Drew Zuccala
Drew was born in 1957 in Glen Cove, N.Y. and moved to Florida when he was 6 years old and was raised by his father Larry, who was in the Construction Industry.
Drew graduated from Atlantic High School in Delray Beach, Fl. in 1975 at the age of 17 and joined the Navy where he served with honor for two years. He found his passion soon after when he drove a tow truck for a AAA gas station. He was hooked on the towing and recovery industry from that moment on. After a year, he started working for Jennings Towing who had some of the biggest equipment in the southeast. While there he took in all he could and attended his first formal training which was taught by Ross Kinman.
At 19 years of age, Drew heard about a tow truck being auctioned by the IRS and with the help of his father and a local bank, Zuccala Wrecker Service was established. This first truck was a 1970 F600 with no power steering, no A/C, no exhaust and a Motorola radio that was big as a bread box.
Not knowing it at the time and while it was still legal, Drew was one of the first “Road Rangers” running up and down I-95 looking for vehicles in distress. Drew did not have a plan of how to expand his company, but he woke up every day happy to work and drove around to all of the local dealerships, gas stations and body shops trying to sell his services. As time passed, Drew bought his first small wrecker a Holmes 480. A year later he bought a new hydraulic wrecker. In just two years Zuccala Wrecker Service grew to three trucks and an equipment trailer.
In 1979, Drew joined PWOF and by the “Grace of God” he won the first raffled wrecker sponsored by PWOF. Having the raffle truck title, Drew was able to finance the truck and purchase his first tow yard. He then built a building with an apartment upstairs on the property, which he lived in for 10 years while running his business. Drew did not own a car or drive anything other than his wrecker until he was 32 years old.
Drew became very involved in PWOF & TRAA. He moved through the ranks of PWOF from Area Chairman to President a position he held for 6 years and has been the PWOF Show Truck Chairman for 22 years.
Drew was always looking for ways to grow his business and before Sea Tow or Boat US were founded, Drew started a recreational tug boat service helping disabled and beached vessels and created a certified under water recovery team. At this time, Drew also became certified as an airplane pilot and received his captain’s license. This addition to Zuccala’s business lead to Zuccala Land, Air and Sea Recovery Service. As time went on, Drew saw a need for a small local crane company and he became a certified crane operator and bought a 50 ton crane specializing in vessel and vehicle recovery. Eight years ago, the state was looking for emergency response teams in the newly formed RISC Program. Drew got it into his head that he could form a team of four local towers who had many years of experience and heavy equipment.
This led him to form an LLC and became the Founder and President of Open Road Recovery Team.
Drew is involved in many state and national associations: He has been a member of the PWOF for 37 years, is a founding Member of the SSTA, Member of TRAA, supporter of the Wall of the Fallen, Member of the ITRHFM, part of the Miller Race Recovery Team, and serves as a representative for Palm Beach Consumer Affairs Advisory Committee for Towing. As a commitment to share his knowledge Drew has volunteered as an instructor for PWOF at all levels of training to teach those young and old to the industry safety and techniques.