When Faye Lougher headed out for the day, she never expected to get a ride home in a tow truck, but at least it saved on petrol!

Faye and her husband were in Upper Hutt when their Ford Thunderbird began playing up, and despite a visit from the AA, recovery was the only option.

In no time at all, Michael Megennis from Supreme Towing arrived, and the car was loaded onto the 2020 Hino 300 and homeward bound.

During the 90 minutes it took to get home, Faye chatted to Michael about his work. He says he got into driving trucks about 15 years ago and has been working for Supreme for the past two.

“I got into truck driving because I wanted to be a tow truck driver. I love that no two jobs are the same. I enjoy meeting the customers because most of them are quite good.”

Michael says he recovers a couple of classic vehicles every week, and it’s an area he tends to specialise in.

“I often get called whenever they need someone who knows what they are doing.”

Travelling in a tow truck is a different experience from travelling in a car, and Michael says the roads and the motorists using it are sometimes not as good as they could be. It was amazing how many vehicles overtook the tow truck, only to pull in less than a car length ahead of it.

The industry issue Michael raised was about the number of cowboys working in vehicle recovery.

“I am regularly called to recoveries where someone has tried and failed to do it, and it gives us all a bad name,” he says.

Considering what was on the back of the truck and the fact she didn’t have her list of vexing questions to hand, Faye gave Michael the Ford or Holden question. Thankfully, he chose Ford, or the rest of the trip could have been a bit awkward!