A Commitment to the Community

Mike and Lainie Phillips, owners of All American Towing and Recovery, make every effort to be more than just another towing company showing up at the scene.

Based in Justin, All American Towing and Recovery services all of Denton County by partnering with police and fire personnel and everyday folks just like you for services ranging from standard towing and load transfers to tractor-trailer accidents and recovery, hazmat emergency response, and accident scene remediation. They have over 30 state-of-the-art towing and recovery units and equipment ranging from light-duty carriers to the largest rotating heavy-duty wreckers in the area.

They also offer 24-7 live dispatch.

“We wanted to be all-inclusive,” Mike said. “No matter the situation — call one number, and our team will get it done.”

“We strive to offer a higher level of service than your typical towing company,” Lainie said. “We offer our services to fire and police departments so that our heavy equipment can even be used in extrication and rescue situations. We’ve done quite a few of those, actually, and it feels really good to know that we’ve had the opportunity to be a part of making their job easier.”

Mike added, “Roughly 50% of our business is law enforcement tows. The other half is the general public when they are broken down and need help.”

The emergency services area of their business has grown the most in recent years. All too often, innocent people are involved in life-threatening vehicle accidents with oversized commercial vehicles. And sometimes, the occupants are trapped inside and need to be extricated quickly before being transported to the nearest hospital. Fire and rescue units have the tools and equipment for these situations, but what Mike and Lainie have found is that offering these services to local departments puts more hands on deck and can expedite those life-saving efforts.

Mike and Lainie held a cross-training event with other industry professionals in November that featured over 100 firefighters from 24 agencies in Denton County and surrounding areas. The goal is to host two per year and bring in towing and fire professionals to cross-train with each other at no cost.

“These accidents are some of the hardest because while the fire department has the equipment to help, they can’t always do it

efficiently because of the weight of the vehicle,” Mike said. “We train with them to use our heavy-duty wreckers and equipment to extricate patients efficiently. When it comes to moving or lifting crashed vehicles, what may take them 45 minutes might only take us five minutes because of our equipment.

“We even offer the services for free. The way I look at it, if that were my wife and children involved in the crash and they needed extrication, the last thing I’d want to talk about is pricing. Saving patients and giving back to the community is the goal.”

When you sit down with Mike and Lainie, it’s clear that they really know their stuff. On top of that, you leave feeling like you have known them for years — just a down-to-earth family you can’t wait to learn more about. Mike is a third-generation towing professional with several years of towing and recovery experience.

“I used to drive a wrecker to school because I had to go to work afterward,” Mike said with a laugh. He’s been in a wrecker full-time since he was 18. “I’ve never imagined doing anything different.”