Information for those who are ASE Cert.:

All ASE certifications expiring on June 30 have been extended until the end of the year.

SE has automatically extended all ASE certifications expiring on June 30, to a new date of December 31, it was announced by Tim Zilke, president and CEO of the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE).

“During these challenging times, we don’t want service professionals to worry about expiring ASE certifications. To help ease their minds, ASE has automatically extended all expiring certifications until year-end,” said Zilke. “Our transportation infrastructure needs skilled individuals with professional credentials to keep the supply chain and motoring public going. They have the full support of ASE and we thank them for their commitment to professionalism and dedicated service, today and every day.” 

More information about ASE certification and testing can be found by visiting ase.com. Upon successful completion of an ASE test, ASE certification credentials are valid for five years and have an expiration date of either June 30 or December 31, depending on when the certification was earned.

Expiration dates can be found online at myASE and reminders are sent before credentials expire.  

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Caught on bodycam: FBI agent chasing Florida corruption complaint ends up locked in patrol car

NORWOOD, MA — Norwood police are looking for the person who stole a tow truck from a lot in Norwood on Thursday morning. Police said the truck was stolen from Center Auto Body's lot.

Police asked residents for tips on Facebook on Friday. There was no description of the person who stole the truck but police said people in a light colored, four-door pickup truck broke into the lot and drove off with the truck.

Police said tips can be made anonymously by calling 781-440-5181.

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Las Cruces Towing Company Plans on Using Drones to Inspect Automotive Accidents & Breakdowns

Las Cruces, NM - April 03, 2020 - Las Cruces Towing Company, one of the highest rated and overall most trusted towing Las Cruces service providers, recently made a local announcement that they're projected to use drones for the purpose of automotive accident and breakdown inspection by April 22, 2020. At a recent press conference in Las Cruces, New Mexico, they announced that they hope to use this technology to innovate the entire towing industry as a whole, while bettering the overall customer experience and satisfaction.

According to the owner of the company, they plan on using this strategy to image scenarios in which they are in need of a towing service in the Las Cruces area. The overall goal for this project is to use the data for three primary purposes; increased customer satisfaction, research and development, and to provide content that is more engaging for the local community in this area.

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GREGG COUNTY, Texas (KLTV) - A Gregg county woman was arrested after firing a weapon during a vehicle repossession.

According to the tow truck driver, he had been notified of the location of vehicle that needed to be repossessed just west of Longview. After the vehicle have been hooked to the tow truck, the driver said he heard a gunshot. He saw a woman with a gun but was able to drive off with the vehicle.

The tow truck driver was not hurt in the incident and said he doesn’t know if the gun was pointed at him or in the air. The woman was taken into custody by Gregg County deputies and could be facing multiple charges.

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A woman was arrested after firing a weapon during a vehicle repossession in Gregg County. (Source: KLTV)

Tragedy occurred late Thursday evening during restrictions of movement order when two fallen 20feet container laden trucks, a private tow truck and a towed Toyota Sienna involved in a multiple road crash along Apapa-Oshodi Express Road, enroute Cele Bus Stop, inward Oshodi, Lagos, killing one yet be identified man on the spot.

According to source, the accident which claimed the life of a truck assistant of a private tow truck, occurred when the tow truck broke down along the Apapa – Oshodi Express Road, inward Oshodi, while efforts were being made to repair it, a faulty articulated truck conveying two 20feet containers which was on top speed, suddenly developed mechanical problems (break failure), and rammed into the parked tow truck and the towed vehicle.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/04/black-friday-fallen-container-laden-truck-kills-one-in-multiple-auto-crash-in-lagos/

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – A fatal crash has prompted the closure of a major roadway in Osceola County.

According to the FHP, the crash involved a U.S. postal semitrailer, a street sweeper and a tow truck.

Officials said at least one person died in the crash, which happened around 7 a.m. Thursday on Narcoossee Road near Redd Lane.

According to the FHP report, the postal truck, hauling mail, was driving north on Narcoossee Road. Towards a tow truck that was assisting a street sweeper on the side of the road.

According to troopers, the driver of the street sweeper, a 42-year-old Oviedo man, was walking outside of the truck before the crash occurred.

The postal truck failed to slow down and hit the back of the parked trucks and the sweeper driver.

The street sweeper was flipped onto its side as a result of the crash, troopers said.

Troopers said the driver was pronounced dead at the scene.

All northbound lanes of Narcoossee Road have been shut down in the area.

The crash remains under investigation.

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SOME workshops with tow trucks are still operating their towing services as usual for emergencies but car repairs will only be done at the end of the movement control order (MCO).

Car workshop owner Chan Kok Hoe said while towing services are still provided, motorists should try their best to avoid accidents.

“Insurance companies and spare part suppliers are not operating now.

“We can only help with the necessary paperwork with the police.

“The damaged vehicles will be towed to the workshop and stored until the MCO is over, ” he said.

Chan, who is a member of the Penang Motor Vehicles Workshop Owners Association, said there are about 150 tow trucks in Penang on standby for operations but they are not roaming the streets during the MCO period.

“Workshops are allowed to operate on a small scale. This means that we will still respond to calls in emergencies.

“However, we can only tow the cars to the workshops. We cannot do repairs for the time being, ” he said.

Chan said that as a safety precaution, his tow truck drivers who are on standby are also not picking up passengers, including drivers of the damaged vehicles.

“My drivers have been told to stay at home and attend to customers in need of towing services only when instructed.

“We want business but our health is more important, ” he said.

Chan said he was surprised that traffic accidents are still happening despite near-empty roads.

He added that his tow trucks still return with an average of three cars daily.

“Before the order was enforced, roads were busy and we towed back between five and six cars daily.

“Now that roads are empty, we still get about three calls a day.”

Chan said most accidents involved motorcycles and cars and were caused by carelessness.

“I believe Penangites are used to congested roads.

“Now that roads are wide and almost traffic-free, some motorists hesitate while some move recklessly.

“We urge motorists to be alert, responsible and considerate on the road, ” he said.

He also advised people to study their vehicle insurance policies and keep their cars in good running order.

“Vehicles which have not been driven for a long period usually have problems with the ignition and batteries.

“We recommend that motorists start their car and keep the engine running for five to 10 minutes daily, even when they are not going out.

“If a vehicle really needs towing, the owner needs to check if the service is covered under the insurance policy, ” added Chan.

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Is anyone following the iRacing Series which has popped up in response to COVID-19

Has anyone gotten it this yet? They are really thinking outside the box.

Bob Weir...singing at race March 29 2020

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=enascar+iracing

PITTSBURG — April Fools Day is a special holiday for Bob and Alice Nankivell.

It’s not a joke.

As of April 1, their company, Bob’s Garage and Wrecker Service, is celebrating 60 years in business. The month of April also marks 60 years of marriage on April 17.

“He took on two things at the same time, me and the business,” Alice said, with a laugh.

It was Bob who saw owning his business as an opportunity to make a living. Together, the couple has owned and operated several businesses alongside the wrecker service. They sold the other businesses as they got older.

“We were in the sanitation business at one time, then roll-off business another time, and the dump truck business at one time,” Bob said.

Bob didn’t get this trade from his family though; no one was in the automotive business.

In high school he drove a Model A Ford and he had to keep it running, perhaps the reason why he chose the career he’s in.

“I liked keeping it running so it’s kind of what I like to do,” Bob said.

Bob doesn’t work on vehicles anymore.

“I was old and I just didn’t get into the later model of cars,” he said adding now that they only do wrecker services and U-Haul.

The wrecker service is kind of like being an on-call doctor, Bob said. He never knows when a call can come in because accidents and break-downs happen at any hour of the day and night.

It’s not always an easy job, Bob and Alice said, especially when dealing with car wrecks and weather.

“It can be below zero sometimes, if someone breaks down I have to pick them up,” Bob said. “At two or three in the morning I might get a call and might work an accident in the middle of the night and then get up at 8 o’clock in the morning to go to work.”

Alice, who stills goes out with Bob to tow vehicles, said the goal is getting the scene cleared of the vehicle so people can get back on the road again.

“We gotta get the car loaded up one way or another,” she said.

They try to help out any way they can, sometimes beating the first responders to the scene.

“I think that’s why we like it, if somebody needs us we’re there to help,” Alice said, adding that sometimes that can be difficult. “Sometimes you lay there a long time before you go to sleep, if you can go to sleep. But you know, after 60 years you’ve seen a lot and done a lot and you just keep going.”

The couple plans to keep business going until they can’t anymore.

“I know that’s what he will do, he will do it until he can no longer crawl out of that truck,” Alice said, adding that she’ll be right alongside him.

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SACRAMENTO (CBS 13) — Coronavirus is changing the way people get help when their car breaks down.

Tow truck drivers are out on the roads helping others but they must take new steps to protect themselves.

“It is very different because before we would get out of our trucks, handshake, you know, what’s wrong with the vehicle, can we do anything to fix it,” said Abdullah Taimori with AJ’s towing.

Taimori is a tow truck driver and said people in distress are told in advance: you must social distance.

“Call the customer. When you arrive on scene, let them know to step six feet away from the vehicle,” he said.

Taimori is not allowed to give people rides in his truck for protection. He’s had to explain that to frustrated customers, who eventually understand.

“I have family at home so I don’t want to bring something to them while everybody’s doing their part and staying home,” he said.

Even with protective gear like hand sanitizer and gloves, it’s impossible for Taimori to avoid all contact. He still has to share space with strangers.

“Those people that are broken down in their cars, are people that sat in their cars. So we have to sit in the vehicle to put it in neutral or turn the steering wheel,” he said.

Taimori said he has to be on the road but he’s asking those who don’t to please respect the shelter in place.

“Every single one of us do our part, stay home when you can don’t be out on the road,” he said.

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Charlotte, NC – North Carolina authorities are investigating two recent incidents of suspected predatory towing and price gouging of big rigs.

Transportation Nation Network (TNN) has confirmed North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein is investigating two instances last week in which truckers faced a boot removal fee of $3,000 or more.

TNN first reported on Friday that trucker Donald Spellings, of Radcliff, KY, had his big rig, which was loaded with 80 cases of Dasani water, booted while in a Walmart parking lot early last Thursday morning.

Spellings drives for Auburn, KY-based Downey Trucking and was awakened at approximately 12:30 a.m. to the news he would have to pay $3,600 within two hours or his rig would be towed and impounded.

He was warned if he did not swiftly pay the removal fee then he and Downey Trucking would face an $8,000 towing and recovery charge.

The fee was eventually negotiated down to a whopping $3,300.

Jim Downey is the owner of Downey Trucking and he tells TNN that Attorney General Stein’s office has since reached out to him regarding the incident and plans to conduct a thorough investigation into the towing company, Trust Towing and Recovery (TTR).

Another trucker found himself in a similar situation later that same day.

According to local news outlet Fox 46, a truck driver operating for Texas-based Norco Trucking delivered 25,000 lbs. of meat to a grocery store in Charlotte and then sought out a meal.

Since most restaurants were closed due to a stay at home order which took effect at 8:00 a.m. that same day, the trucker parked his rig in an adjacent lot to the Asian Corner Mall located at 4520 N. Tryon St.

Chris Steuart, vice president of Norco Trucking, told Fox 46 that his driver went in to a small grocery store to get some food and when he came back out he found his truck had been booted by Tip Towing.

“They told us if we didn’t pay them the $3,000, they were going to tow it and we’d owe them $4,000,” Steuart said.

The owner of Tip Towing, Alan Brown, told Fox 46 his company is not “predatory” and claimed the Norco driver had been asleep in his truck for five hours.

Plus, he said the lot is clearly marked with signs warning semis not to park.

Brown says if Norco Trucking can provide “paperwork” proving the driver had made a delivery “half-an-hour before he got booted,” then he would “absolutely refund that money.”

As for Downey, he told TNN on Sunday that Attorney General Stein’s office is planning to interview Spellings this week and get to the bottom of these incidents.

In an interview with Fox 46, Stein also indicated as much.

“It’s just awful. Any trucking company or any person, if they are being gouged because of this emergency, let my office know so we can investigate it,” he said.

TNN will continue to follow these cases.

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ZANESVILLE, Ohio– Nationwide Company AAA is offering various ways to keep your car healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Among the assistance offered is free roadside assistance to all healthcare professionals and first responders. Anyone directly working to combat the spread of the virus, be it doctors, surgeons, nurses or paramedics is qualified for free assistance from AAA during the remainder of the crisis. 

Workers for AAA will maintain all suggested tips for safety, such as no physical contact, six feet apart and technicians will wear available safety equipment. If a car needs towed, AAA will arrange for a tow and remain with the driver till the towing company arrives. 

AAA is looking to keep those who are working from home from having car troubles. As vehicles sit for extended periods of time, motorists should check the following aspects of their vehicle:

Battery life

Tire levels 

Fluid amounts. 

Extended periods of no usage can drain these resources in your vehicle, so check them periodically. 

AAA also wants it to be known that auto repair shops are an essential business, and that AAA members can have their cars towed from their homes to AAA repair centers. 

Call your local AAA Car Care Plus number to see if you qualify for these benefits. 

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Towing firm drivers deliver food to shut-ins during coronavirus outbreak

With business down but calls to help the needy up, Early Walker, owner of W&W Towing in Dixmoor, kept his drivers working by delivering care packages to elderly or disabled shut-ins on Chicago’s South Side.

Like many businesses, W & W Towing in Dixmoor has been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak that has the state — with 3,026 confirmed cases as of Friday afternoon — under a strict stay-at-home order.

“I’ve pretty much been forced to cut pay for my drivers. I can’t shut down, because our primary business is municipal, and we don’t know when something could happen,” said Early Walker, 35, of Country Club Hills, owner of the seven-year-old firm.

Meanwhile, he’d “been finding busywork for them to do, to keep them working,” he said.

At the same time, Walker, known by some on social media as “Chicago’s Secret Angel,” was moved by stories of rising food insecurity among the poor and elderly during the COVID-19 crisis, and was seeking a way to help.

That’s when Walker came up with the idea for a “Senior Relief Project.”

On Tuesday, he and his drivers began delivering care packages of food to shut-in, low-income elderly or disabled people throughout the South Side. They’re taking referrals for those in need at 1-844-485-4529; they can serve up to 200 seniors a week for the next month. Want to help? Call the same number.

“We vet, then enroll the seniors. We call them before we arrive. And we practice social distancing,” said Walker. “A lot of them say, ‘Leave it on the steps.’ And when we walk away, they’ll get it.”

His social media moniker has been an umbrella for what he terms a longstanding spiritual calling to promote random acts of kindness.

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Local tow truck business does drive-by parades for the community

Accurate Towing & Recovery, based out of Sycamore, has been providing free traveling parades of tow trucks around northern DeKalb County.

"We started on Wednesday, reaching out to a group on Facebook, and it's taken off like wildfire," said Adam Benn, an owner of the tow truck company. "We started at noon Wednesday and didn't end until 9 p.m. We've visited subdivisions and homes in DeKalb, Sycamore, Cortland and Kirkland. How often do parades go down the streets of your neighborhood? We can bring the parade right to your house."

Benn said that the parade of six tow trucks has been met with cheers and signs by onlookers. Some parade viewers stay indoors and watch from windows, while others watch from their front porch, driveway or street's curb.

Benn said the idea started because the tow truck industry has taken a hit during the stay-at-home order.

"Business is slow because everyone is at home and not driving," he said. "When I mentioned the idea of a traveling parade, every one of my employees was on board."

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Business owner cries foul after city tows van filled with food donations

He couldn’t believe it.

Conor Joerin, owner of Bloor West eatery Sugo, was loading his van with food and groceries Monday afternoon when the unthinkable happened.

Carrying his final load, he returned to find his van on the back of a city-contracted tow truck.

“I was like… come on guys,” he said in an interview with the Toronto Sun on Tuesday.

Joerin, like many business owners, is doing what he can to ride out COVID-19.

Opting to close-up shop, he’s donating Sugo’s remaining food stocks rather than letting it rot in his walk-in coolers.

“We’ve been dropping off groceries to single mothers in the neighborhood, families with kids who need supplies,” he said.

That’s how he spent Monday afternoon, his van left curbside next to his restaurant.

Joerin heard the city was relaxing parking rules, so leaving his van a few extra minutes past 4 p.m. wasn’t a worry.

“I got caught up inside locking up,” he recalled.

“They have rush hour parking between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., but what rush hour? They just told the entire country to stay home.

“There is no rush hour.”

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A Source States: An Investigation has been opened into the towing incident during an ordered shut down.

El PASO, Texas — The New Mexico State Police responded to a crash late this afternoon in between Deming and Las Cruces.

Police say it was a car versus a tow truck crash around 4:40 pm.

One female was injured, but police did not say how bad her injuries were.

We will update this article when more information is released.

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Tow truck driver tossed from truck, killed after hitting car

A message to our customers from Jonathan Randall (Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing at Mack Trucks)

Reliable Towing Services would like to welcome Maple Ridge Towing to their group of companies.

Maple Ridge Towing has provided the communities of Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge with first class service since 1981. Under the leadership of Randy Sorley, the company has built an amazing reputation for being reliable, honest and community orientated. Randy’s work within the Towing and Automotive industries landed him in the Towing Hall of Fame in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

We want to wish Randy and his family the best in their future. His daughter Dena Parke and all the other staff you have become accustomed to see at Maple Ridge Towing will be staying on to provide the same amazing service.

EFFINGHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - A man is in custody after a hit-and-run near Blue Jay and McCall Road in Effingham County.

The Effingham County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia State Patrol, Springfield and Rincon Police all responded after the suspect fled the scene.

According to the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office, the suspect’s car later blew a tire and crashed into a tow truck and an Effingham County deputy’s car. No serious injuries were reported.

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Two people are dead and a third taken to hospital after an out-of-control tow truck hit an SUV near Langdon on Wednesday.

A third person was taken to hospital in serious but stable condition.

RCMP said a tow truck driver heading east on Glenmore Trail lost control, crashing into the SUV, killing both the driver and passenger.

One individual was taken to Foothills Hospital by ambulance in serious but stable condition, according to EMS spokesperson Adam Loria.

Police and paramedics were called to the scene on Highway 560 (Glenmore Trail) at around 9:15 a.m.

RCMP said they were in the process of notifying the victims' family. 

At the time of the crash, the road was icy, according to police.

The RCMP's Strathmore and collision analyst units were working together to investigate the crash.

Traffic on Glenmore Trail west of Highway 791 was being rerouted to Range Road 283, which was expected to continue for several hours.

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