Daniel Johnson WM – 172290
Hurst Towing & Recovery – Birmingham, AL
In the summer of 1999 at the age of 6, I climbed into a truck with my dad for the first time. He was a driver for Weil Wrecker and operated an F-450 rollback with a 19.5 ft bed. After that I quickly fell in love with the towing industry.
As the years went by, I learned to operate everything in the fleet and learned anything I could in business. Outside of my dad, I owe a lot of my skills and knowledge to Darryl Burrell and Steven Weil Jr. Those two pushed me to my limits to learn everything there is about this industry. From running a truck, to dispatching and everything in between.
As I got older, I was introduced to the side pull rollback by my supervisor George Fiffles. I was immediately hooked after that. I wanted to learn everything there was to know, and George went right to teaching me.
October 12, 2016, I came to work for Lynn Hurst at Hurst towing and recovery, to run his side pull rollback, and became his light duty supervisor. As each year has gone on, I have pushed myself to learn all I can about the unit and push it to its potential in this industry.
After 8 years, 3 side pull trucks later, and many head turning recoveries, ranging from light duty vehicles to heavy recoveries and various equipment. I have received a Donnie Cruse recovery award for a 25k plus recovery for a piece of equipment off the side of my roll back using 5 lines to the load.
I owe everything to my dad for bringing me into this industry and always standing beside me. My mentors Darryl Burrell, Steven Weil Jr, George Fiffles, Scott Aey, Kurt Wilson, Howard Kritzer, Scooby & Casey Burrows, and finally, Lynn Hurst. For the last 8years of standing behind me and always pushing me to be the absolute best of myself. Allowing me to spec out and build two top notch side pull trucks to my liking. Supplying me with everything I need and more to do my job, and even a little extra to push it to its limits from time to time. Lynn has been one of my biggest supporters and fans when it comes to my recovery skills, while trusting me to go out and take care of his customer base. I am truly blessed to have such an amazing boss, and work for an amazing family- owned business.
Now at the age of 31, receiving this award is a huge honor and humbling experience in career. There has been a ton of emotions after receiving the phone call from Justin Cruse, it still feels like dream. This is a memory I’ll cherish and be grateful for.
