As featured in the November 2017 issue of Tow Times Magazine
Two towing company owners sit at opposite ends of the winch cable. One is at the start of his career and the other is at the end. One has many years of experience, one is learning as he grows.
But each found something they could agree on: the merger of their respective companies into Guardian Fleet Services, likely the first employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) company in the towing and recovery industry. Towing operators and other staff own 30 percent of the firm, while Geoff Russell, formerly of Kauff’s Transportation Systems Inc., and Scotty Crockett, previously of Crockett’s Towing LLC, own the remaining 70 percent.
Together they executed an idea that joined the two ends of the cable and created a meeting of the minds.
“To me it’s perfect,” says Crockett, 37, who found someone with whom to share the burden of being a company owner. “Geoff is intelligent and has a lot of knowledge. The amount of stuff that I learn from him as a mentor is very beneficial to me. I’m not the man at the top. Now there’s two of us.”
Russell, 62, acknowledges that Crockett “is the next generation of leadership in our company.” He plans to reduce his involvement in Guardian Fleet over the next seven years.
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