Two Companies Get Majority Of Towing Calls
A public hearing is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on increasing the fee vehicle owners are charged when their vehicles are towed from.
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More than 85 percent of the 1,828 towings in Fredericksburg were by two companies, according to information City Council received this week for tonight's public hearing on increasing the fees for towing vehicles for trespassing on private property.
Here is background on the tow fee increase proposal that will be up for public hearing tonight after 7:30 p.m in City Hall council chambers. The city ordinance allows for a $65 charge but towing companies are calling for an increase to $125. Local towing companies hired lobbyist Matt Benka to present their case for increasing the fees.
The tow operator is required by law to fill out a report each time a tow company tows a trespassing vehicle from a private parking area. Fredericksburg Police Officer Jamie Walker reviewed the reports and found that the top three towing locations are Eagle Village, Fall Hill Apartments and Forest Village. Walker also noted that a broad number of business owners, churches, restaurants and public agencies call on tow companies to remove vehicles that are not allowed to be parking at their spaces.
Most of the tows occur between 5:30 p.m. and 8 a.m.
Walker said Shanks Towing and Dominion Towing towed 85 percent of the 1,828 trespassing vehicles in the past 12 months. Both companies share an office and parking lot at 1313 Alum Springs Dr. Walker said there were a total of 17 disturbance calls at this address in the past 12 months.
"There were no citations for violations of the City’s towing ordinance in the past 12 months," a City Council memo states. "Officer Walker reports that Shanks and Dominion have worked diligently to improve the reputation and public perception of their business."
State code only allows for a maximum charge of $125 plus $25 for nighttime, weekend and holiday towings. Some localities, such as Spotsylvania County, do not set a local maximum fee.
Local Fees:
- Stafford County: $100 + $35/24 hour storage
- Spotsylvania County: No local maximum – rates must be prominently posted at the premises, and no charge in excess of maximum posted rate is permitted.
- Fairfax City: Same as Spotsylvania
- City of Alexandria: $75 + $20/24 hour storage
- Falls Church: $100 + $40/24 hour storage
- Manassas: no local maximum
Walker also called seven other towing companies in Fredericksburg, Stafford and Spotsylvania to check on fair market rates for after-hour towing of a vehicle two miles within the tow site without the keys accessible. He got estimates ranging from $65 to $150. Spotsylvania, Caroline, King George, Westmoreland, Louisa, Orange, and Culpeper counties all use the statewide maximum rate.
City Councilman Matt Kelly posted on his Facebook page the following questions with answers from staff:
1. Why all the towing at Fall Hill, Forrest Village, and Eagle Village?
Answer: We don’t really know the answer to this question but the tow companies would.
2. How many tows from private downtown lots?
Answer: Officer Walker is asking the PD to see if they can create a sub-set for the downtown.
3. How many of the vehicles were from out of the region?
Answer: We have no way of knowing this information. Our call history sheet includes the nature of the call (“tow away”), date/time/address and caller information.
4. How many occurred during special events?
Answer: When we see the subset of towing call history, we can look for dates that coincide with the 4th of July, Christmas parade, etc. The City also tows vehicles from public streets for these events but this is under separate authority.
5. What are the most common complaints filed against towing firms?
Answer: No complaints filed in the past year.
4. Which firms hired Mr. Benka?
Answer: Ask Mr. Benka.
6. Are towing companies losing money at the current rate?
Answer: Our guess is “no.” They would not have towed 1,800 cars last year if they were losing money doing it.
ed newell
4:42 pm on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
some extra questions? whats a tow truck cost? whats the lifespan? what are their other expenses?if i recall drivers get a piece of the action
Dan Telvock
4:47 pm on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
I can only imagine those trucks are expensive!
ed newell
6:27 pm on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
i think working for a piece of the action possibly inspires some drivers to be real eager. i lost a trailer in an apt lot for "no tags" tag was mounted to tailgate tailgate was laying flat in trailer. i think the driver couldn't see it in the dark . worst tow ever? stafford . triple a was too slow and cop called his guy. 185 bucks for 4 tenths of a mile. that was their rate for a county call after hours
Arnold Smithson
7:29 pm on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Was that apartment lot at Brittany Commons? The tow truck drivers there were certainly eager to enforce any trivial regulation they could possibly manage.
JS Mosby
8:27 pm on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
New Reg. Towing company must be called by the owner or property manager and must show log of that call.
Dan Telvock
8:45 pm on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
That 90 minute public hearing is over. First read-7-0 vote in support of the increase. But signage needs to be better. I'll write more later
Arnold Smithson
9:35 pm on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Shocking that government sided with corporations over citizens. Maybe I should hire a lobbyist and I could get government to be accountable to me.
Vito DiNozzo
4:11 am on Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Don't park where you're not supposed to and you wont be towed, it's that simple. I live in New York City, I work in the towing industry, specifically the illegally parked and repo part of the industry. NYC regulated rate $136.00 to get your car out of the impound yard. it this too much ?? No, absolutely not! A tow truck for this kind of work is $60,000, then insurance to do this kind of work will cost you a little over 10,000 a year and that's cheap insurance. we haven't even touched on repairs, diesel fuel, e-z pass, a yard lease, city permit fees, paying the drivers and office staff and all the other little things that cost money to run a business like this.
RAR
7:28 am on Wednesday, July 11, 2012
If they can't make money that's not the cities fault. This needs to be converted back, until the city can fix its parking problems.
Citizen
7:38 am on Wednesday, July 11, 2012
The only parking problem the City has is that people are too lazy to park an extra block away and walk a little when there isn't a space right in front of where they want to be...just laziness..that's all!
Janice
8:17 am on Wednesday, July 11, 2012
The regulation that keeps tow trucks from practicing 'shark-like' techniques is great. It would be interesting to know if the 3 sites that are at the top of the tow list: Are they residential/commercial, is their signage in compliance, is parking an on-going issue there, do these companies have tow contracts with the "3" or are the randomly called out? Why were the other city authorized towers not mentioned? What is their take on these issues? As for business cost, there is just the cost of doing business. Each of those tow companies have businesses outside the city so they are not dependent on poor parking in the city and they, per the article, seemed to have combined their physical spaces in the city. That's a huge cost savings.
Dan Telvock
8:22 am on Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Janice, the story says: Fredericksburg Police Officer Jamie Walker reviewed the reports and found that the top three towing locations are Eagle Village, Fall Hill Apartments and Forest Village.
Janice
4:04 pm on Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Yes, but what type of area are they towing from? Residential and/or commercial? When I think of Eagle Village I'm thinking I shouldn't buy milk at Giant. The apartments; what kind parking is available? Why is the tow rate so high. I don't know what the other place is. Plus I had more questions.