Flatbed recovery vehicle. 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.he 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.