Who do you know who can Tow?

Towing Award to Denver Woman

Edited by Madelyn Miller, the Travellady

When you think of the image of a tow truck company owner winning the top towing award for seven years in a row, most people probably get an image of a rough and ready guy who, when he isn't jump starting cars in the middle of a snow storm, is sitting in front the TV watching sports.

Wrong. 

The winner of this year's Towing Ace award for the seventh year in a row is a Denver woman with a master's degree in playwrighting with an emphasis in Serbo-Croatian theatre; she's a former prize-winning chef and she spends her weekends showing Borzoi dogs in conformation shows and field trials.

Denver Road Runner Road Service, an emergency road service business 8 years ago, and quickly propelled it to one of the top road service businesses in the nation, based on accurate time estimates for service and customer satisfaction. 

She uses a network of full-time drivers to provide jump starts, unlocking doors and emergency gasoline deliveries in the Denver area and surrounding communities.  "When we hire, we look for more than technical expertise - we look for people with a good customer service ethic," says Rice.  "When people are stuck, especially in bad weather, they want to know we will arrive when we say we will and we can solve their problem."

Drivers are dispatched from a central office using a computerized system and cell phones to stay in touch. 

Seventh Year in A Row for Ace

Rice will received her Ace Towing award, a pewter belt buckle, at the annual American Towman Exposition in Baltimore, MD .  It will join a collection of five others in her Denver office. "I missed the convention one year, and they require that you pick up the buckle in person," said Rice, "so I'll only have six representing the seven years of wins." She studied at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and is excited to return for a visit.

The Ace Award is given by American Towman Magazine and is sponsored by Allstate Motor Club, Asurion, Coach-Net, Cross Country Automotive Services, the American Towing Alliance and Road America. The award means Road Runner of Denver was in the top 1% of the towing industry for service excellence.

"The Towing Exposition is a great place to see the new equipment, learn about best practices for managing the business and make contacts with large contractors such as insurance companies and car dealerships who offer emergency road services to their customers," said Rice.  "One great benefit of being selected for the Ace Award is that customers know they can rely on our service."

Rice is active in Borzoi Rescue, a national group which rescues the Russian wolfhounds in cases of neglect or abuse, and helps find new homes for them.  She also trains the dogs who are a major hunting breed.  "They compete in field trials around the western states," said Rice.  Several of her dogs are Dual Champions, taking Best in Breed and multiple performance awards over the years.

She has appeared with nine of her dogs in the Denver and Boulder Ballet productions of Swan Lake and Giselle over the years. 

Before buying the Road Runner business, Rice was a professional chef including serving as Executive Chef at Denver's famous Cactus Club and was the second woman in the State of Colorado to become a Certified Working Chef.   She holds a master's degree in playwrighting from Johns Hopkins University, plus a B.A. from Antioch and has had several plays produced. 

"I loved writing plays, but it's hard to make a living that way. And as I grew older, keeping up the 16-hour days of heavy physical work in a commercial kitchen got to be a challenge. When I had the chance to buy and build Road Runner of Dnever, I decided that was a good business decision.   Now I write and cook for personal enjoyment."

While Rice is in Baltimore to receive her award, she's confident Road Runner will still meet her standards of excellence.  "The way to win this award is to build a great team, and we've done that.  They'll be here answering the phone, and delivering jump starts, tire changes, unlocks and gas on time.  We're already working to win next year's award," said Rice with a smile.

You can reach Denver's "Towing Ace" by calling 303-300-4411 24 hours a day, seven days a week - a smart phone number to program into your cell phone and tuck into the glove box in your car.

Madelyn Miller is a travel and food writer who has not had a car towed in years. But she would call the Towing Ace if she needed one.

Read Madelyn’s stories on www.travellady.com, www.carladynews.com and the F & B TravelAtlas Group which includes www.chocolateatlas.com, www.cocktailatlas.com, www.teaAtlas.com, www.coffeeatlas.com