A Chattanooga Story 80 Years in the Making
Chattanooga is the birthplace of the tow truck. In the early 1900s, Ernest Holmes Sr. built the first wrecker right here, sparking an entire industry. A few miles from that spot today sits the International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum, where the people who shaped the industry are honored for their work.
Thirty years after the tow truck was invented in Chattanooga, another local story began. In 1946, a former chief mechanic named Lloyd R. Yates opened a small repair shop on Highland Park Avenue. Eighty years later, that shop is now Doug Yates Towing & Recovery, and three generations of Yates men have been honored inside that same Hall of Fame.
The Mechanic Who Started It All
Lloyd Reed Yates was born in Ringgold, Georgia in 1918. He spent his early career as chief mechanic at Newton Chevrolet in downtown Chattanooga. By 1946, he had a dream of his own and the skills to back it up. He opened a small repair shop on Highland Park Avenue, one of the first in the city to combine repair and on-call recovery. The operation soon moved to East 23rd Street, where the company’s headquarters still sits today.
Lloyd’s influence reached well beyond his own bay. He helped write Chattanooga’s first towing ordinance, much of which is still in effect today. He also partnered with Holmes Wrecker Manufacturer to test new equipment in real recovery work. That kind of contribution earned him a place in the International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame.
A New Era Under Doug Yates
Lloyd Douglas Yates, known to everyone as Doug, was born in Hamilton County, Tennessee in 1953. He grew up around his father’s wreckers and inherited the same restless drive to push the family business forward. When Doug took over the Chattanooga operation, he ran harder with it than anyone expected. He was among the first in the Southeast to use large hydraulic recovery units. He was the first locally to bring in the modern car carrier and wheel lift. By the late 1980s, he owned the state of Tennessee’s first rotator.
His ambition reached past equipment. Doug became the first towing operator to sit on the Metro Planning Organization board, helping draft the 2003 Chattanooga City Towing Ordinance and Quick Response Program. Both are now used as models across the country. In 2005, he purchased the full-service Interstate 24 terminal that remains the company’s home today. Like his father before him, Doug is an inductee of the International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame.
Shannon Yates and the Next Chapter
Shannon Douglas Yates is the current owner of Doug Yates Towing & Recovery and the third Yates to lead the family business. Under his direction, the company has grown into one of the most respected names in the industry. It now operates six locations across Tennessee and North Georgia, with a fleet built for every class of recovery work. Today, his son Garrett works alongside him, carrying the family story into its fourth chapter.
This October, Shannon earns his place beside his father and grandfather. The International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum will officially induct him into its Class of 2026 on Saturday, October 17, during Museum Weekend in Chattanooga. The 2026 class features nine leaders from five U.S. states and Mexico. With Shannon’s induction, the Yates family becomes one of very few in the country with three generations of men in the Hall of Fame.
More Than a Business: A Family That Gives Back
The Yates family’s contributions reach well past commercial recovery. Through an annual rodeo held on Doug’s farm, the family has raised over half a million dollars for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, with 100 percent of proceeds going directly to the program. Doug also donates facilities and equipment each year to the Big Rescue Program, run by the Tennessee Association of Rescue, which trains rescuers to work alongside the towing industry in heavy-duty entrapment situations. For his work supporting the D.A.R.E. Scholarship program, Doug was named Citizen of the Year by the Fraternal Order of Eagles. Over the years, the Doug Yates fleet and family have been featured in Car and Driver magazine and on the History Channel’s Modern Marvels series.
What Doug Yates Towing & Recovery Does Today
Eighty years of growth has turned a single repair shop into a full-service towing and recovery operation. Today, Doug Yates Towing & Recovery serves greater Chattanooga, southeast Tennessee, and north Georgia from six locations and a fleet of state-of-the-art equipment. The team answers calls twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
The company’s core services include:
- 24/7 emergency towing for passenger vehicles, motorcycles, and commercial trucks
- Heavy-duty recovery for tractor-trailers, dump trucks, buses, and oversized equipment
- Roadside assistance, including jump-starts, tire changes, fuel delivery, and lockout service
- On-site auto and safety repair, a working shop that has been part of the business since 1946
- Construction equipment hauling and transport across Tennessee and north Georgia
- Emergency spill response for hazardous materials and roadway clean-up
The fleet includes one of the largest rotating recovery trucks in the industry and covers every class of recovery work, from a stranded sedan in a residential driveway to a flipped tractor-trailer on the interstate. The six service locations cover greater Chattanooga, Cleveland, and Jasper in Tennessee, and Dalton, Ringgold, and Trenton in Georgia.
Call 423-629-6621 for Chattanooga’s Most Trusted Towing Team
For 80 years, Doug Yates Towing & Recovery has been Chattanooga’s first call for towing, recovery, and on-site auto and safety repair. Same family. Same standards. Since 1946.
Need a tow, roadside assistance, or equipment hauling? Call 423-629-6621 anytime, day or night. To learn more about the family or the services that have kept Chattanooga moving for four generations, visit our About page or browse our service area pages: Chattanooga, Cleveland, Jasper, Dalton, Ringgold, and Trenton.