Tow Truck Turf War | GTAMotorcycle.com

Tow Truck Turf War

justride

justride

Well-known member
www.theglobeandmail.com

In the GTA’s tow-truck turf wars, the race for profit leads to road rage, violence and intimidation

The industry that cleans up after car accidents is both lucrative and highly corruptible. In the past year and a half, its competitive tactics have put drivers, lawyers and the public at risk. How did things get so bad, and what can police and regulators do to stop it?
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Are they really fighting over who gets to tow a vehicle? It looks more like the actions of a criminal organization.
 
Very shady industry . I`m not sure how they are allowed to race each other on the shoulder to get to the wreck . There has always been rumors of biker clubs running many tow trucks operations .
 
Corruption is suspected in the OPP too. An officer has been dismissed, at least one other motorcycle cop is under investigation now for trumping ‘racing’ charges then selecting aquainted tow truck drivers to get the tow/impound. Prosecutors have deferred court dates twice after getting the calculus that would have had his Harley doing 250kmh to close at the speed he recorded at my buddy’s arrest.
 
Forgot about the impound fees. So let's say I get charged for doing 50kms over the speed limit. My bike gets impounded but I get the fine reduced(speed reduced to 35kms over) in court or I win my case (police officer didn't show up for court date. In either case, do I still have to pay the impound fee and the tow fee?
 
justride said:
Forgot about the impound fees. So let's say I get charged for doing 50kms over the speed limit. My bike gets impounded but I get the fine reduced(speed reduced to 35kms over) in court or I win my case (police officer didn't show up for court date. In either case, do I still have to pay the impound fee and the tow fee?
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Yes, roadside suspensions in Ontario follow Martial Law, there is no right to judge, jury , or trial - the arresting officer assigns the penalty

My buddy will likely have his case dismissed, he lost his car for a week and the impound/tow cost $1800. The tow operator charged $150 above the municipal regulated fee for hookup , towed the car to a yard 40km away instead of his local yard 8KM up the road which added $300 for mileage, they added $200 charge for dollies and $100 extra time to load onto dollies (they never used dollies) $120 standby charge for waiting at the scene (they just hooked up and left, there was no wait). When he went to pickup the car they demanded $1800 cash, he said no and they would not release the car. The next day the city bylaw chief called the tow operator and threatened them, they took a credit card and released the car. Even at highway robbery rates the tow should have been $300 + impound of $420 = $720. He was charged $1800.

The truck that towed him was one of the ones torched earlier this year.
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towing was once a required service industry run by guys that went out in all weather to rescue folks out of the snow banks and help them home. Its now one of the dirtiest scummy businesses operating, they fabricate fees, cut deals with equaliy ****** landlords to tow anybody that parks and leaves the property and exploit people that are in a bad way.
And we all pay for it , F the bunch of them
 
Spend any amount of time on the roads like I do and you'll soon grow a massive hatred for tow truck drivers.

I've seem the drive backwards on the 401 (I **** you not), run across grass and concrete medians and centre dividers, back down off ramps, weave dangerously through traffic, and blast along at insane speeds on paved, gravel, or grass shoulders. Then you realize that there's actually 3 of 4 of the all driving like complete tools....all in a race to get there first and scoop the hook.

There are good ones out there, sure....but the industry is awash in dangerous idiots.
 
Well..I've heard those in the Tow Truck business make a decent 6-figure income living..(in some cases having an exotic like a Ferrari in the garage type thing) - no idea how true any of this is.

Over the past few days I've been getting quotes from different companies for windows/doors and I've come to learn that this industry has a strong 'insert certain community' presence as well.
Just got me thinking - guess over time, its natural for a certain group of people / families to take over 'niche' businesses (for lack of a better term) and dominate them.
 
POWERMAN said:
Well..I've heard those in the Tow Truck business make a decent 6-figure income living..(in some cases having an exotic like a Ferrari in the garage type thing) - no idea how true any of this is.
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Judging by some of the good trucks you see, they must be doing well to afford them.
I was chatting with a CAA tow guy and he said they get a automatic flat fee from the inusrance companies to remove the wrecked vehicle. Something like $300, I guess do a few of those a day you are doing alright.
 
The fee to get it off the road, + dolly fees, they like dolly fees, + crazy storage rate daily . One crash can be a $1000 dollar day. Unless they tow you to "thier" autobody shop, then the backend payouts can be hundreds more , then its pretty easy to making 10's of thousands a year. Now put two/three drivers on a tow truck and your 24hrs a day. Its a very lucrative business.
 
Jayv said:
CAA tow guys have always been good to me when I've needed their help. The other guys are just crooks, its worth spending the annual fee on CAA so i will never need to deal with those cowboys.
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My understanding is that CAA won't tow from a crash and this is where the vulture factor comes in. The owner of the wrecked vehicle is likely disoriented and vulnerable to intimidation.

Towing is never going to be cheap. The trucks are expensive and it isn't a 9-5 situation with a schedule and fixed number of tows. The race to the crash site is understandable as there is no silver medal for second place. How do you GUARANTEE an operator a steady income?

Without the tows reacting quickly traffic jams would be our worst nightmares.

That said the nightmare of corruption between the police, tow operators, body shops and storage yards is deplorable. Al Capone would be proud.

A bit off topic but the insurance companies contribute to the problem. Instead of claiming crashes on their insurance car owners are paying cash to body shops to avoid massive rate increases. The loose cash is easy to split with the other seedy members of the ring. Think about it. If you go through insurance instead of paying the shop $5000 cash your rates double for 5-6 years and your car is on Carfax.
 
Locally it seems like Durham Region has now taken the "contract" approach to tows...so there is no "race to the crash" as they won't get the job - only the company that bid for the contract in the region and was certified by the Durham Regional Police get the hook.

My daughter had a minor mishap in her car a few months back and the DRP called the contract company to pull her out and it was an entirely no drama situation. Didn't have 5 trucks racing to the scene and all wigging out on the side of the road to get us to agree to let *them* take the job because they have a body shop that has "special deals" they can "hook me up with", blah blah blah. It was also a contractually agreed price set in the contract as well which couldn't be exceeded regardless of the equipment needed, the time involved, etc, so even though the extraction took about 45 minutes to get the car up and out of the ditch (it was pretty steep and of course, by luck, swampy at the bottom) and then it was loaded onto a flatbed because a rear tire had blown, it was only $300. I strongly suspect one of the ambulance chaser tow truck companies would have soaked us for *much* more money and then insisted they take it to a body shop instead of the end of our driveway where I wanted it. It was mostly superficial damage that I just fixed myself the next night and the car was back on the road.
 
Mad Mike said:
Corruption is suspected in the OPP too. An officer has been dismissed, at least one other motorcycle cop is under investigation now for trumping ‘racing’ charges then selecting aquainted tow truck drivers to get the tow/impound. Prosecutors have deferred court dates twice after getting the calculus that would have had his Harley doing 250kmh to close at the speed he recorded at my buddy’s arrest.
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Again? Where's this one?

There already was one cop under investigation some years ago for making false or trumped-up stunt-driving charges and alleged of corruption with an auto body shop that also has a towing company. Of course, in the end it was all made to go away.

Lots of us predicted that this was going to happen when the province first implemented the stunt driving vehicle impoundment law, but they did it anyhow, and that ship has sailed.

All "civil forfeiture" laws and anything remotely similar should be revoked, because every one of them ends up being abused.
 
nobbie48 said:
My understanding is that CAA won't tow from a crash and this is where the vulture factor comes in...
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Wait, is this true? CAA only tows non-accident cases?

I mean I have been paying for caa premier because of motorcycle towing, so I'd still pay for it, but I had expected they'd tow in all cases.
 
Always been that way. CAA is meant to be for roadside assistance for breakdowns and the like. Observation and some experience over the years has been that if you are stuck in a snowdrift or mud (and it's on the road or at the roadside, not 6 km up a muddy trail!), they'll do that. If police attend scene and deem it to be a collision, then they won't. A crashed motorcycle that you walk away from (and the bike can be rolled on its wheels in some fashion to some place away from the scene) is "broken down" ... just saying ...
 
Brian P said:
There already was one cop under investigation some years ago for making false or trumped-up stunt-driving charges and alleged of corruption with an auto body shop that also has a towing company. Of course, in the end it was all made to go away.
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He used the boatload of dirty money he made to open a bar in hamilton, stonewalls. ?
 
My sister in law crashed on the 401 near port hope. Towing+recovery+winch+mileage+one day storage was 1200 + tax. The tow truck driver didnt work for the company that wrote the invoice and the storage yard was owned by a third company. My brother got an honest and trustworthy tow truck owner to try to get the truck out asap. You cant negotiate with the crooks. They all say the money has already been spent as everyone needs their cut. What the hell? Obviously there is treachery as there is no legitimate reason for three companies to be involved with a 10 km tow.
 
Wasn't there a thread on here with some tow truck drivers arguing and itching for a scrap? Can't remember the details though.

As for tow truck drivers, I've met a few 'honest' ones, but they all want you to go to their own space. When I had my accident years ago, there were trucks lined up itching for the tow. However, from what I remember the cop told me that you don't need to take the first one on the scene (as the tow truck driver indicated) and you can select any of the ones there.

CAA will never tow from a multi-vehicle accident, maybe a single car one where you run off the road, but an actual accident no. From what I understand you also can't wait for your own tow truck to come if you're blocking a live lane with a broken down car, and the first tow gets it...but not sure.
 
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