Instructors
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David Lambert
North American Towing Academy president, David Lambert is a 25 year veteran of the towing industry. Following a strike by Air Traffic Controllers in 1981, he began towing in Jacksonville, Florida. While working full-time, he went back to college and earned his bachelor’s degree in 1985. In 1986 he began a career as a road service technician in Florida and moved on to AAA national’s road service department.
David served as editor of AAA Towing and Service manual for 9 years and wrote AAA’s light-duty tow training and certification program. He also wrote a second program to train other towing instructors and served as instructor for both programs.
He is a regular seminar presenter in Baltimore and has contributed over 100 safety article to most of the towing publications. He served as field editor for American Towman magazine for 4 years.
David assisted in writing or editing several other tow operator training and certification programs including TRAA, the University of Georgia’s IITR, and the Professional Operators of Florida. He is the lead-instructor for PWOF’s light and medium-duty program.
David has completed numerous industry related certifications, including:
• AAA light-duty
• PWOF light, medium, and heavy-duty
• TRAA Levels I & II
• Certified in Germany as a crane/car carrier operator for SpeedCrane
• Certified Instructor Leader to teach other towing instructors
• Certified Driver Improvement Instructor
David is a Vietnam veteran, serving his country for 6 ½ years as an Air Traffic Controller in the United States Air Force and another 6 years as a controller with the Federal Aviation Administration.
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Garrett Paquette
Garrett is a 2nd generation tower who has been in a tow truck most of his life. He began towing for the family business, Car Store Towing, in 1979. He runs the business today near Orlando. He has operated heavy equipment for over 25 years and maintains a fleet of trucks that include heavy, ultra-heavy, rotators, Landolls and a variety of light and medium-duty equipment.
With his heavy and ultra-heavy experience and towing/recovery equipment, Garrett is one to two companies in the Orlando area who participates in the RISC (Rapid Incident Scene Clearance) program on Florida’s Turnpike. He is certified in all four classes of trucks from PWOF. He holds other certifications in air cushions; wreck, rescue, and scuba diving; hazwoper; and MOT/Flagger.
Garrett is a devoted family man and community leader. His son Tony is 3rd generation, already working the heavies and wife, Sharon manages both the business office and their home, while daughter Cecilla is a student. Garrett belongs to the Clermont Masonic Lodge, the Brachia Shrine, and Scottish Rite. He was a volunteer Fire Fighter, is still a member of the South Lake County Chamber of Commerce, and president of his local Kiwanis Club.
“With Garrett onboard, NATA will begin offering each class of certification from light to heavy nationwide”, said Lambert. “We began working on the heavy program in February and hope to begin scheduling classes for early summer.” The Ultra class should be ready for the fall.