by Tim Brady

Buddy's Wrecker Service
Owner:  Steve Sedberry
In Business:  50 Years
Location:  Union City TN

Buddy's Wrecker is a family-owned, full-service tow operation and auto repair shop serving northwest Tennessee and southwest Kentucky.

How is maintenance handled?
We own our own shop so we do all maintenance and minor repairs in-house.

How are major repairs handled?
TriState International, a local International Truck dealership handles repairs.

What are three challenges you face with your maintenance program?
Being notified when a prob­lem exists, making sure it isn’t ignored, and then ensuring that it was correctly repaired so it doesn’t become a bigger problem down the road.

How do you resolve each of these?
The best means is through regular communications with our drivers. We make sure each of them performs pretrip and post-trip inspections and then look over each inspection on a daily basis to be sure any problem or potential problem is addressed.

How do you ensure good mileage from tires?
We keep tires properly inflated and rotated. It’s part of the pretrip inspection for each driver. It’s much easier to handle at our shop with cold tires than finding a problem on the road. And with a towing operation, tire maintenance and inspection is paramount as many of our trucks respond to accident scenes where crash debris is a major concern. This requires constant inspection of the area and tires by the driver.

Do you stock any parts for your trucks, or purchase as needed?
We stock mainly oil, filters and lights. We order all other parts as needed. We have several local parts vendors and dealerships that do an excellent job of keeping an inventory; if parts are not in stock, then the vendors can get them shipped to us overnight.

How do you determine when it’s time to replace a truck?
When reliability is fading. This is determined by tracking things like an increase in repair cost, a decrease in fuel mileage, and excessive downtime.

What are your specifications for your trucks?
For our towing applications, we like Miller Industries specs, because we put those units on our trucks. If we buy a used truck, we like to buy a complete unit.

What programs do you have in place to ensure CSA compliance for your trucks and or trailers?
We use Bullion Consulting in Obion, TN, to keep us up to par. The owner is a retired Tennessee commercial vehicle enforcement officer and CVSA Level 1 DOT inspector.

What does your company do best?
Through our constant upgrading of skills and state-of-the-art equipment, we’re experts at transporting disabled cars and trucks. Where we also shine is in recovery of vehicles of all sizes and shapes involved in traffic accidents. Our Mobile Crane Service utilizing our 40-ton rotator truck with heavy-duty underlift is called upon to assist local industry in the placement of machines and equipment. We also have a complete auto service and repair facility with ASE-certified technicians. But what we do best is take care of our customer’s needs.

Editor’s note: “Spotlight on an American Trucker “ is a new monthly feature that aims to bring American Trucker’s readership to life by putting names and faces alongside successes.