About Joe's Towing & Recovery

Joe's Towing and Recovery was started as a gas station with a tow truck in 1969 at Oakland / Veterans in Bloomington.  After a move to Woodrig and Main, we finally settled in our current location at 2233 Springfield Rd, and faded out the gas station/service station portion of the business.  Our original location was less than 1/2 acre, with one building housing a small office and larger bay.  In the mid to late 1980's, property in front of our location became available, and plans began for a new shop and office building.  We moved into our new 30 x 60 2-story office building and 70 x 90 shop.

The 1990's were a time of growth at Joe's Towing & Recovery.  We purchased property at 1207 Warriner in Normal and moved the storage of impounds towed from the Town of Normal to this location.  In October 2006, an office was added to handle impounds, releases and parking permits for Illinois State University.

In 1998/1999, we acquired 5.5 more acres at 2229 Springfield Rd, bringing our total acreage in Bloomington to 6.5 acres.  In 2007 and 2008, we remodeled our office building to update our employee kitchen and meeting room, and added a break room.

Branching Out

In 2002, we noticed that we had a high number of customers in the Peoria area.  Search began for property in the Peoria area, and in 2003, we moved into our new location at 921 N Main, Creve Coeur, with 1 heavy duty tow truck.  Soon, we added a light duty truck and another employee.  Currently, our Creve Coeur terminal has 1 Rotator, 1 heavy duty under-reach, 2 light duty wheel lifts, 1 light duty flatbed and 6 full time employees.

About Joe

Joe started this company in 1969, and although he has since added employees, locations and semi-retired, he is still very much a part of Joe's Towing & Recovery.  Over the last 10 years, he has concentrated his efforts on the legislative side of the towing industry.  He has been instrumental in the towing industry receiving state legislation that helps deter the abandonment of vehicles by placing stricter penalties on the vehicle owner, such as non-renewal of their drivers license until the fees have been taken care of at the towing company.  Joe has also moved his legislative efforts to the national level, going as far as to speak on CNN regarding "wreck chasing". 

Joe currently serves as 2nd vice president of the Towing and Recovery Association of America (TRAA), and previously served 2 terms as president of the Professional Towing and Recovery Operators of Illinois (PTROI).  He serves in a legislative capacity for both the TRAA and the PTROI.

On September 14, 2007, Joe was inducted into the International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame, in Chattanooga, TN, joining an elite group of towers both in the United States and abroad.