Towing Industry – Its Significance and History

california highwaysProviders of towing in san jose has gained impeccable reputation as reliable and highly dependable companies that employ skilled and courteous professionals. Their work attitude and friendly behavior mean a lot to motorists who find themselves stranded in San Jose, especially in California’s section of the dangerous Interstate-80 (I-80) highway that leads toi New Jersey.

Towing services in most states are regarded as roadside saviors by novice motorists who went on the road with faulty vehicles. In numerous cases, they only needed battery charging and not anything worse than what they had expected. Tow truck drivers arriving at the scene of an accident, act act swiftly and with decisiveness when clearing the road of obstacles. They do so in order to restore traffic order as quickly, and as safely possible.

Providers of towing service in San Jose are typically well equipped with the right machinery and gadgets. They are a long cry from the very first contraption devised by Ernest Holmes, Sr. more than a hundred years ago in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Revisiting the History of How the First Towing Company Came to Be

Several books about the history of towing and recovery have been published, highlighting the role played by the industry as part of the transportation industry. Sometime in 1916 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Ernest Holmes Sr. the owner of an independent auto-repair shop devised the very first rudimentary beginnings of a towing machine. Using iron chains and a slew of pulleys, blocks and strength of ordinary men, they pulled out a rundown Model T Ford out of a creek.

The incident raised Holmes Sr. ‘s awareness about the need for a contraption that the transport industry can use to recover automobiles that suffer the same fate as the Model T Ford that he and his friends fished out of a creek.

vintage wreckerJust like any successful entrepreneur, Holmes Sr. worked on a tow truck until he was able to create one that could serve the purpose. In 1917, he finally created one that could be used to tow or pick a load while attached to a tow truck. He had the design patented and the entire assembly of a tow truck with outriggers came to be known as Homes 485.

As Holmes Sr. had envisioned, the towing truck he built played an important role in the transportation industry. He was able to set up a family business that thrived successfully for years even during World War II. Prior to his death in June 1945, and a few months before World War II ended in the same year, Holmes was able to secure a government contract for the manufacture of bomb loaders and recovery vehicles.

Finally in 1973, Holmes Sr.’s heirs sold the family-owned corporation to the Dover Company for $16 million.