An elderly couple was spending a few moments resting on the front porch swing; both were more than a little hard of hearing. Homer turned and faced his wife of 50-plus years and said, “I sure do love you!”

          “What?” Mattie replied.

          Homer repeated, “I sure do love you!”

          Mattie quickly responded, “I’m tired of you too!”

         

          It takes guts to openly express what we believe in. I remind you of this because I often hear others criticize industry role models for speaking out on conditions and issues that they are passionate about. Having heard those critical comments, I say: Keep up the good work! Like Mattie, I'm growing a little tired too; in my case, of some of the negative influences in our industry.

          Several years ago, I appeared dressed as a pirate at a TRAA conference of towing, insurance, and trucking professionals. It was my intention to focus the attention of those attending the seminar on unscrupulous towing companies and their unfair business practices. Well, it may be time to again grab my hook and sword, and shout threateningly, “Arggh, matey! On guard!”

                                                The Challenge              

          As the former president of the Towing & Recovery Association of Kentucky (TRAK), I received calls regularly regarding the actions of our towing companies and how those actions are viewed by law enforcement, trucking companies, and insurance adjusters as unethical, illegal, or fraudulent. These calls are referred to TRAK from the Kentucky Motor Transport Association, other towing companies, or the operations officials at various state police posts. 

          What was alarming to me about this increasing volume of calls is the fact that almost as many of these calls concerned members of our own towing association as those that involved non-members. With this in mind, permit me to first share with you our ethical responsibilities as outlined in TRAK’s membership handbook, and then I will discuss some of these principles and how I interpret them for the benefit of towers everywhere:

 

TRAK Code of Ethics

 

·        Members shall encourage the American free enterprise system.

·        Each member owes a duty of integrity, honor, and courtesy to the general public in the operation of all facets of its business.

·        Cleanliness and neatness of equipment and drivers are important features of public contact.

·        Members shall comply with all city, county, state and federal laws and it shall be the duty of the association to keep members informed as to these laws and their application; as well as rules and regulations promulgated by the regulatory bodies designated to administer and enforce these laws.

·        No member shall do anything or make any utterance which conceivably might injure the reputation of any member or non-member competitor.

·        Members shall employ truth and accuracy in advertising and soliciting and they shall honor any commitments made in the course of business.

·        Members shall bring to the attention of the central office any information believed to be a violation of any law or regulation and aid in the enforcement of all laws and regulations.

·        Members shall strive to improve their internal business methods to strengthen their economic well being to the end of being better able to serve the public.

 

Alarm Bells

 

          To begin, let’s start with the free enterprise system, or capitalism, which in general refers to an economic system in which the means of production are mostly privately owned and operated for profit. In our system, the pricing of services is determined through the operation of a free market.

          But every time a trucking company protests a $25,000 to $30,000 recovery and storage invoice, alarm bells begin ringing. These complaints are not falling on deaf ears. Legislators are beginning to salivate at the prospects of regulating towing and recovery charges nationwide.

          An alarmingly high percentage of recovery invoices of this size turn out to be both inflated and unsubstantiated. When I was called on to review and comment on so many of these situations, I began to realize that governmental intervention may not be such a bad idea after all.

 

No Respect

 

          Now let’s consider the issue of integrity, honor, and courtesy toward our customers and each other. Based on complaints I have gotten, phone calls to towing companies are often met with either disrespect or ineptitude, I’m not certain which. And if it is happening here, you can be sure it is happening in your state too.

          Once, while trying to coordinate a training seminar, phone calls from state transportation officials and from our own TRAK office were handled by towers with such a lack of professionalism that I wondered aloud just how these people stay in business!

          There also seems to be a general lack of respect among member towing companies. Sure, we all get along at the meetings, but I would get frequent calls about how our member towers are mistreated on-scene, in storage yards, and on phone calls by other fellow members.

          If we can’t get along with each other, how in the world do we expect to get along with the public?

 

Rule-Benders

 

          Rule: Members shall comply with all laws. What is hard to understand about that statement? Yet we consistently have towing companies bending the rules to increase profits at the expense of integrity. Here’s what I see:

·        I see more up-charges on towing invoices than on cell-phone statements!

·        I see storage and impound charges by the square foot and cubic inch

·        I see towing companies violating the State Police policy on substituting wreckers on the rotation list

·        I take notice of a “heavy-duty wrecker” on the inventory record, but it’s a 16-ton

·        I hear of a twin-boom wrecker listed as a rotating crane recovery unit

 

Hurtful Talk

 

          Rule: Members shall not make any statements that might injure the reputation of any member or non-member competitor. Well, I am beginning to think that one item right there could nearly wipe out the membership roll of many an association. Then again, maybe there was no reputation to damage.

          Most if not every towing operator I know has or will knowingly violate this standard, yours truly included. It’s one thing to bite your tongue when you see a minor violation of accepted practices; it is (or should be) a completely different situation when outright dishonesty, deception, and illegal acts are being committed by alleged “towing professionals.”

         

A Hopeful Man

 

          Anyway, I’m sure you get my point, so I’ll refrain from discussing the remaining standards. It is my hope that towers will take these comments constructively and refrain from negative practices and unlawful business methods. In our daily interaction with both the public and other towing companies, wouldn’t it be wonderful if each party had a smile on their face when the transaction was complete?

          This may be too much to wish for. Old habits die hard and bad economic times have placed a hardship on towing companies. An association member once told me that he felt many towers were impolite and uncooperative because they need every dollar they can stick on an invoice and so bare their fangs at any dog who tries to steal food off their plate.

          I hope it hasn’t come to this. I know there are many honest and trustworthy individuals out there, and to you, I have been preaching to the choir. But to those “unprofessionals” who violate the rules I’ve described here, I’ll simply say: “I’m tired of you, too.”