ILLINOIS -- Madison County Sheriff Bob Hertz is urging tow truck operators to stick to fair and reasonable rates once they are called by deputies to tow vehicles from accident or arrest scenes.

Hertz wrote a letter to towing firms after a person from Cottage Hills complained of being charged $93 by a towing company who he alleged normally charges $45.

Towing companies pointed out that the sheriff's department makes extra requirements on companies who tow for them, including requiring an immediate response.

Hertz is telling operators they should not charge any more for a tow called in by a deputy sheriff than they would charge ordinarily.

The sheriff said he is not going to get involved in disputes over towing charges and that he wants to avoid misunderstandings.

"The Madison County Sheriff’s Office will not be involved, in any way, in establishing tow company fees. There is no contract for tow fees or services with the Madison County Sheriff’s Office," Hertz wrote in a letter to tow companies.

"However, I expect that only fair and reasonable rates be applied to tow bills. If a citizen would call your company directly for a tow, then the rate for a tow requested by this office should be the same rate," Hertz’s letter said.

He also told the companies that the closest available tow company to the scene of an accident or arrest would be called. The office has set up a map to which deputies can refer, he said.

Previously, tow truck operators were called on a rotating basis, and Hertz said he had been planning to change that policy since he first took office.

The Sheriff’s Department will honor any reasonable request for a specific towing firm. To avoid unnecessary delays, a tow truck will not be called from several miles away, Hertz said.

He said the most important issue is getting the vehicles towed as soon as possible to avoid traffic obstruction and safety hazards.

Lt. Scott Decker, the patrol division supervisor, said state statute requires tow truck operators to post their rates with law enforcement agencies.

The statute states that towing services "must file and keep on record with the local law enforcement agency a complete copy of the current rates to be charged for such services and post at the storage site an identical rate schedule."

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INDIANA -- For at least nine years, Lake Station's sole towing contractor unwittingly assumed it could raise rates for city-ordered tows arbitrarily and operated without a required state license to store the hundreds of cars it towed each year.

The result was an admission by Waffco Towing and Recovery owner Kevin Farthing that at least 50 customers were overcharged during a six-week period in early 2002 and a strong indication that even more customers in the preceding nine years were charged more than the maximum fees allowed by the city.

Part of the problem may have been that maximum rates in effect from May 1992 until August 2001 were contained in a city ordinance, not in a contract that had been signed by Waffco.

Farthing's admission came during a Feb. 19, 2002, Lake Station Board of Works meeting, where he indicated he had imposed a rate hike six weeks earlier on the day he mailed a letter detailing the change to city officials. The five-page contract in effect at the time specifically required Farthing to receive board permission to raise the maximum rates.

The board ultimately approved a jump from $65 to $75 for a tow, effective March 1, 2002. The maximum daily storage fee was left at $15, although Farthing had lobbied for a $5 increase.

City Attorney Tim Sendak said during the meeting that correcting any overcharges would be Waffco's responsibility, not the city's.

"My understanding is the contractor collects the money, and if there were overcharges then the contractor should make a refund, I would think," Sendak reiterated last week.

Farthing could not be reached for comment last week to explain the overcharges or discuss whether any refunds were offered by the Lake Station-based business, which also does towing for two Indiana State Police districts and the Portage Police Department.

But, Lake Station Police Chief Rich Arnold said Waffco had not intentionally overcharged customers, but was simply unaware of the need to get city approval for rate increases.

"Nobody has ever come to me and made that complaint, and if they did it would be addressed," Arnold said. The chief said he talked with Farthing on Thursday, and Waffco's owner said he was not aware of any maximum rates prior to approval of the 2001 contract.

Arnold said the issue is resurfacing now only because of Mayor Shirley Wadding's re-election bid.

"This was an issue a year ago. It's not an issue now," he said. "As soon as we became aware of it we jumped on it, and it's not an issue anymore.

"This is all about somebody wanting a towing contract and not getting it, and they put it (information about the overcharges and licensing issues) in their pocket and saved it for election time."

Coupled with four bills obtained by The Times that show overcharges on city-ordered tows between October 2000 and July 2001, the misunderstanding about the process for fee increases and the setting of rates through ordinance rather than contract gives rise to the possibility that dozens, or even hundreds of other customers were overcharged.

During the February 2002 meeting, Farthing told officials he had performed 805 tows for the city during 2001 alone.

At the same time, Waffco was pumping money into Mayor Shirley Wadding's campaign fund. Records obtained through the Lake County Board of Elections show Waffco made donations and purchased fund-raising tickets totaling $3,250 from 1998 through the end of 2002.

Wadding said she can't ever remember hearing complaints about overcharging, and that such complaints would have been investigated if they were brought to her attention.

Asked about the campaign contributions, Wadding referred questions to Sendak.

Sendak said Waffco's political generosity does not violate the contract because a voluntary political contribution would be neither a fee nor a gratuity. Plus, he said, freedom of political expression and activity is generally protected by law.

Bills show one of the overcharged customers, Agapita Vega of Valparaiso, paid $95 for a tow and $15 a day for four days of storage at a time when city-imposed maximum rates were $50 for a tow and $5 for daily storage. Vega paid $155 for towing and storage, when the maximum rates would have set her bill at $70.

Vega's tow to the Waffco yard in Lake Station occurred after her daughter was in an accident in the city on July 18, 2001.

"I just thought they overcharged me. It was so much," Vega said. Like others contacted by The Times, Vega said she didn't report her charges to city officials because she didn't realize the city had control over maximum rates.

And, even though the new contract was signed by Farthing just three days earlier, Lake Station resident Shane Nalley was charged $95 for a city-ordered tow on with a flat bed wrecker on Aug. 10, 2001 when the maximum rate for such service was set at $80. Like Vega, Nalley said he didn't bring the charges to the attention of city officials because he wasn't aware of the contract or the maximum rates.

The city's Board of Works began considering a towing contract with Waffco that included new rates in December 2000, but didn't formally adopt the new agreement for eight months.

Arnold took responsibility for the delay, saying Board of Works members wanted information on why other towing firms weren't being used before they put the contract in place.

"To be quite honest, I dragged my feet a bit. I had other priorities and maybe I shouldn't have," Arnold said.

The decision to sign a contract with Waffco and not another firm or a combination of businesses, boiled down to service and equipment, he said.

"They've got at least two people there 24 hours a day. If we have a three- or four-car accident, and we need wreckers, they are there," Arnold said. "We don't have to call and get someone out of bed who only has one wrecker."

Coincidentally, while Arnold was compiling information about Waffco's services, the towing firm obtained a state Salvage Motor Vehicle Business License, which was a requirement of the contract.

A spokeswoman with the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles said Waffco's first request for such a license was approved on May 19, 2001. Although the license isn't required for simple towing, it is required for businesses that possess two or more inoperable vehicles subject to registration for more than 30 days.

Arnold said he wasn't aware of the need for Waffco to have a license until late 2000 or early 2001, but state officials did lots of business with the firm and should have made them aware. (Tony Parker - NWI Times)

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TEXAS -- In December, Jan Bosone submitted a permit renewal application to League City for all 14 tow trucks in her fleet. But instead of seeking certification as one company, she applied for seven different companies with two trucks each.

On Dec. 18, more than a month before the Jan. 31 deadline, Bosone paid a total of $2,800 — $200 for each truck — had the vehicles inspected and got back to business.

The final step in the application process requires the signature of the chief of police.

By the end of December, Bosone said she learned Chief Andrew Daniel would not grant the renewal because the city was rewriting the ordinance regulating wrecker services.

This is how police-initiated tows work: When a vehicle is disabled and needs to be towed, the driver must designate a wrecker service. If the person has no preference, officers call dispatchers, who, in turn, call towing companies in the order they appear on a list known as the “non-consent rotation list.”

The city started reviewing its wrecker ordinance after finding it had no provision preventing a towing company from splitting up into several companies under the same ownership.

By branching out, companies would get more calls than their competitors because they would be entitled to more slots on the list.

“We don’t feel it’s a loophole,” Jan Bosone said. “We don’t do anything illegal or immoral.”

Daniel said he shared with everyone, including the Bosones, an attorney’s opinion stating different assumed names were not the equivalent to different companies and thus would only give the right to one spot on the rotation list.

“They knew something was coming on this,” Daniel said. “I’m not trying to restrict commerce, but it’s my job to run the most efficient department possible.”

City council members on Tuesday approved amending the ordinance.

Jan Bosone expressed her disappointment.

“They should have honored that ordinance in effect until March 31 and then sat down and wrote an ordinance and have it come into effect on Jan. 31, 2004,” she said.

The vote passed 5-2. Most council members said the measure would level the playing field.

“We need to be fair with all the wrecker companies,” Councilman Thomas Cones said.

Council members Darlene Anene and Keith Dill, both of whom cast dissenting votes, questioned whether the city could change rules after taking Bosone’s application and dollars.

But City Attorney Arnold Polanco said he saw no impediment.

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LOUISIANA -- Baton Rouge police would be able to impound or immobilize the car of anyone arrested on suspicion of drunken driving and hold the vehicle for up to 12 hours if lawmakers approve legislation filed for debate in the session that begins Monday.

Senate Bill 439 by Sen. Willie Mount, D-Lake Charles, is aimed at preventing an intoxicated driver from getting back behind the wheel after being released from jail. It is one of several proposals that have been filed to crack down on drunken or impaired drivers.

The bill would allow for the release of the vehicle in less than 12 hours if it is not owned by the person arrested. The owner of the car would have to show a valid driver's license, proof of car insurance and be "able to operate the vehicle in safe manner."

The legislation also would allow the agency to charge "a reasonable fee to cover the towing costs." The bill does not define what constitutes a reasonable fee. The police agency can retain the vehicle until the fee is paid, the bill says.

It also says the person who picks up the individual arrested or accompanies the drunken driver home must sign a statement acknowledging the potential civil or criminal liability of letting the released person operate "a motor vehicle while . . . intoxicated." The accused driver would not be released if the statement is not signed.

Mount could not be reached for comment. State Highway Safety Commission Executive Director James Champagne said his agency welcomes the legislation.

"We are not going to oppose it," he said. "After a 12-hour period of time without drinking, the alcohol in the system should dissipate for most people," allowing them to drive a car more safely.

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FLORIDA -- The owner of a towing company used by the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office and Fort Pierce Police Department was arrested Thursday after he allegedly admitted to stealing a stereo from a car he towed.

Nicholas P. Vasiento, 61, of 1209 Australian Ave., the owner of Nick's Towing, was charged with a misdemeanor count of petty theft, according to a Sheriff's Office report. He turned himself in at the St. Lucie County Jail at 10:30 a.m. Thursday and was released on a $2,500 bond.

Nick's Towing, at 4413 South U.S. 1, was suspended from the Sheriff's Office rotation wrecker list Wednesday pending the outcome of the investigation, according to a letter to the company from Sgt. Kevin A. Dietrich, the traffic unit supervisor.

The company is one of several used by the Sheriff's Office and Fort Pierce police.

Vasiento declined to comment Thursday.

The incident began after a deputy recovered a 1985 Volvo sedan stolen from Pennsylvania at a rest stop along Interstate 95, the report states. An inventory was taken of the car's contents, which included a CD case, digital pocket scale, chromatic tuner and a $200 car stereo.

Patrick Rosenkrans, of Harrisburg, Pa., told investigators that he took a bus down to Florida and arrived in Fort Pierce on March 20, hoping to drive his car back home. He reportedly met with Vasiento and paid approximately $600 in towing and storage fees to retrieve the car.

Rosenkrans noticed that some of the inventoried items were missing and asked Vasiento about them, the report states.

Vasiento reportedly replied, "You better just get out of town because the cops here don't like long hair. You've seen the kind of places where cops just come in and arrest people for no reason -- well, this is that kind of town."

Vasiento reportedly told Rosenkrans that the Sheriff's Office probably had taken his things, the report states. Detective Bill Hardman checked with the sheriff's evidence department and found that none of the missing items was there.

Hardman then called Vasiento, who reportedly admitted to having the stereo and said he was willing to return it to Rosenkrans.

Vasiento told Hardman he was not aware of what happened to the other items in the car. Hardman asked Vasiento if it was his policy to simply remove whatever he wanted from the cars and return them only if someone complained. "Yeah, pretty much," Vasiento said, according to the report.

Nick's Towing has towed vehicles for the Sheriff's Office since 1994, according to Mark Weinberg, a Sheriff's Office spokesman.

"We are not investigating any other possible offenses because none have been brought to our attention," he said.

Fort Pierce Police Chief Eugene Savage has not had a chance to review the information from the Sheriff's Office and will do so before making a decision about retaining Nick's Towing, said Audria Moore, a police spokeswoman.

Officer Kacey Donnell, a spokesman for the Port St. Lucie Police Department, said he did not believe the company was part of the department's wrecker rotation list.

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The price of crude oil rose in trading early Wednesday after U.S. and British military officials warned that the war in Iraq may last several more weeks, or even months – much longer than many had expected, Bloomberg reported.

Crude oil prices plummeted last week on expectations of a quick and easy victory by coalition forces in Iraq.

In electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price of crude oil for May delivery rose as much as 82 cents to $28.79 a barrel, Bloomberg reported.

Even after three straight gains, the price of crude oil is down 21% so far in March and 8% for the year-to-date, Bloomberg said.

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TEXAS -- The El Paso Police Department wants to go into the towing business, and Chief Carlos Leon told the City Council on Tuesday that the department could turn loss into profit if the city would store towed vehicles and sell those that are abandoned.

El Paso Towing countered that the council had failed to take advantage of money-saving options it had provided when the city renewed its contract two years ago.

In the end, the council voted unanimously to take the money from the towing company, passing a resolution to let the city send a 30-day notice to El Paso Towing to cancel its contract.

The notice will not be sent, Director of Purchasing Byron Johnson said, until the city staff has an ordinance prepared for the storage lot and a new bid proposal for towing only. Johnson said the new program could be ready for the council by the end of May. The storage lot will be built on city property off Clark Drive between Dulany Avenue and El Paso Drive.

El Paso Towing General Manager Wayne Brisco told the council the change was unfair because of the investment his company had made since the last contract renewal.

"We've spent over $200,000 on new equipment" to meet the contract, Brisco said.

On the current contract, the council was told, the city gets only 2 percent of each auction sale. If the city handled the storage and sales, the city would pocket about $783,000 a year instead of $13,000. The department would also be able to sell more cars at auction, meaning about $1.48 million annually from storage and sales for the city. Compared with the current cost of $421,000 a year, Lt. Alfred Lowe said, the city should realize a gain of about $849,000 a year.

"This will give us better tracking and eliminate duplication of services," Lowe said, pointing to regular complaints of missing items from people whose cars are towed.

Lowe said the program could also cut from 52 to 30 days the amount of time it takes to get a car to auction.

Leon received one request from council. Eastridge/Mid-Valley Rep. Luis Sariñana asked that the department try to keep substandard vehicles from being sold at auction and returned to the streets.

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KENTUCKY -- Kenny Kallmeyer set out to reel in a car Sunday night and ended up snagging a fleeing prisoner.

Kallmeyer, a tow truck driver for Ken's Crescent Springs Service in Crescent Springs, was called to the 3800 block of Old Ky. 17 in Fort Wright to impound a suspect's car.

Kenton County Police Sgt. Greg Sandel had stopped a man in a 1994 Ford Escort for reckless driving about 11:30 p.m.

Sandel said the driver, later identified as David Hammond Jr., 19, initially gave him a false name.

The person who Hammond claimed to be had only a learner's permit, Sandel said, so he decided to arrest him.

But when Sandel started to do that, Hammond tried to run away, Sandel said, and he had to subdue him, handcuff him, and put him in back of his patrol car.

Sandel called for the wrecker and left Hammond alone in the cruiser while he searched the Escort. When Kallmeyer arrived, Sandel started to back his patrol car out of the driveway, so the wrecker could get to the Escort.

That's when Hammond opened the supposedly locked door of the cruiser, Sandel said, and bolted.

The chase lasted just a few minutes -- thanks to Kallmeyer.

Hammond ran through a small grove of trees into a field, then turned around and ran back toward the wrecker driver, Sandel said.

"When he came at me, I just basically was expecting somebody to come swinging at me, so I basically tackled him as he came out of the woods," Kallmeyer said.

Kallmeyer stands 6 feet tall and weighs 190 pounds. Hammond is 5-foot-11 and weighs 180 pounds.

Hammond ended up on the ground, where Sandel regained control of him. Hammond sprained his wrist in the fall and was treated at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Covington.

"He (Kallmeyer) saved me a lot of running, because he (Hammond) wasn't going to stop," Sandel said.

He said that Hammond ran from him about a year ago after he stopped his car on Tamarack Drive in Covington.

It took about two hours to catch him, Sandel said, and the officer sprained his ankle in the process.

In his 23 years on the job, Kallmeyer had helped officers subdue unruly prisoners before, but never helped catch one until Sunday.

He said his wife fussed at him over it, saying, "What if he had a knife or something?"

Sandel charged Hammond, of Worthington Drive in Covington, with reckless driving, giving false information to a police officer, resisting arrest and third-degree escape.

He said he learned this morning that Hammond was wanted on a receiving stolen property charge.

It was the first time in his 13 years as an officer that someone escaped from his patrol car, he said.

He said he didn't know how Hammond got out of the locked car, but he intended to find out.

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Navistar International Corp. on Monday said it was close to settling a dispute with Ford Motor Co. over Ford's decision to discontinue a V-6 diesel engine program that Navistar had agreed to supply.

Navistar, a truck and engine maker, is seeking reimbursement from Ford to recover investment and development costs for the engine.

"We are in discussions. We hope to have a successful conclusion soon," said Navistar spokesman Roy Wiley.

Wiley said an agreement with Ford was expected before the end of Navistar's fiscal second quarter, which ends April 30.

A Ford spokesman declined to comment on the status of the talks.

Navistar last month said it expected to record a loss in the second quarter of 25 cents to 30 cents a share, assuming it reaches a "favorable" agreement with Ford on compensation for the delayed V-6 program.

Navistar already supplies Ford with V-8 diesel engines for its F-Series Super Duty pickups under an exclusive contract that runs through 2012.

It was preparing to supply V-6 diesels for some of the automaker's smaller pickups and SUVs when Ford notified the company in October of its decision to postpone plans for the new engine after determining the business was no longer viable.

Navistar recorded $170 million in one-time charges last year to write off pre-production and fixed asset costs related to the V-6 engine launch.

The engines were to be built at Navistar's two-year-old Huntsville, Ala., plant, where it produces the V-8 engines it supplies to Ford as well as for its own line of International brand trucks. About 150 people work at the plant.

Navistar also produces medium-duty trucks for Ford in Mexico under a joint venture called Blue Diamond.

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Freightliner LLC unveiled two new Business Class trucks, the M2 100 and M2 112, and a 112-in. version of its Columbia model at the Mid-America Trucking Show.

The Business Class M2 line of medium-duty and vocational trucks is designed to provide unprecedented advantages in productivity and operational efficiency to commercial truck operations.

Available in gross vehicle weight ratings from 16,000 to 26,000 lb., the Business Class M2 100 can be used in a variety of mid-range truck applications, including pickup and delivery, food and beverage distribution, towing and general services.

The Business Class M2 100 comes standard with the MBE900 engine from Mercedes-Benz. Four- and six-cylinder MBE900 engines are available with horsepower ratings from 170 to 250 and torque from 420 to 660 lb.-ft.

Transmissions available include the MBT 6-speed manual transmissions from Mercedes-Benz, Eaton-Fuller 6- or 7-speed manuals, and Allison automatic transmissions. Front axle ratings range from 6,000 to 10,000 lb. while rear axle ratings range from 10,000 to 17,500 lb.. The truck is available with 19.5" wheels.

The Business Class M2 112 features a 112-in. BBC measurement and is available in GVW ratings up to 66,000 lb.

M2 112 options include a factory-installed crew cab and extended cab. It can support a wide range of bodies and chassis-mounted equipment while delivering heavy-duty power, Freightliner said.

Available as a truck or tractor, the M2 112 offers front axles rated from 12,000 lb. to 20,000 lb. and rear axles up to 46,000 lb. Freightliner Rear AirLiner Suspensions and heavy-duty TufTrac Suspensions with ratings of 40,000 lb. and 46,000 lb. are offered as options.

The Business Class M2 112 comes standard with a 1,200-sq.-in. radiator and the Mercedes-Benz MBE4000 engine with horsepower ratings to 450 hp. Caterpillar engines will also be offered as options later in 2003.

Eaton-Fuller AutoShift and Eaton-Fuller manual 10- or 13-speed transmissions, along with Allison HD series transmissions, are also available.

Intended for diverse short- and long-haul applications, Freightliner said the Columbia 112 features an overall shorter length for maximum maneuverability, visibility, payload and ease of operation.

The truck is available with Mercedes-Benz MBE4000 or Caterpillar engines with horsepower ratings to 470. Customers can specify transmissions from Eaton-Fuller, Meritor, and Allison, and choose a variety of other core components.

The truck, which comes in Day Cab or SleeperCab options, also features components and options designed to create a comfortable working and living environment.

PICTURE

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WYOMING -- The Casper City Council on Thursday may have finally reached a compromise on a vexing problem with the city's proposed towing and wrecker policy.

For months, the council and city staff have labored to find the right wording for the policy to both protect citizens from possibly dangerous tow truck drivers and to allow companies with owners or employees with criminal records to be a part of the wrecker rotation.

In the last policy drafted by city staff, drivers with either a felony conviction or a misdemeanor conviction that is either drug-related or theft-related were banned from answering rotation calls.

Under the proposed compromise, any driver convicted of either a felony or a drug-related or theft-related misdemeanor less than three years old would still be banned from answering rotation calls. However, drivers convicted of crimes that are over three years old would be allowed to participate.

The city uses its towing and wrecker rotation system when a person involved in an accident needs a wrecker to tow his or her car away from the scene and does not have any preference as to which towing company is called. When this happens, the Casper police call whatever towing company is next in line in their rotation.

Councilman Paul Bertoglio introduced the idea of putting a sort of expiration date on convictions, saying that someone who committed a crime 15 years ago, did their time and no longer posed a threat to society should not be further punished for their crime by being barred from doing business with the city.

Councilwoman Jacquie Anderson agreed with Bertoglio and proposed that the felony expiration date should be three years.

The idea was opposed by Councilwomen Lynne Whalen and Renee Burgess, who believed that the felon-banning wording should remain as-is.

Councilwoman Mildred Lamb and Mayor Barb Peryam voiced opinions backing the compromise.

Councilman Guy Padgett said that he would preferred that the whole of the criminal-prohibiting clause be struck from the policy. However, he said if this was not possible, he would back the expiration-date compromise.

At the end of the discussion on the subject, an informal vote was held with Bertoglio, Padgett, Lamb, Anderson and Peryam backing the compromise and Burgess and Whalen opposing it.

Council members Barb Watters and Ed Opella were not present.

The policy will come before the council at a future meeting, probably at the beginning of next month, and the compromise will be introduced as an amendment, City Manager Tom Forslund said.

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CALIFORNIA -- A tow truck driver was credited Saturday with leading police to a missing 12-year-old girl who had been the subject of a statewide Amber Alert.

The tip also resulted in the arrest of Marcelino Benites, 44, for investigation of kidnapping a child under 14 with intent to commit lewd acts, the California Highway Patrol said.

The girl, who was found unharmed, was reported missing Tuesday after she failed to show up for class at Helms Middle School in San Pablo in Contra Costa County.

On Thursday, the tow truck driver came upon Benites and the missing girl inside a stalled car in downtown Los Angeles, according to the California Highway Patrol. He towed the car to his home in East Los Angeles, where he provided them temporary shelter while he worked on the stalled vehicle.

The following night, the driver, whose name was not released, saw the Amber Alert message and recognized the description of the car, the CHP said. He contacted police, who found Benites asleep in the truck driver's living room.

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UTAH -- Posting a speed of 222 mph, Gale Banks Engineering’s diesel sport truck, the Dodge Dakota Sidewinder, set a land-speed record for the world’s fastest pickup at Bonneville Salt Flats in Salt Lake City, Utah. The pickup set the land speed records on its first attempt after towing its support trailer onto the salt flats.

Conceived by Gale Banks of Gale Banks Engineering and John Stang of the Cummins Engine Company, the Sidewinder utilized integrated engineering technology to create the world's first diesel sport truck, a completely street-licensed vehicle capable of daily work and trailer towing.

To prepare the Dakota, Banks fitted the truck with a modified Cummins 5.9-liter turbodiesel, producing 735 hp and more than 1,300 lb-ft of torque. Don Alexander drove the Dakota across the flats, setting a two-way record at 217.314 mph and an exit speed of 222.139 mph, surpassing the existing record of 159.647 mph.

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TEXAS -- If there's an accident or a pileup in Fort Worth, Danny Hankins or one of his crew members probably isn't too far away.

Hankins' company, A-1 Wrecker Service, is one of several businesses that contract with Fort Worth to tow vehicles involved in accidents.

But he and others say they may not be able to afford to do business with the city anymore.

"Some companies have gone under, some have sold their business and others are just barely surviving," said Hankins, whose company has been towing for the city since 1958. "We are losing money.

"We can't survive like this."

The problem, he said, is that the city regulates how much local wrecker services can charge to tow vehicles involved in accidents. The city doesn't regulate private tows from private property or from parking lots.

Wrecker services are now allowed to charge $65 for a regular tow, records show.

But some studies show that the actual cost of towing a vehicle is between $95 and $98 when all expenses are factored in -- fuel, insurance, equipment, telephones, utilities, office rent and overhead.

"Wrecker services are going broke," said Tommy Bower, a Texas Towing and Storage Association board member and a private tower. "If companies can't make a profit, they'll quit towing wrecks and just do private tows."

Wrecker services have presented their case to city police representatives and to the city's Public Safety Committee, and they were asked to provide more information about their need.

They said they've been sitting on the same rates since 1997 and have been working since August to raise them.

Initially, the companies asked to increase the tow rate to $110 to cover their costs. But after a meeting Wednesday with city and police officials, they agreed to limit the request to $100.

"Our fees now are low, there's no doubt about that," said Sheri Sanderson, records manager for the Police Department, which includes the auto pound.

She reviewed area rates and learned that Burleson charges $85; Arlington, $100; and Dallas, $95.

"We're between 20 and 30 percent less than any other area city for wrecker service," Sanderson said. "It certainly is hurting their business. They've come to me and proven with receipts for equipment, fuel costs and insurance ... that there's a need for an increase."

The question is how much.

The Public Safety Committee balked at the request to raise rates to $110.

But Councilman Jim Lane, who heads the committee, said he sees a need for a smaller increase.

"Their concern is legitimate," Lane said. "There hasn't been a rate increase in some time, and the cost of fuel has gone up. We need to look at this and what we can do for them.

"They provide a very valuable service," he said. "We need to be fair to the businessman and fair to the consumer. Somewhere in there, we need to decide the actual cost and plug in a return on these guys' investment."

The committee is expected to take up the issue during its March 25 meeting. If the committee approves the request, it would go to the full City Council for consideration.

Hankins said local wrecker services need help.

"We're the ones who work seven days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to keep freeways clear of wrecked cars," he said. "We cannot operate at a loss any longer." (Anna M. Tinsley - Star Telegram)

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MICHIGAN -- A towing company was fined more than $57,000 after one of its trucks was stopped by police while hauling a large piece of factory equipment that made it 320,000 pounds over its permitted weight limit.

A tip phoned in to a state police motor carrier officer Wednesday led to the stop in southern Michigan's Lenawee County, The Daily Telegram of Adrian reported.

The truck, from Taylor's Towing of Red Bank, N.J., weighed about 480,000 pounds and was headed to Cleveland, Motor Carrier Officer Barry Archer said. The fine totaled $57,685.

A person reached by telephone Thursday at Taylor's Towing who wouldn't give his name declined to comment.

The 280,000-pound press being hauled was secured with only enough chains to hold 180,000 pounds, Archer said. And the more than 18-foot-wide truck exceeded its Michigan Department of Transportation permit, which allowed it to be 16-feet wide.

The driver also was ticketed for carrying an unsecured load and for the truck being overlength and overwidth.

For the truck to be on the road, it needed a so-called "super permit" from MDOT.

Archer said the truck would be given permits to allow it out of Michigan, but that Ohio officials would be waiting for it to verify the permits issued by the state to the trucking company matched what was being hauled.

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NEW MEXICO -- An employee of a Moriarty towing company found 111 sticks of dynamite in an impounded truck that had been sitting in the company's lot for about a month.

Company owner Michael Tavenner said a clock also was found in the truck. He said some of dynamite sticks were bundled with electrical tape and some of it was already fused.

Moriarty Police Chief Bobby Garcia said the truck and the dynamite had been stolen from the owner of a rock quarry in Arizona.

Garcia said Calvin Sinks, 37, of Arizona, was arrested in the truck Feb. 12 in Moriarty on a charge of driving while intoxicated.

Garcia said that after the dynamite was discovered over the weekend, Sinks was picked up Tuesday in Flagstaff, Ariz., by the U.S, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

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WASHINGTON -- If you buy a house that once contained a methamphetamine lab, the paperwork will tell you.

But if you buy a used car that once carried a lab or its volatile components, you might never know until it made you sick.

No state law mandates that titles note that a vehicle once contained a meth lab. Owners are not required to pass along the information to new buyers, dealerships that accept trade-ins or banks that repossess vehicles.

"An unsuspecting buyer could potentially buy a contaminated vehicle," said Carolyn Comeau, who coordinates the state Department of Health's drug lab program. "With vehicles, we don't have that notification process and that's what is missing."

A bill before the Legislature would require the Department of Licensing to make a notation on the titles of contaminated vehicles or mobile homes deemed unfit for use.

Senate Bill 5228 also would require people who sell or lease out vehicles, storage units or motor homes to pass along information to the new users about illegal chemical contamination. The measure would carry no criminal punishment but violators could be sued for damages.

The bill is awaiting a vote by the full Senate. Prospects for the bill in the House are uncertain because a similar bill introduced in the House did not pass out of committee.

"The whole purpose ... is to make sure citizens and the public are well aware of what they may be buying," said Sen. Debbie Regala (D-Tacoma), prime sponsor of the Senate bill. "The effect of methamphetamines are very strong."

While there are no documented cases of citizens getting sick from riding in a car containing a meth lab, the potential is there, Comeau said.

Meth-making chemicals are corrosive, carcinogenic, flammable and produce toxic gases. They can burn the skin, sting the eyes, irritate the lungs, induce headaches and cause dizziness. The long-term effects are unknown.

Meth makers - paranoid about cooking the illegal drug in their homes - increasingly are using vehicles to avoid detection. They ferry the toxic, flammable chemicals and paraphernalia from place to place as they produce batches of the powdery drug.

Meth cooks don't label the chemicals and byproducts. Investigators frequently find unknown liquids in unmarked Mason jars. They also come across plastic tubing and funnels caked with drug residue.

Often the chemicals have spilled or seeped into the car seats or sloshed into the trunk.

In 2001, Pierce County sheriff's investigators found meth labs in 97 cars and trucks and 21 campers and trailers. The previous year, deputies processed 104 vehicles, including 18 campers and trailers.

Between one third and one half of the more than 200 labs the Washington State Patrol deals with statewide each year are found in vehicles, said Sgt. David Browne, supervisor of the agency's narcotics investigators.

When a home contains a meth lab, local health officials document the level of contamination and notify the county auditor. An approved contractor must clean the home before people can live there again.

The auditor is notified when the decontaminated home meets the health department's standards. All the notifications are public information.

The Senate bill would set up a similar procedure for vehicles, mobile homes and manufactured homes.

The Department of Licensing would have to note a contamination report on the vehicle's record. Licensing agents would update the record once they were notified the vehicle had been decontaminated.

The vehicle's title then would be marked with the wording, "Decontaminated/Reusable."

As it works now, tow companies take contaminated vehicles once investigators are through with them. The vehicles, marked with the hazardous materials signs, are treated as abandoned.

The tow company sends the last registered owner a certified letter about the vehicle's whereabouts and how to pick it up. The letters Bill's Towing of Tacoma sends, for instance, say the police impounded the vehicle but don't routinely say it contained a meth lab or drug-making components.

"It's not really our position to say whether it was a meth lab or not," said Bill Lomis, a manager the Tacoma towing company. "If they ask, we tell them."

Then it's up to the owner to decide what to do: Retrieve the vehicle and decide whether to have it cleaned or destroyed, or do nothing.

If no one claims the vehicle within 15 days, the vehicle is auctioned off. At its weekly auctions, Bill's keeps the hazardous materials signs on the vehicles to inform prospective buyers.

"It is taped right to the windshield," Lomis said. "The public can bid on those cars and take them and put them back together, even though they carried hazardous materials, even though they were a meth lab."

Most buyers at an auction resell the cars. It's doubtful they keep the hazardous materials signs on the windows, Lomis said.

"They would get it and peel the sign off and sell it to anybody who had a buck," he said.

Auto dealers say they can't get as good a price for vehicles marked as former meth labs.

"Any time we formally notify buyers that a property has been contaminated and now is clean, there will be a market impact," Jim Boldt, a lobbyist representing Washington auto dealers, said during the recent Senate hearing.

Cleaning meth-tainted vehicles expensive, difficult

To truly clean a vehicle tainted by the toxic chemicals related to a methamphetamine lab, it must be stripped to the metal frame - a job that quickly escalates into the thousands of dollars.

"Meth pretty much destroys it," said Bill Hamilton, owner of RTW Corp., a certified contractor that cleans up meth-contaminated vehicles, homes and other structures.

The contractor's bill can total $3,000 to $5,000, depending on the level of contamination. And that's just part of the cost to restore the vehicle.

"You will have to put new seats, new side panels, new head liners in it because we have to take it down to the bare metal that is not porous," Hamilton said. (Stacey Mulick - The News Tribune)

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OHIO -- Toledo's Ford administration’s plan to add $175,000 to this year’s city coffers came under fire yesterday from tow-truck operators and some members of Toledo City Council.

Most of the 14 licensed police tow operators turned out for council’s first hearing on Mayor Jack Ford’s proposed $227.8 million general fund budget.

The mayor has proposed imposing a $25,000 annual fee on the 14 police towing companies. The fee, if all 14 paid, would raise $350,000 in a full year, but is expected to raise only half that amount this year.

The operators challenged the plan on several fronts yesterday, saying they’ve already paid for licenses in 2003, and that the administration’s plan was poorly thought out.

Several council members said the new tow fees won’t fly.

But council President Louis Escobar said the idea won’t go away.

"It’s possible that something won’t happen this year, but something will happen," Mr. Escobar said, promising that the towing companies will be included in the discussion.

Police tow trucks haul wrecked and abandoned vehicles.

Several tow operators said that 40 percent of the vehicles they tow are not claimed by the owners, leaving the tow companies to junk the vehicles for as little as $10.

They said revenue opportunities are available to the city.

Jim Gunther, president of Abco Services towing company, said the city should charge a fine and court costs to the owners of unclaimed vehicles, and collect $90 from each of them. He said he towed 274 vehicles last year that were never claimed.

"There are legal ramifications for citizens abandoning their cars, but the city doesn’t choose to enforce it," Mr. Gunther said.

Joseph Jordan, a lawyer hired by the Toledo Towing Association, said the estimate of $175,000 in a half year is based on the false projection that all 14 companies can afford the fee.

"You will probably put 10 of these people out of business," he said.

The towing fee is one of a series of revenue increases the administration has planned to generate more money in 2003. The proposed budget calls for $400,000 in higher court fines and fees and $275,000 from a half-percent increase in the cable television franchise fee.

In addition, the administration plans to borrow $3.28 million from Toledo’s $14 million rainy day fund and $1.3 million from the $3.6 million parks trust fund.

On the spending side, the budget freezes city employee salaries and eliminates 71 vacant jobs and a small number of filled jobs.

The $227.3 million budget is 1.3 percent higher than the 2002 budget of $224.8 million.

Council has four more hearings scheduled before taking a vote on the budget March 18.

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MAINE -- A tow truck operator is dead after a tractor trailer slammed into his truck on Route 1A in Holden. 

Sheriff's deputies say the accident happened around 1:00am Monday when Michael Sinclair, who was nineteen and from Hermon, was pulling an SUV out of a snowbank when the tractor trailer lost control on the icy road.

The accident closed Route 1A for about five hours. -- Sinclair worked for the familiy business, Sinclair Auto and Towing Center in Carmel.

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TENNESSEE -- Chattanooga's Towing and Recovery Museum is back in the news.

The unique museum, which recently was the subject of a "Sunday Morning" piece on CBS-TV, will be written up in the New York Times.

The newspaper will be doing an article on towing featuring the city's Towing Museum. The story is due to appear in the March 14 issue in the Travel section's Escape column.

George P. Blumberg contacted Lyndia Thomas with questions for the upcoming article. His questions were about Ernest Holmes, Sr., who invented the tow truck. He also asked different questions about what the museum offers for visitors, it was stated.

Mr. Blumberg indicated that the story will appear on the front page of the travel section.

The Towing Museum is now at Fourth and Broad, but will be moving to South Broad Street near the foot of Lookout Mountain. 

If you have never visited the Towing and Recovery Museum, your really missing out on a unique and entertaining experience for the whole family.

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FLORIDA -- After five years without an increase, Polk County tow operators are finally getting a much needed increase in non-consent tow rates.

Polk County Commissioner Don Gifford argued to replace the rotation with a low-bid system, which often equates to substandard and incompetent service, but the rest of the board disagreed, voting 4-1 to approve new rates.

The 1998 ordinance setting the maximum fees allows a flat rate of $85 for the smallest class of cars, $150 for those between 8,001 and 19,999 pounds and $250 for 20,000 pounds or more. It also set other fees like one-way mileage, labor and storage.

A few weeks ago, several tow truck operators asked commissioners to increase the rates because it had been five years since the ordinance was adopted and insurance and other operating costs have skyrocketed.

Commissioners did what most cities do and opted to model the new rates after a neighboring city; in this case Lakeland. The news fees are $100 flat fee for the smallest vehicles, increasing to $200 and then $350 for the larger classes, while also increasing the fees for other services.

Gifford said the increases hurt those financially-strapped individuals who may not be able to pay to get their car out of impoundment.

"I don't think this negotiation method is getting the best price," he said, arguing for a competitive bidding process.

"I don't think it's practical to bid their services, and probably not even possible," Commissioner Neil Combee said. (Thanks Craig)

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NEW JERSEY -- A new ordinance introduced in Edison Township aims to control towing businesses, and limit the fees a tow truck can charge for police ordered towing services.

The new ordinance was prompted by "a couple complaints", according to Councilman Parag Patel.

Under the new ordinance, tows that occur on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. would be limited to $70 for vehicles under 10,000 lbs., and $87.50 at other times. Vehicles over 10,000 lbs. would be limited to $200 on weekdays, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., and $250 at other times.

The ordinance also sets road service rates at $40 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays, and $50 at all other times. Road service is any service other than towing.

While federal law allows a city to regulate non-consensual rates and clear safety issues, Edison Township has taken regulation a step further by attempting to regulate things that are not related to either.

The measure requires all towing and road service vehicles on the police towing list to have automobile, workers compensation and general liability insurance of at least $1 million dollars. Tow operators must also accept major credit cards and checks which has historically translated into great losses for towing companies

Violations will be punishable by a fine of up to $1,000.

The ordinance is scheduled for a public hearing and final adoption at the Township Council's March 12 meeting.

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WYOMING -- The long and drawn out saga of Casper's revamped towing and wrecker policy took a major step toward closure Thursday, as the City Council forwarded a new version of the policy to be voted on at an upcoming meeting.

The new plan would change the wrecker rotation system so that the city would call every towing company on the rotation once during a rotation cycle. If a company has one truck, it would get one call; if a company has 12 trucks, it still would get one just call during the rotation cycle, under the proposed plan.

Under the unusual policy the city currently uses, the frequency in which the city calls a wrecker company is determined by the number of trucks the company has. If a company has one truck, it will get one call from the city to pick up a vehicle during a rotation cycle. If a company has 12 trucks, it gets 12 calls during a cycle.

Another major change in the proposed wrecker policy is that it would bar any company with an employee, agent, owner, representative or operator who has been convicted of any felony, any DWUI-related offense, any drug-related offense or any theft-related misdemeanor from the rotation. Currently, the city has no such clause in its wrecker policy.

According to Casper Police Chief Tom Pagel, the criminal clause was put in for philosophical reasons. If the city allows a company that has workers who are convicted of felonies on its wrecker rotation, then the city is in a way endorsing those companies and their use of people with criminal records, he said.

This means that the police officer on scene may have an old conviction, but the tow truck driver will not. 

Councilwoman Lynne Whalen agreed that the criminal clause was a good idea because it supports safety.

"We owe it to the public that they feel safe and comfortable," she said.

Councilman Paul Bertoglio saw the policy as being somewhat impractical. He said many towing companies will not accept the policy due to the restrictions it puts on them by not being allowed to have workers who have been convicted of certain crimes.

Under the proposed policy, any company wishing to be on the city's wrecker rotation, including companies that are on the current rotation, would have to submit an application to the police department. As part of this application, all companies would have to supply the department with fingerprints of all employees and a signed notice allowing the police department to conduct background checks on all their workers.

The policy will be voted on no sooner than the council's March 18 meeting, according to City Manager Tom Forslund.

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FLORIDA -- After a fight breaks out at a Miami Beach towing company, an anti-war group will exercise it's war-secured freedom to protest.

Last week, a fight erupted at Beach Towing after University of Miami marine science professor Nasseer Idrisi, 41, refused to pay $110 fine to get his car back, saying that it was illegally towed. When Idrisi began yelling in Arabic, a 16-year-old boy, whose name is not being released, broke Idrisi's nose, fractured his right leg and gave him a concussion, said a police report.

All the parties involved, including the victim, admit the fight was not racially motivated. "My personal opinion is that it wasn't racially motivated," Idrisi said from his hospital bed, shortly before his attorney spoke at the news conference, but some groups have chosen to ignore that fact so they can protest anyway.

On Thursday, the Miami Coalition Against the War announced its intentions to march in front of Beach Towing on Sunday even though the fight had nothing to do with race. "It doesn't matter what Nasseer believes," said Nidal Sakr of March for Justice. (Thanks Tim)

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OHIO -- Toledo's budget is looking at 12 million dollars of red ink, and one proposal to close part of that gap is drawing fire from some local businesses.

Fourteen companies are licensed to tow cars for the city of Toledo. These companies work accidents, haul abandoned cars, and do impounds for the police. Right now those companies pay a couple hundred dollars a year for the permit. The city is looking at raising that fee to 25 thousand dollars a year.

City related towing is just a small percentage of Abco Services business. But owner Jim Gunther heads a state wide towing association. He says the city of Toledo's proposal to levy a 25 thousand dollar fee on its licensed towing contractors is a bit much for any business. "Based on the number of tows we get, there would be no profit.", noted Gunther. Piasecki towing on Dorr street does a lot of business with the city of Toledo. A jump from a few hundred dollars in permit fees to 25 thousand dollars would force them to stop doing police tows. "Considering what the police department wants us to have as far as equipment", said Kevin Piasecki, " the services we have to provide for them, there's just no way we could remotely do that. We couldn't afford it.".

Normally a business would consider passing on such cost increases to consumers. But at least one Toledo city councilman says that won't happen. "Council will not stand for for increases in towing fees to the consumer. I can guarantee that.", said republican George Sarantou. He says towing companies would be expected to pay the fee from profits. Towing companies say what profit? That's why towing companies like Abco and Piasecki do other things like auto repair and salvage to supplement business. Abco say 36 percent of vehicles towed to their impound lot are not claimed.

The company never recovers storage fees and the vehicles are eventually junked for only ten dollars each. Local tow truck operators will meet March 6th to figure out other ways to counter the proposed fee increase. The companies may consider legal action.

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