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It all began in Cleveland, Ohio. At the age of 21, Mike Reiter was driving a 1970 Chevrolet ½
ton pickup truck with a Holmes 440 sling. The
snow was falling and it was ten below zero.
As he began winching a car out of a snow bank in the center divider of
the expressway, he just knew there had to be an easier way to earn a living! At the young age of 13, Mike had a knack
for looking at something mechanical and figuring out a better design.
In the home garage, with the power lawn mower in one corner and his
bicycle in the other corner, he had made his first motorized bike in a matter of
hours. Shortly thereafter, he made
a go-cart and decided he needed yet a bigger challenge. His dad’s 1964 Chevrolet Nova had a
leaking water pump. To quote Mike,
“My dad, the great guy that he is, does not possess any mechanical skills,
much less the ability to open a radiator cap.”
His dad had called his friend, Tom, to come over and fix the car.
Tom said he could do the repairs but it would take a few hours to
complete; of course, he would have to have lunch first!
While his mom, dad, and Tom were eating lunch, Mike picked up his tools
and began working on the car, By the time lunch was finished, so was the repair
job! The next day, Mike got a job pumping gas
at the corner station. Within a
year, the mechanic helped him build his first hot rod.
Unfortunately, Mike didn’t have a driver’s license yet. By the time he turned seventeen, Mike
had had several hot rods, and to this day still have a set of keys to each of
those cars – cars that one way or another were wrecked, rolled or impounded.
Yes, impounded…by a tow truck…by a part-time “repo man.” At the ripe old age of 21, Mike managed
Rossman’s ARCO service station. Joe
Rossman, a master mechanic, was his teacher and mentor.
Mike learned how to efficiently run a repair shop and towing operation,
but he knew there was no way he’d survive turning wrenches on the side of the
road in the cold. When Mike met his wife, Kathy, he knew
she was the one immediately! Soon
after they married, they began making preparations to move west… a dream of
Mike’s from long ago. There was
only one big problem – no money! Kathy
moved in with Mike’s brother and sister-in-law and Mike packed up his Camaro
and a U- haul trailer with his toolbox, motorcycle and $2,000 in his pocket.
He stayed with some friends in Los Angeles. About a month later, Kathy joined him
and they began their first company. Home
Auto Repair (HAR). Mike went to customer’s homes to fix their cars. He was so bust they had to buy a van to carry all of the
tools… they were jamming!!! They
lived in a small apartment in Van Nuys and every dollar they made was put right
back into the company, along with a lot of sweat and blood. They then rented a house in Reseda and
began bringing the cars in for repairs. Life
was good. Mike even had to call his
brother, Hal in to help him. Hal
moved out from Pennsylvania and the business began to grow… most days there
were nine or ten cars parked in front of the house. The City of Los Angeles came knocking on
the door and advised them that the business license was for a mobile repair
service, not home auto repair. They
had to change fast and move! Did I
mention that Kathy was eight and a half months pregnant with their first child,
Rachel, and they were just making ends meet? Always the optimist, Mike didn’t let
it get him down. He did what he
always did…look ahead, not behind. They
put everything on the line and moved the company to a brand new 4,000 square
foot auto complex. They borrowed
money from their older brother, Howard, to make the move.
After only one week, Hal, Kathy and Mike were going gangbusters!
They even added a full-time mechanic to the payroll. And then Mike’s past caught up to
him… TOWING! (You thought it was
going to be something naughty, didn’t you?)
Just like repossessing is in your blood, towing was in Mike’s blood. He borrowed $50,000 from his dad; on the
first of every month, he made payments to his parents (just as if it were a bank
loan) including ten percent interest. The
first truck he bought was a 19-foot rollback so that he could do “doubles.”
By also doing transporting, he could make the company grow even quicker. Within one year, they needed a
wheel-lift truck. By this time,
Home Auto Repair had established enough credit that GMAC would carry the paper.
The word was out – Home Auto Repair was on the map to stay! They formed a corporation, H.A.R.
Transport and Towing, Inc. by using the letters for Home Auto Repair.
Now with two tow units on the road, they felt on top of the world.
Mike says, “It was an awesome sight for Hal and I to drive these big
tow trucks down the road, side by side.”
If only they had known it was just the beginning.
Within weeks the Automobile Club of Southern California came knocking on
the door. They had heard about
H.A.R. and they like what they saw. (Mike
had strategically painted the combo truck to match the colors used by the Auto
Club.) Shortly after, H.A.R. was
signed as an auxiliary contractor; they worked from 7AM to 7PM – never on
Sundays. They added two additional
trucks to the fleet. You may ask,
“Where did they get the money this time?” Once again, the “First National
Savings and Loan of Mom and Dad” came through.
Mike’s parents sold their house back east, moved to Los Angeles to
retire, and invested their nest egg in H.A.R.
It was a hard sell, but they had faith in Mike, Hal and Kathy. Mike said, “Sometimes in life, you can
make your own breaks, and sometimes you’re in the right place at the right
time, like when AAA offered us a big contract.
In some cases, AAA is not good for you, but they have been good to us.
We needed still more trucks…we needed a self-loader, we needed to be
fast and we needed to do damage-free tows.” They went to the California Tow Truck
Association Tow Show in Palm Springs and discussed business with Dynamic. It had everything they needed and yet the factory
representative wouldn’t give them the time of day.
He said to Mike, “You want to be a distributor?
You have no money behind you. You’re
maxed out on your credit. Sorry,
can’t help you.” Mike began to think they had grown as
much as they could. Settle on what
they have… pass on the big AAA contract and go home with his tail between his
legs? I THINK NOT! The next day, Mike went back to the rep
to give him a piece of his mind. Instead,
he found the factory rep stressing out over a broken demo truck. Mike looked at the problem from afar and watched the rep fall
to his knees. No one could help. Well, almost no one.
Mike walked over to the man and made him a deal.
“I’ll fix your truck; I’ll save your reputation, but now we’ll
work together.” Within five
seconds, the truck was fixed! Even Mike had surprised himself!
On that subject Mike says, “Thank you, for giving me the opportunity to
prove myself to you and the industry.” H.A.R. Inc./West Valley Wrecker Sales
opened its doors. With the first
tow show and the first sale under their belt, the orders came in – slowly.
The shows came and went, one after another, and building staff was
increased to three. They soon felt
like they were on a runaway train, and each truck they built they built as if it
were their own. AAA even came to
them and purchased ten new trucks and H.A.R. became known as the company to know
and follow. For five years, H.A.R.
was one of the largest tow truck distributors in the United States.
They take pride in every tow unit they deliver and continue to fill
orders with a handshake, even today. The tow truck community knows that if it
has to do with a tow truck, talk to Mike. Mike
says, “Whatever the problem is, from maintenance on the truck to the wrecker
body, even if it’s not our equipment, I’ll willingly get you info on it and
help you find the equipment you need, whether you buy it from us or our
competition. I’m here to help.
If I don’t know the answer I’ll get it for you.
Customer service is a driving principle of H.A.R.” With a strong customer base, H.A.R. Inc.
joined forces with Tow Industries to become another overnight success. They were the largest Vulcan distributor west of the
Mississippi and projected sales that year made them the largest distributor in
the United States. After a few years, Recovery Solutions
was started by Dave Craze, one of the original inventers of the self-loader.
Recovery Solutions evolved the wheel lift to add all of the changes that
customers were looking for. H.A.R.
Inc is the largest Recovery Solutions distributor in the United States for over
three years. With ten years
experience in the repossession industry, they have succeeded in building a
company to aid you. H.A.R. has a nitch in the industry and
with the help of Miller Industries they have facilitated tow truck safety
seminars, industry conventions, and they have contributed to many events and
awards along with providing technical support. Four years ago the CALR (California
Association of Licensed Repossessors) board asked Mike how they could increase
the vitality of the association. His
suggestion was to have a rodeo – get the families involved, along with your
clients, agents and officers – make it a yearly event.
This generated a new interest in CALR, one of the largest independent
associations that solely operates for the purpose of education and as an
advocate for change in legislation in the California repossession industry.
This year, CALR is having their third Repo Rodeo in Sacramento in
October. Over the last
year, Mike has brought in his oldest daughter Rachel into H.A.R. Inc to
contribute new ideas which will push the company to its fullest potential. Rachel graduated from SUNY Potsdam, NY in 2006 with a BS in
Business Administration and a minor in Music Business.
She worked at Recovery Solutions in Virginia for about a year and has
been with H.A.R. Inc for over a year. Rachel
shows great potential for not only leading H.A.R. Inc forward, but leading the
industry forward. Her goal is to
create a product that will revolutionize the towing and repossession industries. She has a lot to work towards! Well, that’s the history of H.A.R. Inc., from the beginning to 2008… but not the end. The end is far away and still unknown. H.A.R. will continue to change with your suggestions. They will be there twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, and will strive to be the best. In this industry, we have all grown and prospered. We need to remember the people that brought it all together. H.A.R. Inc.
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