American Towman

Gregory Prunty, 68 of Akron, Ohio, passed away on June 5, 2022. He owned Greg's Towing and Barberton Speedway. Greg was preceded by his father Richard Prunty. He is survived by daughter Brittany Prunty, son Zack Prunty, grandsons Colt and Cash, mother Nancy Adkins and 11 siblings. Funeral services will be held at the Prentice Funeral Home in Akron on Saturday, June 11 at 11 a.m., followed by burial at Greenlawn Memorial Park. The family will receive friends on Friday from 2 to 4 pm and 7 to 9 pm and Saturday from 10 to 11 am. Donations may be made to the Hemophilia Foundation or the American Diabetes Association. The family and employees of Greg’s Towing have announced that there will be a tow truck procession following the funeral services at Prentice Funeral Home. Line up starts at 10 a.m. Please contact the following people if you are able to attend, in order for the family to setup parking arrangements: Mark Cell 330 352 6931 Jason Cell 330 607 0511 Email jk1188@sbcglobal.net Dave Cell 330 888 2844 Email lewisdave91@yahoo.com

********************* CHAMPIONS WANTED! ******************* DOES YOUR TRUCK HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO COMPETE WITH THE BEST? Sign up Now for the USA Wrecker Pageant! We can't wait to bring everyone together at the TowXpo from June 16-18 in Fort Worth, TX at the Fort Worth Convention Center! CLICK HERE TO REGISTER: https://events.american-tradeshow.com/TowXpo22

BIG THINGS TEXAS STYLE AWAIT TOWXPO DALLAS/FORT WORTH--JUNE 16-18 AT THE FORT WORTH CONVENTION CENTER Warwick, NY (May 13)—Fort Worth is known for its historic reputation as America’s “Cowtown,” and popular as a major visitor attraction for its Stockyards area filled with restaurants and pubs. This year during June 16-18, it will be known as the host cityfor the Southwest U.S.’s largest towing and recovery exposition: TowXpo Dallas/Fort Worth. Produced by A.T. Expo Corp., a division of American Towman Magazine, the annual trade show draws tow business owners – Tow Bosses, for short– from primarily the Southwest U.S. and throughout the state of Texas. “We will be host to more than 110 exhibitors and 3500 attendees during the three days of events during TowXpo Dallas/Fort Worth,” says Tommy Anderson, show director. “Fort Worth has been on our radar for quite some time and we are extremely pleased to have the show located here in the fastest growing metropolitan area of the country.” Exhibits are open Friday, June 17 and Saturday, June 18 from 11 am to 5 pm while the education portion of the show runs from Thursday, June 16 through Saturday, June 18. Hands-on training, educational seminars and an awards dinner celebrating the towers who participated in Fort Worth’s “Great Pileup” last year – the 100-vehicle accident caused by an ice storm – are featured activities surrounding the exhibits. “The honoring of the more than a dozen tow business owners who responded to the horrific accident scene will be quite a night for these men and women who put in countless hours and manpower to clear what was clearly a monumental task," Anderson explains. The dinner, dubbed “The Masters of Chaos,” will take place Thursday night, June 16 at the Hilton Hotel across from the Fort Worth Convention Center. All professional towers are invited to attend. For ticket information, go online: www.TowXpo.com. “This year’s show is almost sold out of exhibit space and is strongly looking like it will be the biggest and best yet in the 25-year history of the show,” Anderson predicts. “That is the only way to do it in Texas.” For complete exhibit information, please contact Tommy Anderson at 214-202-4936 (tom@towman.com). Attendee registration is free for the first two people, each additional person is $10, and Kids 14 and younger are FREE when you register online at www.TowXpo.com.

While speed is a factor in many trucks involved in crashes, it is rarely the truck that was speeding, nor was the speed at the time of the crash more than the posted speed limit. Tow Industry Week Business Editor Brian J. Riker poses that the May 4 proposal by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration could potentially impose speed limiters on ALL commercial vehicles. Read his take in Tow Industry Week. https://www.towindustryweek.com/#business

Downtown Wichita, where a tow contract was rejected requesting a 4% increase for tow services. The Wichita (Kansas) City Council rejected a tow contract that would grant a 4% increase to nine tow companies that provide emergency towing services for the Wichita Police Dept and remove abandoned vehicles. Read about it in the latest edition of Tow Industry Week! https://www.towindustryweek.com/#wire

10-GALLON GALA CASINO Friday, June 17, 2022 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM at the Fort Worth Convention Center/Concourse Level Casino Games, Food, Fun Opportunity to Win a CASH POT! ALSO--Participate in the RAFFLE to Win Great Prizes!

TOWXPO SPECIAL EVENT! The Big Smoke - VIP Experience Thursday, June 16, 2022 9:00 pm – 11:00 pm Cost: $30 per person The Silver Leaf Cigar Lounge 426 Commerce St. • Fort Worth, TX 76102 - Sundance Square (Only a few minutes walk from each hotel!) The Hottest Cigar Lounge in Fort Worth! VIP Package includes: Two Premium Brand Cigars & One Drink Ticket Purchase Tickets Here: https://events.american-tradeshow.com/TowXpo22

Fort Worth Fire Chief Jim Davis, Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn, and James Bennett Jr. of Beards Towing are all all expected to address attendee of the “Masters of Chaos” Dinner at TowXpo–Ft. Worth on Thursday, June 16. The event will honor the tow companies and first responders who were on scene February 11, 2021, during a deadly pile-up on I-35 in Fort Worth, Texas. Read more about it in this week's edition of Tow Industry Week!

This past week The Towing And Recovery Association of America sent letters to all the major motor club CEO’s asking them to consider instituting a fuel surcharge or fuel reimbursement program to help towers across America that are struggling with high fuel costs. In the spirit of helping all towers, regardless of their Association membership, TRAA has granted Tow Industry Week permission to reprint their latest newsletter article on fighting fuel prices written by Tow Industry Week's Business Editor Brian J. Riker. Read it in out latest edition: https://www.towindustryweek.com/#business

ORTIZ PROMOTED TO PRESIDENT Dennie Ortiz has been promoted to president of American Towman Media, Inc., effective April 11. She continues in her role as Publisher of American Towman Magazine and management of TowIndustryWeek.com. In her 25 years of experience at American Towman, she has worked the role of event manager, advertising sales, advertising sales management and publisher. "She has my full confidence that she will guide American Towman to continued success in these challenging and changing times," said American Towman Editor-in-Chief Steven Calitri.

Denny Jones, pictured 3rd from left, founded Denny's Wrecker Service in 1962. IDAHO'S DENNY JONES PASSES Towing Hall of Famer Denny Jones, 81, passed away April 1. Inducted into the International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame in 2000, Jones owned Denny's Wrecker Service in Chubbuck, Idaho. He was also a charter member of TRAA and a founding member of the Idaho Towing Association. A viewing will be held this Friday, April 8, from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at Wilks Funeral Home in Chubbuck, with funeral services following on Saturday morning at the Calvary Chapel in Pocatello at 11:00 a.m. For more information, go to https://towindustryweek.com/#wire

By Josh Schafer On March 22, 2022, on a snowy and windy day in Minnesota, Pulver Towing responded to an emergency request from the Minnesota State Patrol involving an incident on US HWY 14 where a John Deere S780 combine track slid off of a trailer and was blocking the roadway. Pulver, led by lead operator Josh Schafer, responded with the specialized equipment needed to recover the combine. Equipment included a 2006 Kenworth Century 9055 50 Ton, 2006 Freightliner Jerr-Dan 35 Ton, and 2018 Peterbilt 389 Century 1150 Rotator. The team of operators at scene also included Mark Schafer, Christian Riester, Bob Jaster, Justin Staeffler, Aaron Beek, and Darcy Beek. Upon arrival, the first Pulver operator discovered that the combine was overturned and was cross ways blocking both lanes of US HWY 14. The Pulver professionals along with the Minnesota Balaton Fire Dept. took emergency corrective actions to mitigate the leaking fluids, using all the speedy dry they had available. Pulver used 18 bags of spill tackle rapid absorbent and 14 absorbent pads. The leaked fluid was contained to the roadway, curb and gutter and stopped from reaching the storm drain that went to the lake. Pulver professionals then addressed the overturned combine. The rear planetary drives on the combine needed to be removed to prevent damage to them and the underside of the combine. Pulver removed the two planetary drives and placed them in the incident managers response truck. Read the entire story on Tow Industry Week

By Randall C. Resch Pay phone? What’s that? A tow owner called me (all freaked-out) worried he’d be cited for not having a payphone for customer access. Because California beats to its own drum, old, defunct vehicle code laws remain on the books. A recent police contract made mention of this requirement written in “Facility Requirements” stating, “A lighted and accessible pay-phone must be available for customer use.” To that I reply, “Are you kidding me?” Read the rest of the story HERE

Who is going to Texas in June? Add your reply to this Roll Call. towxpo.com/

Learn the ins and outs of managing claims, drivers and coverages in the sure to be informative seminar, "The DO’S & Don'ts That Affect Your Insurance," to be presented by Rob Austin of Austin Insurance at Tow Xpo Dallas-Fort Worth, June 16-18, at the Fort Worth Convention Center in Fort Worth, Texas. REGISTRATION NOW OPEN! http://towxpo.com/#insurance

Don’t be fooled into thinking rolled speed bumps are to be used at highway speeds. They are a “temporary use product” similar to that of stop sticks deployed by law enforcement, as the application is very much the same. Read American Towman Operation Editor Randall C. Resch's insightful article, "Rolled Speed Bumps for On-Scene Safety?" in this week's edition of Tow Industry Week https://www.towindustryweek.com/#business

Looking forward to Our Greatest Year for All 4 Tow Shows.

"Exhibit sales have been open and the renewal process for each show either has been completed or in the process of being completed within the next few weeks for Baltimore and Cleveland," says Henri "Doc" Calitri. "Sales are going very well with the renewals from last year’s shows. It illustrates the strong pull of face-to-face trade show events. This should bode very well for all the shows in 2022." Dates for this year's lineup of shows are as follows: Tow Expo Fort Worth, Texas • June 16-18 American Towman ShowPlace Las Vegas, Nev. • Sept. 21-23 American Towman Exposition Baltimore, Md. • Nov. 17-19