Towing companies and vehicle storage facilities
Towing is one of the few trades where the recurring revenue and the real estate sit in the same business. Texas licenses both halves separately and publishes both lists — which makes it possible to see, from the outside, which operators own the combination.
What a buyer is actually paying for
Not revenue. In this trade specifically, the price is driven by how much of the work comes back without anyone selling it again.
Contracted rotation and motor club work
A rotation list place or a motor club contract is revenue that arrives without being sold again each month. It is valued very differently from casual calls, and most owners present the two as one number.
The storage facility
A licensed VSF turns a towing business into a business with real estate and daily accruing storage revenue. If you own the yard rather than lease it, that is often the largest single asset in the transaction and it is priced separately.
Fleet age and compliance record
Truck condition, and a clean record with the regulator, decide how much of the price survives diligence.
What the public record shows
Texas licenses tow companies and vehicle storage facilities under two separate programmes, and publishes both. Matching one list against the other identifies the operators who hold both — roughly a thousand statewide. That is a materially different business from a two-truck operation, and it is invisible unless you join the two files.
The registry is unusually complete for outreach purposes: it carries the operating address and county, and a working phone number on 97% of records. Almost every licensed operator in the state is reachable without buying a contact list.
Sources · measured July 2026
- Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation — licensed tow companies (daily file)
- Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation — licensed vehicle storage facilities (daily file)
Figures will drift as the registries change. We re-run this quarterly rather than quoting a number once and repeating it.
Who this is for
- An independent operator, not a national roll-up or a franchise location.
- Contracted work rather than only casual calls — police rotation, motor club, or private property impound.
- Particularly: operators running their own vehicle storage facility alongside the trucks.
If you have already been approached, bring the offer before you sign anything. A letter of intent usually carries an exclusivity clause, and once it is signed your leverage is largely gone.