Every day accidents happen, cars break down or sometimes they just ‘refuse to move’. This is usually not a pleasant moment because what we all think of is how to get the car to the garage to have it fixed. Thank goodness, no more worries because there is someone making a business out of these situations- the tow guy. Towing and recovery industry has grown to be a major rescue in incidences where it would have taken a lot of time and manpower to move a wreckage or jammed vehicle. What many people do not know is how exactly it all began and how it came into existence. I am just about to enlighten you on that.
Way back in the early years of the 19th century in Tennessee, a driver swerved off the road and landed in a creek. The father of towing and recovery, a mechanic Ernest Holmes heard about the incident, went up the creek to assist in the recovery of the car. It turned out to be a very tedious and strenuous task as it took him and other nine men over seven hours to get the car to the garage. He thought of how it would have been easier in moving the car had there been a wrecker. Just like Isaac Newton or Alexander Fleming in their scientific discoveries, Ernest had just discovered a better, effective way of recovering broken down vehicles and therefore he started the designing of the first ever wrecker.
He converted a Cadillac and put together a pulley and crane system that he felt would be able to lift broken down motor vehicles. Although his first product did not deliver the wanted outcome, he never backed down. He remained resilient and with the help of other minds in the mechanic field, he got the first towing and recovery truck fully functioning around 1917. Once patented, he built more tow trucks which he sold to garages.
The popularity of the industry gathered the much-anticipated speed almost immediately as the trucks were a highly-needed asset in many regions. Today, towing and recovery companies exist in almost every corner of towns with various modifications being done to suit the current needs.