March 5, 2025 • 53 mins
Get ready for the Florida Tow Show this April! This year, we're excited to spotlight the incredible opportunities awaiting towing professionals at the world’s largest towing event. Dive into discussions featuring exclusive insights on the latest advancements in towing technology, innovative electric vehicles, and recovery equipment that will drive your business forward.
In this interview with Mike Seamon, we delve into what makes the Florida Tow Show a must-attend event. You'll learn about the popular Women's Luncheon, which continues to grow as an essential gathering for women in the industry to connect and share experiences exclusively among their peers. Additionally, we’ll provide details about educational seminars designed to enhance your skills and knowledge, whether you’re well-established in the industry or just starting.
Located in sunny Orlando, the event is not merely a professional gathering but also a fantastic opportunity for families. Attendees can enjoy the surrounding attractions while making connections that will serve them well in their careers. This is more than just a show; it’s a celebration of the towing industry and the community that supports it.
As we discuss the importance of networking and sharing knowledge within the towing community, you'll understand why so many attendees say the show feels like a family reunion. Be part of a collective voice advocating for best practices, government regulations, and continuous growth within the profession.
Don't miss your chance to be part of this unforgettable experience! Mark your calendars for the Florida Tow Show in April, and make sure to tune in for all the exciting details we’ll cover in this episode. We encourage you to subscribe, share, and join us as we celebrate this vibrant industry!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome one and all to the American Towing Recovery
Institute podcast.
I want to remind all of youthat the American Towing
Recovery Institute aims topromote professionalism, safety
and education within the towingand recovery industry.
Remember, we provide trainingand certification programs for
towing operators.
(00:26):
We also advocate for industrystandards and best practices,
support research and develop allnew techniques, including
research and development ofelectric and alternative fuel
vehicles With extensive research, with the EV Clever app,
available now on Apple andGoogle Play stores, Foster
(00:50):
cooperation among industrystakeholders.
Please, if you need to contactus, we're always at
wwwamtowriorg Now.
Here is Towing News Now.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
DJ, as always, I appreciate your kind words.
Welcome everybody.
Glad to be here today.
April, how are you doing?
Speaker 3 (01:14):
I'm doing fantastic and we have a very good guest
for this week.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
We really do DJ.
How are you doing today?
Speaker 4 (01:21):
I'm doing fantastic and I'm like April, I look
forward to our guest today,because he's a phenomenal person
who has done a lot for ourindustry.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Absolutely Without any further ado.
I want to introduce to somepresent to others A friend of
the podcast been a returningguest, mike Seaman, with
Professional Record Operators ofFlorida.
Of course, that's theorganization that puts together
the world's largestinternational tow show and if
you haven't been, you should go.
It's really a great event andwe're going to talk about that
(01:53):
some today.
Mike, welcome, how are youtoday?
Speaker 5 (01:57):
Thank you, wes, april DJ Glad to be on.
I'm sitting here on the patioat Applebee's in Central Florida
.
It is approaching 77 degreestoday, get down in the low 50s
tonight.
I looked at the weather acrossthe country.
(02:19):
Some people are looking at 40is going to be the best it's
ever going to get for you todayand you get down a really cold
at night.
So, uh, we'll have 80 degreeweather back in april.
It'll be, uh, we'll.
We'll have it here pretty soonanyway, but so we'll have um
blue skies, palm trees, lazyriver everything that anyone
(02:42):
could want for vacation.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
All right, hold on, Mike, because we're getting one
of these Amber Alert things overour phones.
Speaker 5 (02:50):
We get those all the time too.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Yeah, okay.
Well, that sounds great withthe weather.
I am looking forward to it.
We're a little bit better thanthe 40 degrees and the less than
that throughout the country,but I'm definitely looking
forward to Florida in April.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Yeah, and of course go ahead, Mike.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
No, I say good.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah, and of course we're talking about the Florida
toe show.
It's going to be April 10ththrough the 12th, that's in
Orlando, florida.
The main hotel is the OrlandoBruno Vista.
Are there still rooms availableat the host hotel, mike?
Speaker 5 (03:26):
We may be sold out now it was getting really close
the other day but we have theHilton.
There's two Hiltons, they'resister hotels.
Our second hotel that we usedto have the show at until we
moved three blocks away to havemore space.
We have, uh, we have roomsthere.
(03:49):
We have, um, fleet net providesa shuttle, uh, that would be
running back between hotels allday long till, uh, till late at
night.
Uh, you can see onfloridatoeshowcom.
You can see the completeschedule as we know it.
There are probably going to besome more additions, a few
(04:14):
things maybe, but it's a shortwalk if you like to walk.
If not, ride the shuttle busfor free.
Both of them are Hilton's.
If you're trying to reserve aroom, you can use your Hilton
honors number, but you have togo through our website and click
on it to get the discountedrates to start with.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
That shuttle bus to and from the hotels is one
example of how you go above andbeyond to make it as easy as you
can for anybody who's attendingthat show.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
And everything's always free.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
That's another benefit of the show.
Yes, that's what we're knownfor.
We're known for sunshine.
We're known for everything tobe free Sunshine.
We're known for everything tobe free.
And the only way we've everbeen able to do that all these
years is by our great exhibitors.
On Thursday night, kickoffJordan all attendees will have
(05:18):
free food and drinks.
Friday night Miller does demowith drinks.
We're starting something newthis year Friday night at 6
o'clock, right outside will bethe family fun night with
different types of games, andall the Driscoll family has
wanted us to do this for acouple years now, so we made
(05:42):
space for it During the day.
On Friday and Saturday we gotsomething really neat.
It's called Be the Hamster.
It's a local company that makesthese.
It's kind of like a hamsterwheel made out of wood and you
walk on it and it moves and theymake their own snow cones.
(06:04):
If the kids are too small to doit by themselves, the parents
can be with them, but it's notthat difficult.
It's really neat.
I met him at a local fair kindof thing here, and so we booked
him for Friday and Saturday.
That will be, if my memory'sright, 11 to 4.
(06:25):
Free snow cones outside, rightbeside the Hino raffle truck
where you can buy a $10 ticketand maybe take home Wes.
What are they now?
$135,000?
Oh yeah, easy, it's a Hinoextended cab with a Chevron
self-loader wheel lift this year.
(06:46):
Oh wow, top of the line.
Top of the line, yeah, that'sall you need.
And that is sponsored by Millerand naturally the bed is Miller
and the truck is Hino.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
And that's something that you announced at the show
as well.
Correct the winner of that show?
Speaker 5 (07:05):
Yes, announce at the show as well.
Correct the winner?
Yes, it's, it's, it's we've.
I think we're, I think we're onlike a 12th year, a 12th year
with Hino now.
Uh, we had a a lot of years inFlorida with Ford and Jordan and
uh, ford uh changed theirbusiness plan and they cut out a
lot of shows, and ours was oneof them, and so Hino stepped up
(07:27):
to provide the truck and Millerstepped up to provide the bed on
it.
We travel across the countrywith it some Great tow shows,
like Ohio, we're at Tommy's inTexas and it's around locally at
(07:47):
different meetings and stuff.
So we're promoting our sponsors.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Well, that's a great deal, though.
It really is.
The money goes to theassociation, to fund projects
and whatnot, doesn't it?
Speaker 5 (08:01):
Absolutely All the money that professional rec
operators of florida stateassociation, we um, were
incorporated in 1977.
Um, our uh good friend haspassed away now, date jones.
It started uh, one of theprinciples that started pwf um
uh had a small show in Daytonain 78.
(08:26):
Then it was moved to Orlandoand we've grown from just a
handful of our board membersdoing everything for a couple
days to world's largestinternational and we have quite
a few crowds.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
One of the things I like aboutthe show is the whole vibe of it
.
You talked about the Thursdaynight and Friday night events.
It's kind of almost a streetfestival, just very laid back,
very open to people mingling andinteracting and enjoying an
adult beverage and a meal out inthe parking lot.
Speaker 5 (09:09):
Adult beverages, sodas for kids.
But the big thing iscamaraderie.
It's always been.
I've been amazed over the yearsimpressed, I should say not
amazed.
Impressed.
Impressed, I should say notamazed, impressed that um,
employees owners, um officeworkers, drivers, I they, they
(09:38):
like to talk to each other, they, they can share um stories,
sometimes, uh, just like in thefield I grew up being a mechanic
in the field of automotive Um,in the field of automotive,
somebody says, hey, I found this, this is what fixed it.
Co-truck drivers, we talked toeach other and say I had this
and guess what I did?
I say wow, that's kind of neat.
I never thought of that.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
That would make my life easier.
Sometimes that show is the onetime of the year year if you can
get there once a year, butsometimes you it's a couple.
You know every couple yearsthat you get to see the people
that you haven't visited withfor a long time to always felt
like it almost feels like afamily reunion when you go
exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
It is a family reunion.
We're just not related by blood.
It absolutely is.
Mike, I need to ask you to hangaround for a second.
We've got to take a shortcommercial break and we'll be
right back after the break.
Can you hang around with us?
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Be right here, Yep and other alternative fuel
vehicles.
We have developed an app thatgives you all the manufacturers
411 for when that 911 happens,Whether you are a fire tow or
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To find the EV Clever app, goto your Apple or Google Play
(10:55):
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Speaker 2 (10:57):
We also offer the National Tow Operator
Certification, an independentlysourced virtual testing program
covering light duty, heavy dutyelectric and alternative fuel
vehicle.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
Welcome back listeners.
You know you listened to thenumber one podcast.
It's the new Tully News Channeland we have a special guest and
this is is great.
Remember we're available onSpotify, itunes, pandora,
stitcher, iheartmedia, amazon orwherever you get your podcasts.
(11:34):
And we're going to go back toMike Seaman and talk about this
family reunion, because that'swhat it's all about.
And I want to remind all of youyou know the Hindo truck they're
talking about.
The tickets are a whole $10.
So everyone, when you get there, you buy yourself a handful of
tickets and be part of thesuccess of this whole industry,
(11:58):
because some of these peoplethat have gone home with it,
when you go and ask them, howmany tickets did you buy, they
bought five tickets and theyland up winning the truck.
So this is a really a afantastic.
And when they say it's aninternational, it is the best.
You're online to get your freehot dog from all states and all
(12:21):
of a sudden, you got a germancouple in front of you and an
Italian couple behind you.
It is the family-est, wonderful.
This is the best of the year.
I think it's the best onemyself.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
And DJ, I just want to say one thing Even though you
have a German family in frontof you and an Italian family
behind you, we're all speakingthe same language.
It's the Turkish language.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
You got that right.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Absolutely so.
For someone that hasn't beenbefore, Mike, what can they
expect when they come to theshow?
Can you tell us a little bitabout the outside exhibits and
the inside exhibits?
Speaker 5 (12:56):
Well, there's a lot of interesting things that goes
on at Florida Toe Show.
I'm there for 12 days.
I start the week before um onmonday.
Uh, we, they start putting thetents up.
(13:16):
Um, it takes days to do that.
Uh, we allow trucks to come in.
They're washed, they're thesetup, a lot going on in the
background before a lot of theattendees get there, maybe on
Thursday or Wednesday, and theysee everything done.
We've got a lot ofbehind-the-scenes employees at
(13:38):
PWF employees and, of course, wehave our dedicated board
members and everybody shouldbelong to their, should belong
to their state associations,because the association works
for the members and the industry.
We're we've got some.
Like I said, we've got some.
(14:00):
We always have new things.
We have new exhibitors.
It's never been there before.
We're able to put new people infrom time to time.
We're always full, we're alwayssold out.
We have two lots outside.
We have two large ballroomsinside.
We have 175 exhibitors total.
(14:25):
Um, this is a place that you'regoing to find out what's new,
because historically it's alwaysbeen that all the exhibitors a
lot of the exhibitors, I shouldsay is looking for um,
introducing new things, and it'sbecome known that you come to
florida in april.
That's where you're going tosee new things, new trucks.
(14:47):
The first rotator arrived atthe florida tow show with a
police escort boy, it sure didthat.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
I was there for that.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
That was something incredible so what year was that
?
Speaker 5 (14:59):
about we were we it no, no, no later than 90, I
would think.
Yeah, 89, 90, somewhere inthere I'm thinking, yeah, we
were still at the Twin Towersand we grew, we outgrew that
place.
But yes, it was, our friend hasnow passed away.
That was.
(15:20):
Nobody had ever seen one beforeand that was a huge event and
it happened in Florida.
And don't be surprised in Aprilif you see some things that
you've never seen before.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
That was a Black Cat.
I think, is what they calledthat truck, wasn't it?
Speaker 5 (15:37):
I think he had a name for it.
Yes, sir, yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
I know in 91, I was there when Ernie's had that big
Oshkosh and that was somethingthat was introduced in the first
month.
I know in 91, I was there whenErnie's had that big Oshkosh.
Speaker 5 (15:47):
And that was something that was introduced in
the first movie.
I remember Ernie's very well.
I've been involved with PWFsince the early 80s and I've
been a part of the show sincethen.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
And naturally, taken over the management of it 25
years ago.
Speaker 5 (16:19):
Yeah, and you've seen a lot over the years, haven't
you?
Yes, and DJ was talking aboutthe tickets.
I've got a couple Funny storieswe had.
I drew the.
I don't draw the ticket, hinodraws it.
I'm not allowed to win, PWFemployees are not allowed Not
allowed to win and Hino is notallowed to win.
(16:41):
So Sherry from Hino Pulls thewinning ticket.
And when I called the number, alady answered and they were at
St Pete Beach, they were fromCanada, she bought her husband
for his birthday or something.
She bought him a ticket onFriday, $10, and a ticket on
(17:04):
Saturday and $20 won a truck.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Well, that's a good deal, Yep.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
There you go.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
And then, when things were really bad and people
couldn't get chassis, one winnercame with money, came with a
tag, already had insuranceavailable and he just bought
tickets and he won the truck andwent to Pennsylvania.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
That's a lot of faith in that purchase of those
tickets when he knew that truck.
Speaker 5 (17:43):
Well, I mean the, that's the almighty power, if
you ask me yeah needed a truck,probably good working person and
100 one um yeah, it's went toit's over the years it's it's
went to people in florida,california, um, just
pennsylvania, pennsylvania,canada.
(18:04):
Our good friend, ralph Cenafrom New Hampshire.
He runs the New Hampshire TowShow.
It's a great event.
Everybody should attend that ifthey get a chance.
He was there with his family.
He had a whole family there.
They rented a house and therewas a lot of them and when I
called him he was down thestreet with a family Because,
(18:26):
like Wes, like you said, it's afamily affair.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Absolutely, it always has been, and you know.
You're right about a lot ofannouncements happening there.
Every year.
It seems that new things areintroduced, new acquisitions et
cetera happen.
So that's one of the reasons tobe there is to see what's
happening live.
Speaker 5 (18:48):
Yep, this year you're going to be there with a new
free, absolutely free.
We have secluded a beveragesponsored by Purpose Wrecker,
one of our very good exhibitorsorange juice and donuts, danish
in the mornings, and we're ableto see quite a few.
(19:12):
But it's imperative that peoplepre-register.
Because you pre-register, Iwill have a seat for you.
If you show up and there'speople standing every place,
then that's not going to be sogood for you.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Right, and you guys do do do an excellent job of
accommodating people.
But it is so helpful whenpeople sign up ahead of time,
especially with the course thatwe're doing, because there's
going to be a certificate issuedand we want to have all that
kind of stuff pre-printed so wecan handle that efficiently.
So I can't stress enough to preif you're attending our one day
(19:51):
training on the thursday topre-register also, just if
you're attending the show topre-register.
It's so much smoother thanhaving to stand in that line to
fill everything out.
Besides our training you have alot of other great training
going on there as well.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
I see there's a all, let's don't get all, let's don't
get off yours, just shit.
Um, this is, this is, this issomething that everybody is
going to going to need to beinterested in.
Um, it's heavy duty, uh, ev andand rotator um, this is not
rolling over tractor trailers.
This is telling you things thatyou need to know, cause, cause,
(20:27):
long time ago, when I was amechanic, I went to bear front
end alignment school and andthey, they told us, you're, you
guys, are already doing thisstuff.
We're teaching you why you'redoing it and some and some and
some tricks of the trade.
And so people were out theredoing this stuff already.
But I had opportunity to be apart of a small event in central
(20:50):
florida with um volvo and mactrucks and the volvo electric
truck, which I doubt they tellme, they doubt they're going to
have one available in april, butthere's a possibility, but it's
a slim possibility.
A lot to know about theseheavy-duty electric trucks, a
(21:12):
lot to know about electricvehicles.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Absolutely correct and that's awesome to hear you
know.
That's another thing about theshow is you guys go out of your
way to have new and modern stuffthere.
That's another thing about theshow.
You guys go out of your way tohave new and modern stuff there.
Hopefully we can get this inany truck, but you guys always
go above and beyond having thelatest and the greatest of stuff
.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
Again the class is free.
Please sign up.
All Friday and SaturdayAllstate is having education
training, if you will,throughout the day.
Go on our website, look at theschedule, see what you're
interested in.
There's two sessions.
(21:58):
It takes four hours to becertified for traffic incident
management.
We will have that there.
They will get thatcertification.
Florida Highway Patrol I was ona team's meeting with them
yesterday.
They put it in their newrotation rules.
You will have to have thatwithin 180 days of your
(22:23):
employment with a Florida towlerthat's doing Florida Highway
Patrol rotation calls.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Alabama's enacted a similar thing in their state
police policy as well, andthat's another thing I'll give
you all credit for that.
Tim's training is excellent andit's sometimes hard scarce to
be able to get to and it'ssometimes hard, scarce to be
able to get to.
So by having it there at theshow, people can, you know,
(22:49):
knock down something off theirbucket list or their checklist.
They need to get done, and youknow, and do it at an enjoyable
pace.
Speaker 5 (22:57):
Absolutely.
And Wes you remember when wewere going throughout the state
some years ago doing trainingand my small part of it was the
um, maintenance of traffic, Um,and and people would ask
questions um that you and Icould respond to about different
(23:18):
circumstances, as in placingcones and and maybe a car might
hit the cone, and my responsewas I'd rather, I'd rather hear
that car hitting cones than seethat car hitting me.
That's right, and I and I andI'll worry about that lexus
front bumper later, but firstI'm gonna worry about me yeah,
absolutely so, so, so.
(23:41):
So they, they will have anopportunity to talk to an expert
and maybe their thinking mightnot quite be right for lack of
better words and they getinstruction.
And again, it's free.
Pre-register, pre-register wedo have a large room for these
(24:12):
classes for Thursday, friday andSaturday, but we do have a
tremendous amount of people thatcome to the Florida Toe Show.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Yeah, again, I cannot stress enough to pre-register
online for everything.
It makes things so much easier.
I've gone to a lot of thesethings and you know, just avoid
spending time in line.
And again, I give your staffcredit, Mike.
They always do a great job toaccommodate the crowd, whoever
shows up.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
If they can, if they can.
But registering onlineguarantees you that spot.
Showing up at the last minute.
Don't do the best toaccommodate, but there's no
guarantees to that.
Speaker 5 (24:53):
Yeah, I keep.
I keep adding more um morestations, because, as we grow, I
don't like to see a line forvery few, very few minutes of
people waiting to get theirtheir um restoration badge to be
able to do everything.
It's a show and and and it'sfree.
You don't have to pay foranything.
You don't get too free and yougotta pay for other people, um
(25:18):
triple a sponsors, therestoration um we're, we're
pretty free in Florida.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Oh, it is absolutely Now.
One of the things is this isn'tfree, so we need to take a
moment for a commercial break,but we'll be right back.
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Speaker 4 (26:48):
We look forward to serving you welcome back
listeners to the number onepodcast in the towing, the
recovery industry.
This is towing news channel andwe have the great mike seaman
on.
And I tell Mike, I wrote anarticle a couple of years ago
and I was.
This was a guy who said I'mgoing to the Florida Tow Show
(27:10):
for the first time.
What should I do?
And I was laying out number onefind out where the Indotruck is
and go buy a couple of tickets.
You don't need to buy a bunch,buy five or 10 and you're in.
And I said make sure you go andfind out how to register for the
woman's luncheon, becausethere's a woman's luncheon put
(27:30):
on by Ruthie and every year itgets bigger and better and they
give away so many door prizesthat you cannot believe how much
is given away.
So if you want this, this isgreat news.
I want to remind all of ourlisteners I cannot thank you
enough for being the number onepodcast.
(27:52):
Remember to like, review andshare everywhere.
And if you want to hear anotherindustry expert like Mike
Seaman, just dial the hotlinenumber at the podcast center
706-409-5603.
And April and Wes will do theirvery best to put them on the
next podcast.
(28:12):
So, wes, I'll turn it back overto you and April.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Mike, what can you tell us about, what's different
from y'all's toe show, thanother toe shows that are out
there?
Speaker 5 (28:26):
from y'all's toe show than other toe shows that are
out there.
Well, as I travel across thecountry all these years and, um,
we don't wait we know that thatsome toe shows um doesn't have
as many exhibitors as ours.
We're very fortunate.
In florida we have, we have agreat location, we have great
weather, we have great people.
We're very, we people, we'revery, we're blessed, we're very
fortunate Um, some otherassociations, um, that has has
(28:51):
shows, um, uh, they're wonderfuland everybody should attend
because you, you, you never knowwho you're going to meet, what
you're, you know what you'regoing to learn, um, but, uh,
take a vacation.
Florida, um, it's, it's, uh,it's going to take you a couple
days to see and do everything,um, and and, like I said, the
(29:13):
camaraderie hanging out by thepool area, uh, we have a lazy
room for the kids, uh, just justall kind of things, sort of
family.
It's very family oriented, justlike Ohio is.
But just, you know, don't beafraid to go to another place
because you saw and you said,okay, I've seen everything there
(29:35):
is to see.
No, travel around, go to Ohio,go to Florida, you'll see
different things.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Also, you're just a walk away from Disney Springs,
from where that hotel is too,mike.
Speaker 5 (29:48):
Walk across the street the hotel.
Naturally, we have Disney buses, we have a lot of attendees and
some exhibitors that theyvacation, that um, uh, they
(30:08):
vacation.
They may uh come and stay orcome earlier, stay longer, or or
some of our exhibitors, theywill come and and after it's
done they will bring the familyin, the wife or whoever uh,
husband and um, and they andthey stay in Florida and
vacation in the warm weather,you know, before they go home.
So so that's not only a workevent but it's their vacation.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Yeah, and it's also a prime one of their prime weeks
for spring breaks too, so thatall plays into that as well.
Speaker 5 (30:36):
Yes, and a year, many years ago.
All kids seem to get out ofschool at the same time Now,
even in Florida oh my God wherethey they.
They come and go on differentweeks and stuff.
But if a kid is doing prettygood in school, it's not that
(30:58):
bad to take them out for acouple of days and a lot of
teachers, will you know, letthem do their homework and stuff
remotely.
A lot different than it wasyears ago, I mean with
technology.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
That is very true.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Yeah, and that was.
Y'all did work hard years agoto get that weekend.
That was prime for everybodyfor the schools being out.
But like you say, times havechanged now.
Speaker 5 (31:17):
Well, our show always revolves around when is Easter.
And for the people that don'tknow why Easter changes when is
Easter?
And for the people that don'tknow why Easter changes, easter
is based on a certain timeperiod from the biblical times,
that is, in the end of March andinto April, and Easter is
always going to be on the Sundayof that week that's closest to
(31:41):
the full moon, because inbiblical times they needed the
moon to walk.
That's why our co-show is notthe same week every year.
It could be earlier in Apriland it could be a little bit
later in April, but it willalways revolve around the weeks
(32:03):
before or after Easter right,that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
The PWF Professional Record Operators of Florida, the
organization that hosts thewhat do they do with the funds
that they gain from the show andwhatnot?
Speaker 5 (32:22):
Well, we, we spend a lot of money, um, our
association does.
We spend a lot of money on umlegislation.
Um, and I've actually, I'veactually traveled to other
States.
I can remember going to Ohioone time, uh, to help them with
a um uh, uh, they had a luncheonwith the uh, the Senate
(32:44):
leadership there.
Um, I told him I was fromFlorida.
I didn't, I didn't pretend Iwas.
I was from Ohio, um, but the um.
But I've had a lot ofexperience.
I'm a registered lobbyist forthe towing industry in Florida.
I have a lot of experiencedealing with politicians.
I know the process.
My favorite saying is you likethe process when it's working
(33:07):
for you and you don't like itwhen it's not working for you.
But you know the old jokes aredon't tell my mother I'm a
lobbyist.
She thinks I'm a piano playerin a whorehouse.
You don't want to see thesausage being made.
Sometimes it's not pretty.
But that's the process and Iunderstand it and PWF
(33:30):
understands it and ourleadership understands it.
And when we have statutes thatare great for the towing
industry and we do we haveprobably the best in the country
.
Other states can look at it.
Because when I walk into asenator or representative's
office in Florida and we'repushing something, the first
(33:51):
words out of their mouth howdoes somebody else do it?
How does another else do it?
How's another state do it?
And my philosophy is I willalways have the answer for them
because when I walk in, I havethe answers.
I don't have to go back, Idon't have to say you're a
Senator, let me get the answerand I'll get back with you.
I have the answers.
My people have the answers withme.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
We pride ourself on that and other states can take
this and, you know, be a modelfor them for how to move forward
with legislation and get itadvanced and go to you and say
how did you get this to happen?
Or what do you need for this tohappen?
Speaker 5 (34:42):
Absolutely.
I get calls from differentpeople, from associations from
across the state, whether it beAlabama or any other state, and
they ask questions about tryingto do something.
And sometimes a typicalquestion is how did you guys get
legislation and statute that ifsomeone on a police call on
(35:07):
public property not a privateproperty, joe public property
how can you restrict them andmake them pay something for
their tow and storage?
They say we want to restricttheir driver's license.
You're never going to have thathappen.
You're never going to get thatdone, but we restrict them from
(35:29):
renewing their tag.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
And folks listen up.
This is huge.
This is one of the best piecesof legislation that I'm aware of
in the country to help put adent in that problem about cars
getting abandoned on you.
So tell us about how that works.
It's got to be a police call.
It can't be a private propertytow.
Speaker 5 (35:51):
It has to be a law enforcement tow on public
property which is, you know, aroadway or whatever, and they're
allowed to put a it's called awreck operator lien.
They're allowed to put that inthe system with our Department
of Highway Safety and MotorVehicles DMV, if you will
vehicles DMV.
If you will, and if Wes wantsto go and buy a new car or a
(36:18):
used car, he can and he can buya new tag.
But if he has a tag it needs tobe renewed.
He's got to pay the tow or thatrecord operator lien which
consists of the tow recovery andseven-day storage On a typical
(36:42):
passenger vehicle accident ortow.
We're talking about maybe $300or something.
If we're talking about a RV oror something, you got got some
recovery involved in it and allum, it could be more and wes
will have to pay that before hecan renew revalidation sticker,
(37:05):
renew his tag.
He already has on his car, hismobile home in florida, uh, his
boat, his landscape trailer,anything he owns.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
And it works, doesn't it?
Speaker 5 (37:18):
Got to pay the toer.
Speaker 2 (37:20):
And it works, doesn't it?
They don't get paid on everyone, but they get paid on everyone.
Speaker 5 (37:24):
And toers are getting people walked in on a timely
basis saying I need to pay youand I need the release form.
The TOR is the only one thathas a release form in Florida.
You can't go online and getthat release form.
Speaker 3 (37:41):
Let me ask a question how long did it take to get
that legislation passed?
Speaker 5 (37:48):
When I first became the executive director of PWF,
under circumstances that wasn'tgood a death, and that was in
2000.
I remember, with a senator inour lobbying firm, I was in
Miami and I pitched it to himand I said something that
(38:14):
sparked an interest.
I called it walkaways.
I just made it up and theyliked it.
We got it passed in the nextsession and our session is
always 90 days in the or 60 days, I'm sorry, in the spring.
So we got it, but it wassomething that you know, we've
(38:38):
been wanting to do for a longtime and and I learned through
the process.
I didn't know anything before Istarted, but I learned how to
talk and how to act and and PWFwas able to to convince them.
This is the right thing to do.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
And part of this has been you guys have always been
very savvy about being activepolitically and involved in
fundraisers and things like that, haven't you?
Speaker 5 (39:10):
We do a lot.
We go to a lot of events.
We have things in Floridacalled Lincoln Day Dinners.
It's a Republican fundraiserfor different ones, naturally
PWF.
We donate to a lot of entities.
Somebody that knows the towingindustry that's going to listen
(39:37):
to them, not just somebody thatjust got out of college that
decides they want to be sheriff.
So, yes, we might supportlocally things when it's going
to benefit a lot of towers.
Speaker 3 (39:51):
Yeah, so it's good friends to have.
Speaker 5 (39:55):
Absolutely, and when you need to talk to someone,
when they know who you are,you'll get to talk to them.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
That's right.
That's how the game is played,isn't it?
Speaker 5 (40:10):
When I'm in an elevator in Tallahassee and
people look at me, we have a pinthat we had made a gold pin,
not solid gold, naturally.
It's got a tow truck on it andit says PWF.
We've taught them, they knowwhat that is.
They'll look at me and say,mike, how's the towers?
Or Mike, what is the towerslooking for this year?
They know us.
(40:31):
Looking for this year, theyknow us.
And that's what other states.
Unfortunately, sometimes theydon't have the finances.
You know to be proactive, as wedo, but our raffle truck, you
know we help the industrythroughout, wherever and of
course, the tow show, you knowhelps and you know we're
(40:53):
bringing people together.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
That's right.
You guys do a great job of thatI appreciate that.
I want you to hang around untilafter the break.
We'll take one more quick breakand I want to talk about some
of the what goes on there withRuth and her group so we'll be
(41:28):
right back folks Parkinson'sresources.
Speaker 7 (41:30):
We offer more than 40 educational support and
therapeutic programs every month, plus events like our annual
Parkinson's Expo, and it's allfree of charge.
So contact NeuroChallengeFoundation today and discover a
better approach to Parkinson's.
Speaker 4 (41:48):
Welcome back listeners.
To the Toei News Channel.
We have Mike Seaman fromFlorida.
To the Toei News channel, wehave Mike Seaman from Florida.
This has been a great one.
Remember, by all means, we needto see you in Florida for the
greatest show on earth April.
I'll pass it over to you.
Speaker 3 (42:04):
Thank you, DJ Mike.
I know every year you guys do awomen's luncheon and it just
seems to get bigger and the foodis phenomenal.
The prizes are really well, youare sponsored.
Can you talk about that alittle bit?
Speaker 5 (42:19):
absolutely.
It's um, it's um.
It started out pretty good,actually, um, and it's grown um.
There do charge a fee for thetickets.
They do a different menu everyyear.
(42:41):
This year, if my memory's right, it is going to be wraps and
different things.
Jungle juice they have adifferent theme every year Ruth
Landau From Friars Towing InDaytona Beach and Clarissa
Powell From Tow Times.
(43:03):
They put on a great show.
It's Only ladies.
There's no men in there.
They have fun.
We have sponsors For Crouch'scrouches, record sponsors,
t-shirts, uh, geico sponsors,the event, um and others, uh,
(43:24):
donate things for the goodie bag.
So, yes, dj, they, they walkaway with a, with a lot, a lot
of good stuff and and they havesome other things they do in
there.
I know about it, but I'm notinvolved.
They're capable of handling it.
But come to the tow show boothwhere we sell T-shirts and such
(43:47):
at the show.
That's where you're going tofind the ladies to get the
tickets.
For the lunch it has to be 21and over because they will have
alcoholic beverages, sounfortunately you can't bring
the younger people with you.
Speaker 3 (44:01):
That's better.
To me that's better.
That jungle juice is somepretty good stuff.
Speaker 5 (44:11):
And it's going to come with a Jordan logo, mason
jar.
There we go.
Like I said, we have a lot ofsponsors at the Florida Toast
Show.
That helps out, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:27):
Yeah, it's a fact.
And you know something else?
I'm just sitting here listening.
One of the reasons the show issuccessful is Mike handles
almost every detail himself.
When he said from memory aboutthe menu that's because he looks
the menu over, tries to get thebest value for the association
dollar, I sincerely give youcredit, Mike.
Speaker 5 (44:53):
Well, I get all the credit, but I have a lot of good
people supporting us staff theDriscolls, ruth Landau go right
down the list.
I'm not going to list becauseI'll leave a bunch of people out
, but we have a lot.
And what people don't see?
Because when people attendeesshow up they just see it there.
(45:17):
We have a lot of people workingin the background.
That's paid employees that wehave Security go right down the
list.
We are in charge of everythingthat we do there.
We just don't show up and say,hey, hotel, just make it happen
for us.
We're the ones that are doingit.
Speaker 3 (45:40):
We did a show a few years back, a very small show
compared to what you do, very,very small.
You were at it, so you've seenhow small it was and for that
small show it was a lot of work.
And what you guys pull offevery year it does seem like
when you get there, it justseems like it's there.
(46:01):
You know, you don't know whatit takes to get that going.
So I have a little bit of anappreciation for it, as does Wes
, and you know what we weredoing.
So you guys put a lot into thatand it starts.
It starts six months beforethis show even started for next
year.
Speaker 5 (46:19):
So well, um, I have, we have have a great office of
stevie higgins.
Been with us, uh, pushing, 35years now.
Um, she, she knows all of youby first name.
Uh, she knows all ourexhibitors.
She knows you know she handlesa lot of stuff that I get credit
(46:41):
for, but she's wonderful.
I had great office, ladies andmen, when I had my towing
business in Central Florida formany years out of my towing.
It's great to have goodemployees.
Speaker 3 (47:01):
Yeah, I mean I say you can't buy that for paid
employees, but you really can't,because that type of dedication
is something that you eitherhave the dedication or you don't
have it the dedication, or youdon't, you don't have it.
Speaker 5 (47:18):
Dedication is something that that uh ever
everybody strives to have.
Um, some companiesunfortunately can't achieve it.
Um, but pwf, florida toe show,uh, my business and and and all
all our board members and alltheir businesses.
They've been around a long time.
They did show up last week.
Speaker 2 (47:38):
Yeah, they're a part of what is happening.
Yeah, it's a great team effort.
We're excited to be a part ofit again.
Folks, if you've been, you knowhow great it is.
You just need to buy the ticketand be there.
If you haven't been, you don'tknow what you're missing.
You work hard, take your family, get away, relax.
Speaker 5 (48:02):
Where can they find more information on the Internet
?
Mike Tartatoshowcom.
We have everything.
We just made a couple additionstoday.
We're constantly adding thingsto the front page the family fun
night and some of the picturesand things that we're going to
have there.
But, yeah, a lot of informationwhen you could pre-register for
(48:27):
your class, pre-register forthe show.
I haven't looked in the lastfive days.
Probably last time I looked,pre-registration doing good, uh,
we don't give out numbers, wedon't give.
We don't sell our list, wedon't give our list away.
There are even.
Even somebody that gives us afree truck does not get the list
(48:48):
of attendees.
We our our thing with ourattendees is your information.
The only why we have yourinformation is for us to notify
you of something about the towshow.
We don't give it to otherpeople to try to sell you
anything.
The attendees, I mean theexhibitors there.
They have a lead retrievalsystem where they can scan your
(49:11):
badge and be able to communicateback with you.
Speaker 2 (49:18):
Now that is a good point, mike.
That is a great point because Iknow others, the for-profit
Toshio Group they saw that listmore than once from what I
understand, and that's one ofthe things we like about you
guys is you're for the industry.
The money goes back into theindustry.
You said a mouthful when youtalked about other states
wanting to copy other states.
A whole lot of states want tocopy Florida right now
(49:40):
politically because of the greatjob things are done down there.
I can't encourage folks enoughto continue to support this
great show.
We look forward to seeing youthere this April, mike.
Anything you'd like to say inclosing?
Speaker 5 (49:55):
We're just glad to have everybody and, like I said,
the weather's going to be good.
Bring sunscreen, bring thefamily.
We have the kids event byAllstate on Saturday.
That's an event that we haven'ttalked about.
That's a restoration for themto get their badges because the
(50:16):
kids have their own badges thatthey wear at the show that's
sponsored by Allstate and that'sa great event.
We've got the Sisters Towingfamily, the Murphys they do a
tremendous job.
We have all kinds of thingsgoing on at that and it could be
(50:38):
any age kid, naturally.
Over the years I've seen, youknow, once they get to be a
teenager you know they're moreout there playing with tow
trucks and not eat peanut butterjelly sandwiches with the
younger kids, but they don'tturn anybody away.
But the older kids, that's notsomething that's going to
interest them.
Speaker 3 (51:00):
Well, my closing comment is is I'm going to bring
my SPF 8 or whatever, you know,whatever is going to get me a
tan, because I am lookingforward to going to Florida.
I'm looking forward to theclass that we're going to do on
that Thursday.
Speaker 5 (51:15):
And free hot dogs and french fries on Saturday out in
the outside of the lot andagain, that's Allstate.
Speaker 3 (51:25):
And I'm also looking forward to seeing people that I
haven't seen in two yearsbecause I didn't go last year, I
went the year before, so I'mlooking forward to seeing old
friends again.
Speaker 5 (51:37):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (51:38):
DJ any closing comments.
Speaker 4 (51:41):
Here's my list for all our listeners Comfortable
shoes, yes, suntan lotion, justlike Mike said, and so did April
.
A big hat or a ball cap, if not, don't worry, sure, dan will
give you one.
Sunglasses, I put on my list,mike.
(52:02):
The Free Hot Dogs of All-Statewere phenomenal, and all the
free is for me.
The Kids' Event put on byAllstate is phenomenal.
You're not going to believe howmuch the sisters do for those
kids.
Mike told us in the beginningof this no snow, no cold weather
(52:25):
, and a lot of our listeners arein cold weather right now.
So get out of the cold, come tosunny Florida and see how God
has treated the people in thegreat state of Florida.
That's my closing comments.
Speaker 2 (52:42):
I'm sure I'd say an amen after that.
Speaker 3 (52:44):
Yeah, I'm ready to go .
Speaker 4 (52:45):
Amen, brother.
Oh yeah, and you can hear BillGeorges.
You know he's been on ourpodcast.
He's going to be one of thespeakers down there.
Speaker 2 (52:54):
Bill always does a great job, a great job.
Speaker 4 (52:57):
He's been on our podcast many, many times.
I want to thank our listeners.
Speaker 2 (53:02):
We ran a little bit long today, but hopefully you
enjoyed it.
Mike, thank you for coming onand sharing the information with
us.
We look forward to seeing youdown there in April sunny
Florida.
And thanks for everything youdo for the industry, Not only
for the industry.
Speaker 5 (53:17):
Thanks for having me All right, thank you.
Speaker 2 (53:19):
We'll see you next time.
Listeners, be safe out thereand it's a wrap.
Speaker 3 (53:25):
All right.
Speaker 1 (53:26):
Dang Wes, you're on fire today.
Speaker 3 (53:28):
Yeah, he was very good Sounds good.
Thanks, mike, thank you Mike.
Speaker 5 (53:32):
All right, see you later.
Thank God, mike.
Welcome one and all to the American Towing Recovery
Institute podcast.
I want to remind all of youthat the American Towing
Recovery Institute aims topromote professionalism, safety
and education within the towingand recovery industry.
Remember, we provide trainingand certification programs for
towing operators.
(00:26):
We also advocate for industrystandards and best practices,
support research and develop allnew techniques, including
research and development ofelectric and alternative fuel
vehicles With extensive research, with the EV Clever app,
available now on Apple andGoogle Play stores, Foster
(00:50):
cooperation among industrystakeholders.
Please, if you need to contactus, we're always at
wwwamtowriorg Now.
Here is Towing News Now.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
DJ, as always, I appreciate your kind words.
Welcome everybody.
Glad to be here today.
April, how are you doing?
Speaker 3 (01:14):
I'm doing fantastic and we have a very good guest
for this week.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
We really do DJ.
How are you doing today?
Speaker 4 (01:21):
I'm doing fantastic and I'm like April, I look
forward to our guest today,because he's a phenomenal person
who has done a lot for ourindustry.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Absolutely Without any further ado.
I want to introduce to somepresent to others A friend of
the podcast been a returningguest, mike Seaman, with
Professional Record Operators ofFlorida.
Of course, that's theorganization that puts together
the world's largestinternational tow show and if
you haven't been, you should go.
It's really a great event andwe're going to talk about that
(01:53):
some today.
Mike, welcome, how are youtoday?
Speaker 5 (01:57):
Thank you, wes, april DJ Glad to be on.
I'm sitting here on the patioat Applebee's in Central Florida
.
It is approaching 77 degreestoday, get down in the low 50s
tonight.
I looked at the weather acrossthe country.
(02:19):
Some people are looking at 40is going to be the best it's
ever going to get for you todayand you get down a really cold
at night.
So, uh, we'll have 80 degreeweather back in april.
It'll be, uh, we'll.
We'll have it here pretty soonanyway, but so we'll have um
blue skies, palm trees, lazyriver everything that anyone
(02:42):
could want for vacation.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
All right, hold on, Mike, because we're getting one
of these Amber Alert things overour phones.
Speaker 5 (02:50):
We get those all the time too.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Yeah, okay.
Well, that sounds great withthe weather.
I am looking forward to it.
We're a little bit better thanthe 40 degrees and the less than
that throughout the country,but I'm definitely looking
forward to Florida in April.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Yeah, and of course go ahead, Mike.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
No, I say good.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah, and of course we're talking about the Florida
toe show.
It's going to be April 10ththrough the 12th, that's in
Orlando, florida.
The main hotel is the OrlandoBruno Vista.
Are there still rooms availableat the host hotel, mike?
Speaker 5 (03:26):
We may be sold out now it was getting really close
the other day but we have theHilton.
There's two Hiltons, they'resister hotels.
Our second hotel that we usedto have the show at until we
moved three blocks away to havemore space.
We have, uh, we have roomsthere.
(03:49):
We have, um, fleet net providesa shuttle, uh, that would be
running back between hotels allday long till, uh, till late at
night.
Uh, you can see onfloridatoeshowcom.
You can see the completeschedule as we know it.
There are probably going to besome more additions, a few
(04:14):
things maybe, but it's a shortwalk if you like to walk.
If not, ride the shuttle busfor free.
Both of them are Hilton's.
If you're trying to reserve aroom, you can use your Hilton
honors number, but you have togo through our website and click
on it to get the discountedrates to start with.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
That shuttle bus to and from the hotels is one
example of how you go above andbeyond to make it as easy as you
can for anybody who's attendingthat show.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
And everything's always free.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
That's another benefit of the show.
Yes, that's what we're knownfor.
We're known for sunshine.
We're known for everything tobe free Sunshine.
We're known for everything tobe free.
And the only way we've everbeen able to do that all these
years is by our great exhibitors.
On Thursday night, kickoffJordan all attendees will have
(05:18):
free food and drinks.
Friday night Miller does demowith drinks.
We're starting something newthis year Friday night at 6
o'clock, right outside will bethe family fun night with
different types of games, andall the Driscoll family has
wanted us to do this for acouple years now, so we made
(05:42):
space for it During the day.
On Friday and Saturday we gotsomething really neat.
It's called Be the Hamster.
It's a local company that makesthese.
It's kind of like a hamsterwheel made out of wood and you
walk on it and it moves and theymake their own snow cones.
(06:04):
If the kids are too small to doit by themselves, the parents
can be with them, but it's notthat difficult.
It's really neat.
I met him at a local fair kindof thing here, and so we booked
him for Friday and Saturday.
That will be, if my memory'sright, 11 to 4.
(06:25):
Free snow cones outside, rightbeside the Hino raffle truck
where you can buy a $10 ticketand maybe take home Wes.
What are they now?
$135,000?
Oh yeah, easy, it's a Hinoextended cab with a Chevron
self-loader wheel lift this year.
(06:46):
Oh wow, top of the line.
Top of the line, yeah, that'sall you need.
And that is sponsored by Millerand naturally the bed is Miller
and the truck is Hino.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
And that's something that you announced at the show
as well.
Correct the winner of that show?
Speaker 5 (07:05):
Yes, announce at the show as well.
Correct the winner?
Yes, it's, it's, it's we've.
I think we're, I think we're onlike a 12th year, a 12th year
with Hino now.
Uh, we had a a lot of years inFlorida with Ford and Jordan and
uh, ford uh changed theirbusiness plan and they cut out a
lot of shows, and ours was oneof them, and so Hino stepped up
(07:27):
to provide the truck and Millerstepped up to provide the bed on
it.
We travel across the countrywith it some Great tow shows,
like Ohio, we're at Tommy's inTexas and it's around locally at
(07:47):
different meetings and stuff.
So we're promoting our sponsors.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Well, that's a great deal, though.
It really is.
The money goes to theassociation, to fund projects
and whatnot, doesn't it?
Speaker 5 (08:01):
Absolutely All the money that professional rec
operators of florida stateassociation, we um, were
incorporated in 1977.
Um, our uh good friend haspassed away now, date jones.
It started uh, one of theprinciples that started pwf um
uh had a small show in Daytonain 78.
(08:26):
Then it was moved to Orlandoand we've grown from just a
handful of our board membersdoing everything for a couple
days to world's largestinternational and we have quite
a few crowds.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
One of the things I like aboutthe show is the whole vibe of it
.
You talked about the Thursdaynight and Friday night events.
It's kind of almost a streetfestival, just very laid back,
very open to people mingling andinteracting and enjoying an
adult beverage and a meal out inthe parking lot.
Speaker 5 (09:09):
Adult beverages, sodas for kids.
But the big thing iscamaraderie.
It's always been.
I've been amazed over the yearsimpressed, I should say not
amazed.
Impressed.
Impressed, I should say notamazed, impressed that um,
employees owners, um officeworkers, drivers, I they, they
(09:38):
like to talk to each other, they, they can share um stories,
sometimes, uh, just like in thefield I grew up being a mechanic
in the field of automotive Um,in the field of automotive,
somebody says, hey, I found this, this is what fixed it.
Co-truck drivers, we talked toeach other and say I had this
and guess what I did?
I say wow, that's kind of neat.
I never thought of that.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
That would make my life easier.
Sometimes that show is the onetime of the year year if you can
get there once a year, butsometimes you it's a couple.
You know every couple yearsthat you get to see the people
that you haven't visited withfor a long time to always felt
like it almost feels like afamily reunion when you go
exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
It is a family reunion.
We're just not related by blood.
It absolutely is.
Mike, I need to ask you to hangaround for a second.
We've got to take a shortcommercial break and we'll be
right back after the break.
Can you hang around with us?
Speaker 3 (10:34):
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(10:55):
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Speaker 2 (10:57):
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Speaker 4 (11:13):
Welcome back listeners.
You know you listened to thenumber one podcast.
It's the new Tully News Channeland we have a special guest and
this is is great.
Remember we're available onSpotify, itunes, pandora,
stitcher, iheartmedia, amazon orwherever you get your podcasts.
(11:34):
And we're going to go back toMike Seaman and talk about this
family reunion, because that'swhat it's all about.
And I want to remind all of youyou know the Hindo truck they're
talking about.
The tickets are a whole $10.
So everyone, when you get there, you buy yourself a handful of
tickets and be part of thesuccess of this whole industry,
(11:58):
because some of these peoplethat have gone home with it,
when you go and ask them, howmany tickets did you buy, they
bought five tickets and theyland up winning the truck.
So this is a really a afantastic.
And when they say it's aninternational, it is the best.
You're online to get your freehot dog from all states and all
(12:21):
of a sudden, you got a germancouple in front of you and an
Italian couple behind you.
It is the family-est, wonderful.
This is the best of the year.
I think it's the best onemyself.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
And DJ, I just want to say one thing Even though you
have a German family in frontof you and an Italian family
behind you, we're all speakingthe same language.
It's the Turkish language.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
You got that right.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Absolutely so.
For someone that hasn't beenbefore, Mike, what can they
expect when they come to theshow?
Can you tell us a little bitabout the outside exhibits and
the inside exhibits?
Speaker 5 (12:56):
Well, there's a lot of interesting things that goes
on at Florida Toe Show.
I'm there for 12 days.
I start the week before um onmonday.
Uh, we, they start putting thetents up.
(13:16):
Um, it takes days to do that.
Uh, we allow trucks to come in.
They're washed, they're thesetup, a lot going on in the
background before a lot of theattendees get there, maybe on
Thursday or Wednesday, and theysee everything done.
We've got a lot ofbehind-the-scenes employees at
(13:38):
PWF employees and, of course, wehave our dedicated board
members and everybody shouldbelong to their, should belong
to their state associations,because the association works
for the members and the industry.
We're we've got some.
Like I said, we've got some.
(14:00):
We always have new things.
We have new exhibitors.
It's never been there before.
We're able to put new people infrom time to time.
We're always full, we're alwayssold out.
We have two lots outside.
We have two large ballroomsinside.
We have 175 exhibitors total.
(14:25):
Um, this is a place that you'regoing to find out what's new,
because historically it's alwaysbeen that all the exhibitors a
lot of the exhibitors, I shouldsay is looking for um,
introducing new things, and it'sbecome known that you come to
florida in april.
That's where you're going tosee new things, new trucks.
(14:47):
The first rotator arrived atthe florida tow show with a
police escort boy, it sure didthat.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
I was there for that.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
That was something incredible so what year was that
?
Speaker 5 (14:59):
about we were we it no, no, no later than 90, I
would think.
Yeah, 89, 90, somewhere inthere I'm thinking, yeah, we
were still at the Twin Towersand we grew, we outgrew that
place.
But yes, it was, our friend hasnow passed away.
That was.
(15:20):
Nobody had ever seen one beforeand that was a huge event and
it happened in Florida.
And don't be surprised in Aprilif you see some things that
you've never seen before.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
That was a Black Cat.
I think, is what they calledthat truck, wasn't it?
Speaker 5 (15:37):
I think he had a name for it.
Yes, sir, yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
I know in 91, I was there when Ernie's had that big
Oshkosh and that was somethingthat was introduced in the first
month.
I know in 91, I was there whenErnie's had that big Oshkosh.
Speaker 5 (15:47):
And that was something that was introduced in
the first movie.
I remember Ernie's very well.
I've been involved with PWFsince the early 80s and I've
been a part of the show sincethen.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
And naturally, taken over the management of it 25
years ago.
Speaker 5 (16:19):
Yeah, and you've seen a lot over the years, haven't
you?
Yes, and DJ was talking aboutthe tickets.
I've got a couple Funny storieswe had.
I drew the.
I don't draw the ticket, hinodraws it.
I'm not allowed to win, PWFemployees are not allowed Not
allowed to win and Hino is notallowed to win.
(16:41):
So Sherry from Hino Pulls thewinning ticket.
And when I called the number, alady answered and they were at
St Pete Beach, they were fromCanada, she bought her husband
for his birthday or something.
She bought him a ticket onFriday, $10, and a ticket on
(17:04):
Saturday and $20 won a truck.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Well, that's a good deal, Yep.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
There you go.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
And then, when things were really bad and people
couldn't get chassis, one winnercame with money, came with a
tag, already had insuranceavailable and he just bought
tickets and he won the truck andwent to Pennsylvania.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
That's a lot of faith in that purchase of those
tickets when he knew that truck.
Speaker 5 (17:43):
Well, I mean the, that's the almighty power, if
you ask me yeah needed a truck,probably good working person and
100 one um yeah, it's went toit's over the years it's it's
went to people in florida,california, um, just
pennsylvania, pennsylvania,canada.
(18:04):
Our good friend, ralph Cenafrom New Hampshire.
He runs the New Hampshire TowShow.
It's a great event.
Everybody should attend that ifthey get a chance.
He was there with his family.
He had a whole family there.
They rented a house and therewas a lot of them and when I
called him he was down thestreet with a family Because,
(18:26):
like Wes, like you said, it's afamily affair.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Absolutely, it always has been, and you know.
You're right about a lot ofannouncements happening there.
Every year.
It seems that new things areintroduced, new acquisitions et
cetera happen.
So that's one of the reasons tobe there is to see what's
happening live.
Speaker 5 (18:48):
Yep, this year you're going to be there with a new
free, absolutely free.
We have secluded a beveragesponsored by Purpose Wrecker,
one of our very good exhibitorsorange juice and donuts, danish
in the mornings, and we're ableto see quite a few.
(19:12):
But it's imperative that peoplepre-register.
Because you pre-register, Iwill have a seat for you.
If you show up and there'speople standing every place,
then that's not going to be sogood for you.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Right, and you guys do do do an excellent job of
accommodating people.
But it is so helpful whenpeople sign up ahead of time,
especially with the course thatwe're doing, because there's
going to be a certificate issuedand we want to have all that
kind of stuff pre-printed so wecan handle that efficiently.
So I can't stress enough to preif you're attending our one day
(19:51):
training on the thursday topre-register also, just if
you're attending the show topre-register.
It's so much smoother thanhaving to stand in that line to
fill everything out.
Besides our training you have alot of other great training
going on there as well.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
I see there's a all, let's don't get all, let's don't
get off yours, just shit.
Um, this is, this is, this issomething that everybody is
going to going to need to beinterested in.
Um, it's heavy duty, uh, ev andand rotator um, this is not
rolling over tractor trailers.
This is telling you things thatyou need to know, cause, cause,
(20:27):
long time ago, when I was amechanic, I went to bear front
end alignment school and andthey, they told us, you're, you
guys, are already doing thisstuff.
We're teaching you why you'redoing it and some and some and
some tricks of the trade.
And so people were out theredoing this stuff already.
But I had opportunity to be apart of a small event in central
(20:50):
florida with um volvo and mactrucks and the volvo electric
truck, which I doubt they tellme, they doubt they're going to
have one available in april, butthere's a possibility, but it's
a slim possibility.
A lot to know about theseheavy-duty electric trucks, a
(21:12):
lot to know about electricvehicles.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Absolutely correct and that's awesome to hear you
know.
That's another thing about theshow is you guys go out of your
way to have new and modern stuffthere.
That's another thing about theshow.
You guys go out of your way tohave new and modern stuff there.
Hopefully we can get this inany truck, but you guys always
go above and beyond having thelatest and the greatest of stuff
.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
Again the class is free.
Please sign up.
All Friday and SaturdayAllstate is having education
training, if you will,throughout the day.
Go on our website, look at theschedule, see what you're
interested in.
There's two sessions.
(21:58):
It takes four hours to becertified for traffic incident
management.
We will have that there.
They will get thatcertification.
Florida Highway Patrol I was ona team's meeting with them
yesterday.
They put it in their newrotation rules.
You will have to have thatwithin 180 days of your
(22:23):
employment with a Florida towlerthat's doing Florida Highway
Patrol rotation calls.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Alabama's enacted a similar thing in their state
police policy as well, andthat's another thing I'll give
you all credit for that.
Tim's training is excellent andit's sometimes hard scarce to
be able to get to and it'ssometimes hard, scarce to be
able to get to.
So by having it there at theshow, people can, you know,
(22:49):
knock down something off theirbucket list or their checklist.
They need to get done, and youknow, and do it at an enjoyable
pace.
Speaker 5 (22:57):
Absolutely.
And Wes you remember when wewere going throughout the state
some years ago doing trainingand my small part of it was the
um, maintenance of traffic, Um,and and people would ask
questions um that you and Icould respond to about different
(23:18):
circumstances, as in placingcones and and maybe a car might
hit the cone, and my responsewas I'd rather, I'd rather hear
that car hitting cones than seethat car hitting me.
That's right, and I and I andI'll worry about that lexus
front bumper later, but firstI'm gonna worry about me yeah,
absolutely so, so, so.
(23:41):
So they, they will have anopportunity to talk to an expert
and maybe their thinking mightnot quite be right for lack of
better words and they getinstruction.
And again, it's free.
Pre-register, pre-register wedo have a large room for these
(24:12):
classes for Thursday, friday andSaturday, but we do have a
tremendous amount of people thatcome to the Florida Toe Show.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Yeah, again, I cannot stress enough to pre-register
online for everything.
It makes things so much easier.
I've gone to a lot of thesethings and you know, just avoid
spending time in line.
And again, I give your staffcredit, Mike.
They always do a great job toaccommodate the crowd, whoever
shows up.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
If they can, if they can.
But registering onlineguarantees you that spot.
Showing up at the last minute.
Don't do the best toaccommodate, but there's no
guarantees to that.
Speaker 5 (24:53):
Yeah, I keep.
I keep adding more um morestations, because, as we grow, I
don't like to see a line forvery few, very few minutes of
people waiting to get theirtheir um restoration badge to be
able to do everything.
It's a show and and and it'sfree.
You don't have to pay foranything.
You don't get too free and yougotta pay for other people, um
(25:18):
triple a sponsors, therestoration um we're, we're
pretty free in Florida.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Oh, it is absolutely Now.
One of the things is this isn'tfree, so we need to take a
moment for a commercial break,but we'll be right back.
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Speaker 4 (26:48):
We look forward to serving you welcome back
listeners to the number onepodcast in the towing, the
recovery industry.
This is towing news channel andwe have the great mike seaman
on.
And I tell Mike, I wrote anarticle a couple of years ago
and I was.
This was a guy who said I'mgoing to the Florida Tow Show
(27:10):
for the first time.
What should I do?
And I was laying out number onefind out where the Indotruck is
and go buy a couple of tickets.
You don't need to buy a bunch,buy five or 10 and you're in.
And I said make sure you go andfind out how to register for the
woman's luncheon, becausethere's a woman's luncheon put
(27:30):
on by Ruthie and every year itgets bigger and better and they
give away so many door prizesthat you cannot believe how much
is given away.
So if you want this, this isgreat news.
I want to remind all of ourlisteners I cannot thank you
enough for being the number onepodcast.
(27:52):
Remember to like, review andshare everywhere.
And if you want to hear anotherindustry expert like Mike
Seaman, just dial the hotlinenumber at the podcast center
706-409-5603.
And April and Wes will do theirvery best to put them on the
next podcast.
(28:12):
So, wes, I'll turn it back overto you and April.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Mike, what can you tell us about, what's different
from y'all's toe show, thanother toe shows that are out
there?
Speaker 5 (28:26):
from y'all's toe show than other toe shows that are
out there.
Well, as I travel across thecountry all these years and, um,
we don't wait we know that thatsome toe shows um doesn't have
as many exhibitors as ours.
We're very fortunate.
In florida we have, we have agreat location, we have great
weather, we have great people.
We're very, we people, we'revery, we're blessed, we're very
fortunate Um, some otherassociations, um, that has has
(28:51):
shows, um, uh, they're wonderfuland everybody should attend
because you, you, you never knowwho you're going to meet, what
you're, you know what you'regoing to learn, um, but, uh,
take a vacation.
Florida, um, it's, it's, uh,it's going to take you a couple
days to see and do everything,um, and and, like I said, the
(29:13):
camaraderie hanging out by thepool area, uh, we have a lazy
room for the kids, uh, just justall kind of things, sort of
family.
It's very family oriented, justlike Ohio is.
But just, you know, don't beafraid to go to another place
because you saw and you said,okay, I've seen everything there
(29:35):
is to see.
No, travel around, go to Ohio,go to Florida, you'll see
different things.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Also, you're just a walk away from Disney Springs,
from where that hotel is too,mike.
Speaker 5 (29:48):
Walk across the street the hotel.
Naturally, we have Disney buses, we have a lot of attendees and
some exhibitors that theyvacation, that um, uh, they
(30:08):
vacation.
They may uh come and stay orcome earlier, stay longer, or or
some of our exhibitors, theywill come and and after it's
done they will bring the familyin, the wife or whoever uh,
husband and um, and they andthey stay in Florida and
vacation in the warm weather,you know, before they go home.
So so that's not only a workevent but it's their vacation.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Yeah, and it's also a prime one of their prime weeks
for spring breaks too, so thatall plays into that as well.
Speaker 5 (30:36):
Yes, and a year, many years ago.
All kids seem to get out ofschool at the same time Now,
even in Florida oh my God wherethey they.
They come and go on differentweeks and stuff.
But if a kid is doing prettygood in school, it's not that
(30:58):
bad to take them out for acouple of days and a lot of
teachers, will you know, letthem do their homework and stuff
remotely.
A lot different than it wasyears ago, I mean with
technology.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
That is very true.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Yeah, and that was.
Y'all did work hard years agoto get that weekend.
That was prime for everybodyfor the schools being out.
But like you say, times havechanged now.
Speaker 5 (31:17):
Well, our show always revolves around when is Easter.
And for the people that don'tknow why Easter changes when is
Easter?
And for the people that don'tknow why Easter changes, easter
is based on a certain timeperiod from the biblical times,
that is, in the end of March andinto April, and Easter is
always going to be on the Sundayof that week that's closest to
(31:41):
the full moon, because inbiblical times they needed the
moon to walk.
That's why our co-show is notthe same week every year.
It could be earlier in Apriland it could be a little bit
later in April, but it willalways revolve around the weeks
(32:03):
before or after Easter right,that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
The PWF Professional Record Operators of Florida, the
organization that hosts thewhat do they do with the funds
that they gain from the show andwhatnot?
Speaker 5 (32:22):
Well, we, we spend a lot of money, um, our
association does.
We spend a lot of money on umlegislation.
Um, and I've actually, I'veactually traveled to other
States.
I can remember going to Ohioone time, uh, to help them with
a um uh, uh, they had a luncheonwith the uh, the Senate
(32:44):
leadership there.
Um, I told him I was fromFlorida.
I didn't, I didn't pretend Iwas.
I was from Ohio, um, but the um.
But I've had a lot ofexperience.
I'm a registered lobbyist forthe towing industry in Florida.
I have a lot of experiencedealing with politicians.
I know the process.
My favorite saying is you likethe process when it's working
(33:07):
for you and you don't like itwhen it's not working for you.
But you know the old jokes aredon't tell my mother I'm a
lobbyist.
She thinks I'm a piano playerin a whorehouse.
You don't want to see thesausage being made.
Sometimes it's not pretty.
But that's the process and Iunderstand it and PWF
(33:30):
understands it and ourleadership understands it.
And when we have statutes thatare great for the towing
industry and we do we haveprobably the best in the country
.
Other states can look at it.
Because when I walk into asenator or representative's
office in Florida and we'repushing something, the first
(33:51):
words out of their mouth howdoes somebody else do it?
How does another else do it?
How's another state do it?
And my philosophy is I willalways have the answer for them
because when I walk in, I havethe answers.
I don't have to go back, Idon't have to say you're a
Senator, let me get the answerand I'll get back with you.
I have the answers.
My people have the answers withme.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
We pride ourself on that and other states can take
this and, you know, be a modelfor them for how to move forward
with legislation and get itadvanced and go to you and say
how did you get this to happen?
Or what do you need for this tohappen?
Speaker 5 (34:42):
Absolutely.
I get calls from differentpeople, from associations from
across the state, whether it beAlabama or any other state, and
they ask questions about tryingto do something.
And sometimes a typicalquestion is how did you guys get
legislation and statute that ifsomeone on a police call on
(35:07):
public property not a privateproperty, joe public property
how can you restrict them andmake them pay something for
their tow and storage?
They say we want to restricttheir driver's license.
You're never going to have thathappen.
You're never going to get thatdone, but we restrict them from
(35:29):
renewing their tag.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
And folks listen up.
This is huge.
This is one of the best piecesof legislation that I'm aware of
in the country to help put adent in that problem about cars
getting abandoned on you.
So tell us about how that works.
It's got to be a police call.
It can't be a private propertytow.
Speaker 5 (35:51):
It has to be a law enforcement tow on public
property which is, you know, aroadway or whatever, and they're
allowed to put a it's called awreck operator lien.
They're allowed to put that inthe system with our Department
of Highway Safety and MotorVehicles DMV, if you will
vehicles DMV.
If you will, and if Wes wantsto go and buy a new car or a
(36:18):
used car, he can and he can buya new tag.
But if he has a tag it needs tobe renewed.
He's got to pay the tow or thatrecord operator lien which
consists of the tow recovery andseven-day storage On a typical
(36:42):
passenger vehicle accident ortow.
We're talking about maybe $300or something.
If we're talking about a RV oror something, you got got some
recovery involved in it and allum, it could be more and wes
will have to pay that before hecan renew revalidation sticker,
(37:05):
renew his tag.
He already has on his car, hismobile home in florida, uh, his
boat, his landscape trailer,anything he owns.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
And it works, doesn't it?
Speaker 5 (37:18):
Got to pay the toer.
Speaker 2 (37:20):
And it works, doesn't it?
They don't get paid on everyone, but they get paid on everyone.
Speaker 5 (37:24):
And toers are getting people walked in on a timely
basis saying I need to pay youand I need the release form.
The TOR is the only one thathas a release form in Florida.
You can't go online and getthat release form.
Speaker 3 (37:41):
Let me ask a question how long did it take to get
that legislation passed?
Speaker 5 (37:48):
When I first became the executive director of PWF,
under circumstances that wasn'tgood a death, and that was in
2000.
I remember, with a senator inour lobbying firm, I was in
Miami and I pitched it to himand I said something that
(38:14):
sparked an interest.
I called it walkaways.
I just made it up and theyliked it.
We got it passed in the nextsession and our session is
always 90 days in the or 60 days, I'm sorry, in the spring.
So we got it, but it wassomething that you know, we've
(38:38):
been wanting to do for a longtime and and I learned through
the process.
I didn't know anything before Istarted, but I learned how to
talk and how to act and and PWFwas able to to convince them.
This is the right thing to do.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
And part of this has been you guys have always been
very savvy about being activepolitically and involved in
fundraisers and things like that, haven't you?
Speaker 5 (39:10):
We do a lot.
We go to a lot of events.
We have things in Floridacalled Lincoln Day Dinners.
It's a Republican fundraiserfor different ones, naturally
PWF.
We donate to a lot of entities.
Somebody that knows the towingindustry that's going to listen
(39:37):
to them, not just somebody thatjust got out of college that
decides they want to be sheriff.
So, yes, we might supportlocally things when it's going
to benefit a lot of towers.
Speaker 3 (39:51):
Yeah, so it's good friends to have.
Speaker 5 (39:55):
Absolutely, and when you need to talk to someone,
when they know who you are,you'll get to talk to them.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
That's right.
That's how the game is played,isn't it?
Speaker 5 (40:10):
When I'm in an elevator in Tallahassee and
people look at me, we have a pinthat we had made a gold pin,
not solid gold, naturally.
It's got a tow truck on it andit says PWF.
We've taught them, they knowwhat that is.
They'll look at me and say,mike, how's the towers?
Or Mike, what is the towerslooking for this year?
They know us.
(40:31):
Looking for this year, theyknow us.
And that's what other states.
Unfortunately, sometimes theydon't have the finances.
You know to be proactive, as wedo, but our raffle truck, you
know we help the industrythroughout, wherever and of
course, the tow show, you knowhelps and you know we're
(40:53):
bringing people together.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
That's right.
You guys do a great job of thatI appreciate that.
I want you to hang around untilafter the break.
We'll take one more quick breakand I want to talk about some
of the what goes on there withRuth and her group so we'll be
(41:28):
right back folks Parkinson'sresources.
Speaker 7 (41:30):
We offer more than 40 educational support and
therapeutic programs every month, plus events like our annual
Parkinson's Expo, and it's allfree of charge.
So contact NeuroChallengeFoundation today and discover a
better approach to Parkinson's.
Speaker 4 (41:48):
Welcome back listeners.
To the Toei News Channel.
We have Mike Seaman fromFlorida.
To the Toei News channel, wehave Mike Seaman from Florida.
This has been a great one.
Remember, by all means, we needto see you in Florida for the
greatest show on earth April.
I'll pass it over to you.
Speaker 3 (42:04):
Thank you, DJ Mike.
I know every year you guys do awomen's luncheon and it just
seems to get bigger and the foodis phenomenal.
The prizes are really well, youare sponsored.
Can you talk about that alittle bit?
Speaker 5 (42:19):
absolutely.
It's um, it's um.
It started out pretty good,actually, um, and it's grown um.
There do charge a fee for thetickets.
They do a different menu everyyear.
(42:41):
This year, if my memory's right, it is going to be wraps and
different things.
Jungle juice they have adifferent theme every year Ruth
Landau From Friars Towing InDaytona Beach and Clarissa
Powell From Tow Times.
(43:03):
They put on a great show.
It's Only ladies.
There's no men in there.
They have fun.
We have sponsors For Crouch'scrouches, record sponsors,
t-shirts, uh, geico sponsors,the event, um and others, uh,
(43:24):
donate things for the goodie bag.
So, yes, dj, they, they walkaway with a, with a lot, a lot
of good stuff and and they havesome other things they do in
there.
I know about it, but I'm notinvolved.
They're capable of handling it.
But come to the tow show boothwhere we sell T-shirts and such
(43:47):
at the show.
That's where you're going tofind the ladies to get the
tickets.
For the lunch it has to be 21and over because they will have
alcoholic beverages, sounfortunately you can't bring
the younger people with you.
Speaker 3 (44:01):
That's better.
To me that's better.
That jungle juice is somepretty good stuff.
Speaker 5 (44:11):
And it's going to come with a Jordan logo, mason
jar.
There we go.
Like I said, we have a lot ofsponsors at the Florida Toast
Show.
That helps out, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:27):
Yeah, it's a fact.
And you know something else?
I'm just sitting here listening.
One of the reasons the show issuccessful is Mike handles
almost every detail himself.
When he said from memory aboutthe menu that's because he looks
the menu over, tries to get thebest value for the association
dollar, I sincerely give youcredit, Mike.
Speaker 5 (44:53):
Well, I get all the credit, but I have a lot of good
people supporting us staff theDriscolls, ruth Landau go right
down the list.
I'm not going to list becauseI'll leave a bunch of people out
, but we have a lot.
And what people don't see?
Because when people attendeesshow up they just see it there.
(45:17):
We have a lot of people workingin the background.
That's paid employees that wehave Security go right down the
list.
We are in charge of everythingthat we do there.
We just don't show up and say,hey, hotel, just make it happen
for us.
We're the ones that are doingit.
Speaker 3 (45:40):
We did a show a few years back, a very small show
compared to what you do, very,very small.
You were at it, so you've seenhow small it was and for that
small show it was a lot of work.
And what you guys pull offevery year it does seem like
when you get there, it justseems like it's there.
(46:01):
You know, you don't know whatit takes to get that going.
So I have a little bit of anappreciation for it, as does Wes
, and you know what we weredoing.
So you guys put a lot into thatand it starts.
It starts six months beforethis show even started for next
year.
Speaker 5 (46:19):
So well, um, I have, we have have a great office of
stevie higgins.
Been with us, uh, pushing, 35years now.
Um, she, she knows all of youby first name.
Uh, she knows all ourexhibitors.
She knows you know she handlesa lot of stuff that I get credit
(46:41):
for, but she's wonderful.
I had great office, ladies andmen, when I had my towing
business in Central Florida formany years out of my towing.
It's great to have goodemployees.
Speaker 3 (47:01):
Yeah, I mean I say you can't buy that for paid
employees, but you really can't,because that type of dedication
is something that you eitherhave the dedication or you don't
have it the dedication, or youdon't, you don't have it.
Speaker 5 (47:18):
Dedication is something that that uh ever
everybody strives to have.
Um, some companiesunfortunately can't achieve it.
Um, but pwf, florida toe show,uh, my business and and and all
all our board members and alltheir businesses.
They've been around a long time.
They did show up last week.
Speaker 2 (47:38):
Yeah, they're a part of what is happening.
Yeah, it's a great team effort.
We're excited to be a part ofit again.
Folks, if you've been, you knowhow great it is.
You just need to buy the ticketand be there.
If you haven't been, you don'tknow what you're missing.
You work hard, take your family, get away, relax.
Speaker 5 (48:02):
Where can they find more information on the Internet
?
Mike Tartatoshowcom.
We have everything.
We just made a couple additionstoday.
We're constantly adding thingsto the front page the family fun
night and some of the picturesand things that we're going to
have there.
But, yeah, a lot of informationwhen you could pre-register for
(48:27):
your class, pre-register forthe show.
I haven't looked in the lastfive days.
Probably last time I looked,pre-registration doing good, uh,
we don't give out numbers, wedon't give.
We don't sell our list, wedon't give our list away.
There are even.
Even somebody that gives us afree truck does not get the list
(48:48):
of attendees.
We our our thing with ourattendees is your information.
The only why we have yourinformation is for us to notify
you of something about the towshow.
We don't give it to otherpeople to try to sell you
anything.
The attendees, I mean theexhibitors there.
They have a lead retrievalsystem where they can scan your
(49:11):
badge and be able to communicateback with you.
Speaker 2 (49:18):
Now that is a good point, mike.
That is a great point because Iknow others, the for-profit
Toshio Group they saw that listmore than once from what I
understand, and that's one ofthe things we like about you
guys is you're for the industry.
The money goes back into theindustry.
You said a mouthful when youtalked about other states
wanting to copy other states.
A whole lot of states want tocopy Florida right now
(49:40):
politically because of the greatjob things are done down there.
I can't encourage folks enoughto continue to support this
great show.
We look forward to seeing youthere this April, mike.
Anything you'd like to say inclosing?
Speaker 5 (49:55):
We're just glad to have everybody and, like I said,
the weather's going to be good.
Bring sunscreen, bring thefamily.
We have the kids event byAllstate on Saturday.
That's an event that we haven'ttalked about.
That's a restoration for themto get their badges because the
(50:16):
kids have their own badges thatthey wear at the show that's
sponsored by Allstate and that'sa great event.
We've got the Sisters Towingfamily, the Murphys they do a
tremendous job.
We have all kinds of thingsgoing on at that and it could be
(50:38):
any age kid, naturally.
Over the years I've seen, youknow, once they get to be a
teenager you know they're moreout there playing with tow
trucks and not eat peanut butterjelly sandwiches with the
younger kids, but they don'tturn anybody away.
But the older kids, that's notsomething that's going to
interest them.
Speaker 3 (51:00):
Well, my closing comment is is I'm going to bring
my SPF 8 or whatever, you know,whatever is going to get me a
tan, because I am lookingforward to going to Florida.
I'm looking forward to theclass that we're going to do on
that Thursday.
Speaker 5 (51:15):
And free hot dogs and french fries on Saturday out in
the outside of the lot andagain, that's Allstate.
Speaker 3 (51:25):
And I'm also looking forward to seeing people that I
haven't seen in two yearsbecause I didn't go last year, I
went the year before, so I'mlooking forward to seeing old
friends again.
Speaker 5 (51:37):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (51:38):
DJ any closing comments.
Speaker 4 (51:41):
Here's my list for all our listeners Comfortable
shoes, yes, suntan lotion, justlike Mike said, and so did April
.
A big hat or a ball cap, if not, don't worry, sure, dan will
give you one.
Sunglasses, I put on my list,mike.
(52:02):
The Free Hot Dogs of All-Statewere phenomenal, and all the
free is for me.
The Kids' Event put on byAllstate is phenomenal.
You're not going to believe howmuch the sisters do for those
kids.
Mike told us in the beginningof this no snow, no cold weather
(52:25):
, and a lot of our listeners arein cold weather right now.
So get out of the cold, come tosunny Florida and see how God
has treated the people in thegreat state of Florida.
That's my closing comments.
Speaker 2 (52:42):
I'm sure I'd say an amen after that.
Speaker 3 (52:44):
Yeah, I'm ready to go .
Speaker 4 (52:45):
Amen, brother.
Oh yeah, and you can hear BillGeorges.
You know he's been on ourpodcast.
He's going to be one of thespeakers down there.
Speaker 2 (52:54):
Bill always does a great job, a great job.
Speaker 4 (52:57):
He's been on our podcast many, many times.
I want to thank our listeners.
Speaker 2 (53:02):
We ran a little bit long today, but hopefully you
enjoyed it.
Mike, thank you for coming onand sharing the information with
us.
We look forward to seeing youdown there in April sunny
Florida.
And thanks for everything youdo for the industry, Not only
for the industry.
Speaker 5 (53:17):
Thanks for having me All right, thank you.
Speaker 2 (53:19):
We'll see you next time.
Listeners, be safe out thereand it's a wrap.
Speaker 3 (53:25):
All right.
Speaker 1 (53:26):
Dang Wes, you're on fire today.
Speaker 3 (53:28):
Yeah, he was very good Sounds good.
Thanks, mike, thank you Mike.
Speaker 5 (53:32):
All right, see you later.
Thank God, mike.
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