Simple Yet Eye-Catching

By George L. Nitti 

Simplicity can be eye catching, such as an all-yellow tow truck with a creatively lettered logo done in a contrasting cool blue stating “Cupertino Towing.” 

Based out of Antioch, California and with a fleet of approximately 30 trucks, many of them flatbeds, the company maintains a robust call volume serving law enforcement, commercial calls and as a large contractor to AAA.  

“We get 4500 – 5000 calls a month,” said Craig Baker, owner of Cupertino Towing and President of the California Tow Truck Association (CTTA). 

Two of their latest acquisitions, 2023 Kenworth’s with Chevron 12 Series LCG’s, embody a tradition of excellence in graphic design. 

The company logo has evolved over time. Until four years ago, their logos were hand-painted, but since then, are vinyl.  

Baker said, “Our lettering guy 'Mike the Stripe' has adapted to the times. But he does not use canned graphics. He can now do what he did by hand in vinyl.” 

Although Baker has always appreciated the artistic integrity of hand painted graphics, he acknowledges that vinyl is more efficient, taking the company less time to get the trucks lettered and more easily removing the lettering when they are looking to rotate trucks out of their fleet. 

“It used to take us hours to remove the lettering with a lot of oven cleaner and heavy duty scrubbing,” said Baker. “Now it takes us less than a half hour.” 

In part, moving to a more efficient system of maintaining their fleet has become a core principle of their operations, due to the havoc Covid wreaked on the industry and the challenges of getting parts. 

Baker said, “We’ve streamlined the fleet to primarily Kenworth’s and Ford’s.” He added, “By streamlining the fleet we can maintain a larger parts inventory in house that is universally exchangeable among all the trucks.” 

The company is also rotating fewer trucks out of their fleet on a yearly basis due to the skyrocketing prices of tow trucks. “The flatbeds that once cost $140,000 are now pushing $175,000,” he said. 

Yet despite post Covid challenges, Baker prides himself on maintaining the family feel of his company, asking of his employees, only what he would do himself. 

Brag @ TIW!  

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