From pulling stranded cars out of ditches or fishing them out of the sea to unlocking vehicles with their keys shut inside - you name it, Duane Lowe has been there and done it.

Mr. Lowe, who launched his company Lowe's Towing, a 24/7 recovery service, in 2008, marked one year in business almost to the day earlier this week.

During that time he has seen it grow from strength to strength and he already has plans to expand his enterprise based on demand in the future.

Mr. Lowe, who has seven years experience in the towing industry, started out working for Terceira's Towing based on the North Shore in 2001, where he developed his passion for the job and got his grounding in the business.

"I pretty much fell in love with it the first day I did it," he said.

Mr. Lowe worked for Terceira's for four years before helping set up another tow company, where he was employed for two years, prior to branching off on his own in January 2008 with the backing of his wife and company director Dennika Williams, who also does the paperwork and is involved in the big decision-making at the firm, securing a bank loan and shipping in his first truck in September that same year.

In June 2009, he acquired a second truck, a wrecker, with a big capacity, to complement the smaller flat bed truck, and he currently has one member of staff, manager Lonairo Simmons, who he took on in February this year, with plans to bring another employee on board if his company continues to grow at the same rate.

"I have been on the road for one year now," he said.

"We are currently the only tow company with more than one tow truck on the road, which allows us to provide a more efficient service 24/7."

Lowe's Trucking covers everything from emergency recovery, towing cars, intermediate vans and light trucks and picking up bikes to fixing flat tyres, unlocking vehicles, jumpstarting and replacing dead batteries, topping up empty tanks with gas, and cutting and dumping vehicles, as well as working for half of the garages on the Island.

Mr. Lowe, whose company motto is 'Need a tow?...call Lowe', said the focus is on providing the best possible customer service at the most competitive price, based on getting repeat business from satisfied clients passing on their recommendations to others.

"We are here to provide a service to the community, so we try and keep our prices as reasonable as possible," he said.

"Customers can rely on our prompt and courteous service at the same time as not getting ripped off."

He said the beauty of being the only company on the Island offering the service with two trucks was the ability to be in two places at one time, while he prides himself in putting his graphic design skills to good use by making the logos carried on his trucks and company uniform.

"It is not just about the dollar, but it is rather making sure that the customer is happy," he said.

"A lot of Bermudian companies have lost business through customer service standards slipping and that is something I want to bring back to where it was - I want to give everyone a good experience with Lowe's Towing."

Mr. Lowe also boasts the best quality and safety in equipment and standards, as well as attending numerous shows and conventions to keep abreast of the latest developments, while further down the line he aims for his business to become the first tow truck company to receive certification.

Among some of his most interesting experiences on the job have been rolling over cars that landed on their roofs, pulled them out of ditches or even fishing them out of the sea.

"One night a car had flipped on its side down a 30-foot embankment and I flipped it back over on its wheels and towed it out," he said.

"Then there was a small truck that went through a wall in Somerset, so using the flat bed truck to anchor it, I used the other truck to lift it up and pull it onto the road."

Any job can take on average between one-and-a-half and two hours, with anywhere between five to 12 call outs in one day for the busy Mr. Lowe, while the hours he keeps can be pretty unsociable too, having to be on call 24 hours a day.

There is also compulsion on his part to equip his customers with the necessary knowledge and advice so they can avoid getting in the same situation again, where possible, such as locking their vehicles with the keys manually instead of using the automatic lock to avoid shutting themselves out and handy tips on preventing getting flat batteries.

"I try and leave them with something so that they don't think that I just took money off them and so that I can get repeat business from a bigger spectrum of clients," he said.

"In the future there are a few things still in the making based around making our service better and more efficient."

To hire Lowe's Trucking or for more information contact 504-2914 or 236-2280.