Exhibit 99.1



Contact: Anne-Marie Sheehan
         United Road Services Investor Relations
         518-446-0140

                                                           FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                                           ---------------------

                     UNITED ROAD SERVICES, INC. TO BRING IN
                           NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

            -- SEARCH TO COMMENCE FOR PROFESSIONAL TO LEAD GROWTH --

ALBANY, NEW YORK, JUNE 22, 1999 -- United Road Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: URSI)
today announced that its Board of Directors is commencing a search to recruit a
chief executive officer with the skills and experience to lead the Company,
which has grown rapidly over the past year and a half in terms of both size and
scope of services, into its next stage of development. Donald F. Moorehead, Jr.,
an independent director, has been named by the Board as Chairman, succeeding
Edward T. Sheehan, who will no longer serve as Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer. Allan D. Pass, Ph.D., will continue as President and Chief Operating
Officer, and Donald Marr will continue as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Sheehan
will continue to be a member of the Board.

Mr. Moorehead, who has been a director of the Company since May 1998, is
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EarthCare Company, a waste water
management company. From 1990 through 1994, he served as Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of USA Waste Services, Inc.

Mr. Moorehead stated, "United Road Services, Inc. has changed dramatically as a
company and an organization. Over the past 16 months the Company has completed
an initial public offering, made numerous acquisitions and built its acquired
revenue base to approximately $270 million. We are a company that now has
important size, and with our businesses and market scope, strong long-term
potential. We are grateful for the energies that Ed Sheehan has devoted to
bringing United Road Services to this stage, and we look forward to his
continued contributions to the Company as a member of the Board.

"With respect to the present financial performance of United Road Services, for
the second quarter which will end June 30, 1999, the Company anticipates that
its diluted earnings per share will be between 5 and 8 cents. The
lower-than-expected results relate primarily to performance difficulties in the
towing line portions of our businesses, particularly in the East Coast segment
of this business line.

"These difficulties, as we have previously stated, involve costs associated with
scrap steel under one contract and the effects of the recent mild weather.
However, we remain comfortable with the fundamentals of our business.





"The Board's priority is to build the long-term value of United Road Services to
the benefit of the Company's shareholders, employees and customers. As the
leader in our industry, we expect to recruit a chief executive officer who is of
the highest caliber and who will build, manage and lead this Company into its
next stage of development," Mr. Moorehead said.

United Road Services, Inc., headquartered in Albany, New York, is a leading
provider of national transport and regional towing and recovery serves. The
Company currently operates a network of 66 transport, towing and recovery
locations throughout the United States. The Company's comprehensive range of
services includes transporting new and used vehicles and heavy equipment,
towing, impounding and storing motor vehicles and conducting lien sales and
auctions of abandons vehicles. The Company's customer base includes national
automobile leasing and insurance companies, new car manufacturers, automobile
dealers, governmental agencies, automobile auction companies and individual
motorists. More information regarding United Road Services may be obtained from
the Company's website at http:/www.unitedroad.com.

This release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. These statements are subject certain
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Readers should not
place undue reliance once on forward-looking statements, which reflect
management's view only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no
obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect
subsequent events or circumstances. Readers should carefully review the risk
factors described in documents the Company files from time to time with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.

                                      # # #