About Us

October 25, 2020, 6:20 a.m.

We were deeply saddened to investigate a crash this past Sunday involving the deaths of two tow truck operators-William Casie Allen and Nicholas Ryan Visser.
On the morning of October 25, 2020, Casie and Nick were dispatched to recover a vehicle that had crashed on I-90 near Columbus, MT. While working to recover the vehicle in winter conditions, another motorist lost control of their vehicle striking the men and causing fatal injuries to both. Our thoughts are with Casie and Nick’s families, their friends, and everyone at Hanser’s Automotive as they navigate their new reality
without their loved ones. We consider tow truck drivers our first responder partners that are essential to assisting motorists and safely removing crash debris, among many other jobs they have. Just like troopers, these dedicated professionals leave the warmth and safety of their homes to go out into the night and assist others with no guarantee of their safe return. They transport stranded motorists and bring them gas. They clear our roadways so that we can pass through without incident. They put themselves in the most vulnerable positions to ensure that crash scenes are cleared safely as cars fly by them on the highway. Simply stated, they put helping others before their own comfort and safety every day. We owe them gratitude, but, most importantly, we owe them better. The simple actions of paying attention, slowing down and moving over can be the difference between life and death.

~ Montana Highway Patrol Facebook post October 25, 2020

“To their families and friends: Our hearts are with you, and we will always cherish
and honor the memory of the rescuers who literally lost their lives helping others”

As you may have heard, we experienced a tragedy today that nobody should ever have to experience. Two of our wrecker drivers, whom we dub “rescuers”, went on a two-truck call to respond to an accident blocking traffic on I-90. They were able to safely load one vehicle, but while loading the storage unit that it was towing, our two drivers were senselessly struck and killed by an oncoming vehicle who chose not to heed to our warning signs, emergency responder flashers, and general weather conditions. Accidents happen. If they didn’t, we wouldn’t have a business. But the nature of this accident will haunt the families, the coworkers who tried their best to protect them, and all of the loved ones and friends of these two very young men, for the rest of all of our lives. They were dedicated workers, and they were passionate about their families and hobbies. One was a husband and father of five who loved motorcycles and his huge family/ six trillion brothers. And beards. And hoodies. The other was a sweet little soft-spoken guy who was in love with the great outdoors and could have had another 60 years of fishing, bow hunting, and shooting ahead of him.
To their families and friends: Our hearts are with you, and we will always cherish and h honor the memory of the rescuers who literally lost their lives helping others. To our employees: We have lost our friends, people most of us see almost every single day, and we are here for you. To everyone else: We implore you, PLEASE, please, drive carefully and safely on snowy and icy roads. Don’t try to save two minutes of time by driving faster, don’t pass big trucks in unsafe conditions, and please ALWAYS note hazard signs, emergency flares, lightboard signals from emergency response trucks,
speed recommendations, ANYTHING. Because it’s not just for your safety- it’s for ours, too. This never should have happened.
~Hanser’s Facebook page posted October 25, 2020

Our hearts were broken. This news is what every tow company wants to avoid receiving or hearing. We all felt the pain from the families, friends, co-workers,
and tow company. We all felt confused, not wanting to believe that our lives
had changed in an instant. We all have experienced a painful hole in our
hearts that will never fully heal; we do not want anyone else to feel that pain.
It does not matter if we get along all the time, but we do stand united as tow
companies and operators across our great state when tragedy is thrust upon
us. This united front was evident when, across the state, we joined together
to turn our tow lights on at the exact same time. As each community shared a
prayer, we showed solidarity and support for the families. We stood united.
The Montana Tow Truck Association Board of Directors met at their regular
board of directors meeting and discussed the news and pending investigation
that followed that fateful morning of October 25, 2020. We discussed how it
happened within the facts that we were all able to gleen out from what was
hearsay and what was fact. We discussed how to honor and remember the
towers that have lost their lives in the line of duty. The board of directors
counted, including the two tow operators that lost their lives, a total of six
tow operators in the state of Montana have died in the line of duty. Do we
remember their sacrifices? Do we even remember their names?
Every other first responder, Fire, Ambulance, and the law enforcement have
monuments to honor and memorialize their lost comrades. The tow operators
of North America have the International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame
and Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee. But, there is nowhere in Montana to
visit and honor our towing operators lost in the line of duty.
From this discussion, the vision of building a monument to the tow operators
lost in the line of duty in Montana was born. Board of director and past
president of the Montana Tow Truck Association, Jim Dusenberry took the
project and responsibility to heart and moved with diligence in precision
pursuance to see the result of this project came to fruition.
November 2020, under the full support of the MTTA board of directors, a
committee was formed. Along with Jim Dusenberry, Spencer Hanser, Dennis
Frownfelter and Lori Tribble were chosen to aid in seeing Jim’s vision become
reality. This will be the first tow operator memorial sponsored and created by
a single state towing association. If fact, we believe the first of it’s kind in the
nation.