A Tour of Tow Industry Trade Magazines Around the World | TowBrite
The towing and recovery industry is one of those trades where most of the real knowledge — the new equipment, the regulatory shifts, the safety conversations, the company news, the success stories of operators large and small — moves through trade publications the rest of the world never sees. Walk into a tow operator's office and you'll usually find at least one well-thumbed magazine on the desk. Walk into a serious operator's office and you'll find a stack from three continents.
If you tow professionally, supply the towing industry, or just love the hardware, knowing which publications cover this trade is the fastest way to plug into what's happening. Here's a tour of the major tow and vehicle recovery magazines published around the world today.
North America
American Towman
One of the longest-running and best-known names in North American towing media. American Towman covers the full breadth of the trade — recovery operations, business management, equipment reviews, industry news, and event coverage including the major American Towman Exposition. The publication has built a substantial editorial team and maintains an active online presence alongside the print magazine, and is a fixture in tow operators' offices across the USA and Canada.
Tow Times
Another long-established North American publication serving the towing and recovery industry, with a focus on commercial operators, fleet managers, and recovery specialists. Tow Times covers equipment, operations, safety, business practices, and industry events. Like American Towman, it has both a strong print presence and a substantial online and digital footprint.
Tow Professional
A trade magazine mailed to a national audience of more than 37,000 decision-makers — owners, presidents, and CEOs — across the towing and recovery industry. Tow Professional focuses heavily on the business side of the trade alongside equipment and operations, making it particularly valuable for shop owners and fleet managers thinking about growth, marketing, and operational efficiency.
Tow Industry Week
A digital-first publication delivering industry news, equipment announcements, regulatory updates, and operator features on a weekly cadence. Tow Industry Week has become a go-to source for operators who want to stay current without waiting for a monthly print issue, and it's particularly useful for tracking M&A activity, regulatory changes, and emerging technology.
Towing & Equipment Magazines
A nationwide source focused on buying and selling towing equipment — new and used wreckers, carriers, and tow trucks. While more classified-and-listings oriented than the editorial publications, it's an essential resource for operators looking to expand a fleet, upgrade specific units, or sell off retired equipment.
Tow Canada
The Canadian counterpart to the major US publications, helping foster the advancement of the tow and recovery industry across Canada. Tow Canada covers the unique challenges of Canadian towing — winter operations, provincial regulatory variation, the geography of long-distance recovery — alongside the same equipment, business, and industry news topics. Particularly valuable for operators in Canada and for US operators who do cross-border work.
United Kingdom
Professional Recovery Magazine
The leading UK trade publication for the vehicle recovery industry. Professional Recovery is published 18 times per year (roughly every three weeks), making it the most frequent specialist publication in the British recovery trade. It covers the latest technology in trucks and equipment, regulatory and legal developments, operator profiles, and the major trade events including the Professional Recovery Tow Show. If you operate in the UK or supply UK operators, this is essential reading.
On Scene
A dedicated, high-quality magazine for the vehicle recovery industry and associated sectors in the UK. On Scene focuses on innovations, industry news, interviews, and both technical and operator-focused content. The production values are notably high, making it as much a coffee-table publication for the industry as a working trade magazine.
International / Multi-Region
LDM — The Towing Magazine
Billing itself as the World's Number 1 Magazine for Professionals of the Towing Industry, LDM publishes every three months in both English and French. The bilingual format gives it natural reach across North America, Europe, and Francophone markets globally. Coverage ranges from tow trucks and recovery equipment to the entrepreneurs and companies driving the industry forward, with a more international flavour than the regional publications.
Australia and Asia-Pacific
The Australian and broader Asia-Pacific recovery industry is served less by dedicated tow-only magazines and more by general truck and transport publications that cover towing as a significant beat.
PowerTorque (Australia)
Australia's premier truck and trailer magazine, established in 2001. While not exclusively focused on towing, PowerTorque provides substantial coverage of the heavy recovery sector, towing equipment, and the operators who serve Australia's vast distances. For operators in Australia, New Zealand, and the broader Pacific region, PowerTorque is one of the most reliable industry sources.
Trade Show Publications and Adjacent Media
Beyond the dedicated magazines, the towing trade is also covered by:
Event programs and show-floor publications from major events like the American Towman Exposition (in the USA) and the Professional Recovery Tow Show (in the UK), which often feature deep editorial content not available elsewhere.
Heavy-equipment and commercial trucking publications that cover towing as one beat among several. These include various national trucking magazines, fleet management publications, and roadside assistance industry journals.
Manufacturer publications — many of the major tow truck and equipment manufacturers (Jerr-Dan, Miller Industries, Vulcan, NRC, and others) publish their own customer magazines, technical bulletins, and news updates that contain real industry insight beyond the marketing.
Why This Matters for Operators
Subscribing to two or three magazines from across this list is the cheapest professional development investment a tow operator can make. The equipment reviews alone often pay for the subscriptions in better purchasing decisions. The regulatory coverage helps you stay ahead of compliance changes that can cost you real money if you miss them. The business and management content — particularly from publications like Tow Professional — gives you ideas you can apply directly to your own operation. And the operator profiles and industry news help you benchmark your own work against what's happening across the broader trade.
For an operator in North America, a reasonable starter combination might be American Towman or Tow Times for the broad editorial coverage, Tow Industry Week for the weekly news pulse, and Tow Canada if you operate north of the border or near it. Add LDM if you want an international perspective, and Professional Recovery if you have any UK ties or simply want to see how a different market handles the same problems.
Why This Matters for Suppliers
For those of us who supply the towing industry — equipment makers, parts vendors, accessory manufacturers like TowBrite — these publications are also where new product announcements, application stories, and customer testimonials reach the operators who actually buy. Building relationships with the editors and contributing useful technical content is one of the most effective ways to be present in conversations about tow lights, lighting compliance, recovery techniques, and operator best practices.
Bottom Line
Tow industry trade media is healthier and more diverse than most outsiders realize. Between the long-running American titles, the busy UK publications, the bilingual international LDM, and the regional voices serving Canada, Australia, and beyond, anyone serious about the towing trade has multiple high-quality sources to draw from. Pick a few that match your geography and your role, subscribe (most have free or low-cost options), and you'll quickly notice you're more current on the industry than the operator next door who hasn't bothered.