New Jersey -- Two New Jersey Assemblyman have drafted legislation that would force tow operators to tow stranded cars with or without payment.

Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, D-Englewood, who co-sponsored the latest measure with Assemblyman Matthew Ahearn, D-Fair Lawn, told the North New Jersey News, "We need to reinforce the principle that human life is more important than a cash payment"

The legislation stems from a 1994 traffic accident in which a 28 year old woman was killed while changing her blown tire on the side of the freeway offramp. A tow truck stopped and offered to tow the woman's car for $40, but the woman did not have the money so the tow truck left. Shortly thereafter a drunk driver lost control on the ramp and hit the woman's car, killing her.

It's not clear whether the bill would also force hotels/motels to supply free rooms people that are freezing, or whether McDonalds will have to feed all starving people. What is clear, is that the New Jersey Legislature is sniffing glue.

The bill, approved by the Legislature, now is on Governor McGreevey's desk awaiting his approval or veto.

The legislation has three major parts:

1. If a tow truck driver was called to the scene of a stranded car, or stopped on his own, he would have to perform necessary repairs.

2. He'd be required to accept payment in cash or with any credit card normally accepted at his shop or garage. He also would have the option of accepting checks and money orders. If a motorist had no way of paying, the tow truck driver would be allowed (with the car owner's permission) to tow the broken-down car to his garage, make the necessary repairs, and hold the vehicle until the bill was paid.

3. Violators would face a $500 fine for the first offense, and $1,000 for subsequent offenses.

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ILLINOIS -- The bodies of two high school football players from North Chicago were discovered in the trunk of aa impounded car in Zion Friday, three days after they disappeared.

The dead teens were identified by sources and friends of the families as David Mackins, 16, and Jarreau Patterson, whose 16th birthday was Thursday, the day the car was discovered. The trunk was not checked until around 1 p.m. Friday.

They were not bound or gagged, said authorities, who could not provide a motive.

"We were hearing they were good kids, high school students, churchgoers,'' said Lou Tessmann, commander of the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force.

The teens were last seen Tuesday and were reported missing to North Chicago police on Wednesday.

Officers ran the license plate of the 1984 Chevrolet Celebrity owned by one of the youths and found it had been towed by Roger's Towing in Zion, Tessmann said.

The car had been towed after a family returned home Thursday and saw it blocking their way. It was parked "dead center'' on a cement bridge over a creek near 17th and Gilead in Zion, Tessmann said.

They called police to remove it. No one noticed anything suspicious.

Friday, a North Chicago police officer was sent out to check the car. The keys were not in the car, but an odor was coming from it, Tessmann said. A towing worker popped the trunk and the bodies were found.

At least one teen appeared to have been shot. Autopsies will be done today.

The two were good friends and may have been playing basketball together Tuesday, sources said. Others said they had been looking for summer jobs. They were reported missing around noon Wednesday.

Both played football at North Chicago High School. Mackins was to play on the sophomore team and Patterson, entering his junior year, was going to start as cornerback on the varsity team, said the head football coach, Mike Durrah.

Both just completed the team's football camp. Patterson was following in the footsteps of his uncle, Jamaal Patterson, who played quarterback and receiver at the school.

"I had a talk with Jarreau the last week of football camp," he said. "I said I felt proud of him because some thought he wasn't mature enough to start varsity. . . . When I told him he would be starting varsity, his eyes lit up.

"I saw both of them Monday," he added. "There was no indication of anything going wrong." (Thanks Deven)

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The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said Wednesday it will leave crude oil output unchanged at 21.7 million barrels a day, Bloomberg reported.

The price of crude oil directly affects the price of diesel fuel and gasoline.

Saudi Arabia's oil minister, Ali al-Naimi, told Bloomberg that the current price is reasonable and hopefully the cartel will increase its output later this year.

OPEC also confirmed Venezuelan oil minister Alvaro Silva as the group's new secretary-general, replacing countryman Ali Rodriguez in the role.

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FLORIDA -- The city of Gainesville voted Monday to create a Citizens' Towing Advisory Board that will oversee the city's roam towing companies and address complaints.

Roam towing is the service of patrolling parking lots and impounding parking violators and those without proper permits.

The Gainesville Sun reports that the board would be responsible for fielding complaints against towing companies, conducting an advertising campaign to educate the public, and developing a a plan for levying fees on property owners who use roam towing services.

The city, which found it had little regulatory power over towing companies due to federal deregulation, has decided instead to penalize the businesses and property managers that must use roam towing services to keep their parking lots usable.

Many property owners were upset at the idea of having to pay a fee to protect their property rights.

Business owners say that without roam towing, their customers would have no place to park and would do business somewhere else. Property and apartment managers have a similar problem keeping assigned parking stalls available for tenants.

Local tow operators, who have seen operating costs greatly increase in the last two years, would also like to see the outdated $70 rate cap, established in 2000, increased to a more reasonable $100. 

While the advisory board will be made up of local residents, it's doubtful that it will include any towing operators or business owners.

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Responding to heavy union and City Council pressure, Mayor Thomas M. Menino yesterday promised to train 37 tow truck drivers for other city positions if the drivers lose their jobs as a result of his towing privatization plan.

In a letter sent yesterday to AFSCME Council 93 - the city tow truck drivers' union - the city also promised not to lay off the drivers until the Legislature decides whether to allow Boston to raise its towing fee, a prerequisite for moving forward with the privatization plan. City and union representatives said yesterday that the drivers are guaranteed their current jobs through fiscal 2003.

''Guys were looking at losing their jobs in about a week, and we're happy that's not going to happen,'' union spokeswoman Andi Mullin said.

The city has long argued that its $12 towing fee - which is far less than the rate in other cities - isn't enough to cover towing costs. But under a 1968 law, the city can't raise the fee without Beacon Hill approval. Several months ago, Menino proposed outsourcing the towing operations as a way to circumvent the law and save money.

The tow truck drivers' union and several city councilors resisted the idea, pointing to the potential job losses and noting that the city started doing its own towing two decades ago after widespread abuses by private companies.

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FLORIDA -- AT&T Corp., the No. 1 U.S. long-distance telephone company, said on Monday it landed a $138 million contract to provide AAA, the U.S. roadside assistance and travel organization, with telephone, data and Internet services.

Under the three-year agreement, AAA will use AT&T's long-distance, local, toll-free, teleconferencing, data, Web hosting and Internet services to help reach its 45 million members.

While AAA is spending millions on communications, tow operators in Washington state tell us that they have had difficultly getting AAA to meet with them concerning a much needed rate increase. The few tow operators that have successfully met with AAA tell us that AAA flatly refused to increase the rates that tow operators get paid.

The auto club will use AT&T's toll-free service to handle travelers' emergency calls, while virtual private network (VPN) services will allow it to contact towing companies more quickly and effectively.

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TEXAS -- The U.S. Supreme Court decided Thursday that states could regulate towing companies for safety reasons, and could delegate that authority to local cities and municipalities.

However, the city of Houston is stretching the definition of safety by requiring tow truck drivers to obtain permits, licenses and insurance, go through criminal background checks and work in zoned areas rather than responding to calls citywide, all based on the guise of safety.

How a special permit, $500 licensing fee, and limited tow zones will make towing safer is a mystery only the city knows the answer to. 

Another law stripping wrecker drivers from their constitutional right to carry a gun on the job may be restored, as can a demerit system that would allow the city to revoke wreckers' licenses and in effect put towing companies out of business for repeated violations of the city's regulations.

The Supreme Court decision in a Columbus, Ohio, case reinstates cities' rights to govern tow operators for safety reasons. It's still unclear what constitutes safety. Houston has decided that everything is a safety issue.

In an opinion written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the court ruled Thursday that "a political subdivision may exercise whatever portion of state power the state, under its own constitution and laws, chooses to delegate to the subdivision."

Justices Antonin Scalia and Sandra Day O'Connor dissented, saying in a minority opinion written by Scalia that because Congress did not specifically say in a law regulating tow trucks that the states could delegate their power to cities and counties, the authority cannot be passed down.

The court remanded the case to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to determine which regulations address public safety. Economic regulations are prohibited under the 1994 Federal Aviation Administration Act, which deregulated the motor-carrier industry.

Houston officials reacted immediately to the Supreme Court decision, calling an emergency meeting for Tuesday of the city's Regulatory Affairs Committee to discuss reinstating the controversial wrecker laws.

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WASHINGTON D.C. -- The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 Thursday that local municipalities can regulate tow truck operators for safety reasons, as long as the authority is delegated by the state.

The case comes out of Columbus, Ohio.

The Interstate Commerce Act forbids a "state" or a "political subdivision of a state" from enacting or enforcing laws that affect "motor carriers of property" -- including tow trucks.

But the act also says its ban "shall not restrict the safety regulatory authority of a state."

Columbus regulates the operation of tow trucks within city limits by city ordinance.

A local tow truck operator, Ours Garage, joined by a tow-truck trade association, filed suit claiming the regulation was pre-empted by the federal act.

A federal judge, without trial, ruled for the tow truck operators. When a federal appeals court affirmed, the city asked the Supreme Court for review.

The justices heard argument in April and handed down their decision Thursday.

Speaking from the bench for the majority, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the safety exception to the act mentions only the "states," not their political subdivisions.

But it would make "scant sense" if the political subdivisions could not enforce safety regulations enacted by the state legislature, Ginsburg said in trying to determine what Congress meant in the law.

"Most important to our decision," Ginsburg said, "construing the words 'safety authority of a state' to exclude localities would yield a determination at odds with our federal system's traditional comprehension of the state's historic police powers."

Justice Antonin Scalia, joined by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, dissented. Scalia said when the federal act's safety exception refers to the "safety regulatory authority of a state with respect to motor vehicles," "it plainly does not" refer to cities and counties as well.

Thursday's decision reverses the appeals court and sends the case back down for a new hearing and ruling based on the Supreme Court's majority opinion.

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FLORIDA -- A Boca Raton man whose towing company was used in a car theft and chop shop operation was sentenced Tuesday to 13 months in prison, according to the Office of Statewide Prosecution.

James Bonnie, 27, owner of Bonnie Towing, was charged in early May with three counts of insurance fraud and five counts of grand theft and operating a chop shop. He pleaded guilty in the case, without having a sentencing agreement with prosecutors, and was ordered to pay $38,000 in restitution.

Bonnie accepted cars from owners who wanted to get rid of them and collect insurance, according to prosecutors. The cars were stripped of parts and then dumped into canals, prosecutors said.

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WISCONSIN -- The city of Hudson will open their own impound lot within the city limits and make local tow operators tow all impounds to the city's lot. 

The city, which will charge consumers more then the private companies did, claims they are not in it for the money but instead are trying to make redeeming an impounded vehicle more convenient by keeping all impounds in the neighborhood.

The city finance committee has approved the new lot which is located on Division Street, near the school old bus garage.

"We felt a need for a place to put these vehicles within the community," said Hudson Police Chief Dick Trende.

"We're not in this business to make money, just to take care of our business. It's a way of still holding people accountable and being more accommodating to them," said Trende.

Those that have had their vehicles impounded can contact the police dept. to have their vehicle returned after paying a $25 service charge and $5 for every day the vehicle was in the lot.

The city claims that the new lot was built in response to complaints made by citizens having to travel to other communities and pay high fees to get their vehicles back, but in most cases, the cost to the owner will be significantly less than if a towing service had impounded the vehicle.

The most common impounded vehicles are those that are parked on the wrong side of the street during snow emergencies. This can account for as many at 30 vehicles per snow emergency. Other vehicles impounded include abandoned vehicles, those parked in no parking zones, recovered stolen vehicles, and even vehicles involved in minor crimes.

Vehicles that become disabled after involvement in an accident are more likely to be towed to a shop than the impound lot.

The site near the old bus garage was chosen because a large cement slab already existed. The city claims that the only cost to the city was to put up a fence around the property to keep damage from occurring to the vehicles during impoundment. The cost for the fencing came out of the parking commission fees.

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For the fourth straight week, the average U.S. price for diesel fell, but analysts don’t expect it to fall much further.

For the week ending June 17, the cost for a gallon of diesel dropped more than a penny to $1.275, down from $1.286.

The modest decline in price came despite some upward movement in the price of oil. Oil, which was trading around $24 a barrel, rose to as much as $26 in trading June 17.

While those upward movements haven’t affected the price towers pay at the pump yet, if oil prices stay strong, retail diesel prices will follow.

Diesel prices declined in every region the U.S. Department of Energy tracks but the West Coast, where refinery issues may have forced the specially formulated California Air Resources Board diesel higher. CARB diesel is more than 10 cents higher than diesel sold elsewhere. West Coast prices rose half a penny. Prices were lowest in the South and Midwest.

The outlook for fuel prices could change dramatically next week when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meets to set production levels. The last major cut by OPEC resulted in a 15-cent swing upward for diesel prices. But the cartel is expected to leave oil production unchanged because oil is trading around OPEC’s target goal.

To check diesel prices in your area go to www.itow.org/fuel.htm.

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WISCONSIN -- A Milwaukee man who fell in love with a woman he met at tow truck convention, but who later left him, fatally shot the woman, her 6-year-old daughter and her parents on Friday night in southern Ontario and then killed himself in an apparent murder-suicide.

Ontario police said that Peter Kiss, 30, of 6020 W. Port Ave., shot his estranged girlfriend, Shannon Cruse, 23, of Grimsby several times outside her friend's home about 8:30 p.m. Milwaukee time.

He got into a rented car, drove to the nearby home of Shannon's parents, forced open the door and killed the woman's six-year-old daughter and her parents with a .45-caliber handgun, police said.

Kiss then apparently killed himself with the gun, according to Niagara Regional Police Service. Grimsby is located southwest of Toronto.

After driving from Milwaukee on Thursday, Kiss rented a Ford Taurus in Niagara Falls, Ont. before driving to Grimsby, police said.

According to police, Kiss and Shannon Cruse had lived together in Milwaukee at Kiss' west side home for about eight weeks earlier this year.

The couple had been engaged and Kiss had given the woman a $20,000 diamond ring, friends of the woman told Canadian reporters. But the relationship ended in April and Cruse returned with her daughter, Shaniya, to Grimsby to live with her parents, Donald Cruse, 57, and Mary Cruse, 53.

The murders shocked local residents. Murders - and especially multiple slayings - are not common, especially in southern Ontario, according to Inspector Gary Watkinson of the Niagara Regional Police.

The police agency serves a population of 420,000 that sees only three to seven murders a year, he said.

Police will continue their investigation, trying to determine how and why it happened and whether Kiss smuggled a gun into Canada or obtained one after entering the country.

Donald, also known as Donnie, Cruse founded WreckMaster Inc. in 1991, a company that provides training and certification of tow-truck operators. It was during one of those training sessions in North Carolina that Kiss met Shannon Cruse, who worked for her father.

Donald Cruse started WreckMaster after developing innovative ways to clear cars at accident scenes. The company also holds seminars to train tow-truck operators on various techniques.

In Milwaukee, a man who identified himself as the owner of Elite Towing but wouldn't give his name, said he employed Kiss for about five years.

"I remember, I sent him to the (WreckMaster) course," the man said. He said Kiss was intelligent, never missed a day of work and liked to work on cars in his free time.

Kiss owned his own business, Affordable Towing, after the leaving Elite, the man said.

Lynn Mand, a neighbor of Kiss' for 23 years, said Kiss had told her he was planning to move to Canada and work for Donald Cruse.

Mand and other neighbors said that Kiss was quiet and close to his mother, Maria, a Hungarian emigre who lived with her son, but also traveled to Hungary occasionally, according to neighbors.

"He would do anything for his mother - Peter was her world," Mand said.

Maria Kiss speaks little English, and Peter Kiss was fluent in Hungarian, Mand said. He said Peter Kiss owned a pit bull and gave all commands in Hungarian.

"I am in shock - I can't see Peter doing this," said Mand, whose own son played with Kiss when the boys were growing up in this northwest side neighborhood of neat, low-slung condominiums, appointed with freshly planted flowers.

Court records show that a woman believed to be a former girlfriend of Kiss sought a temporary restraining order against him in September 1999. She could not be reached Saturday.

Another neighbor, Jasmine Washington, 12, said Kiss showed a temperamental side.

He would become frustrated with pit bull and treat the dog roughly, she said. Before Shannon Cruse returned to Canada, Washington said she heard the couple argue several times and the last time she saw Kiss was Tuesday or Wednesday of last week. He was red-faced, in a hurry and spun his tires as he took off around the corner, she said.

Another neighbor, Richard Boyd, who lived across the street from Kiss, said that he also heard Kiss and Shannon Cruse argue, but only once.

Boyd described Kiss as a burly man who he believed was someone "who would stand up to you," if challenged.

But in the 10 or so years that he lived across the street from him, Boyd said that Kiss was quiet man who stuck to his business.

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CALIFORNIA -- A tow truck driver Thursday testifying in the murder trial of a man accused of kidnapping and killing a 7-year-old girl said he helped Westerfield free his motor home after it got stuck in the desert and once heard a suspicious sound -- possibly a voice -- over engine noise.

Tow truck driver Dan Conklin, told jurors that he was helping David Westerfield dig his motor home out of a remote desert location where it had become stuck in the sand the morning of Super Bowl Sunday, February 3.

Westerfield is accused of kidnapping Danielle van Dam from her bedroom on February 1, killing her and dumping her body along a desert road where it was found nearly a month later. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

The motor home, Conklin said, was "closed up -- covered." Westerfield appeared in a hurry, he testified.

"I was digging on one side -- I believe he was on the other side digging and I thought he had made some comments to me," Conklin told the court. "I just heard what I thought was a voice, you know -- and it would have been him because we were the only two people there -- say something. So then I walked over and said, 'What?' and he just shook his head.

"And I don't remember the exact words, but it was, 'I wasn't talking to you' or 'I didn't say anything.'"

"Are you sure you heard voices?" San Diego County Prosecutor Jeff Dusek asked.

Conklin replied that he "thought I heard somebody say something."

"You thought only two of you were there?" Dusek continued.

"There was only two of us there at that time," Conklin replied.

"Did you ever get inside that motor home?" Dusek asked.

"No," replied Conklin.

On the morning in question, Conklin a motorcyclist dropped by his shop to tell him someone was stuck in the desert and needed help. When he got to the location, he found the Westerfield's motor home a quarter-mile off the roadway, mired in sand, Conklin said.

Conklin said Westerfield seemed to be in a hurry. After the motor home was successfully unhooked and free, Westerfield was on his way "immediately," not even stopping to retrieve a set of portable levelers he had left behind, the tow driver said.

Under questioning by defense attorney Steven Feldman, Conklin admitted Westerfield seemed "more put out than nervous."

Also testifying Thursday were several witnesses who observed the motor home on Saturday, February 2, when it was briefly at the Silver Strand State Beach Campground in San Diego, as well as two park rangers and a campground volunteer.

Park ranger Brian Neill testified that Westerfield had overpaid the campground fee and he went to return it to him. He observed the motor home to have the "curtains drawn" and "all closed up,"

Neill said he was about to leave when Neill opened the door, walked to the front of the motor home and accepted a $30 overpayment. (Thanks Tom)

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VIRGINIA -- A Manassas man will serve six months of home detention for ID fraud that was discovered after he inadvertently drove a tow truck too close to the Pentagon, prompting a terrorist scare.

In February, Imad Abdel-Fattah Hamed inadvertently drove a tow truck onto a highway that runs near the Pentagon. The road was closed to commercial vehicles after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The incident occurred just hours after the FBI had issued a warning about terrorist attacks. When Hamed and a passenger were discovered to have multiple identification cards, they were arrested and Hamed was held in jail for five days before authorities determined he was not a terrorist threat.

On Friday in Alexandria, U.S. District Judge James C. Cacheris sentenced Hamed to six months of home detention, with work release, for one count of ID fraud. Hamed admitted at a plea hearing last month that he had fraudulently obtained a second driver's license from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles in July 2001 using the name Imad Nimer.

Prosecutor John Morton had asked the judge to impose one month of jail time and five months of home detention, but defense lawyer Michael Hadeed successfully argued that no further jail time was needed.

"He has already tasted what jail is like,'' Hadeed said, referring to the five days Hamed was detained after his arrest. ``He suffered a lot of embarrassment, and he has already paid a price.''

After the hearing, Hadeed said his client has been treated fairly by prosecutors, but said that ``certainly at the outset, I guess if it had been someone other than an Arab-American, it would have made a difference in terms of suspicion.''

Hamed "just took a wrong turn'' on the confusing network of highways surrounding the Pentagon when he was arrested in February, Hadeed said.

Hamed, a naturalized U.S. citizen, apologized to the court for his actions.

"I put my whole family in this bad situation,'' Hamed said.

The passenger in the tow truck - Sultan Rasheed Al-Zaabi, 23, a Virginia resident but a citizen of the United Arab Emirates - pleaded guilty in March to a single count of document fraud and received a year of probation. (Thanks Mark)

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International Truck and Engine will produce a new a low-cab-forward entry in the Class 3-5 market, said Steve Keate, truck group president, in a June 12 interview.

The truck, to be available in 2004, is a product of the International-Ford joint venture signed last year. It will have a new International diesel engine, but Keate declined to give details about it.

The truck will come with a modified Mazda cab and be assembled at an International plant in Mexico. It will be badged separately as both an International and a Ford product, said Keate.

“There are some features within the vehicle that are being developed that we think are going to give us a product performance advantage,” Keate said. “We are very much focused on the powertrain, for instance. We think there is an opportunity to leapfrog the market. We are focused on the development of an International diesel engine that will meet the needs of this particular area of the market, as well as an existing transmission from the Ford system.”

Keate said International expects growth to continue in the Class 3-5 market, especially with urban pickup and delivery.

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VIRGINIA -- The Virginia Beach City Council voted Tuesday to delay action on a proposal to raise a range of towing fees, saying the issue needed more study.

The city's Towing Advisory Board recommended the fee increases, saying the current rates have not kept pace with rising business costs. But towing is a prickly issue for a resort city worried that aggressive towing could discourage visitors, especially at the Oceanfront.

Under the plan, the basic towing fee for an illegally parked car would rise to $85 from $70.

Other recommendations include increasing the fees towing companies charge for storing vehicles, to $20 a day from $12.

Council member Robert Mandigo, who doesn't trust towing companies, and said he wants more information about how the city monitors the tow companies' storage lots to ensure proper business practices and compliance with city tax-assessment laws.

Council member Rosemary Wilson said she could not support raising fees unless the city establishes a process to field and investigate complaints of improper towing practices.

The council will revisit the issue July 9. (Thanks Rick)

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MICHIGAN -- DaimlerChrysler announced Friday that it is recalling more than 150,000 Dodge Ram pickup trucks because of axle and engine problems.

The automakers Chrysler Group  issued a recall of approximately 111,000, 1997 and 1998 Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500 pickups with diesel engines. Some of these trucks may be in towing service. A fitting inside the engine compartment could corrode when exposed to road salt during winter months in cold weather states, Chrysler said.

Dealers will install new fittings in the engine compartment with better corrosion protection.

The automaker also recalled about 46,000 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 pickups after discovering a potentially weak weld on a rear axle bracket. The company said in a statement Friday that it had not received any complaints, and that the problem affects long-term durability.

Dealers will install a replacement bracket for free.

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Hino Motors of Japan announced June 6 it will assemble medium-duty commercial panel trucks for the North American market at a Toyota manufacturing facility in Long Beach, Calif.

Hino’s first U.S. manufacturing operation will begin production in 2004, with 4,000 trucks expected to be built in the first year.

The Hino facility is expected to locate in an existing area of the plant, which currently produces truck beds, catalytic converters and other equipment for Toyota vehicles. The company will invest approximately $3 million for equipment installation.

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MASSACHUSETTS -- Boston city councilors are poised to kill Mayor Thomas M. Menino's plan to shut down Boston's in-house towing operation and put the city's illegally parked cars in the hands of private companies.

The council's unusual stand against a mayoral initiative stems from their unfounded distain for the towing industry and won't benefit the public or save them the $75 towing fee the mayor wants.

Spiteful Councilors are willing to approve a six-fold tow fee increase in exchange for keeping the in-house operation open. But the council promises not let towing companies charge a fair rate should the towing go private. 

"If you privatized, we're not going to support the $75 fee,'' said District Councilor Paul J. Scapicchio of East Boston, adding that with privatization off the table the fee hike will get the union support it needs to pass the City Council and the state Legislature.

"I'm disappointed in that because the $2 million we (would have saved) will have to come out of other city departments,'' Menino said.

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The national average price for a gallon of diesel fell 1.4 cents to $1.286 for the week ending June 10, the largest decline in eight weeks. Diesel prices are at their lowest since March 25.

Prices declined across the board, but towing operators on the West Coast are spending more per gallon than in any other region.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, prices have swooned because demand for gasoline and diesel has been weaker than analysts expected, especially for the Memorial Day weekend. But analysts caution that peak demand for fuel usually hits later in the summer, triggering higher prices.

Analysts are now eyeing a late June meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Although the oil cartel is not expected to change its current output of oil, a production cut in December by its member countries drove fuel prices upward 15 cents. Currently, oil is trading below the ideal price OPEC wants.

The current price of diesel is 20 cents less than in the same week one year ago.

For current diesel prices in your area, go to www.itow.org/fuel.htm.

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MINNESOTA -- Citing concerns over the appearance of the business, the Brainerd City Council revoked Peterson Towing's conditional use permit at the June 3 meeting, supposedly making it illegal for the 20-year-old business to tow cars to its storage lot on Buffalo Hills Lane.

Peterson's Towing has a 8 foot tall fence around the entire business that blocks all views of the inside.

Peterson Towing will contest the decision in court, arguing that because the permit doesn't apply to Peterson Towing since the business existed there before the land was annexed into Brainerd, said Steve Qually, attorney for Clarence Turner owner, of Peterson Towing.

"We really don't think it matters if the conditional use permit is there or not because Peterson Towing is a legally non-conforming use," Qually said.

Qually said Turner was aware his conditional use permit might be revoked June 1, but he didn't know it was on the agenda at the June 3 meeting.

At a February city council meeting, council members gave Turner until June 1 to meet the conditions under the permit or the permit would be revoked.

Brainerd City Attorney Tom Fitzpatrick said he sent a letter June 4 to Turner via his lawyer stating the storage yard could no long receive vehicles as of June 7. He could have the vehicles towed to another location that is appropriately zoned.

"It is expected to stop operation out of that location because it does not have a permit," Fitzpatrick said.

The city of Brainerd contracts its towing services with Peterson Towing. Part of the towing contract states the towing service must meet all zoning requirements. According to the letter, Turner had 24 hours to notify the city where the business would tow the vehicles that was lawfully zoned. But Turner informed the city that he has no plans to comply with the seven conditions and has no other location to tow the vehicles so the city has stopped using Peterson Towing, Fitzpatrick said.

The contract was scheduled to be re-bid June 30 and the city is using Four Seasons Repair and Towing until a new contract is made, Fitzpatrick said.

Turner estimated Peterson Towing earns more than $30,000 per year from the city's contract, Qually said.

In 1991, Fred Peterson, who owned Peterson Towing at the time, consulted city engineers to rezone his property and apply for a conditional use permit so he could expand his business. The conditional use permit was granted and the land rezoned in 1991. According to Brainerd City Council minutes, Peterson agreed to meet the conditions by July 1, 1992.

The conditions include: 1) All areas of the storage area be paved. 2) All parking and drive areas be paved. 3) No vehicle be parked outside the storage area for more than 48 hours. 4) A 40 foot easement for roadway and utilities on the north side of the lot be deeded to the city at no cost. 5) A screen fence at least eight feet high and 95 percent opaque be built around the storage yard. 6) One inch diameter deciduous trees, 30 feet tall in the center be planted within the boulevard 7) No building permit be issued until rezoning was finalized.

"None of the conditions were adhered to," Brainerd City Engineer Jeff Hulsether said.

Over the years, houses have been built near the property and residents have complained to the city about the towing business.

"There's concern and there's always been concern from the neighborhood," Fitzpatrick said.

Some neighborhood residents have been fighting to get Peterson Towing moved from their neighborhood for 10 years.

Yibby Knudsen lives across the street from Peterson Towing and said he paid less for his condominium two years ago because of the view of the business. The dust and noise from the business also pose a problem for Knudsen, he said.

"I was pretty sure we were going to be able to get rid of them when we moved here," he said. "I'd like to see them gone immediately,"

The storage yard also poses a concern about safety for neighbors because vehicles that have been involved in crashes are stored there, he said.

Knudsen said he is concerned about possible pollution from the wrecked vehicles that are towed to the storage lot. Many leak oil, radiator fluid and antifreeze, he said. (Thanks Kevin)

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There is no sign that talks between truck maker Navistar International Corp. and the Canadian Auto Workers union will resume any time soon, Bloomberg reported Friday.

Workers at the Chatham, Ontario plant walked out June 3 after their contract with Navistar expired and an agreement could not be reached on a new one. They remain on strike and the plant remains idle.

Navistar is seeking $14 million in cost cuts at the plant, a company spokesman said. The CAW told the company that it will not resume negotiations with the company until Navistar drops demands for wage and other concessions, Bloomberg reported.

Bloomberg said that Navistar has leverage in the strike because they have ramped up heavy truck production at their Escobedo, Mexico plant. Workers in Mexico make only $4 an hour while workers at the Chatham plant earn $32 an hour and make $42 an hour at Navistar's plant in Springfield, Ohio.

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A nationwide network of toll truck lanes separated from car traffic would cause a sharp drop in car-truck accidents and cut U.S. trucking costs by up to $40 billion per year, according to a report released June 6 by the Reason Foundation, a Los Angeles-based think tank.

The long-distance, inter-city toll “truckways” would be added to existing interstate highways, and separated from car traffic by concrete barriers. The truckways would also have their own entrance and exit ramps. This may have an effect on recovery methods for truck accidents since the truckways would be smaller then the regular freeway.

The American Trucking Associations said the proposal is an "innovative approach" and contains many promising features, including the fact that trucks would not be subject to double taxation; truckers would not have to pay federal and highway user fees on top of the truckway tolls. ATA also said separating car and truck traffic could significantly improve highway safety, since 70 percent of fatal car-truck crashes begin with the actions of the car driver.

The report says these truck-only lanes would allow the use of larger trucks, saving billions in trucking costs. Tractor-trailer combinations (doubles and triples) that weigh more than 80,000 pounds would be allowed on the toll truckways. Such trucks are currently allowed in some Western states and turnpike states. In states where they are not permitted, these heavier tractor-trailer combinations could travel in the truckways and be assembled and disassembled in nearby staging areas, allowing conventional combinations to make use of local freeways at existing weight and length limits.

Rather than making taxpayers foot the bill, construction and maintenance of the truckways would be financed by toll revenue bonds, backed by projected toll revenues. Tolls would range from 40 to 80 cents per mile, said Robert Poole, director of transportation studies at Reason Foundation and co-author of the report.

U.S. House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska, and the National Safety Council are among those expressing support for the toll truckways concept.

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Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Almond vetoed a proposed budget Thursday that would have included a 2-cent diesel and gasoline fuel tax increase.

Almond called the budget "a fiscal nightmare" and a "policy disaster" and criticized it for what he called $200 million of overspending, along with the fuel tax hike.

Almond called on the Legislature to reconvene before June 12 to reconsider the budget. The Senate passed the budget May 31. The spending plan gained House approval May 29.

A two-cent fuel tax hike would increase Rhode Island's levy on diesel to 31 cents per gallon, the highest in the nation. Pennsylvania's 30.9-cent fuel tax is currently the most expensive, the Department of Energy said. (Thanks Eric)

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Hyperdrive, a gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain system, is being touted as a major fuel saver for vehicles – especially light and medium trucks up to 20,000 lbs. GVW.

Gaithersburg, MD-based Paice Corp. says dynamometer and computer testing of its Hyperdrive system shows that it could cut fuel consumption in pickups by 36% and in SUVs by 57%.

Paice presented data for a Hyperdrive system in a U.S.-model SUV of 3,860 lbs. with towing capacity of 3,500 lbs. The Hyperdrive system with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine was compared to a current SUV with a 3.0 liter V-6 and a four-speed automatic transmission.

In the SUV, the Hyperdrive's fuel economy was 40 mpg on the EPA city cycle and 38 mpg on the highway cycle, for a combined rating of 39 mpg. The comparison SUV ratings were 20 city, 31 highway, and 24 combined.

Vehicle performance also improved, Paice says. The Hyperdrive-equipped SUV could accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 7.4 seconds, compared to a gasoline-only SUV's acceleration of 10.8 seconds.

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Sun-Tech Innovations, known for its Balance Masters Active Balancing System for truck wheel and tire assemblies, now makes a system for driveshafts.

This active balancing system has been engineered to fit most heavy-duty trucks. Balance Masters are mounted at the end of the driveshaft, approximately 1 to 4 inches from either end. The system uses liquid metal (mercury) technology and works by centrifugal force to help increase bearing life and reduce running vibrations up to 50 percent, and it’s maintenance-free, says the company. The system works at all speeds while you drive and is not affected by temperature or weather extremes.

The company has also announced that its Balance Masters self-adjusting wheel balancing products are now available for almost all classes of medium and heavy-duty trucks. The system stops tire cupping and increases tire life up to 50 percent or more at all speeds, says the company. The system is a simple bolt-on part that mounts behind the wheel next to the brake drum on steering axles, or between dual wheels.

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ILLINOIS -- From the company that introduced the Industry’s First High Performance Trucks™, comes a Web-based service solution that provides a comprehensive suite of services, background information and bottom line value for International® truck customers.

The (International Service Information Solutions (ISIS)) is a user-friendly Microsoft Windows-based program that gives fleet owners and technicians a world of information at their fingertips, including: original service manuals and updated bulletins, campaigns, newsletters, operators', manuals, warranty coverage and coding manuals, new vehicle processing manuals and standard repair time information. Previously available exclusively to International dealers and employees, International fleet owners and technicians now have access to the ISIS system through a paid subscription from their International dealer.

By simply typing in a vehicle’s VIN number, technicians will have access to a library of service and repair information about their truck. Because this information is just a click away and maintained in real time, technicians will be able to pinpoint maintenance problems faster, thereby minimizing downtime.

“We design our trucks to anticipate our customers’ needs throughout the life-cycle of their vehicles,” explains Steve Keate, president, truck group, International Truck and Engine Corporation. “Our commitment to our customers is to provide the best service solutions, such as Fleet ISIS™ Home Page, which help keep an International truck on the road and improve our customers’ profit margins.”

ISIS was originally developed in 1998 by the Service Publications department at International to provide International dealers and employees technical bulletins in a timely manner. ISIS, which receives nearly one million hits per month, includes service repair information in five areas: model, component group, feature code, vendor and engine. Technicians and fleet owners can also access warranty date information, the origin of the vehicle, the previous owner and the vehicle service contract.

“Being able to access original warranty and service information is especially useful for used truck owners, because many service manuals become lost over time and the new owner of the truck won’t receive the updated technical information they need,” says Keate. “Fleet ISIS™ Home Page connects a truck owner with a multitude of updated information, not only about the truck’s history, but the recorded history of all the truck’s components, which eliminates the guessing game when it's time to service or sell your vehicle.”

For more information on how to access Fleet ISIS, speak with your International dealer. To find an International dealer near you, visit www.InternationalDelivers.com.

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OREGON -- James A. Mcallister, 22, of Portland died Sunday at OHSU Hospital from head injuries sustained in a traffic accident with a tow truck March 16, according to the state medical examiner's office.

Mcallister was a passenger in his two-door 1999 Acura driven by a friend, Roberto Garcia-Maciel , 20, of Portland. The two had been at a bar and Garcia-Maciel was more able to drive, said Sgt. Brian Schmautz, a Portland Police Bureau spokesman.

Garcia-Maciel was driving south on Southeast 143rd Avenue about 1:45 a.m. and ran a stop sign at Powell Boulevard, colliding with a 1998 Chevy tow truck from Century Towing traveling east on Powell, police said.

The truck driver, Brandon J. Longanecker, 24, of Gresham, was not seriously hurt.

Garcia-Maciel was treated at OHSU Hospital and arrested on accusations of driving under the influence of intoxicants, assault, criminal mischief and driving while suspended, Schmautz said.

The case will be sent to the Multnomah County district attorney's office.

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The average price of a gallon of diesel fell eight-tenths of a cent to $1.30 for the week ending June 3. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, diesel prices fell slightly in every region of the country except New England, which reported no change. The Gulf Coast saw the largest dip, with the average gallon falling 1 cent to $1.273.

Fuel analysts say current supplies are ample, but demand in the United States for oil is outstripping imports. With demand expected to increase as summer travel picks up, economists with the DOE said oil prices are likely to rise, resulting in higher fuel costs for tow operators and fleets.

Still, diesel prices are considerably lower than they were during the same period in 2001. Last year, tow operators paid an average of 21 cents more at the pump.

For diesel prices in your area go to www.itow.org/fuel.htm.

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Late next year, automakers will be required to begin installing systems in passenger cars and light trucks that warn drivers when their tire pressure is too low.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ruled Thursday that automakers must offer one of two competing methods for tracking tire pressure.

The direct-monitoring method observes the pressure of all four tires and is considered to be the more accurate of the options. The indirect method uses the antilock braking system (ABS) of a vehicle to measure the rotation of all four tires, and if the speed of any one is significantly different from the others, the driver would be alerted.

In the past, NHTSA officials have gone on record in favor of the direct system. But automakers have said an indirect onboard system for measuring vehicle tire pressure could be safer and cheaper in the long run.

"The indirect system gets the job done and does have some cost benefits," said Gloria Bergquist, spokeswoman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a Washington, D.C., industry trade group.

The cost of installing the indirect tire monitoring system is about $13 per vehicle compared with about $79 for the direct method, according to NHTSA estimates.

Experts say low tire pressure can cause tread separation. The NHTSA rule is expected to reduce crashes.

NHTSA was required to come up with a tire-monitoring rule under the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation (TREAD) Act, which Congress passed in 2000 in response to the recall of 6.5 million Firestone Wilderness AT, ATX and ATX II tires.

General Motors Corp., which offers both systems in many vehicles, suggests the indirect system is more flexible for equipping its fleet.

"We like them both, but we favor the indirect method because it can be supplied to more cars, more quickly," said Jay Cooney, director of safety communications at GM. "About 82 percent of our fleet has ABS standard, so it will be very easy for us to implement this equipment very quickly."

Nonetheless, the federal government will require that all cars, trucks and sport-utility vehicles that weigh 10,000 pounds or less be equipped with one of the two options through Oct. 31, 2006.

The new rule will also require automakers to gradually phase in the number of vehicles that have the tire-pressure monitoring systems.

According to the federal standards, 10 percent of a company's cars and light trucks must have one of the monitoring options installed starting in November 2003. That figure increases to 35 percent during the second year and 65 percent during the third year.

What happens after the third year will be determined by the second part of the NHTSA rule, which is expected to be released by March 2005. Starting in November 2006, all passenger cars and light trucks will be required to comply with the requirements in the second part of the NHTSA rule.

It appears that NHTSA is leaning toward making automakers fit their vehicles with direct tire-pressure monitoring systems after March 2005, according to the report. But it is possible that new information may justify the continuation of both options.

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MISSOURI -- Missouri Residents will vote August 6 on whether to approve a 4-cent fuel tax increase, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

The 4-cent increase would boost the state’s diesel tax from 17 to 21 cents per gallon. Missouri estimates that the tax increase, along with a half-cent sales tax hike, would generate more than $400 million in funding for state transportation projects, according to the report.

Gov. Bob Holden also signed a bill making permanent a 6-cent-per-gallon fuel tax that had been scheduled to expire in 2008, the report said.

While most truckers can simply buy fuel in neighboring states before passing through, towing companies based in Missouri will be stuck paying higher prices for the diesel fuel that powers their fleets.

This price increase will have to be passed on to the public in the form of higher prices for towing.

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VIRGINIA -- The city of Virginia Beach Towing Advisory Board, which includes members of the towing industry, has recommended raising a range of towing fees, saying the city-regulated rates have not kept pace with the tow companies' costs of doing business.

The fee for the most common tow -- removing an illegally parked car from a private lot or from public property -- would increase to $85 from $70.

To gain approval, industry officials say they are willing to be more accountable for their practices, which have drawn complaints as being too aggressive or legally suspect.

Representatives of several of the largest tow companies support a plan to create a formal process by which the city could field and investigate complaints of improper tows.

"I would welcome it," said Larry LeMasters, customer service manager for Affordable Towing & Recovery. "We try to run an upfront business; we have nothing to hide."

City Councilman-elect Richard A. Maddox, an advisory board member who runs two Oceanfront Dairy Queens, has an agreement with a tow company to patrol his 17-space lot at Atlantic Avenue and 17th Street. He said the towing industry provides a valuable service by helping merchants keep their lots open for customers, but agrees the city must do a better job of policing the industry.

"Right now, we don't have a checks and balance in place to make sure there's not abuse," Maddox said.

A recent analysis of city records by The Virginian-Pilot showed that one-third of the 13,791 vehicles towed in 2001 for being illegally parked in private lots were pulled from businesses along Atlantic and Pacific avenues, the resort's two major thoroughfares. More than 1,000 were lifted from two lots -- the McDonald's and Wendy's restaurants on Pacific, the Beach's top two likeliest places to get towed.

In addition, the city's police department authorized 12,730 tows for cars parked illegally on public property and to clear accident scenes. Add in another 2,134 tows for repossessed cars, and towing companies toted off 28,655 vehicles last year -- at $70 a pop, a haul worth more than $2 million.

The council is holding a 6 p.m. hearing Tuesday at City Hall to give the public a chance to weigh in on the towing-fee increases.

The changes also would hike the daily storage fee on towed cars to $20 from $12, allow companies to tow cars to the nearest lot, even if outside the city limits, and restrict owners' access to towed cars to day-time hours after the first 24 hours.

Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf worries that hiking towing rates could give the resort a "black eye, and said the city does not actively enforce existing city codes that regulate the industry.

For instance, the city requires that businesses post their parking lots with signs warning of towing, but the city checks for compliance only if a towing victim complains, officials in the police department and city attorney's office said.

"I was hoping we could take a more holistic approach," Oberndorf said.

Tow company officials said the industry gets a bad rap for doing its job. While nobody likes getting towed, they said, Beach businesses clamor for their services, especially at the resort, where parking is at a premium.

They said the rate hikes are justified because their costs keep rising, from liability insurance to fuel and labor costs. Neighboring cities, including Chesapeake, Hampton, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Williamsburg, already allow tow companies to charge $85 for a basic tow.

"We're not greedy," said Ernie Cooper, who operates Aristocrat Towing. "We deserve to make a fair profit for the services we provide."

Some city officials caution against over-regulation. Creating a formal complaint system could bog down police with investigating gripes typically handled between a private business and its customers, they warn.

"There's no clear line between a complaint that a tow truck operator has violated a law vs. doing something that annoys someone or that someone thinks is unfair," said Kathy Rountree, an assistant city attorney who believes the city can completely regulate the towing industry. "Under state law, we can regulate the industry, but if I've got a complaint about a business like Sears, I can't go to the police about it." (Thanks Tim)

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LOUISIANA -- Junk vehicles can be towed from private property if the owner has been cited previously for violating Baton Rouge's ordinance against them, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Docia Dalby decided the policy of police going into open yards to enforce the ordinance in East Baton Rouge Parish is legal.

Dalby's ruling turned away a challenge by a Baton Rouge man who sued the city-parish claiming the ordinance violated the Fourth Amendment's clause against unreasonable search and seizures.

Police spokesman Cpl. Don Kelly said officers have continued to enter open yards and driveways to have cars towed, despite the lawsuit.

"It doesn't have any impact on our operation at all," Kelly said. "We're glad the court ruled the way it did, though."

Edward Grady Partin, Leroy Bosley's attorney, said he was disappointed, but would not appeal the ruling.

"The appeals courts take so long and drag out," Partin said Thursday. "I'm not going to do it."

The ordinance allows police to have a vehicle determined to be abandoned or "junk" removed as a hazard 15 days after the owner has been given a citation.

The vehicles are impounded and the owners are responsible for the towing fees.

"There is no evidence presented here that the city-parish ... arbitrarily enters abatement orders or declares that vehicles are nuisances without applying underlying standards," Dalby wrote.

Police towed a truck from Bosley's driveway on Amarillo Street in May 2000, about six months after giving him a citation for violating the ordinance.

Dalby ruled there is no question the truck was junk. It had a broken windshield and parts of the engine were scattered about when a police officer saw it a second time.

"There is a dispute, however, over whether walking up the plaintiff's driveway and having the truck towed constituted an unreasonable search or seizure under the Fourth Amendment," Dalby wrote.

Bosley argued that, because the truck was clearly on his property, the police officer who walked up the driveway and had the truck towed illegally seized it.

Parish attorneys said the law was constitutional and the actions of the officer were reasonable.

In this case, Bosley couldn't show that the ordinance falls outside the city-parish's police power to deal with potential hazards and targets for vandalism, Dalby wrote.

"Even the plaintiff's own testimony that his truck was vandalized supported part of the rationale behind the statute: Junk cars invite plundering," Dalby wrote.

Both Bosley and the city-parish agreed to let Dalby decide the case and waive a ruling by a U.S. District Court judge.

In May 2001, the police stopped going into enclosed back yards while the Parish Attorney's Office studied the issue, Kelly said.

That policy is still in effect because the issue was not addressed by Dalby's ruling, Kelly said.

The assistant parish attorney who handled the Bosley case, James Hilburn, was out of town Thursday and unavailable for comment. (Thanks Kevin)

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TEXAS -- The city of Dallas claims many stolen cars are ending up in one tow yard and it claims cars are being held hostage for thousands of dollars.

Sylvia Hernandez's car was stolen ten months ago. but now Hernandez has been notified that her 1995 Neon has been sitting on an impound lot.

Vehicle Recovery Corporation says she now owes them more than four thousand dollars for storing her car. Hernandez only paid one thousand dollars when she bought the vehicle.

Dallas police tried to intervene on Hernandez' behalf and get the car returned for free, and that's when the towing company sued the city.

City Attorney Madeline Johnson claims this is exploitation, and the city is trying to protect the rights of other citizens, "Essentially you have a company preventing us from uncovering stolen cars and preventing owners from getting their property back." but VRC attorney James Mosser says his client did nothing wrong, and towing companies often recover stolen cars after they've been dumped on private property. 

But if car owners can't afford to pay the fees, then the towing company can auction off the car. There is now a temporary restraining order in affect which means the city can't take any action, but it also means the impounded cars can't be sold.

The case goes before judge next week.

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RHODE ISLAND -- The Rhode Island House of Representatives passed a 2-cent diesel and gasoline fuel tax increase, the Associated Press reported.

The increase is included in the House budget bill, which passed overnight Wednesday and now goes to the Senate.

If the tax hike goes into effect, it will make Rhode Island's levy on diesel the highest in the nation at 31 cents.

Atwood said he believes the Senate will also vote for a fuel tax increase.

Gov. Lincoln Almond opposes the fuel-tax increase, AP said, but is waiting to see what the Senate does before he decides whether to veto the budget.

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