The Missouri House Transportation Committee met Tuesday, March 4 to discuss legislation that included a bill to address concerns about nonconsensual towing. The issue has been a regular topic at the statehouse in recent years.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the Missouri Trucking Association have been active in the state during that time in pursuit of protecting truck drivers involved in such tows.
Rep. Dave Griffith, R-Jefferson City, is again behind the pursuit to address nonconsensual towing. This year’s bill would make the Missouri Department of Transportation responsible for setting procedures for nonconsensual towing practices related to removing commercial vehicles from roadways.
Griffith said he has been working on this issue since 2019.
“I feel like I’ve come full circle on this bill,” he told the panel.
He provided a brief recap of his legislative pursuits through the years to get then-Gov. Mike Parson’s support. Griffith said it’s due to stories he’s heard from independent truckers that he hasn’t given up.
“Many of these independent truckers have one, two or three trucks at the most. If you drive down I-70 or I-44 during an ice storm or snow storm and you see a tractor-trailer unit off in the ditch, every time I see that I think of dollar signs,” Griffith said. “It’s going to cost that independent trucker, or that trucking company, anywhere from $35,000 to $100,000 to get that truck out of there. One of these mishaps where they go off the road can bankrupt them – put them out of business.”
House Bill 745
His bill, HB745, includes a requirement to establish procedures for a complaint filing and adjudication process. Provisions are included to at least temporarily prohibit towing companies from performing nonconsensual tows if they’re found to be in violation of the law. Additionally, the bill would require certain information to be entered on every invoice for a nonconsensual tow.
One bill provision that received a lot of the committee’s attention would make the state DOT responsible for establishing a “Towing and Recovery Review Board.” The seven-member board would include “one member representing independent owner-operator truck drivers.”
Griffith said the board would provide truck drivers with an avenue for possible recourse.
“This bill will create an avenue for independent truckers and the trucking industry to dispute the charges. Right now, they don’t have that,” he said.
Multiple committee members shared concerns about having MoDOT in charge of the board. Griffith said he put the agency in the bill because the Missouri Highway Patrol told him it does not want to be in charge.
“I don’t care who manages the board. I just think somebody needs to do it to provide some recourse for independent truckers to be able to go to when they get a bill that they feel is not fair,” Griffith said.
Another bill provision would permit the owner or operator of a commercial vehicle to request a specific towing company. Law enforcement would be required to honor the request, “except under certain conditions.”
Also included is a provision to regulate the release of vehicles if fees are disputed. Additionally, per-pound charges for nonconsensual tows would be prohibited.
OOIDA testifies on towing bill
OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh explained to the committee that trucking operations have very tight profit margins.
Pugh pointed out that owner-operators are not protected against towing companies charging whatever amount they want for a tow. In these instances, he said, the impact on a small-business truck driver can be devastating.
“When you are a small-business trucker, that truck is your life. It feeds your family. It’s clothes for your kids. It takes care of everything,” Pugh said. “A lot of times, accidents that involve trucks and cars are the fault of the person in the car. When something like this happens to you as a small-business trucker, your life is pretty much devastated.”
Pugh added that he believes in the free market but that there should be protections.
“I believe that we all have a right to have someone to go to when we’ve been wronged. For too long in the state of Missouri, there’s nobody to go to when you get one of these bills,” he said.
Pugh acknowledged that while the bill would not fix everything that can come up with a tow, it would fix a lot of problems.
“I’ve been involved with this issue in other states that have passed these kinds of rules, and it seems like once the rule is passed, the problem just sort of goes away,” he said.
The committee did not vote on the bill. Missouri truck drivers are encouraged to reach out to their House lawmakers to ask that they support HB745. LL
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