By Wally Cass, retired towing business owner/operator
Welcome!
You have just found a genuine, reliable and trusted source for towing information and training.
Who will benefit from this information? Anyone interested in the towing industry, employees and employers, or maybe you want to learn how start and operate your own towing business. I will show you how.
I am going to share with you everything I know from 25 years towing experience as a towing business owner and operator.
You won't find this towing information anywhere else!
If you seriously study everything that I have written about towing, then you will have a good understanding of what it takes to operate a successful towing business.
You will also benefit by saving money, time and learning from the mistakes that I have made.
Where is the towing information and training?
All the towing information and training material is located in the members area. You can join for as little as $29.95. Simply select a membership level that you will be happy with. Become a member today and enjoy everything offered in the members area, such as articles, videos, forms, downloads, trailer plans, discussion board and materials not offered to the general public.
Your membership includes a 100% money back guarantee policy if your not happy for any reason.
Why did I start a towing business?
I really enjoyed the towing business for many reasons but when I decided to start my towing business I truly desired the freedom to work for myself and to be totally independent. I was tired of punching a time clock, working long hours for someone else and living from paycheck to paycheck. Making the decision to start my own towing business was the best decision I ever made.
My Brief Towing History
I began towing as an employee in 1986. The towing company was massive and had over a hundred trucks and eight impound yards. They had contracts with all the law enforcement agencies and major public transportation companies such as Metro Transit.
| 1986-1994 |
|---|
 |
| I drove every classification of tow truck they had in their fleet. Light, medium and heavy duty classes.
|
 |
| My favorite tow truck was a Peterbilt with an extendable boom for heavy duty recovery work. It also had a long reach under-lift for towing heavy loads.
|
 |
| While I was with this company I attended C.T.T.A (California Tow Truck Association) training class and was certified for recovery work. I left this employer in 1994 to start my own towing business in my home state of WA.
|
 |
| This Landoll tow truck is just another truck that I drove for the company. The trailers axles actually slide forward which allows the rear of the deck to drop to the ground. I have towed many commercial busses on that truck. And yes that is me on the left when I was half my age. |
Starting my own towing business in 1995
I decided to tow in the light duty class which means to tow any vehicle up to one ton trucks. Beyond one ton trucks is called the medium duty class. Semi trucks, busses and the like are called heavy duty class.
It was not easy starting a towing business on my own because there was nothing on the internet to learn from. Of course I already knew how to tow but I knew nothing about how to get accounts, contracting, accounting, invoicing, billing, payroll and most importantly how to contract with the motor clubs.
I will discuss in detail about how the motor clubs work which can be found in the members area. This will include their requirements, procedures, contact information and phone numbers.
There was much more to learn about starting my towing business than I could ever state here. All I could at the time was try new things out and see what happens. I literally had to experiment and lets just say it was not the best approach to starting my towing business.
If someone told me at the time that I could go to a certain website and get all the towing information that I needed to start and operate my towing business "for less than the cost of a jump start" I would of said, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" I would of been there in two seconds flat! Just think of the frustration that could of been avoided and the time and money that I could of saved.
My Towing Business Preferences
I do not have a impound yard or repossess vehicles. I like to work solely for the motor clubs, local businesses and retail accounts. My customers are friendly and happy to see me pull up and help rescue them (unlike impounds and repossessions) and I wouldn't want to operate my business any other way. However you may like the excitement that goes along with repossessing or impounding vehicles. Maybe you are willing to put up with customers that are upset because you took their vehicle away, but this is a individual choice you will have to make. We all have our own preferences for the type of towing business we want to operate.
A impound yard is a major factor to consider due to the expensive start up costs.
I like to operate my towing business from home which is not only convenient but it is also cost effective with no overhead costs. There are also other benefits as well such as deducting part of my mortgage as a home office come tax time.
Get your towing information from a trusted and reliable source
Whatever you decide, get your towing information from someone who is highly professional and has many years of hands on experience in all aspects of the towing industry.
What makes me qualified to teach you?
As stated earlier I have been in the towing business for over twenty five years. I have towed tens of thousands of cars, motorcycles, commercial trucks, busses and all types of equipment. You name it and I have towed it.
I have never had a damage claim since starting my towing company in 1995. I don't think many towing operators can actually state that. As already stated above I attended training classes and was certified by California Tow Truck Association.
Established more than a decade ago
This site has been up and running since 2010 with hundreds of satisfied members. Refunds are virtually non existent and that speaks volumes considering refunds are guaranteed with no questions asked.
Beware of false towing articles scattered all over the internet!
I have found towing articles online that are false and misleading and tell the reader how to improperly hook up and tow a vehicle.
It is infuriating to me that these sites get away with posting mass articles that are not true and accurate.
They are simply pretending to be the top authority on the subjects they are writing about so that they get a higher rank in the search engines. What's worse is that they get away with it! The major search engines accommodate them.
In reality they hire ghost writers or copy articles, write articles that they know nothing about and have no experience. This is really a bad practice!
So be careful where you get your information!
Accurate and Reliable Towing Information
The towing information that I provide comes from my own personal experience. It was not copied off the internet and I didn't hire ghost writers. There is no spam, junk, false or misleading articles.
The towing information and training that I provide comes with more than 60 videos and 30 topics.
Below is an brief summary of the topics covered
(Article and Video format)
- Towing Business Planning (everything you will need to get started).
- Different Types of Tow Trucks explained and their benefits.
- Basic flatbed and wheel-lift operations.
- Towing Methods, how to hook up properly, what not to do, prevent damage claims and much more...
- Recovery and Winching.
- Winch Wire Rope explained.
- Hooks and Attachments explained.
- The right way to unlock vehicles in less than 3 minutes.
- Tow Truck Inspection, maintenance and safety.
- How to advertise and where.
- Accounting, billing, invoicing, wholesale, retail, taxes, etc.
- Dispatch Sheet (form).
- Damage Report (form).
- How to contract with the Motor Clubs including phone numbers, addresses, sample forms etc.
- How to acquire Local Business Accounts.
- All about Wholesale, Retail, discounts etc.
- All about Service Calls, Jump Starts, Tire Changes, Lockouts and Gas Delivery.
- Safety Procedures.
- Towing Equipment needed and explained in detail.
- All about Chain Grade and specifications. Know your load limits.
- How to Tow Motorcycles.
- Recovery Towing Specifications.
- What you need to know when towing in the medium and heavy duty class. Pulling axles and driveshafts, basic hook-up.
- Custom hydraulic tilt trailer plans.
- Towing Resources for buying equipment, invoices etc.
- Discussion Board: Where members ask questions and I answer but also members can ask and answer each other too. Forum style.
- Free Downloads and bonus items.
- And Much More...
Become a member today!
All the towing information and training material is located in the members area. You can join for as little as $29.95. Simply select a membership level that you will be happy with.
The membership fee helps with the expenses to maintain this website and it ensures that this site continues to operate for many years to come.
Your membership includes a 100% money back guarantee policy. You will also receive my support and I will be happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Towing Training Success!
Mr. Chacon asked me to share his real life story with you.
Luis Chacon a member of HowtoTow contacted me stating that he had started his towing business with his son after reading everything about towing in the members area. Luis and his son never drove any kind of truck before and they knew nothing about towing prior to joining HowtoTow.com. They earned $350,000. within their first year and in a short time they grew their towing business to 10 trucks. Luis and his son are currently making around a million a year. You can read Luis Chacon's testimonial in the testimonial section.
Did you know that you don't have to focus on towing only cars
If you had a flatbed truck you could tow things such as forklifts, tractors, boats and just about anything you can think of. I have even transported hot tubs. You could contract with manufactures or factories, rental outlets, storage facilities and just about every business out there needs something hauled or moved.
I would strongly suggest starting with a flatbed tow truck or rollback so that you are not limited to what you can tow or transport. This leaves your marketplace wide open to unlimited potential to haul everything and anything.
Exclusive Custom Trailer Plans: Now available to members
Low Profile, Hydraulic Tilt, Commercial Grade Vehicle Towing Trailer
Do you want to build your own flatbed tilt trailer? Now you can! You won't find this trailer anywhere else because I designed and built them myself.
I actually built two of these trailers. They were not only good looking but they performed perfectly! The low profile deck design was fast to load and unload which ultimately makes more money faster.
The trailers have withstood the test of time and are still operating today! 24 years to be exact. They were designed with a super low profile loading angle which allowed me to tow expensive exotic cars very easily like this Willy's Coupe.
Become a member of HowtoTow and get the trailer plans to build your own superior vehicle trailer.
Note: The trailer plans are not made by a professional drafter but I did my best to give my own drawings, dimensions and describing how it was built.
If you are looking to sign up strictly for the purpose of obtaining true professional tilt trailer drafting blue prints then please do not order.
The cost to hire a professional drafter to draw up blue prints would be staggering and that's not what this course is about. I want to keep the cost low and affordable so everyone has a chance to receive this information.
Versatile
This is the same trailer that I built in 1998, although the color was changed to match the truck. Extended cab trucks are long but this car trailer handles it nicely.
I am towing a car into a vehicle repair shop and Jack-knifing the trailer which can get into some really tight spaces. You can't do that with a conventional flatbed or rollback tow truck.
The trailer can handle a lot of weight as in this example of towing a small school bus. I actually had a contract with the school districts maintenance shop.
Superior trailer design
I built two trailers, one in 1997 and the second one in 1998. When I built the hydraulic tilt trailers my objective was to create the lowest possible loading angle and the deck of the trailer is very low. The trailer deck only sits 17.5 inches off the ground and therefore only needs to tilt 1.5 feet to hit the ground. Usually when you gain something in one area you lose in another area such as producing a low loading angle should make the fender height rise and make it harder to open the vehicles doors but not in this case.
The car doors clear the fenders easily and we still gain the initial low profile loading angle. If you decide to build this trailer you will be happy with the looks and performance! The trailers were built commercial tough.
Are you wondering what happened to the trailers after I retired?
I sold the first trailer that I built (pictured above) on consignment with a place called Freeway Trailers which sells only trailers on their dealer lot. The salesman thought I was asking too much for it and thought it would never sell. I asked him what his consignment fee was and he said 15% so I said "tack on another 15% to the sales price". I got a call two weeks later stating that it was sold. The problem was that the salesman was used to the low prices on his not so quality trailers. Custom built trailers of this quality are hard to find so it's no surprise that it sold fast.
I remember when I first took the trailer through state highway patrol inspection station to have it inspected and have a VIN# put on it. The inspector told me it was the nicest trailer he had ever seen and approved it right away.
I sold the second trailer in 2012 to a HowtoTow member who drove from Colorado to WA state to purchase the trailer and he was really very happy with it and said it was well worth the long drive.
What more can I say?
Get all the towing information and training in the members area
Get instant access to the online towing articles, videos, discussion board, trailer plans, forms, downloads and the best training and support. Join by clicking here.
Or... Check out what other members are saying
After starting my towing business I could not imagine working for anyone ever again. I was feeling the pride of ownership and the independence and gratification that came with it.
Do you want independence for yourself? Then join us. It may be one of the best decisions you will ever make and besides It's guaranteed 100% satisfaction or your money back. Try it! You have nothing to lose.
After more than a decade of teaching hundreds of people online, refunds are practically non existent. The simple reason is that this towing information is valuable.
Back to Top
Resource: Tow Times is a monthly magazine dedicated to helping towing company owners and managers.