Randy Sorley

Randy was born May 16, 1954 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  On January 1, 1981 a 26 year old Randy along with his father and two other partners started Maple Ridge Towing in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. Over the next 10 years, Randy bought out all of the partners and has been the sole owner of Maple Ridge Towing since.

Shortly after entering the Towing Industry, Randy saw the need to elevate the image of the Industry. He got involved with the Automotive Retailers Association (ARA) Towing Division and began an uphill battle that he continues to fight to this day. Randy soon became Chairman of the Towing Division and spent countless hours of time meeting with Government Agencies dealing with rate negotiations for industry, liaising with the Department of Motor Vehicles over regulations affecting the Towing Industry and many meetings with the Towers in British Columbia encouraging the changes he felt necessary to bring about a cleaner public perspective of the Towing Industry.

Since 1989, Randy has held many positions within the ARA. He served as a Director, Vice-President, President and Past President. And today he is the longest serving Board member of the Automotive Retailers Association.

In 1997 Randy met (while attending the Florida Tow Show) with a few other Towing business owners from across Canada, as a result of that meeting and subsequent numerous phone calls, the National Association, the Towing Recovery Alliance of Canada (TRAC) was formed which Randy currently sits  as President.

In 1998, in answer to TRAC’s desire to communicate to towers across Canada, Randy, then President of the Automotive Retailers Publishing Company, in conjunction with the Editor and Executive Director, put together a plan to launch the Tow Canada magazine, currently the only National Towing publication in Canada.

Randy has been an advocate of industry training for many years. Maple Ridge Towing has become the major host for Wreck Master Training in British Columbia which draws students from all over Western Canada and the Northwest USA.

In 2008 and each year since, Randy’s Maple Ridge Towing has aligned itself with the “Operation Red Nose” program which offers safe rides home over the Christmas Holiday Season. Maple Ridge Towing provides their office, phone lines and heated shop space to house the many volunteers on this program. Randy’s daughter Dena is very actively involved along with his staff.

In 2012 Randy was honored as the Member of the Year by the Automotive Retailers Assoc and in  2014, Randy’s company was awarded the “Small Business of The Year” by the local Chamber Of Commerce for their outstanding community involvement. Every Year Maple Ridge Towing holds and sponsors an appreciation BBQ for all first responders in his area.

Randy recognizes that his successes in the Towing Industry were only made possible with the help of the many long term employees (some of which are here today) that kept things running smoothly while he was away tending to Industry problems. Randy’s daughter Dena joined Maple Ridge Towing 16 years ago and has taken on the responsibilities of running the business which has now enabled Randy to enter the world of semi-retirement.