History of Past & Present Towing & Recovery, Inc.

In 1989, the MARC transportation system was in the planning stages of acquiring the property we were renting in Seabrook, Maryland for the new MARC Train station. Commercial rental property was extremely hard to find and New Carrollton Road Service, Inc. had found a new location on the third floor of an office building in Berwyn Heights, Maryland. Since the company had moved to a different city, keeping the name of New Carrollton was proving to be confusing to the motoring public so in 1991 a decision was made to change it. One night in May, while sitting around the kitchen table, management started coming up with different ideas. With not wanting to get into the same situation of using another city as part of the company name several options were considered. We started listing what we wanted our name to say to the public. We had been towing a lot of antique and vintage cars, so we wanted it known that not only could we tow newer cars, we could also tow antiques, thus the name Past & Present Towing. We also wanted it known that no matter what situation someone was in with their car (mechanical breakdown, accident or a recovery), we could still tow their vehicle. The name was then expanded to Past & Present Towing & Recovery, Inc. and in June 1991, New Carrollton Road Service, Inc. was officially shut down and Past & Present Towing & Recovery, Inc. started operating.

The new office in Berwyn Heights was located one block away from our storage lot and didn’t provide any space to perform day to day maintenance on our fleet. The company quickly outgrew the office space and a larger office space was found on the other side of the rail road tracks in College Park, Maryland. Our spacious office provided more than enough space for both office personnel and vehicle storage, along with two garage bays where we could perform the day to day maintenance on our fleet.

One summer day in 1994, Mr. Johnson from Johnson’s Auto Repair called us to tell us he would be retiring and wanted to know if we were interested in buying his tow truck. He had a 1963 Ford F-700 with only 52,000 original miles on it. The truck had some rust, but was a great investment for a restoration project bringing new meaning to the name Past & Present Towing & Recovery, Inc. We lovingly restored the truck to her original glory, keeping the same paint scheme as originally purchased by Mr. Johnson. Since she was brought back to life, we called her “Christine.” Over the years, the truck has been entered in several tow show beauty competitions, always taking first place for vintage. Christine doesn’t get out on the road anymore with parts becoming extremely hard to find.

In 2004, the company moved again to its present location in Laurel, Maryland. The company is located on Academy Lane, which runs off of Route 1. The trucks, locations and uniforms may have changed, but the owners and employees still operate with the same philosophy…Treat the customer and their vehicle with respect and always maintain the highest level of integrity and honesty. Past & Present Towing & Recovery, Inc. was one of the first towing companies to institute a Zero Tolerance Drug and Alcohol Policy, and all of our drivers must possess a valid DOT Medical Card. A criminal background check is performed on each driver before they are hired to assure that you, the customer, are getting the best tow operator available to tow your vehicle.