This is an I-Heart podcast.

This is our American stories, and we tell stories about just about everything here on the show.

And this next story, it's all about

the tow truck. Here's Monty Montgomery. They get us out of ditches. They're on call 24-7 to assist us

on some of our worst days. They can also be an unhappy site for people who forget to pay their bills

or how to park. I'm of course talking about the tow truck, a machine that we often forget

the importance of, but behind the wheel of these trucks are men and women dedicated to what they

do. The tow truck industry is a 24-7 industry. You know, if someone's broke down at 3 a.m., someone needs to come out and get them. It's very similar to the first responders. They kind of go hand in hand with that. They're very close with that community also. You know, because if you think, if you see a wreck on the highway, what are the three things you see? You see the ambulance, you see a fire truck, and then you see a tow truck. These guys are very dedicated to the people that they serve.

They want to be out there and they sacrifice a lot. You know, they sacrifice a lot of their personal

life to do it because, you know, if they're on call 24-7, they're going to be getting calls 24-7.

The nature of the industry is a Samaritan industry anyway. You know, if they're on call 24-7, they're going to be getting calls 24-7. The nature of the industry is a Samaritan industry anyway.

You know, you break down the side of the road, you're going to come out and, you know, help the person.

They're very proud of what they do because they know that their industry isn't super well-known.

It's not something that people talk about on a regular basis.

In the United States, the majority of tow trucks are owned and operated by private family

enterprises.

And that's always been the case, even down to the very first tow truck made by Chattanooga

native, Ernest Holmes Sr.

So Ernest Holmes Sr., he started the tow truck, he invented it originally, around 1917, 1918 when he got the patent for it. He had a friend of his who had broken down and he was basically stuck in a ditch out in the middle of nowhere, and he called him and he said, hey, I need you to come out and come get me. So he comes out, six guys from his garage, and it took them all day to get the car up out of

the ditch and he said, well, I feel like there's a better way to do this.

So Holmes took his 1913 Cadillac and strapped several pulls to the back.

And thus, the tow truck was born.

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