QuestionI am a female owned towing company in Naples Florida. Currently our county is proposing a new Maximum fee ordinace and regulations on Towing and Storage and Private Non-Consent towing. The problem I have is My company does the majority of the PPR towing. The rates are being proposed to our local county officals by two other companies in town in which one company is very good friends with our county comm and the other does all county/law enforcement contract towing at a very low rate. The new proposed rates suggest that you may charge Addl fees Example (Miles,Time,Labor on law enforcement towing. But non-consent towing you can only charge a flat Fee and may not charge any other charges such as Storage,Miles Time for the first five days of impoundment. Also the new proposed ordinance requires PPR owners and associations to sign each individual tow ticket and you may not have a contract with them. The problem is as you may know is at some point someone feels as though they were wronged in illegally parked situations. Those same people also know someone. Instead of them taking responsibilty for their actions they come at you with a vengenance. If I say anything than I am retaliated against. I don't want to sound like a whiner but this is my lively hood .
Thank you
AnswerLisa, you bring up good points here, about the city - county setting rates...
First of all, even though the FAAA act of 1994 deregulated towing rates, they still allow the city - county and states to regulate towing via "safety issues"... Deregulation was good in someways, but some people took it to mean that we can do what we want.
Now the "non consent towing" rates you talk about, are 2 different things... Law enforcement towing can put in the contracts any rates they want as long as they are "reasonable for the same services provided in the area"
But remember that "non consent" towing means that the motorist has no choice on who is called for the services... If you are involved in a wreck and injured you might not get asked if you have a preference in who tows the vehicle, just like who would tow you from a private parking lot for illegal parking.
What I see in the first part of this question is issues within the towing industry in Naples of "the good ole boy network" and as such it is hard to break that...
Now I know that both PWOF and the New FITRA associations are involved in issues in Florida, and that might be good for you also, as they might help or point you in the right directions for dealing with the contracts and or proposed tow rates...
Now back to the impounding of vehicles from private property. Everyone knows someone, yes you are correct, but remember laws do get broken (vehicles illegally parked are also trespassing on private property which is a violation of the law)...
I would also say that the "required signatures" for each and every vehicle to be impounded is a very good deal... I have worked for companies who "patrolled - cruised" lots looking for illegally parked vehicles but that in its self does create several issues... I could list about a page and a half of them easy. But if someone was signing the forms then you have a back up of someone else seeing the violations...
Plus you can take the lead and adopt some of California laws in your case... PICTURES of the violation and the vehicle go a long way in defending your self in court or elsewhere.
You are correct that "TODAYS MOTORISTS" do not take responsibility for their own actions. And as such that is why we have the jobs we do...
But how to solve this issue, is one which takes time, effort on both the City and State levels by either private companies, or state associations. It can get costly to attempt to solve these issues on a personal basis.
But remember a few things here, any actions by either the City or County requires action by the local governing boards and as such they are also public records... The press and public records are very powerful tools when used.
But use them wisely as they can also affect you.
So I have to ask a few things now...
Are you a member of PWOF or FITRA ?
Are you a member of TRAA?
these associations can help you gain knowledge about your industry, changes in it, proposed laws and such. They are worth the money in my mind...
Also there are several towing forums online which have information and members who can provide you assistance in dealing with issues such as this. It is not a rare issue, it is very common, and not just in small towns either...
I would suggest that you check out the towing forums listed below for more information...
www.tow411.net
www.towtalk.net
www.itow.org
www.pwof.org
www.ppphdbilling.yuku.com
(ps this is one I run dealing with lots of HD towing info and more)
I hope that you got a few answers, if not feel free to contact me for more assistance, or what ever.
