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. A tow truck is distinct from a car carrier trailer, which is used to move multiple new or used vehicles simultaneously in routine transport operations. History Ferdinand Porsche of Austro-Daimler developed an artillery tractor for the Austro-Hungarian army in 1908, the M 08. One of the batch was constructed as a recovery vehicle for the others, with a large winch on the rear platform. The wrecker (with lifting jib) was invented in 1916 by Ernest Holmes Sr. of Chattanooga, Tennessee, a garage worker who was inspired after he needed blocks, ropes, and six men to pull a car out of a creek. After 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 motor-vehicle towing, a type of work that Holmes originated. Types of towing equipment Five general types of tow truck are in common usage, usually based on the type or size of vehicle to be towed: Boom: uses an adjustable boom with a winch to recover vehicles from a ditch, over an embankment, or any place the vehicle cannot be safely reached by backing up. Some booms are fixed; some use heavy pivoting A-frames; others are equipped with hydraulic-powered telescoping tubes. The heaviest types of boom can rotate, effectively turning the tow truck into a sort of mobile crane, called a "rotator", and are usually reserved for incidents involving heavy vehicles. In the past, boom trucks used a "hook and chain" system where chains are looped around the vehicle frame or axle, then lifted by a boom winch. A towbar with heavy rubberized mats connects the truck and vehicle, so it can be towed on its other axle. "Slings" and "belt lifts" are a further development, with rubber straps replacing part of the chains. Slings are not used much today because they can scratch the bumpers of cars. However, they are sometimes used for towing vehicles that have been