MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) — There are new complaints from truckers claiming Memphis towing company A1’s Towing and Hauling is illegally towing and booting their trucks and charging them thousands to get their vehicles back.
A Little Rock trucking company is the latest to have issues with the Memphis based towing service.
“I mean, truck parking in Memphis has been a huge problem lately, absolutely,” said Andrew Adams, the owner of BigTrux Transportation.
Adams contacted WREG to say that A1’s Towing is “holding our truck hostage as we speak.”
“He (BigTrux’s driver) told me that our truck had been booted. Some random guy put a boot on our truck. One of them was unmarked, looked like a police car, Impala. They were making it look like a police car,” he said.
Adams agrees his trucker did not pay the parking fee up front. A1’s booted the truck. Adams says at first A1’s wanted $256 to unboot it and then towed the truck.
He says he drove to Memphis to meet with the towing company, but things didn’t go well.
“I started videoing the compound and where my truck is and all that to get some footage. A guy jumps out of the car and gets right in front of my face acting like he’s going to get physical with me and at that point I call the police,” Adams said.
Adams says he was later told it would cost $2,800 to get his truck out of the tow yard. but A1’s refused to give him an “itemized” invoice for the charges.
To complicate matters, Adams says his company was also hauling a pharmaceutical load worth about $70,000 that required refrigeration.
“Now we’re facing a penalty from this customer saying they’re going to file a $70,000 claim against our company because we can’t deliver the product on time like we said we would,” he said.
A Memphis City Council committee is expected to discuss alleged abuses of the city’s booting and towing ordinances by certain local companies on Tuesday.
Over the last year, the City of Memphis Permits Office has received nearly two dozen complaints from truckers from all over the country who said they were illegally booted and towed by A1’s.
A1’s Towing, and Hauling has filed a lawsuit against the City of Memphis, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis, and multiple MPD officers claiming discrimination against a minority-owned business.
It’s a war of words some truckers hope can be resolved and soon.
“It needs to be put to a stop,” Adams said.
WREG did reach out to A1’s Towing and Hauling for comment, but so far haven’t heard back.
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