The national average retail price for a gallon of diesel rose for the second straight week, closing up a penny at $1.491 for the week ending Nov. 24.

Prices rose 2.2 cents in the Northeast, where concerns over the integrity of a heating oil pipeline in New York impacted both diesel and heating oil buyers. Supply issues with heating oil, a high-sulfur form of diesel, generally impact on-highway, low-sulfur diesel prices every winter. Analysts fear that if heating oil supplies are interrupted, diesel supplies may be diverted to heat homes.

Prices also rose sharply on the West Coast, where tow operators paid between 1.4 and 1.6 cents a gallon more than a week ago. Tow operators paid between $1.62 and $1.65 from Seattle to Southern California. Tow operators in the lower Atlantic states spent the least on diesel, $1.441, followed by those along the Gulf Coast.

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TENNESSEE -- Mayor Ashe of Knoxville, during his last weeks in office, will ask the City Council to pass a resolution that would demand towing companies make refunds for alleged overcharging.

The city's Wrecker Commission alleges that the towing companies charged insurance companies more that the current towing contract allows.

Michael McGovern, the attorney for the companies, maintains that the towing companies did nothing wrong. He also said the contract prices were too low in light of rising fuel and insurance costs and complained that the Wrecker Commission has been unresponsive to the companies' concerns.

Four of the five tow companies on the city's rotation list gave notice in late October that they would terminate their rotation contracts.

According to a published report, most insurance representatives were guarded in their reaction to the controversial call for legal action, except Doug Honig, spokesman for Ohio-based Progressive Insurance Co., who said his company has helped with the city's probe and will continue providing information when asked.

Progressive Insurance is well known to the towing industry for running an offensive and derogatory commercial last year which portrayed a tow truck driver as a uneducated, slovenly, thief. Progressive also failed to respond to the flood of letters and email about the offensive ad.

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NORTH CAROLINA -- Only one person has been determined enough to get into the car storage lot at Ray Harris Towing in Greensboro since the company installed an electrified fence about five years ago.

"And he got caught," said Belinda Harris, one of the company's co-owners. Before that, she said, trespassers were frequent, as were calls to the police.

Little did she know that the fence meant to keep out scofflaws was itself violating city law. Inspectors sweeping the Randleman Road area for other problems this summer spotted the signs warning of the electrified fences on the company's property and told her such fences weren't allowed.

"We had no idea we were violating any ordinances," Harris said. According to a report by zoning officials to the City Council, neither did at least nine other businesses throughout the city.

But with the exception of livestock pens, electrified fences are illegal inside the city limits.

That could change tonight when the City Council will consider whether to allow low-voltage electrical fences in parts of the city set aside for light and heavy industry.

"We do towing for the police and highway patrol," Harris said, "so we're bringing the public's property here and we have to protect that." Harris said the electrified fence also helps protect employees who have to be on the lot.

"It's just another security measure," she said. "Insurance companies won't let you do dogs any more."

Other alternatives to electrified fences can be less aesthetic and more dangerous, business owners said.

"We've had to put razor wire on top of our fences," said Dean Green, who owns Greensboro Auto Auction. Green said that his company looked into electrified fences a few years ago but found out they weren't allowed.

Today, the company uses several techniques to protect what will soon be about 21,000 parking spaces and the cars stored there. Video cameras, security guards and bright lighting help keep folks bent on mischief at bay.

Still, Green said, "We've had a lot of damages over the years," mostly from vandals and joy-riders. He said the electrified fences "would be a better alternative" than putting up more razor wire.

As described in the new zoning ordinance, an electrified fence could be no higher than 10 feet and would only be allowed if surrounded by a conventional non-electrified fence.

And every 50 feet, there will have to be a sign warning of the electrified fence.

"What our customers hope is that you'll walk up on that sign and see that it's too much trouble to mess with," said Randy Mullis with Sentry Security Services. Typically, he said, businesses turn the fences on at night when there aren't a lot of people around.

The fences are powered by a car battery that is itself recharged by a solar panel during the day, Mullis said. Many are armed with an alarm that will sound if someone cuts through them.

When touched, the 12-volt charge is delivered for only a fraction of a second and will not do any permanent damage, he said.

"Truthfully, it's really not going to hurt anyone," Mullis said. "It's a glorified cattle fence," he said. (Mark Binker - News & Record)

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TEXAS -- There's a reason Tommy Bower doesn't tow vehicles for the city (of Fort Worth).

He would lose money every time.

Under a proposal being considered by the City Council, however, towing for the city could become a little more appealing.

Council members meet today and are expected to consider raising fees for wrecker companies that do work for the city. The meeting begins at 10 a.m. at City Hall, 1000 Throckmorton St.

"I think this is fair to the wrecker companies, and I think it's fair to Fort Worth," said Bower, a Texas Towing and Storage Association board member who does private towing.

Two proposals are under consideration. One would set a flat fee of $135 for a standard tow or one requiring a flat-bed trailer. The other would raise towing costs from $100 to $120 for a standard tow and $125 to $150 for a flat-bed tow.

"This would catch the companies up to what they should be charging, sort of a cost-of-living increase," said Sheri Sanderson, records manager for the Police Department, which includes the auto pound.

The city regulates how much local wrecker services can charge for tows requested by police for cars that are abandoned or illegally parked or that have been in accidents, for example.

The city doesn't regulate private tows from private property or from parking lots.

Wrecker services have worked with city officials for months to get a rate increase.

In March, the towing rate, which had been $65 since 1997, became $100 for a standard tow and $125 for tows requiring a flat-bed trailer.

"This was something we came to a compromise on," Sanderson said. "It wasn't what they wanted but what they ended up getting."

Bower said that it still wasn't enough for many companies to make a profit but that it helped them recoup some of the cost of doing business.

"Nobody should go that long without getting a raise," Bower said. "The cost of living, the cost of doing business, goes up.

"It's been push and shove, but the increase this year now lets companies basically break even."

With the increase came an agreement that city auditors will review wreckers' costs every year and determine whether an increase is needed.

The auditors now recommend the tiered fee structure, with separate fees for standard and flat-bed tows. City staff recommends making both fees $135, city records show.

Bower said he would be pleased with either proposal.

"Our big concern is what will be fair to everyone," he said.

The council's public-safety committee referred the issue to the full council without making a recommendation. (Anna M. Tinsley
Star-Telegram)

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TEXAS -- The Willis City Council passed an ordinance Tuesday which caps the fee that city tow operators can charge for a nonconsent tow.

A nonconsent tow is a tow ordered by police when the driver is not present to negotiate the fee, such as accidents and DUI impounds.

The ordinance, which took six months to draft, limits nonconsent towing fees to $100 for passenger vehicles and trucks 1/2 ton or smaller.

The ordinance originally called for a $250 per truck annual licensing fee, but that was reduced to $15 when the city discovered their exorbitant fee was illegal under state law.

The city oddly claims the ordinance not only applies to towing businesses in the city, but also those within a 200 mile radius of the City of Willis.

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IOWA -- Capt. Mel Williams of the Sioux City Police Department faced a hostile crowd of towing company owners and property owners Wednesday as he intended to seek input on a proposal to regulate towing under the Sioux City Municipal Code.

At a meeting that lasted 3 1/2 hours, Williams fielded questions and fended off complaints from a boisterous crowd gathered in the Sioux City Council Chambers. Some of the audience members raised their voices and got out of their seats during the discussion. One man walked out in protest.

"The purpose today is to not have a discussion whether we should have an ordinance or not," Williams said. "That will come in the future at a City Council town hall meeting (set for the first week in December). The purpose of this meeting is if we do go forth with an ordinance, I'd like to make the ordinance functional for everybody."

Williams intended the format of the meeting to go through the proposed ordinance paragraph by paragraph to seek input or make changes in the language. That point did not sink in on many in the audience who continued to pose questions about the need for the ordinance.

The proposed ordinance calls for regulation of many aspects of towing operations within Sioux City. It would require towing companies that do business in Sioux City to obtain a license, submit their tow vehicles for inspection, provide proof of insurance and license drivers after background checks. Williams said he borrowed much of it from the ordinance regulating taxi cabs.

Also addressed is removing unauthorized vehicles from private property. The proposed ordinance deals with setting the non-consent towing rate at $46.25 plus $15.75 for the first 24 hours of storage. That rate is two-and-one-half times that paid by the city for tows by Meier Towing under the city towing contract.

When the figure of $62 for a non-consent tow and storage was run past the towing company owners, nearly all balked at the figure saying it was not enough. This figure is only for towing a vehicle improperly parked on private property without the owner's consent and does not apply to other towing services provided within the city. Williams took note of the amount and will consider changing that in future revisions of the draft ordinance, he said.

The proposed towing ordinance also defines "predatory towing practices" as removing unauthorized vehicles from private property within 24 hours of the vehicle being left on the property and such property is not readily identifiable as private parking, and or, pays a fee to the property owner for the right to tow vehicles, and or, charges an excessive fee for services rendered.

Readily identifiable private parking means that parking spaces are located on the property of a private residence or on commercial property where signage is installed that notifies the public it is private property and that unauthorized vehicles will be towed at the owner's expense. Sioux City Inspection Services will be responsible for approving necessary no-parking signage.

Towing unauthorized vehicles from private property is permitted, but predatory towing practices are forbidden. Commercial property owners who arrange with a towing service to remove unauthorized vehicles through a blanket agreement will have to notify the city clerk and police department. The notice must include the location of the property, name of the towing company, contact information for the towing company including hours of service and fees to be charged owners of towed vehicles.

Some property owners who have been plagued by problem parking said they objected to having to pay for an inspection to determine if their signage was proper. Williams considered amending the ordinance to allow for one free inspection of signs with a charge for additional inspections if signage is not up to code.

One towing company owner voiced her opinion on why the city is trying to regulate towing.

"They've got two gallons of milk and they're putting it in a one-gallon jug -- and it's not working," said Kelly Lyman, co-owner of Lyman Towing of the lack of parking on Sioux City's Historic Fourth Street.

During Halloween, Lyman said she sought help from Mayor Craig Berenstein and Roger Caudron of Downtown Partners in trying to relieve a parking problem. Despite the placement of barricades in front of the parking lot to the Call Terminal Building where there are apartments, people simply drove around the barricades and parked in the lot.

Lyman wondered why it is the towing companies who are at fault when there is not enough parking and when people blatantly park on private property marked "no parking."

"It's easier to point fingers and call the tow truck companies names than to try to fix the problem there," she said.

Lyman said she has sought the services of an attorney who will be present at a future City Council meeting to fight the proposed ordinance.

Williams said he is working with the city's legal department to make sure the proposed ordinance complies with state and federal laws.

Lyman said her company is one of those accused of being overly aggressive in towing cars from private property on Historic Fourth Street.

"That's not true, and neither is the owner of the Call Terminal Building," she said. "They've spent a lot of money putting up signs that the city has picked out. There are 14 signs in a 58-car parking lot, and it's still not good enough."

A recent addition to the ordinance states towing companies will be required to maintain documentation for every call for service performed under the ordinance for 180 days. The documentation will include a list of services rendered, date, time and location of the service, fees charged, tow unit used and the name of the operator. Williams said this would allow police to identify a driver if there is a complaint made regarding a driver.

Towing companies would also be required to have adequate insurance, including unhook insurance, to cover expenses if a vehicle becomes unhooked while being towed and slams into other vehicles or property.

Language in the proposal calls for permits for the owners of the companies and for drivers who must submit information for a background check. Reasons for denial of a driver's permit could include conviction of a felony involving personal injury or assault, a misdemeanor conviction in the last five years involving personal injury or assault, a history of thefts, drug/alcohol addiction, current mental illness and other reasons. (Mike Koehler - Sioux City Journal)

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WASHINGTON -- Towing companies in Washington are poised to save a great deal of money thanks to the efforts of their local towing association.

The Independent Towers of Washington (ITOW) is an association formed in 1999 by tow operators who were upset with the lack of action and  representation in Washington State.

ITOW has been lobbying for years to solve one of the most expensive problems that tow operators face, unredeemed abandoned vehicles.

In 2002, ITOW successfully spearheaded a legislative campaign that culminated in the passing of a Senate Bill 6748, a bill that encompassed nearly all of ITOW's original ideas.

This bill made it an infraction to abandoned your vehicle in a towing companies impound yard. This infraction carries a $538 fine, and requires you pay restitution (towing and storage fees) to the towing company. Like any other infraction, failure to respond or make restitution could result in the suspension of your drivers license.

Getting the bill passed in 2002 was only the first step. ITOW had to continue to push to get the Washington State Patrol to enforce the new laws; something that could prove to be a heavy burden to the Patrol due to the large number of abandoned vehicles.

In November 2003, the WSP agreed to launch a pilot enforcement program in a small area of the state to gauge the additional workload and costs of enforcing the new laws.

"This is a great first step in helping Washington towers, but there is still a lot of work to do," said Jerry Goddard, President of ITOW. "We need to have these new laws enforced state wide for every towing company", he continued.

ITOW continues to work diligently on the abandoned vehicle problem in Washington State, and is helping other towing association get similar legislation in their states.

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OREGON -- The Nov. 5 hearing in Portland's 1900 Building on Southwest Fourth Avenue sparked a lively debate between those who support the city's towing industry and those who want to rein it in, often the very people who parked illegally and got towed.

The city has drafted an ordinance that would introduce a slew of new towing regulations and set limits on how much tow companies can charge for "nonconsensual" tows from private property.

At the hearing, Portland towing companies made it clear that they don't intend to get pushed around. They have hired attorney Michael McGovern, who runs a national practice dedicated to towing issues. McGovern traveled from his law office in Knoxville, Tenn., to testify at the hearing and has submitted a 16-page letter on behalf of the Oregon Tow Truck Association.

The letter concedes that some regulations may be justified but adds, "the ordinance and regulation proposed (by the city) go well beyond what is justified ... and far beyond what the law allows."

Twenty-two companies are licensed to tow cars from private property in Portland, and they perform about 10,000 such tows per year.

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FLORIDA -- Tow-truck drivers weather all manner of abuse, but few ever go toe-to-toe with a swashbuckler.

With three years in the business, Barry Higgins joined an elite group Wednesday as he was preparing to tow a white Buick Regal in West Palm Beach.

While hooking up a car blocking a walkway on Executive Center Drive, Higgins was approached by the driver -- a shirtless man wearing a red bandanna, black pants and sandals.

The man, 24-year-old Nettly Fils-Aime of Delray Beach, argued with Higgins about the car, according to an arrest report. As Higgins returned to his truck to alert a company dispatcher, police say Fils-Aime opened the Buick's trunk and brandished a sword.

The steel blade was some 3 feet long, with a decorative handle and a skull at the bottom. Fils-Aime pressed the sword against Higgins' ribs, barring him from closing his truck door, the report stated.

Higgins told his dispatcher to call 911. When a police officer arrived later, Higgins, an employee of King's Wrecker Service, said it had been the scariest experience as a tow-truck driver.

Fils-Aime was arrested and was being held at the Palm Beach County Jail Thursday night with bail set at $1,500.

The charge: aggravated assault with a knight's sword. (Andrew Marra - Palm Beach Post)

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OREGON -- A city proposal to set rates for towing from private property has the industry asking, why reward motorists who park illegally. But the plan is drawing cheers from drivers fuming over towing fees and practices.

The first public airing of the proposal attracted about 80 people Wednesday night, with anger spilling over from both sides.

On one side: motorists' personal horror stories of an industry they equate with predatory extortion, taking advantage of vulnerable people. On the other: tow company officials angry about changes they say will hit already-narrow profit margins and benefit "wrongdoers" who abuse others' private property.

The proposed regulatory changes recommended by Commissioner Randy Leonard could come before the City Council as soon as Nov. 19.

Among the changes crafted by city towing coordinator Marian Gaylord: setting price limits that would bring rates closer to basic municipal towing fees; defining and prohibiting predatory towing; standardizing requirements for lot signs; clarifying fees when owners return before a vehicle is towed; banning "bonuses" such as parking lot paving to win contracts; and adding service fees to pay for the program.

Michael Mills, ombudsman for the city, endorses the proposed regulations as giving reasonable protections to vehicle owners while protecting private property owners' rights to remove unauthorized vehicles.

Those who consider themselves victims in past towing disputes say the regulations provide a long-overdue curb on a situation in which the tow truck operator has every advantage.

"In the case of unauthorized tows, it is a one-sided market," said Tim Larsen, frustrated over a $200 cash fee he had to pay for parking in a lot where the signs were confusing.

Towing companies counter that they're providing a service to private property owners trying to exercise control over illegal parking.

"This is a market created by the parking violator," said Nick Kemper, a tow manager for Sergeant's Towing.

Towing company officials also point to rising costs such as insurance rates that are making their businesses vulnerable to price-limiting proposals. They say their rates need to be higher to offset conditions unique to the trade.

Unlike tows after breakdowns in which owners want their vehicles towed, tows without the owner's consent need higher rates because 33 percent to 40 percent of those vehicles are never claimed, say industry officials. And about one in five calls for tows from private property result in no tow because the motorist has driven off by the time the tow truck arrives.

Bolstered by the Taxpayers Association of Oregon, towing companies cast the proposal as another sign of what they term Portland's unsupportive business attitude.

"It's all to placate the few at the expense of the many," said Linda Rydman, one of the owners of City Towing. "At a time when the city of Portland seems to be against the business community, this is not going to help the image of the city." (Henry Stern - Oregonian)

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PORTLAND -- Alex Crays admits to being parked illegally, but feels that the tow company was being greedy when it charged him $275 to get his car back.

Five-hundred complaints like his since 1997 now has the City of Portland on the offensive. City leaders now want to regulate the tow companies without any official study of the costs of performing this service.

If Portland is like most other city governments that have implemented this type of regulation, they'll just copy the laws of another jurisdiction which has already passed regulation that arbitrarily caps a towing companies nonconcent rates.

Most jurisdictions also disregard any sort of study to determine what a fair rate should be. They don't consider that a small tow truck costs $75,000 to $85,000, or that a towing companies insurance rates are sky high. 

Right now, the average private tow in the city is $234. The new laws would push that charge down to $177. This proposal would only affect cars towed from private lots, such as from restaurants, supermarkets and apartment complexes.

Marian Gaylord is the City of Portland tow coordinator and says, "The tow company could register anything they choose. A good example is the temper fee." Some tow operators will tack on this so-called temper fee when an outraged customer becomes abusive towards the driver. Towers call the proposed regulations "outrageous."

"There's no way a company could survive on the rates they want to propose," says Steve Preston, owner of Sergeants Towing in North Portland.

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Jerr-Dan Towing and Recovery Technologies, Greencastle, a manufacturer of high quality towing and recovery bodies and equipment and transporter truck bodies, introduced its newest medium-duty wrecker at the Texas Tow Show, Sept. 16-18 in Arlington, Texas.

The wrecker, an MDL 280/320 Series Integrated Wrecker, has a integrated underlift boom that has the same lifting capacity as the Jerr-Dan 14/16 Ton Independent Wrecker.

The MDL 280/320 features a two-stage recovery boom with attached integrated underlift, dual planetary winches and Jerr-Dan's patented lightweight and corrosion resistant aluminum/composite modular body.

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FLORIDA -- The state is putting a bounty on traffic jams that leave drivers on Florida's Turnpike sitting and steaming for hours.

Towing companies will be able to earn a $3,500 bonus for clearing a wreck involving tractor-trailers or other big rigs within 90 minutes. But tardiness can cost the companies. If it takes longer than three hours to get the road open, they will be penalized $10 a minute.

The "quick clearance" incentive is expected to take effect on the turnpike early next year. If successful, it will be expanded to other highways, including Interstate 95.

"Our customers have told us we don't do a good job of removing accidents from the roadway," said Chris Warren, the turnpike's deputy director.

Last year, the state Department of Transportation and Florida Highway Patrol adopted an "open roads" policy that sets a goal of 90 minutes for removing wrecked vehicles and other debris. Cutting the time that the highway is shut down can result in a reduction of secondary crashes, fewer injuries to police officers and fire-rescue workers and improved traffic flow, transportation experts say.

But many of the towing companies now on the turnpike's rotation list don't have the equipment to handle overturned big trucks, causing long delays.

Under the new rules, towing crews that are called by police to serious, lane-blocking accidents will be required to bring two heavy-duty wreckers, one capable of lifting 50,000 pounds and the other 35,000 pounds, along with a truck loaded with signs and traffic cones to detour traffic around the crash. If spilled cargo needs to be cleaned up, they also will have to bring a front-end loader and street sweeper.

"These wreckers can lift a cement mixer and move it from one side of the road to the other," said Harold Murphy of Sisters' Towing in West Palm Beach. "This is going to be very good for the motoring public."

The turnpike, which stretches 312 miles from Homestead to Wildwood in Central Florida, will be divided into zones. Tow companies will be assigned to work in specific areas because they will be required to get to the crash within an hour, Warren said.

The 90-minute-clock will begin once injured motorists and passengers have been treated, police have completed their investigation and hazardous materials have been cleaned up.

As proposed, only large wrecker companies that already have the heavy-duty trucks that cost about $400,000 and certified drivers, like Sisters' Towing, will be able to participate. Drew Zuccala of Boynton Beach-based Zuccala Wrecker Service said he's waiting to see the state's final proposal before spending thousands of dollars on more equipment.

"If they only give us a five-mile stretch on the turnpike, it's not worth it," Zuccala said. "Right now, I feel a lot of the stuff they're asking for is redundant and unnecessary."

Richard Kauff of Kauff's Towing and Transportation in Mangonia Park said he is interested if some long-standing problems can be resolved. Towers are not always paid when called out to crashes because the driver does not have insurance or the vehicle is too damaged to repair and is abandoned. Kauff said his collection rate is about 60 percent.

Another problem, according to wrecker companies, is hazardous material spills. There are no clear-cut rules on who should pay for the cleanup. Kauff said he has been billed simply because police asked him to call an environmental cleanup company. Turnpike officials said a new spill cleanup policy is in the works.

"If the state wants to do it right, they will get with the (towing) industry and work out operating guidelines and guaranteed-payment agreements," Kauff said.

Tow companies certainly won't get rich off the program. The turnpike has budgeted $100,000 for bonuses next year.

"It's not going to be a tremendous cost for us," Warren said. (Chuck McGinness - Palm Beach Post)

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