Where owners go
for the rest.
Associations, trade press, training and the rules worth knowing.
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Associations
Many states also have their own towing association, and many of them run training, a trade show and advocacy on state towing rules. TRAA and the trade magazines below can point you to yours.
- Towing and Recovery Association of America (TRAA) traaonline.com
- The national trade association for towing and recovery, with membership, a national driver certification program and industry events.
Trade magazines and news
- American Towman americantowman.com
- Trade magazine for towing and recovery, and the organizer of the American Towman trade shows.
- Tow Industry Week towindustryweek.com
- Weekly industry news from the publisher of American Towman.
- Tow Times towtimes.com
- Magazine for towing business owners and managers, with an industry events calendar.
- Tow Professional towprofessional.com
- Business magazine for towing and recovery owners, with a podcast.
- Towing & Recovery Footnotes trfootnotes.com
- Towing industry newspaper with news, features and email newsletters.
Training and certification
The Federal Highway Administration’s National Traffic Incident Management Responder Training teaches police, fire, medical, towing and transportation responders to clear crash scenes safely. State transportation departments and their partners run the classes.
- WreckMaster wreckmaster.com
- Towing and recovery training and certification, from light-duty work to heavy recovery.
Federal rules and records
Towing licenses, rate caps for police and private-property tows, and storage and lien rules are mostly set by states, counties and cities. Check with your state’s motor vehicle or motor carrier agency and your local government as well.
- FMCSA registration fmcsa.dot.gov
- USDOT numbers and operating authority for commercial vehicles, and whether your trucks need them.
- FMCSA commercial driver’s licenses fmcsa.dot.gov
- Who needs a commercial driver’s license, and the license classes.
- NHTSA recalls nhtsa.gov
- Check a chassis for open safety recalls by VIN before you buy.
- SBA business guide sba.gov
- Planning, registering and funding a small business.
History
- International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame & Museum towingmuseum.com
- The industry’s history and Hall of Fame, in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
TowValue’s own tools
Owner guides · Owner tools · Used tow truck prices · Estimate a truck
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