The owners of an internationally known Sarnia-based towing company are celebrating a significant milestone this year.
Preferred Towing, which was the subject of the popular TV show Heavy Rescue: 401, is marking 35 years in business.
The show, which featured dramatic recoveries along Ontario’s 400 series highways, was broadcast in 170 countries across the world and ended with its seventh season in 2023.
Gary and Tammy Vandenheuvel founded Preferred Towing in 1991, originally from their apartment. It's grown into a family-run staple, alongside their son Colin, famous for heavy-duty highway recoveries and long-distance towing.
Their headquarters is now located at 46 Indian Road South in Sarnia and they have 19 units, including trucks, trailers and tractors.
Gary and Tammy spoke with Josh Boyce on the Sarnia-Lambton Beyond the Headlines podcast (listen below)
Gary said it's been an amazing run.
"We started with one truck back then and wondering how it would all work out," said Gary. "I was a licensed mechanic at the time and Tammy was working with youth at that time and we decided to go in the venture. Now, 35 years later here we stand with a fleet of trucks and very proud to be part of this community."
Gary said they initially weren't sure whether it would be profitable.
"We made a commitment to six months to see if it was going to work or not and if not lick our wounds and go back for me to turning wrenches. Six months later we had to buy a second truck and the rest, as they say, is history," he said.
Tammy said working as a team is key to their success.
"When you start a business together from scratch then you grow together and I think for us that was a success," said Tammy. "Gary had his expertise in the hands-on towing and I learned the expertise of kind of running the office and the billing and that kind of stuff. So I think being able to balance your skill set really helped us to expand the company."
Tammy said Heavy Rescue: 401 was a fantastic experience.
"We got to meet a lot of really neat people. The crew that we worked with were wonderful," she said. "We got to see and meet people from around the world. We had lots of emails come across from people from Dubai and United Kingdom and all over the place. What it did for us as an industry was it's an even bigger piece and I think that's why we really agreed to do the show. Everything had to be shown as real. We don't fake anything. Nothing is set up but it shows the slow down move over. It shows how dangerous our job is on the side of the road. It was a lot of education."
Tammy noted they're extremely proud of their son Colin who is taking over the company and keeping it in the family.
"It was never an expectation for him to take over the company," said Tammy. "We just decided if he doesn't want to have any anything to do with it we would just sell it and go on from there. We made him go to school to make sure that this was what he thought was going to be right for him. He has made that decision that yes he does want to continue and so we're really proud of him."
The Vandenheuvels also operate Ohana Landing in Sarnia which has been open for seven years and has helped about 50 people.
The transitional housing facility provides safe, fully furnished, self-contained apartments and support services for homeless or at-risk youth aged 16 to 24.
They have seven units and currently have six youth and two children living there.
