How a Tow Truck is Born

Miller Industries, Inc. is the nation’s largest manufacturer of tow trucks and towing equipment. This month, some of us from Airport Towing had the opportunity to tour the factory 2,600 miles away from our Seattle area office in Ooltewah, Tennessee. The Miller facility is just outside the city of Chattanooga, where the first tow truck was invented in 1916 by Ernest Holmes. Today, Holmes is a division of Miller Industries. Miller also produces Century, Vulcan, Chevron, Challenger, Champion, Eagle, SP Series, Boniface, and Jige towing and recovery units.

Inside the Tennessee plant, tow trucks emerge from pieces of raw metal right before our eyes. Millers’ 100,000 square foot warehouse is their primary manufacturing facility where thousands of tow trucks are manufactured each year. Our personal factory tour led us through the plant to follow the production of units from initial parts order to final completion. Employees we encountered during the tour were informative and helpful, teaching us the true meaning of “southern hospitality”.

We began at the first step in the process of building a tow truck, where the appropriate sizes and amounts of raw steel are acquired and stocked. When a tow unit is ordered, Miller employees round up all the necessary materials from their stock within the warehouse to build the sub-frame and transfer the parts to a welding station within the facility. Nearly all of the steel acquired by Miller is American made and forged locally. After the necessary materials are assembled, a skilled welder begins joining the metal to create the structural support of the tow unit. Miller boasts that their low turnover of skilled workers has been a key ingredient in yielding a high quality man-made product for several years.

Once unit is structurally sound, the functional parts are attached. Following the final welding process, the conjoined pieces are bead blasted. Bead blasting is necessary because the welding process can leave rough edges and small debris. The process of bead blasting is defined as removing surface deposits by applying fine glass beads at a low pressure without damaging the surface. Workers move parts requiring blasting into a large enclosed chamber, and seal the doors so they can unleash thousands of tiny reusable beads to blast the fabricated unit.

When all welding and fabrication is complete for a single unit, the unassembled parts go into the painting process.

Miller has the capability of painting tow truck parts on site. Applying primer and paint before the unit is assembled is essential to eliminate duplication of effort and is important for a high quality paint job.

The last step in building a tow truck is final assembly. Anyone purchasing a wrecker body from Miller has the option of ordering the complete tow unit and installing it themselves, or ordering a factory install. The factory has a team of people who are dedicated wrecker body installers and are only required to mount the tow unit to the chassis. Of course, one catch is that anyone who orders a factory install is required to send the truck’s cab and chassis to Miller so that it can be married to the tow unit. Most tow truck operators have unique requirements for their trucks and require specific options and accessories. The installers are responsible for all aspects of the install, including mounting the wrecker body, connecting all wiring and hydraulics, and attaching additional parts and accessories, such as dollies, chains, cables, etc.

Many units that Miller produces are built from the ground up inside their Chattanooga factory. In some ways, Miller Industries operates like a classic American factory. The company primarily uses skilled craftsman to produce tow units. Few robotics can be found inside the factory, which are greatly outnumbered by human hands. As a result, Miller employs about 2200 workers, 300 of which are manufacturing tow trucks at their primary facility in Chattanooga. As advertised, Miller Industries is the largest manufacturer of towing and recovery equipment in the world. The company is an impressive consolidation of the greatest names in the towing industry, now working together to produce the most technologically advanced towing equipment available. Miller’s efforts in innovation, quality craftsmanship, and American made products are why we at Airport Towing have been loyal customers since 1988. Our company continues to seek the best products available so that we can better serve our customers and this month we were happy to learn how our equipment is built and what type of care and attention it gets before we put our name on it.

1966 Ford Nearly Restored

“B-Unit” #83 is a tribute to Brian Storer. The lean, mean, Ford racing machine is being restored for one reason: It was Brian Storer’s dream to revive this this truck and make it his own.

Mark Storer, CEO and founder of Airport Towing started collecting antique tow trucks in 1997. Since then he has built up a collection of 13 classic trucks. One of them is a 1966 Ford F-350.

Shortly after purchasing the truck, Mark’s youngest son and employee Brian (driver #83) made known his interest in the truck. He immediately saw the potential, and he loved that the truck would rumble and roar when he stepped on the gas pedal. The truck had custom chrome exhaust stacks (though they were heavily rusted and in desperate need of replacement).

Its frame supported a Holmes 460 wrecker: One of the most celebrated tow units of it’s time; popular for it’s twin boom feature that would allow one side of the truck to anchor to a stable object and the other side to swing out and recover a vehicle. Even today, Holmes is known for producing some of the most unique towing equipment on the planet.

The company’s founder, Ernest Holmes, is famous for his most popular invention: The world’s first tow truck! Holmes originally mounted a chain and pulley to the frame of a 1913 Cadillac and went to work as the first ever tow truck operator in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Nearly 100 years later, Brian Storer found himself inspired by a beat up old Holmes unit. He loved everything about the truck and vowed to restore it. He even collected a few parts along the way. The find he was most proud of was a red bench seat in near perfect condition, brought in to replace the previous upholstery which was torn and tattered. A couple of years went by as the truck sat in Mark’s warehouse awaiting restoration and eventually, the unthinkable happened. Mark and Brian died in a sudden plane crash. One of Brian’s dreams would never come true. He would not get the opportunity to tear the Ford truck to the ground and build it back up again in all the glory of it’s hay-day.

The Storer family has spent the past year-and-a-half recovering from the tremendous loss in their family. As the days continue to go by, family members have come up with ways to pay homage to their loved one’s who have moved on into eternity. The greatest of which was most likely an idea that was produced by Lynette Storer, Brian’s mother and Mark’s wife. Lynette is now the President/CEO of Airport Towing and has been helping run the day-to-day operations of the company for nearly 22 years.

As you may have guessed, her vision was to restore the 66 Ford, exactly as Brian would have wanted it done. Even though it has proven to be an expensive and time consuming project, Lynette has pressed forward with the restoration. Despite a depressed economy, the love she has for her son is far beyond any monetary value. With the help of Lynette’s staff, she is determined to complete this project.

With the help of several employees and antique specialist Rocky Willis, the project has moved forward with great success. The truck was stripped down and sandblasted earlier this year.

Shortly after, individual pieces of the truck were sent to Huddleson’s Auto Color World to be painted red and white. Finally, the cab and chassis were sprayed and returned to be refitted with the original parts. Fresh paint on the old truck in traditional Airport Towing red and white have made it look better than ever. Meanwhile, custom chrome exhaust stacks were special ordered and the motor was removed for steam-cleaning and repainting.

The paint is now dry and piece by piece, the truck is being meticulously reassembled. Nearly every part on the truck needs to be reinstalled; from the hood to the fenders, the bumper, wheels and rims, doors, windshield, seat, motor, exhaust stacks, lugs, lights, mirrors, and much more. One challenge that complicates the project more than the average pickup restoration is the assembly of the Holmes tow unit on the back end. The unit requires technical expertise because it operates off of a power take off system that utilizes the transmission to engage and enable the boom and winch cables to operate. The old gear driven technology has been replaced with hydraulics in more modern equipment. The wrecker must be assembled accurately to maintain structural integrity if it is ever to be used as a working tow truck. To date, each piece has been sanded, painted, and some are awaiting reassembly. Some of the electrical wiring throughout the truck is still being completed.

The headers have been chrome dipped, enhancing the popular “Powered by Ford” slogan stamped into the metal. Afterward, the freshly painted motor was placed back into the truck.

The motor was repainted factory Ford blue and the tips of the fan have been painted red. The cab was also remounted onto the frame.

Much of the detail work is now being finished. The truck has been refitted with its hood, grille, bumper, beacon, marker lights, headlights, and windshield. After several months of work, it is starting to look like a truck again.

Most recently, the Holmes tow unit was reinstalled and there are now wheels under the frame.

Although the project may look as though it is near completion, there is still a great amount of work to be done. The truck is still awaiting doors and several other interior parts along with wiring and other detail work. Custom lettering and final striping will be added after the truck has reacquired all of it’s necessary mechanical parts. Completion of the 1966 Ford F-350 tow truck is most likely Spring of 2010. Work being done on the truck is ongoing though it is not being rushed so mistakes can be minimized. Once the 66 Ford is completed, it will be one of the most popular and definitely the most powerful tow truck in the Storer Antique Tow Truck Collection and no one will be happier to see its final completion than Lynette.

2010 Calendars Are Here!

Back for a 5th straight year, the popular tow truck themed calendar has returned for 2010. Several new photos have been added to give the publication a new feel for the new year.

New features that have helped the 2010 product improve from last year include a 13th month layout and small reference calendars indicating days of the week for previous and upcoming months. The newly designed publication also features a new color scheme, additional holidays, and custom fonts to make it one-of-a-kind.

The greatest accomplishment for this year’s calendar is most likely the introduction of several new photos from around the Pacific Northwest. Ron Storer traveled around greater Seattle with Airport Towing to photograph the antique trucks in some of the most beautiful settings around. Featured neighborhoods include Fremont, Wallingford, Seattle waterfront, Belltown, Burien, Sodo, Seatac, Aurora, Boeing Field, Des Moines, and Mt. Rainier National Park. The scenes themselves are magnificently rich in character, ranging from Dick’s Drive-In to Safeco Field and The Fremont Bridge to The Old Spaghetti Factory.

The Airport Towing calendar is as much about character as it is about content. One new photo shows the 3 youngest members of the Airport Towing family playing in antique pedal cars at a local park in Burien. Two of the toy vehicles are tow trucks, one is a vintage aircraft; hence the new addition to Airport Towing’s calendar. “Airport” being one part of the photo and “Towing” obviously portrayed by the small tow truck peddlers.

Having so many rare and beautiful tow trucks displayed in the calendar was only made possible by the actions of Mark Storer, the founder and deceased CEO of Airport Towing. It was his ambition to build a reputable towing company from the ground up, and his passion for everything towing related (especially antiques) that gave him the drive to complete the restoration of a 1925 Ford Model TT tow truck. The completion of this masterpiece, with the help of mechanic Rocky Willis and his crew led to the addition of 12 other classic trucks, countless parts and accessories, and other memorabilia relating to the history of the towing industry. As a direct result of his efforts, we are able to enjoy one of the finest antique tow truck collections every year.

After Mark and his son Brian died last July, a memorial calendar was printed in their honor. It featured short stories and several memories of the two tow truck men. This year, Mark’s collection of classics and antiques are on front stage, but the father and son are both pictured somewhere in the calendar.

Mark can be seen driving with the top down across the Fremont Bridge in his 1928 Ford Model A Roadster and Brian is shown dressed up as Santa Claus in front of a 1935 Chevrolet. Mark always admitted the annual calendar had become one of his favorite new things each year. At Airport Towing, we plan to keep the tradition alive forever. Work has already begun on a new calendar for 2011.

For more information on the 2010 calendar, please visit our Calendar Page, listed in the Museum section of our site. Calendars can be requested directly through the main office at Airport Towing by calling 1-866-227-7770 or online.

Miller Industries Gets Robbery on Camera

Approximately $200,000 worth of towing equipment was stolen from Miller Industries this week in Chattanooga, Tennessee and their video surveillance was able to get a clear photo of the theft in action. Unfortunately for the factory, their evidence has not yet led to any arrests.

Miller Industries is currently the largest manufacturer of towing equipment in the world. They are the developers of many popular towing brands, such as Century, Vulcan, Chevron, Challenger, Champion, Eagle, and Holmes. The factory in Tennessee is their primary location and has many ongoing projects, including one of their current tasks: building a brand new tow truck for Airport Towing. Our company has been buying new equipment from Miller since 1990 due to the quality of equipment they manufacture and their revolutionary technology in the towing industry.

At 11am Sunday morning, a white semi tractor drove up to the gate at Miller and cut the lock to the shipping area, reports The Chattanoogan. The truck hooked up to a semi trailer loaded with tow truck parts and accessories, then proceeded to drive down the Interstate. The semi truck that successfully escaped the scene of the crime is described as a white International tractor with a sleeper. The 50 foot long flatbed equipment trailer is marked as trailer number 5003 and has Alabama license plate #A063146.

Miller Industries reported that the trailer was loaded with six small wreckers, tunnel boxes, and other parts. The exact description of the items including serial numbers are as follows:

411 Conventional aluminum modular (411-4841-K09)

301 Express aluminum modular (301-1378-K09)

894 Conventional aluminum modular (894-01205-J09)

412 Conventional composite modular, white (412-4510-J09)

810 modular composite body, black (810-2648-K09)

807 dual winch aluminum (807-04485-J09)

The 411 and 894 have square rear tail lights, which were custom ordered.

Authorities have announced that there is a $1,000 reward for information regarding the stolen equipment, the tractor involved, or the suspects should the reports be useful in this case. To notify the authorities, call Crime Stoppers at 698-3333.

Museum Update: 1935 Chevrolet Tow Truck

Type: 1 ½ ton towtruck

Nickname: “The Chev”

Color: Blue

Photo: The character in our “Santa Clause” photo is Brian Storer. He was a faithful employee of Burien Towing his entire life, as he was raised in the family business. Brian owned his own Santa Suit and enjoyed posing for this photo to add a Christmas photo to our company calendar. Brian died July 24th, 2008 in an airplane accident. His animated and jolly character is forever remembered at Burien Towing.

Specifications: 6 Cylinder, 3 speed transmission, hydraulic brakes

Tow Unit: Manley Wrecker #107 Crane with Auxiliary Winch

Biography: Originally purchased in 1935 by Benson Chevrolet in Franklin, Hew Hampshire (America’s oldest Chevrolet dealer) the cab and chassis were fitted with a dump bed and sold. One year later, the customer decided he wanted the new 1936 Chevrolet that came with hydraulic brakes as opposed to the mechanical brakes on the 1935. He headed back to the dealership and traded it in. Upon returning to Benson Chevrolet, the dump bed was removed from the truck and it was replaced with a Manley Wrecker unit, making it into a tow truck. It was then used for towing until it retired and went into storage in the 1970’s.

Restoration: Burien Towing found the truck in Maine and purchased it in working condition from a classic car dealer in 1999 to add to its rapidly expanding collection of antique tow trucks. As soon as the truck arrived in Burien it was obvious that the wood deck on the truck needed some work so it was placed in the Burien Towing warehouse to begin restoration. Only minimal restoration was required as the cab and chassis were purchased in good condition.

To bring it up to show quality the tow unit was removed and the bed was dismantled. The lumber was refinished by Burien Towing employees. After the truck was reassembled, custom gold leaf lettering was added to the doors by Dunn Auto Graphics. An original 1935 Washington truck lisence plate was also purchased and restored to look new. Finally, a Weaver Auto Ambulance was added to the bed of the truck just as it may have been used in the era the Chev was operating. The auto amubulance is a dolly system that is placed under the axle of the truck in tow to lift the wheels off the ground. Since the truck was completed, Burien Towing has taken it to several local parades and car shows, including the Burien 4th of July Parade among others.

To view the full version of this page go to our Museum Page and click on 1935 Chevrolet. This is the first museum page to be completed. More updates to our other antique tow truck pages are coming soon!