Tow truck Towing Fedex Truck Stopped (MA)

[TowNews]

Peabody Area Police Brief: (Wednesday 09.30.20)

Police stopped a tow truck towing a FedEx truck at 2:05 p.m., in or near the intersection of Foster and Franklin streets and summoned the operator to court for operating a motor vehicle on a suspended license.

 

The tow truck and its tow were released to a licensed operator.

 

RESOURCE LINK

[rreschran]

If this were to happen in San Diego, the tow truck most likely would have been impounded. How many of you have impounded another tow company's tow truck or carrier at the request of your local PD or highway patrol?      R

[goodmichael]

EwwI have impounded a few for no insurance, dwi/DUI's, and no valid license. I have also repossessed two police cars from a municipality after they defaulted on an obligation. 

It was pretty awkward calling in the repossession to law enforcement when it was their fleet that was the unit captured. I recovered both units the same episode.

 

Edited October 4, 2020 by goodmichael

[GRUMPS The Towman]

Being a pretty tight knit towing community here, I dont really know if I would tow a competitors truck for p.d.. It just seems to be a conflict of interest type of deal to me.

Thankfully, P.D. around here are pretty easy on all of us for the most part. I recall an issue where another company in town had a driver who was stopped for a dragging safety chain and it turned out the drivers license was suspended for a child support issue. The driver didnt know his license had been suspended. The officer let the driver call his tow company and had them send another driver to pick up the rig and the driver. The driver straightened out his issue and was back to work in 2 days. The issue was kept real discreet and I only learned of it from the driver himself.

In NY, they will suspend your license for pretty much anything and everything without a moments notice. About 2 years ago, I had found that my license had been suspended for an unpaid parking ticket that my wife had gotten in our vehicle that was solely registered to me a year before. I never got a single notification about it and only found out when I went to dmv to register another vehicle. I paid the ticket and the b.s. dmv surcharge which was more than the ticket itself and they re-instated my license. We also ended up putting the personal vehicles in my wifes name so if that sort of mistake is made again It wont jam up my license. It is just a money making scheme for the state. Its one thing if your suspended for some major violation or crime of sorts, But this state takes it way over the edge in my opinion. 

Edited October 5, 2020 by GRUMPS The Towman

[rreschran]

Grumps ... dude ... dude ... DUDE ! ! !  Yer' makin' me twitch Grumps. This was one of my lifetime's bitter-most, personal issues having to deal with the ex-witch when it came to child support. Many, many years ago, San Diego's Family Court Services misfiled one of my support payments and suspended my license. It was their ERROR and the FCS investigator made the correction immediately. HOWEVER, paperwork at DMV stalled and I was without my license for nearly two months. How's this for ironic; I was the tow company's manager who found out I was being suspended through California's Pull-Notice Program. At the time, I was the company's general manager and got the notice in the mail. I made numerous trips to the DA's office and drove no tow trucks for two months working only in the office and admin work. My boss was really accomondating as she dealt with the problem before with other driver, so I was lucky not to be kicked to the streets. In California, both Family Court and then the DMV must be satisfied that support is fully paid where no arrears are present. In this state, it doesn't matter what car is registered to whom, the State can hold any professional license and driver's license. In that, it's good advice to all towers to keep those child support payments current to keep your license from being pulled. Note: If your child support is painfully in arrears and depending on the amount owed, you could be arrested and jailed for due support. In this case, at least the officer didn't arrest the tower or impound the tow truck. I guess it's time for another article as a remineder that ... if you get behind for any reason ... simply put ... "yer' screwed." Don't be that dead-beat parent.        R.

[rreschran]

Here's the viscious circle ... and I mean viscious.

 

Question: If a tow operator (parent) were to lose their CDL due to suspension, regardless as to what size tow truck, obviously they can't be insured right? If the driver is laid-off or is dismissed because they've become, "uninsurable", the driver loses their job. The company loses a driver, the driver loses any chance to earn the money for support, AND, the children lose support ultimatly due to them . So ... who loses here?     R

[TowZone]

A Viscous Circle is Right, although I rarely hear of this as much as say 10 or 20 years ago. Back then it seemed to be a regular occurrence in the towing industry. The automotive industry as a whole heard of it more back then. So, either the nuclear is more intact these days or those payments have become more stable. If an child support error does occur and they have numerous times. Fighting that error is time consuming, attempting to direct those child support funds to the appropriate needs of the child can be a nightmare. I used to know fathers that had to make sure the child was fed and clothed as additional funds for that purpose were not going to those needs. Now, like everything else most child support is paid and used properly. It's those that are not we hear about.

 

But, I will say there are far too many tow truck drivers that have past legal issues that can come back to haunt them. Tow Companies must do a better job of guiding these drivers, rather than looking the other way as it can actually lead to larger unrelated issues for the company.