Frozen shoulders, tight yards, and a clock that never stops—this conversation dives into how real towing teams stay safe and sharp when the weather and the work stack the odds. We start with the small habits that compound into big wins: spare socks to fight moisture, warm hats and gloves to preserve judgment, and a plan to avoid the traffic side whenever possible. Those choices may sound simple, but they are the difference between a long career and a long recovery.

From there, we open up our next chapter of training. Partnering with the Cardinal Towing Legacy Group, we’re pairing hands-on recovery education with practical leadership coaching. When supervisors can brief clearly, delegate under pressure, and turn near-misses into team learning, crews run smoother and incidents drop. We also address the realities of urban towing—scarce storage, tight timelines, and constant traffic—by leaning into preplanning, precise communication, and disciplined rigging. Add ice or snow to that picture, and you need checklists, not guesswork.

We map out a packed schedule, including EV awareness modules, a two-day heavy-duty recovery series, and a multi-day advanced course in St. Louis built around loaded-unit scenarios and smart rotator use. If you’ve been waiting to level up your team’s technical skills—and their leadership—this is your moment. As we edge toward our 1,000th class, we’re grateful for everyone who has hosted, learned, and taught with us. The mission hasn’t changed: make the roadside safer, one well-trained operator and one well-led crew at a time.

Subscribe, share this with your team, and leave a review with your top winter safety habit—what’s the one practice you never skip on a cold call?

Roads close, fuel leaks, and everyone looks around for the team that can make the chaos stop. We sat down with Perry Beatty—a towing veteran turned hazmat innovator—to map the journey from $8 tows to rapid spill response, patents, and hands-on training that helps operators control scenes faster and safer. If you’ve ever wondered how a towing company can expand into environmental cleanup without losing focus, this story is your blueprint.

Perry walks us through separating the hazmat business for cleaner liability and brand clarity, then turning existing trucking clients into a ready customer base. We dig into the moment speed became strategy: authorities needed rapid response, and towers already lived by the phone. That mindset powers everything—from blocking storm drains to vacuuming product and documenting cleanups for insurers. Perry also shares the origin of FlowStop, his inflatable, chemical-resistant drain plug that converts storm drains into temporary containment and keeps fuel out of creeks and ponds.

Training takes center stage with a towing-specific approach to HAZWOPER and annual refreshers, plus a deep dive into cargo tank awareness. We cover grounding and bonding, safe transfer of Class 3 flammables, vapor control after offload, pick and lift points for uprighting, and why DOT data shows fuel hauler rollovers are far more common than most think. Perry’s mobile simulators bring it to life with water-based drills, dome clamps, pressure transfer, and real-world tactics that translate to the roadside. We’re teaming up for live classes in North Carolina and Alabama to blend hazmat procedure with recovery best practices so crews can handle both halves of a dangerous scene with confidence.

If you lead a towing team, manage safety, or want to build a spill response arm that actually responds, this is a must-listen. Subscribe, share with your crew, and leave a review to help more operators find these tools. Want in on the next class? Visit hazmatrn.com and hit Registration, or call 636-800-ATRI for details.

Ready to change how a towing company grows, leads, and earns trust? We sit down with Jeff Bauer, president of Cardinal Legacy Group, to unpack how a small A-to-B operation modeled itself after local giants, then earned the chance to carry those legacies forward through disciplined acquisitions in St. Louis, Kansas City, and Naples. The story isn’t just expansion—it’s the playbook behind it: align people to strengths, train for leadership at every level, and protect an industry’s reputation with daily, repeatable standards.

Jeff takes us inside the system that powered the jump from 11 trucks to a regional footprint. We dive into the leadership retreat in Cape Coral—two days focused on conflict resolution, temperaments, and practical tools influenced by John Maxwell’s principles. You’ll hear how a 10-minute survey saved a career by moving a struggling service writer into a high-performing accounting role, why blind spots quietly cap performance, and how to turn big-picture vision into steps your team can execute. It’s real talk about culture, safety, dispatch under pressure, and the habits that make professionalism visible to customers and partners.

We also connect the dots between values and growth. 2019’s $10M milestone became north of $60M within five years by multiplying leaders, not just locations. That kind of scale demands clear hiring profiles, onboarding that teaches judgment, and managers who coach rather than micromanage. Whether you run light-duty recoveries, heavy-duty rotations, or a service business outside towing, you’ll find a framework for building trust, reducing turnover, and delivering consistent results.

If you’re ready to remove blind spots, give your team a path, and lead with integrity, press play—and then share this with a manager who’s ready for the next level. Explore upcoming dates at CardinalLegacyTowing.com/backslash events, check our free deep dives on the American Towing and Recovery Institute YouTube channel, and subscribe to catch new trainings and conversations as they drop. Your move: what leadership habit will you build this week?