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Hello Folks I used to drive tow trucks in Florida years ago "until I got shot" "unrelated" but recently I have had a real concern, I live in Vancouver Washington and like most me and my family work in Portland Oregon,....
my problem is like anyone else I am not rich, I just don't walk around with hundreds of dollars to tow a vehicle at any chance the old vehicles I can afford to drive...
my son was recently going to work on route 14 and broke down and pulled over to the side of the road, before I could get to the truck without any notice what so ever Speeds towing decided to tow it away, and as you all know how the unfair ways many tow operators operate suddenly my son owes a hefty 180.00 tow fee "extreme and immoral usery" and store fees equally to a nice stay at a local hotel...
anyway to make a long story short we owe the vehicles value to get the vehicle out of hock they say if he can't pay it, they will auction it off and still charge us 600.00 dollars...this is literally Highway Robbery, I know how some of you think if I am making money off this it can't be wrong, but is this really how we should all treat each other? have we come so far from the ideals of God and his holy book that we just look for reasons to hurt each other using laws that were not even intended to be used in this manner..
Hello Tmack, welcome to ITOW Talk.

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Speeds towing decided to tow it away


I guess I don't quite understand. Speeds Towing cannot decide to tow your car away. Clark County Sheriff or the WSP would have to order them to do so. And by law, the police can not tow it unless it's remained there for 24 hours making it a vandalism risk and a liability, or the car is a position that somehow endangers other motorists.

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and as you all know how the unfair ways many tow operators operate


I can't say that I do? I assume that your referring to the fee you were charged but if you knew more about what's required to operate a tow truck you might be more inclined to understand why an impound costs $180.

Many factors that the public does not consider have an effect on the rates we charge.

First, the cost of the truck. Typically a tow truck that works in that area costs $50,000 - $100,000 dollars and then must, by Washington law, be outfitted with several thousand dollars worth of equipment.

Then we must put a driver in that truck but Washington forces us to hire someone with an absolutely clean criminal record and our insurance company forces us to hire a person with an absolutely clean driving record who is at least 25 years old. Our choices are narrowed drastically. Qualified drivers in our state can demand a premium which includes a full benefits package. Then we must send them to school which cost's hundreds of dollars a year.

Then we have exaggerated administrative costs which have been made quite expensive thanks to our states mass of required paperwork, strict time requirements, and required archiving of it all.

Then there is insurance. Washington state requires us to have a $1,000,000 on-hook policy to cover your car and anybody we hurt during this process. As you can imagine this is one of the largest expenses we have. In fact, one good claim can price this level of coverage out-of-reach for some small companies.

Along with insurance, Fuel is another large expense. These trucks get 9-12 MPG and with the cost of diesel so high, this too becomes a factor.

A Friend of mine in the ambulance business once made a very good comparison. You see it costs about the same to buy, configure, and operate an ambulance. In fact, an EMT has about the same level of training as our Wreckmaster certified drivers. The difference is, the ambulance makes $600-$2000 per trip and we get $180 and we'll give you a $12 aspirin for free.

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store fees equally to a nice stay at a local hotel


Again, it seems high priced if only imagine your car being parked in an impound lot. What you don't see are the many requirements that Washington has placed on our storage facilities. Not only does the state determine in which zone we must have the lot, they force us to lease what is very expensive commercial/industrial zoned property to store these vehicles. The closer to the city your lot, the higher the cost for commercial/industrial property. Then there is paving the lot, making it hazmat safe, security requirements, staffing requirements, fencing, and insurance.

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I know how some of you think if I am making money off this it can't be wrong


I'm not sure what you implying here but I'm guessing that it's not flattering. You are just assuming that we are all out to make money at any cost to humanity or morality. Well my friend you would be wrong again.

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have we come so far from the ideals of God and his holy book


I'll save my theological opinions and comments about the, historically, single most cited reason for waging war for another forum.

Regards,
Bill

P.S.
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laws that were not even intended to be used in this manner


What laws would that be? The laws we operate under were very specifically written for our extremely regulated industry.
My last tow boss wanted me to run the freeway between barstow,ca. and las vegas,nv. for what you would call renegade towing,well i quit because it was illegal,and c.h.p. said to park the truck.not all companies run like that .believe me there are alot of above board tow companys.thats one of the reasons we get bad reps because of renegade companys just like renegade truckers also. :thumb:
I appreciate you must have feelings about the cost of what it cost to operate a tow company, as I said before I am like anyone else I don't carry around hundreds of dollars to emergency tow a vehicle, if WSP is involved I saw no legal forms on this what so ever other than this is a tow away zone, my son pulled far over as he could,..
my point is you don't have to charge so much for a quick jerk away job this is just plain usery and you know it, I shouldn't have to shoulder your cost of insurance and bonding just because the car has a problem come on!
I know also what happens to alot of these vehicles and I will never forget the comments my boss would make when he got a "score" I know how he lived compared to the rest of the drivers and I know that no matter how much he made off his scores he couldn't afford health insurance or anything else, the character shows..true
anyway I went in there today to get my personal things out of the truck that Speeds stole "legally" from us and couldn't help but notice all the other project vehicles  and motors this poor unselfish person was dealing "poor guy"
I know your resonding if with all restraint and realize that Christianity doesn't seem to belong in the subject but my point is if you have gone out of your way to hurt others to gain from it unfairly maybe you need to hold yourself to a higher authority..
I will also add the company I worked for did Cop tows for like 18.00 dollars and I know how hard some of you work getting calls in the middle of the night to make nothing off cleaning up an accident while an insurance company seems to get quite a break on everything while you are forced to abuse the public, the hard working lunch pale public!
You know I have my bills to pay for too but finding a way to steal from someone else is not the answer.
1) Century 311 express singleline wrecker unit, new full factory warranty, FOB Portland Oregon ======> Only one left! Picture  12,950.00  
Here is a cheaper truck from the same site you gave me, you don't have to steal from others to upgrade, upgrading is your choice ...."I know that" I used to be a dispatch boss for Ryder Integrated I know if you look around you can find cheaper maybe you would like better and I don't blame you, but find a more honest way to make your money and charge the insurance companies what they should be charged ..
charge the police what they should be charged...
but you will probably keep rationalizing this away or maybe you work more honestly probably no if your backing a ridiculous amount for tow and impound fees..
a hundred bucks for the whole thing would be insult enough when it gets up into a few hundred dollars to get your beater back its just wrong and if  you don't agree no wonder you don't like the Bible.
I am not trying to be mean here I am trying to make you think but my experience with people is they don't usually think until they are messed over like they are messing..
thank you for supporting our troops by the way, you don't have to tell me that peace is not free we must fight Tyranny we must fight against opression and hostility towards our country.
O.K.....I feel the need to reply to this.  First off, I don't know how long ago you worked that P.D. tows were $18.  Must have been a while.  My company charges $86 and $12 storage.(if it touches our lot, that starts it at $98 and $12 for each additional day) If you had worked in towing recently, you wouldn't gripe about the cost for picking someone up off the highway in the middle of the night.  No one gives us any respect.  Try doing it in a snow storm.  As per the truck that you mentioned-  other than a car what do you expect to tow with that?  A go-cart?  I know that they are good trucks, but they don't always cut it.  My company has nothing but chevy 6500's.  The rollback I drive was about $80,000 new, with the Cat engine.  By spending the long dollar you get a quality piece of equipment that will be on the road more than in the shop.  You want complain about what we have to charge to stay in business.....we could lower our prices if you take over some of our regular bills.  Say maybe fuel, insurance, and maybe truck payments? :brow:
Quote (tmack @ Jan. 06 2005, 4:13 pm)
1) Century 311 express singleline wrecker unit, new full factory warranty, FOB Portland Oregon ======> Only one left! Picture  12,950.00 Here is a cheaper truck from the same site you gave me

I see, now we're buying unnecessarily expensive equipment; right? We could get by with cheaper, lighter, lower quality equipment and then we wouldn't have to charge as much; right?

Really! It's difficult to even reply to such nonsense. Since a reply would somehow imply that as business owners we have completely overlooked a method to save so much money. As if we have money to throw away. I can't fathom that a reasonable person could actuality believe that.

That's why I told you "Typically a tow truck that works in that area..." Because tow trucks are different in many places. You won't find the 'cheap' unit your referring to to anyplace but in a large city that performs contract impounds because a small single-line unit like that does not meet Washington's equipment standards and therefore cannot be used to tow for police agencies.

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no wonder you don't like the Bible


Really! Did you read what I wrote?

Clearly you need to get into the towing business. With your higher moral standards and savvy business skills you will quickly put us thieves and heathens right out of business. :talktohand:
I couldn't agree more with ya Bill!  :bowdown:  :bowdown:  :bowdown:  :bowdown:  :hardrock:
Email from tmack:
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Hey Bill, please let me know if you have a problem with Christians because I am championing this cause of unfair impound practices and the laws that allow them ...but if you have a problem with Christians I certainly don't believe we need to be giving you are business!


I'm not sure what the connection is between your so-called 'cause' and Christianity is and how that relates to giving me business, but to answer your question; Absolutely not. In fact I am a saved and baptized Christian myself.
Hey tmack, you know, if I were you I would consider myself lucky.  If the company that I work for had towed your vehicle, you wouldn't have been allowed access to it after a tow until the tow and storage had been paid up to date, either by you or insurance.  It sure helps keep down on the number of unpaid clunkers in the lot. :thumb:
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