Wrecker company manager asks city for rate increases (AL)

[TowForce]

 

Aug. 17—Limits on how much towing companies can charge for police-initiated requests in Decatur are so low that some wrecker services are turning down city calls and creating lengthy delays at the scene for police officers, a local tow truck company manager said.

 

Kenny Hetrick, manager of All Star Towing & Recovery of Decatur, asked the City Council on Monday to consider increasing the rates a wrecker company can charge when responding to a city call.

 

The city uses a rotation system on police calls requesting that a wrecked or impounded vehicle be towed. The vehicle's owner is responsible for the cost of towing and storage, and towing firms require payment before releasing the vehicle.

 

On a call from the city, Decatur allows a wrecker company to charge $75 for a typical tow and $125 for a wreck, a tow necessitated by an arrest or to pick up an abandoned vehicle. Storage of a vehicle towed on behalf of the city is capped at $20 per day.

 

Hetrick proposed allowing charges of $125 for a traffic stop or routine tow, $200 for a wreck or abandonment and $30 per day for storage.

 

Hetrick pointed out the city hasn't raised tow truck rates since 2008. He said the city does not allow any charge for the first 24 hours of storage.

 

"At the time (of the last rate increases in 2008), diesel was $1.50 a gallon and now it's $5 a gallon," Hetrick said. "My truck alone cost $70,000 new (in 2008), and now it costs $100,000-plus. Drivers' pay is $18 to $20 an hour, even at 3 a.m.

 

"Taking all of this into consideration and a $75 rate, it makes you question whether it is worth it to respond to a city call."

 

Mayor Tab Bowling proposed rate increases in 2017. However, former Council President Paige Bibbee said council members at the time had several questions about the proposal, so it never came up for a vote.

 

Hetrick pointed out that surrounding communities allow wrecker services to charge higher rates.

 

Trinity Police Chief Randy Hughes said the four wreckers on the town's call list can charge $200 for an impound plus an additional $50 to tow a vehicle from an accident scene. The town's rate structure also allows charges for cleanup and time spent at the accident scene. The wrecker services must purchase a business license and go through an annual inspection by Hughes but there is no charge for being on the town's call list. The services also must have a lot in the town.

 

Hughes said they had an issue where one wrecker service was charging much more than the others so he held a meeting to solve the issue. He said he asked the services to justify their costs when setting the rates.

 

"I wanted to make sure no one is charging outrageous rates and no one is too cheap," Hughes said. "We just all needed to get on the same page."

 

Priceville Mayor Sam Heflin said his town does not set limits on how much wrecker services can charge. He said the town used to collect $25 on each call, but collecting the fee "was such a hassle" and it barely covered expenses so the town eliminated it.

Athens spokeswoman Holly Hollman said her city doesn't have a rate structure that limits what wrecker services can charge. The Madison city website says it also doesn't have a rate structure, but it does charge a $25 fee to have the city dispatch a wrecker.

 

"While our storage is $20 a day for storage, all of the other cities are $30 to $40 for storage," Hetrick said.

 

Hetrick said there's not much left over after expenses with the $75 limit, but the company does make a small amount of profit from being on the city rotation list.

 

"If we were losing money, we would be out of business," Hetrick said. "But we're not far from it (with the current rate structure)."

 

Danny Gant, of Sammy's Towing, operates out of Hartselle "so we push it to get to Decatur, especially with the cost of gas and all of our expenses going up." He pointed out that insurance costs are up too.

 

Hetrick said several wrecker companies are refusing to run Decatur calls because of the city's rate limits, creating problems for Morgan County 911 and the Police Department. A wrecker company can get on the city's call rotation list but there's no penalty for refusing calls.

 

The 911 dispatcher ends up having to call multiple wrecker companies searching for someone who is willing to run a call, Hetrick said.

 

"A dispatcher spends 30 minutes, so a police officer is tied up at the scene just waiting on a tow truck and another 30 minutes just watching the vehicle loaded on to the truck," Hetrick said. "That's almost an hour on the scene just waiting on a tow truck."

 

Police Chief Todd Pinion said he's not aware that waiting on tow trucks is an issue, but he said that may be because officers are not reporting the minor problem. He said he needs to talk with his officers to find out if what Hetrick claims truly is an issue.

 

Morgan County 911 Director Jeanne Pharis said rolled calls by wrecker companies "is a consistent issue but I wouldn't label it as a high problem."

 

Pharis said 17 wrecker companies pay $100 a month or $1,100 a year to be on Decatur's rotation list. This money goes to Morgan County 911. Decatur's only revenue from wrecker companies is from their purchase of an annual business license that allows them to operate in the city.

 

Councilman Hunter Pepper said he rode with Hetrick's company several times and he believes they deserve a raise.

"They get up day and night to a dispatcher's call for just $75," Pepper said. "They risk their lives at the scene and they don't get the same recognition that other first responders do."

 

RESOURCE LINK