Heavy Duty

A relentless focus on safety, service, and operational excellence has made Guardian Fleet Services a true guardian of the roadways

When Geoff Russell and Scotty Crockett merged their towing operations in 2017, they envisioned providing customers with impeccable customer service, committed to reaching them in 90 minutes or less – from Florida’s west coast to its east coast.

Their union of their respective companies, Kauff’s Transportation Systems Inc., and Crockett’s Towing LLC, was first in a series of mergers and acquisitions that is today’s award-winning Guardian Fleet Services (GFS). GFS is an esteemed professional towing, recovery, and specialized transportation enterprise, doing the heavy lifting of large equipment and vehicles from motor coaches and semis to 747s and spacecraft.

GFS is the muscular movement go-to for municipal, state, and federal agencies, and commercial enterprises throughout the Southeastern United States, serving them from over 30 terminals throughout Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, and Texas.

The company is an amalgamation of A Superior Towing, Ace Wrecker Service, Alligator Towing and Transport, Crockett’s Towing, Emerald Towing, Euless B&B Wrecker Service, Kauff’s Towing, Professional Towing, Roberts Heavy Duty Towing, American & Import Auto Parts, and Sapp’s Wrecker Service.

In 2023, the firm formed a partnership with Chartwell Investments Entrepreneur & Founder Capital, backed by Morgan Stanley and Backcast Financial Group, that has been integral for the company’s growth. In that same year, Thomas Tedford, a 35-year veteran of the industry and a member of the Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame, joined GFS as Chief Operating Officer. Tedford had worked on several projects with Russell and had shared visions about the future of the industry, and that alliance drew him to the GFS group.

“I don’t consider myself as a leader of the company,” he confessed. “I consider myself as a teammate. Geoff Russell is our CEO and visionary, (company President) Scotty Crockett and I handle the same roles and functions on a day to day basis. Mark Kara (Vice President), is also an integral part of the executive team, leading our Salvage and Towing Operations, and Rocky Gunter, CFO, play a big role in leading all the departments, and we all have a vision of creating a team of employees that can service our customer base.”

The catastrophes the team faces can range anywhere from a weather event to a tractor trailer rollover, train collision, or airplane crash. “We deal with all those situations on a weekly and daily basis,” he said. When Fort Myers was slammed with the monster, Hurricane Ian, in 2022, GFS deployed assets from their sister divisions and were on the ground to assist with the cleanup within 24 hours without being asked. “We just knew it was going to be needed based upon our experience.”

When a 727 crashed at Miami International Airport in July of that same year, GFS came on the scene to lift and tow the airplane out of the runway to get the runways open. (Fortunately, all 140 passengers and crew survived.) “That was a pretty big, fully intact object to move,” Tedford recalled. They’ve moved machinery for the space programs in Cape Canaveral as well as for ports across Florida, Georgia, and in Texas.

In our special transport division, we handle numerous oversized loads, capable of carrying varying weights. When necessary, we rely on our heavy-duty towing division to assist in lifting them.”

“When a customer calls us for a solution like that, we don’t need to go outside the box,” he added.

GFS is one of only eight firms in the country to have added the world’s largest rotator to their fleet. The M100 lifts up to 200,000 lbs. and features a maximum elevated hook height of 53.4 feet.

In the last 11 months, GFS has grown considerably, earning over $50 million in additional revenues on a trailing 12-month basis, with a fleet of over 550 assets, and a 600-person strong team. “We feel that it’s a safer company today with more trucks on the road running more calls for our client and customer base than it was two years ago,” Tedford noted. GFS applies state-of-the-art technology to give them the edge in customer service and operator safety.

HAAS Alert Safety Cloud technology on their tow trucks and power units sends out pre-emptive digital alerts when trucks are actively assisting motorists, law enforcement, or are stopped with their warning lights activated to give drivers approaching within 1 mile time to slow down and move over.

“Over 60 operators a year die in the line of service across the across the nation, and a lot of people don’t recognize that,” Tedford explained, pointing to speed and distracted driving for the casualty risk. “On a per capita basis, towing operators lose their lives more than police and firefighters do in the line of service, and this device is just one of many that can help prevent that.”

GFS continually trains and certifies their employees to be recovery specialists. “People are the foundation of our success, and they allow us to build on their character and integrity to drive the company’s goals forward. Without them, we’re just a company with a bunch of trucks, no different than anybody else,” he said. “Our real operational success comes from good quality customer service. How we respond to problems and challenges as they occur makes us stand out from our competitors at the end of the day.”

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Guardian Fleet Services companies are the leaders in providing uncompromised professional towing, recovery and specialized transportation services to municipal, state and federal agencies, as well as thousands of commercial enterprises throughout the United States.

Guardian Fleet Services was formed as a consolidation of Kauff’s Transportation Systems, Crockett’s Towing and Recovery, and has grown to include several acquisitions covering the state of Florida as well as many other states such as Texas, Georgia and Kentucky over the last 5 years. Earning its reputation as the nation’s largest Towing, Recovery and Special Transportation provider as well as the World’s largest Heavy Duty provider.

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Corporate Office

4701 East Ave.

West Palm Beach, FL 33407

Phone Number: 866.475.9001

Homepage Link: https://guardianfleetservice.com/

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