
Basic consumer protections from predatory towing for truck drivers and others are being pursued in statehouses around the country.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has spent many years working with states to set up regulations to protect truck drivers involved in a nonconsensual tow.
Missouri
A pair of Missouri bills focus on predatory towing practices.
Sen. Justin Brown, R-Rolla, and Rep. Dave Griffith, R-Jefferson City, are behind identical bills that would address multiple towing issues.
The Missouri Department of Transportation would be responsible for setting procedures for nonconsensual towing practices related to the removal of commercial vehicles from roadways.
Procedures must include a complaint filing and adjudication process. The legislation includes provisions for permanently or temporarily prohibiting towing companies from performing nonconsensual tows if they violate the law.
Certain information must also be entered on every invoice for a nonconsensual tow.
The highway department would be responsible for establishing a “Towing and Recovery Review Board.” The seven-member board would include “one member representing independent owner-operator truck drivers.”
Another 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.
The bills, HB745 and SB516, have yet to be assigned to a committee.
OOIDA calls on Missouri truckers to ‘be ready’
OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh has advocated at the statehouse for nonconsensual towing reform on behalf of the Association’s Missouri-based members. He is hopeful the recent change in the governorship may bring a turning point for action on the issue.
“The Senate and the House have been in total support of this for the past few years,” Pugh said. “Now that we have a pro-trucking governor, it is time to finally get towing reform in Missouri.”
He encouraged Missouri truck drivers to watch the legislation and to reach out to their lawmakers to ask that they support the changes. He also called on truckers residing in the state to “be ready to visit the state capitol to testify in support.”
Connecticut
A Connecticut Senate bill addresses nonconsensual towing.
SB295 would require the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles to establish uniform rates and charges for nonconsensual towing, transporting vehicles and storage. Additional factors that could be considered include the cost of fuel, wreckers, heavy-duty wreckers, equipment, personnel and insurance premiums.
The proposal is intended to ensure appropriate rates and charges for nonconsensual towing. Costs and overhead expenses incurred by a towing company would also be accounted for.
SB295 has been referred to the Joint Transportation Committee.
Indiana
Two Indiana bills are of note.
The first bill would require a tow truck operator to provide an owner of a vehicle with a rate sheet if the owner is present at the time of a tow.
Sponsored by Rep. Matt Lehman, R-Berne, HB1108 would mandate that a rate sheet include the cost and charging rate for services that include clean-up service, labor or storage charge and any other additional fee or surcharge.
The information must be made available prior to attaching a vehicle to the tow truck. Additionally, a rate sheet would be required for display at a towing company’s place of business.
Assessing a cost or charging a rate in excess of the applicable cost or charging rate displayed on a rate sheet would be classified as a “deceptive act.” Tow operations found in violation of the rules would face a maximum $5,000 fine for each violation.
The second bill, HB1493, covers tow invoices and a process to address towing complaints.
A verification would be required on invoices of actual towing charges assessed by a towing company that all equipment billed for was necessary and used.
Towing companies would also be prohibited from offering compensation for referrals.
Another provision would establish a towing complaint board to review and resolve towing complaints. A requirement is included for towing companies to release property within 24 hours upon payment of 50% of towing charges and a complaint being filed with the towing complaint board.
Law enforcement would be responsible for periodically reviewing towing companies’ rate sheets and whether companies have been issued fines by the towing complaint board.
Any fines doled out by the towing board would be the greater of $1,000 or two times the overcharged amount.
Both bills await consideration in the House Roads and Transportation Committee.
Pennsylvania
One Pennsylvania bill addresses towing regulations.
Rep. Stephanie Borowicz, R-Clinton/Union, said existing state law allows tow combinations only under certain strict parameters and on certain highways. Currently, truck tractors requiring emergency service must be towed to a nearby garage or “other place of safety.”
Borowicz described her bill as easing regulations on the towing industry to allow for safer operating procedures. Specifically, HB188 would allow a truck tractor with no more than two trailers that require emergency service to be towed to a location of the owner’s choosing or other place of safety off of a highway.
The rule also would apply to overweight combinations as long as the tow truck travels directly to the place of repairs or a place of safety.
Borowicz wrote in a memo to House members that HB188 would “ease regulations on our tow truck drivers and increase safety on the roads across the Commonwealth.”
The bill is in the House Transportation Committee. LL
More Land Line coverage of state news is available.
Credit: Source link