09/20/2026
Valor Fleet Services joins the towing and recovery community in mourning the passing of Woodrow "Woody" W. Herring Jr., who died on September 16, 2026 at the age of 88.
Woody gave nearly seven decades to this industry. He started in 1958 at the family business his parents founded in 1941, and by the late 1970s he and his wife, Carol, were leading Willow Spring Towing & Recovery. Along the way he helped redefine what professional recovery work looks like in Northern Virginia and the Washington, D.C. area, developing tools, techniques. Building and training operators to be true recovery specialists. He was a founding member of the Virginia Association of Towing and Recovery Operators and was inducted into the International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame.
Our companies competed with Willow Spring for years. That competition never came at the cost of respect. Woody raised the bar for all of us, and the standard he set will outlast every one of the jobs he ran. Willow Spring is a family business with immediate family still running the show. On behalf of everyone at Valor Fleet Services and our family of companies, we extend our deepest condolences to the entire Herring family, and the Willow Spring team. Our thoughts are with you.