

The brothers dive deep into the unique challenges facing today's towing professionals, from skyrocketing equipment costs to the shrinking pool of qualified drivers. They reveal troubling trends in the insurance market, including how some carriers now refuse to cover single-truck operations regardless of their safety record or years in business. This conversation offers rare insider perspective on how towing companies can navigate these challenges.

What separates this discussion from typical insurance talk is the practical, money-saving advice offered throughout. The Austins explain how smart documentation—from safety meeting sign-in sheets to comprehensive vehicle maintenance records—can dramatically improve your rates. They share a cautionary tale about a towing company hit by a tornado that discovered they had $40,000 in uninsured fencing, highlighting the importance of thorough coverage reviews.

Perhaps most valuable is their breakdown of essential coverages often overlooked by towing professionals: commercial auto liability, general liability, on-hook cargo, and garage keepers coverage form the foundation, but many operators miss critical protections like motor truck cargo coverage. They even warn how your social media posts might be undermining your insurance rates when underwriters spot potentially risky activities in your Facebook photos.

Ready to protect your towing business with insurance specialists who truly understand the industry? Contact Austin Insurance at 270-444-6818 or email austin_ins@wreckerins.com to learn how their decades of specialized experience can safeguard your operation.