Brief history
I was a truck driver most of my life. I drove gasoline tankers, dump trucks, semi trucks with triple trailers and was also a crane operator back in the 70's.
I began towing in 1986 for a large towing company based in San Diego, CA. I remained there for seven years until I decided to return home in WA. state and start my own towing business.
When I was an employee I drove every classification of tow trucks, light, medium and heavy duty class, however when I started my towing business I decided to tow only in the light duty class. It was economically the sound way to start.
Starting out small
I was based out of my home which was convenient and a way to keep overhead costs low. I also, did not have the expenses associated with a impound yard. I deducted part of my mortgage as a tax deduction for my home based business.
Once I was established and profitable, I designed and built my own commercial hydraulic tilt trailers. I purchased two new trucks and hired an employee.
I truly enjoyed the towing business but there came a time when I had to retire.
I decided to share my 25 years towing experience
I was chatting in online communities and there were people asking me all kinds of towing questions. I then decided to make it easier for people to get all their towing related questions answered in one place and that's when I started HowtoTow.com. I had no idea that I would spend years developing this site as large as it is.
My initial thought was to write a small e-book on towing, but after awhile I realized that the e-book project was too small and people needed more towing information on a bigger scale.
So I spent a couple years writing about my towing experiences and trying to convey the facts about operating a towing business. I felt people deserved to know what it would actually take to start a towing business before they invested their hard earned money.
Success
Overall, HowtoTow.com has been a huge success. I got really excited when people told me how much I had helped them.
I am really proud of one member Mr. Chacon who made $350k in his first year. He later told me he had ten trucks and earning over a million a year, and to think he never drove a truck of any kind before. He thanked me for providing the information that allowed him to become financially independent and afford things like sending his kid's to college.
In truth Mr. Chacon did all the hard work. I just provided the towing information.
When I hear back from members and they tell me about their success stories and how I have helped them, well, it makes me feel happy that I could help. That is why I invested in building this site and it makes everything worth it.
So I hope this site will remain forever or until cars disappear...