One better hurry if they want a tow from Jack Roberts.
Yuma-based JR’s Towing soon will be history as Roberts is retiring at the end of January.
“My health is great but my body is giving out,” he said earlier this week. “I had knee replacement four years ago and that’s doing great, but now the ankle on the same leg is bad. It’s tough to walk.”
Roberts, 78, has been in the business for 29 years. He purchased the wreckers from the Nesbitts in early 1996, and was ready for business on February 22 of that year. He also was the local U-Haul renter for many years.
Roberts grew up in the Arkansas Valley in southeast Colorado. He eventually got married and moved to Yuma County where he farmed for 30 years north of town before moving into town and buying the towing service.
He said he has been unable to find anyone to take over the towing business. There has been some interest, but then they find out about the hours and the associated costs.
“This business has never been an 8 to 5 job,” Roberts said. “Many a time I went out at midnight and didn’t get home until the sun was coming up.”
Plus, he said the vehicles themselves are close to $300,000 and then there are contracts and insurance.
“Last year when I renewed my insurance it was almost $48,000; it was $6,800 when I first started in ‘96,” Roberts said.
One sees and experiences a wide range of situations when driving a wrecker.
Roberts said he has been at a lot of rough wrecks, including numerous fatals.
“There were times they couldn’t get the body out until I moved the vehicle,” he said. “I guess I learned to tough it out.”
Towing entails much more than just hooking up the affected vehicle and heading out.
“It’s a lot of work, especially if it’s wrecked,” Roberts said. “You might have two or three hours of work before you tow it, and with a semi wreck it can be two to six hours just to get it ready to tow.”
JR’s Towing covers a wide area in northeast Colorado, so there were plenty of calls for vehicle breakdowns. It was not always a pleasant experience.
“You had that 5 percent who wanted to cuss you up one side and down the other,” Roberts said. “If my wife (Laura) was with me, she was good with talking to them and calming them down. But sometimes when I was by myself, I would finally just give it back to them.
“(However) probably about 95 percent of them were thankful that I showed up and helped them.”
One gets to meet a lot of people when in the towing business. Roberts said that is what he will miss.
“All these years I met people from all over the place, from California to New York, and from Mexico to Canada,” he said. “I also met people from a lot of other countries who were driving across the country in rental cars.”
Plus, he has unlocked countless vehicles through the years, and has provided a jumpstart to as many or more.
And now it is just several more days until Jack drives off into the sunset.
“It’s been a good run,” Roberts said. “I don’t want to quit, but I have to, my body’s telling me so.”