C. Thomas Luciano

Elected:       January 15, 1995

Inducted:    May 18, 1995

Thomas is the son of Dominic M. Luciano & Carmella Palmotti Luciano of South Glen Falls, NY.  Born on June 17, 1953, he married Darlene Smith of South Glen Falls, NY in 1972.  Together they have two daughters Maria and Regina who all reside at 530 Selfridge Road, Gansevoort, NY.  He is co-owner and operator of Wilton Servicenter since 1977 which is a full service truck stop located at exit 16 of I-87 in up-state New York.  Since 1984 to the present Tom has served as Empire State Towing & Recovery Association (ESTRA) Vice President, director, secretary from 1982-1984, and was CoTow Show Chairman for seven years.  Tom was nominated and became very instrumental in serving for ESTRA instructing, consulting and in the training of the supervisors of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).  From his knowledge and experience he trained supervisors to administer a road test with a vehicle in tow behind a tow truck, in order to acquire a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL).  In 1986, he became a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Tow ability Committee in Detroit.  SAE Tow ability Committee has written documents for proper towing procedures for automobiles and light trucks.  In 1990, he was the first representative of the towing industry to address towing problems to the American Trucking Association (ATA).  He was chosen as chairman of the ATA Maintenance Council which writes the recommended practices of the transportation industry.  Developed were the first documents which were written for proper towing procedures of heady duty trucks which is the RP626, previous to this there were no standards for the towing industry.  The documentRP602B sets standards for heavy duty recovery attachment points which original equipment managers use in the manufacturing of trucks.  Tom is also serving on the Technical Advisory Group which deals directly with the ATA Engineering developments.  Tom is a chosen member to the New York State Governor’s Tow Truck Advisory Board.  He is a member of the Towing & Recovery Association of America and serves on the legislative committee.  He is a member of Friends of Towing and served as past Education Chairman.  He has received the American Towman Recovery Master of the year award in 1991 and 1992.  He was a representative for the towing industry for National Certified Paramedic Program at Alfred State University, promoting the usage of towers for rescue situations.  Tom also serves as expert testimony in legal issues for the assistance of fellow towers.  Tom is an instructor of Heavy Equipment Repair and Operation and serves on the Advisory Board of Education for NYS Vo-Tec Schools.  Tom also donates endless time to Vo-Tec students trying to generate interest in the towing industry for future towers.  Tom was one of two key people in getting the National Certified program of tow truck operators through Federal Highway Administration(FHWA) in its conception.  Also is a lecturer to municipalities for Project 86 demo with FHW which through incident management tow truck operators have become an integral part of the transportation industry and emergency service.  Tom is an educator, lecturer and guest speaker throughout NYS and the country, providing and supporting proper technics, knowledge, training and safety tips of towing and recovery procedures.  This sharing of wisdom and experience is given to towers, Police Departments, DOT Officials, Firemen and Emergency personal, Fleet owners and Design Engineers.