Audio Article: Women of Towing – Sue Moreland
Woman of Towing
from the May 2022 Issue of Tow Times Magazine
Featuring Sue Moreland of the Indiana Towing and Wrecker Association out of Indianapolis, IN
Sue Moreland seems to fly under the radar, but she leaves a mark – gets things done – wherever she goes. She is the first female president of the Indiana Towing & Wrecker Association (ITWA), which is over 50 years old.
Moreland has been elected to three consecutive terms and this year may be elected to a fourth. “I’ve been part of the association for a long time,” she says, having previously served as secretary and a director.
Not surprisingly, Moreland has spent a lifetime in the towing and recovery industry as former owner of Twin Service Wrecker, Anderson, IN, for 33 years. When her husband died in 2009 she sold some of her trucks to Northwest Towing & Recovery in Muncie, and went to work for them in an administrative role. This year marks Moreland’s 46th year in towing. “I learned to tow with sling backs,” she says.
The lifelong Hoosier who was born in Indianapolis says she was “kind of glad to hand it over to somebody else.” Today, she focuses on the overall wellbeing of the towing industry and its operators.
“I focus on the good of the towing industry – the safety, the training.”
When she became president, the ITWA had not hosted a tow show in several years. Moreland re-launched the tow show in 2020 during the pandemic – no less – holding the event outdoors where experts said the COVID-19 virus was least likely to spread.
While towing events were being cancelled, Moreland went on with the show. “We were the only tow show that went on that year,” she notes. “I guess we were kind of the pioneer. We took a risk and it worked.”
Soon after being elected to ITWA for the first time, Moreland helped the ITWA establish a survivor fund with an initial funding of $25,000. She sees it as providing “something a little extra” to member families.
“We wanted to be there for them if they ever had a time of need,” she explains. “It’s heavily funded, but we haven’t had to use it – thank God.” The fund is doing well thanks to the efforts of the Ladies Auxiliary, another ITWA group she helped organize. It currently has nine members including Moreland. The auxiliary helps raise funds for the ITWA Survivor and Scholarship funds, plus it helps plan the annual tow show and Christmas events.
The association counts nearly 250 members, including towing companies, employee members and associate members. “People are more willing to lend us a hand now, more willing to work with us,” which Moreland credits to the good team she works with.
The ITWA hired a full-time lobbyist Bart Giesler and together Moreland and he work on legislative affairs. The two have been able to inject some Move Over language into the state’s drivers’ education manual, but they’d like to take it one step further to include awareness of Move Over in drivers’ education classes.
“The key is to start with the kids when they’re getting their license. That’s something I’m passionate about and would like to see implemented in Indiana,” Moreland says.
Moreland, 65, concedes that she is fortunate to be able to dedicate time and energy to the ITWA. “It takes a lot of work and dedication. I decided I had the time to devote to that now.”
She sometimes gets a helping hand from grandson, Devin McBride, 26, a firefighter, a first responder who used to follow his towing grandfather around. “It’s in his blood.”
Like many folks in the towing industry, Moreland doesn’t have a lot of time left over for hobbies and vacations, but when she does she spends it on – what else? – towing and recovery, traveling with friends to tow shows around the country.
“We use that as an excuse to get away.”
