<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (February 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> A tow truck (also called a wrecker, a breakdown truck, recovery vehicle or a breakdown lorry) is a truck used to move disabled, improperly parked, impounded, or otherwise indisposed motor vehicles . This may involve recovering a vehicle damaged in an accident, returning one to a drivable surface in a mishap or inclement weather, or towing or transporting one via flatbed to a repair shop or other location . </P> <P> A tow truck is distinct from a motor carrier that moves multiple new or used vehicles simultaneously in routine transport operations . </P> <P> The tow truck was invented in 1916 by Ernest Holmes, Sr., of Chattanooga, Tennessee, a garage worker inspired after needing blocks, ropes, and six men to pull a car out of a creek . Upon improving his design he began manufacturing them commercially . The International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum in his home town displays restored antique wreckers, tools, equipment, and pictorial histories of the industry Holmes created . </P>

When is a wrecker considered an emergency vehicle