Rockin' Rotator

By George L. Nitti

When Mark Sylver of Sylverline Towing, located in Temple Hills, M.D., broke off from the family business in 2013-14 to start his own company, he knew he wanted his trucks to be easily seen and read, rather than flashy or busy like some of his competition throughout the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area.

Today, Sylver’s intention can be found on his tow trucks, mostly heavy-duty, including 3 rotators. His latest purchase of a Kenworth 2021 T880 with a Century 1150 Rotator illustrates a powerful color schematic of orange and silver and a straight-forward, easy to read white lettering that pops against those two contrasting colors.

The unit’s eye-catching colors are its first striking feature.  “I went with orange because I didn’t want my company to be mistaken for anyone else,” Sylver said. Although not stated, the color silver, which covers the upper half of the unit, seems a play on the “Sylver” name – yet works perfectly as a contrasting color, when often, white or black, would be the go-to.

Along the side, written in large white letters, is the company name/logo - “Sylverline.” Sylver said, “My family’s business was M&N – the name Sylverline just clicked one day.”

The company, which specializes in heavy duty towing, particularly coach buses (“before they fell out of favor due to Covid”) perhaps connects to coachline. Adding to the name is a catchy winchline running through the logo bearing a hook.

Also prominently written on the side is an easy-to-read phone number. Sylver said, “If somebody is broken down, legally you can’t solicit, but if you drive by and they see your truck and phone number, they can call you. That happened last week. Somebody called me and said, ‘I saw you towing a bus. Can you come by and tow me.’”

On the back of the cab is a slogan Sylver picked up from his church: “Favor Ain’t Fair.” “If you have the favor of God, it ain’t fair. You just have it,” said Sylver. “And you can’t worry about what somebody else has, because they are in the favor of God.”

While Sylver points out that he has been favored with three rotators, he also points out that good service is a key to his success, which sometimes means saying no to jobs.

He said, “I can’t please everybody. There are other companies around me that promise a cheaper price but if you call them 4 hours later, they still haven’t come. When they call me, the job is handled. I can’t tow everybody, so I have to be the best at what I do.”