John Weaver

John Weaver was born January 20, 1949 in Canton, Georgia. An Army veteran John met and married his wife of 46-years Debbie Mauldin Weaver. John not only married his high school sweetheart he married into the towing and recovery industry through her fathers’ Mauldin Body Shop and Towing business. A business established in 1961 and now in its third generation with their daughter Angela at the helm.

John sought every avenue to increase his knowledge and skills. He would watch and learn, do and review, but he always had questions that needed to be answered. Hall of Fame member and WreckMaster founder, Donnie Cruse, began to answer some of those questions for John. In 1996 John went to a WreckMaster class and never slowed down. “John Weaver”, his dad said, “if you want to be a leader, you must lead!”

In the 1970’s, however, John was the Chief and training officer of a volunteer fire department. As an instructor, he taught over 200 firefighters in the county’s volunteer stations.

As a member the Towing and Recovery Association of Georgia, (TRAG), John has served as Regional Director and currently as Executive Director for many years. He serves on the Board of Directors of TRAA, the Towing and Recovery Association of America as well as TRAA Traffic Incident Management Committee Co-Chair.

John is an original member of the TIME Task Force in Georgia for traffic incident management and quick clearance created in 2002. He has served as Director of Towing, Chairman of Training, and is currently Chairman of the Operations Committee for the Task Force. John is a lead instructor for WreckMaster, and the Towing and Recovery Incentive Program (TRIP) lead instructor for Georgia.

John has been instrumental in achieving various legislative goals in Georgia. In 2007 he helped to pass a hold harmless bill that allows towers to relocate crash vehicles from the roadway for quick clearance. Other legislative victories included a workable private property towing law, the Abandoned Motor Vehicle law and a major piece of legislation concerning overweight tow trucks. John assisted the legislative committee in creating effective language for tow truck permits in Georgia. He has participated in various speaking engagements representing the I-95 Corridor Coalition in Washington and the TIME Task Force throughout the country as well as TRAA Legislative Conference.

John was honored as a Top Ten WreckMaster in 2003 and WreckMaster of the Year in 2005. He is TRAA Level 1 certified, currently serves as Chairman of Cherokee County, Georgia Wrecker Advisory and Appeals Board, Chaplain of Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services, Critical Incident Stress Management Counselor, Wellness Director for Georgia HERO Unit, Taught Sunday School for over 25-years, an Ordained Deacon, served as Civil Defense Director for Cherokee County, Georgia, received Order of Towman, American Towman Commendation, and American Towman Medal of Honor. John is a Past Master of Canton Masonic Lodge #77, Scottish Rite and York Rite Mason and a Shriner.

He has shared his knowledge with many as a Lead Instructor for WreckMaster; Crosby Landbase instructor; SHRP 2 Train the Trainer; Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Device certified instructor; Georgia Department of Transportation Highway Emergency Response Operator, (HERO),and an instructor for Georgia Fire Institute for fire suppression and crash vehicle extrication.

In 2009, John created a heavy duty cross-training course for towers and fire rescue. The course was approved and certified by the Georgia Public Safety Training Center. To date he has taught the class to over 750 firemen and towers in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

John gives back to the community in many ways as a youth softball coach, school trustee, President of a 1200 girl Youth Softball Association, and the President of a High School Booster club.

A major program John and his company sponsor is Safe Kids and Ghost Out presented every year for over 25 years at every high school in Cherokee County Georgia. This program promoting safe driving among teenagers has even been presented for local churches and civic groups with large numbers of youth. The past 2 years it has been delivered to College students at Kennesaw State University.