Get a Tow Through Time: The History of Tow Trucks

GET A TOW THROUGH TIME THE HISTORY OF TOW TRUCKS TOTALING UP TOWING $ 15 BILLION - Net worth of today's towing industry 24 TYPES OF TOW TRUCKS BOOM HOOK & CHAIN WHEEL-LIFT FLATBED INTEGRATED TOWING TIMELINE 1916 Ernest Holmes is inspired to Holmes patents his tow truck design and starts manufacturing vehicles to invent the tow truck in Chattanooga, Tennessee • His first model is a pulley sell 1919 and chain hooked to a 1913 Cadillac •A $680 initial price tag is too high • His $485 model leads to better sales Ernest Holmes, Jr. takes over the Holmes Company • The Holmes Company owns 75% of the towing industry 1943 Rebello's Towing Services is started by Joe Rebello in California 75% 1955 75% Holmes Company The Holmes Company is Grandson Gerald sold to the Dover Holmes starts Century Wreckers to compete 1973 Corporation for $64 million 24 Miller Industries buys the Holmes Company • 5,000-6,000 tow trucks produced per year 1990 Burt Dean, member of the California Tow Truck Association Legislative Committee, purchases Rebello's Towing Services 1994 The International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame & Museum opens in Chattanooga, Tennessee • 10,000 visitors per year with his wife пЕ 1995 Infographic provided by Rebello's Towing Services http://www.rebellosprivatepropertytowingsanjose.com/ Rebello's Sources: http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/miller-industries-inc-history/ http://failuremag.com/feature/article/the_museum_of_towing_and_recovery/ http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bltruck.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tow_truck http://thinkofthat.net/2011/03/12/premiere-ernest-holmes-and-the-first-tow-truck/