Ok I have had extensive conversations with multiple Tow truck companies in the past few days and through these conversations have learned many interesting facts. I am opposed to predatory towing I will come right out and say that, if the owner of a private property doesn't call or see a illegally parked car then it should not be towed.
The facts are these people put in alot of work in bad weather and ungodly hours of the night to keep our highways clear of disabled vehicles and accident scenes and we cannot expect these people to do this without being able to make a profit. I want to be clear making a profit and bilking are two different things. The first step is credit card machines in all trucks which from my talks they are all almost in agreement on this one.
Secondly we cannot put a fixed rate on their calls. A call at 3 am is worth alot more than a call at 3pm. From the companies I have talked to they are most impressed with Laura Mitchell's ideas on rates. The one difference being that the fixed rate for regular tows should not extend for vehicles 10,000 lbs and over. Those should be on an even bigger sliding scale.
There are so many variables when it comes to towing that are just far to numerous to discuss in a post, but by these talks I heard about many types of towing issues they could face that would cost more depending on the situation. I think having a price sheet per say may help the owners of towed vehicles be able to better understand the cost they are incurring. It is a shame our City doesn't have it's own impound lot which would save all this storage fee drama that really stirs up the emotions, but sadly it is up to the tow companies to take care of the cars once towed which is something I think most people forget.
Bottom line is these people will be very adversely affected if we start telling them how much money they can and can't make on a tow. The story of the guy from St Michaels I mentioned would have been easily solved if Parsons had a credit card machine in their truck, the biggest complaints if you actually listened were customer service related.
I hope the City Council will let Laura Mitchell take the lead on this matter and go with her recommendations as she has dealt with them and heard their concerns. I want to thank the numerous Tow owners and drivers I have spoken to over the phone and email the past few days for bringing me up to speed on the heart of the matter and clarifying things I was mistaken about.
