Consumer complaints about the price of a tow bill are nothing new. Usually, it’s the tow company that is the target of the complaints. However, with the rise of administrative fees being charged by cities, some cities are also drawing the ire of the general public.
Every year in late summer, I am reminded of Blake Gresham. On August 27, 2012, Blake, who was a 19 year old local tow operator, was struck and killed while he was towing a vehicle from the side of a Kansas City highway. Both before and after Blake’s death, there have been many other tow operators and other emergency workers killed in the line of the duty despite the fact each of the 50 United States now have some form of a Move Over Law.
Municipal tow contracts have certain requirements that the successful bidder must satisfy. These often include certain types of equipment, minimum insurance, and a satisfactory tow lot. But what are a losing bidder’s legal rights when the successful bidder doesn’t satisfy these requirements and the losing bidder does? Can the losing bidder successfully sue to “win” the contract?
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that overtime pay (1½ times the regularly hourly rate) must be paid to employees on any hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week unless the employee is exempt. However, employees of your tow company may be exempt from the overtime pay requirement pursuant to the “motor carrier” exemption in Section 13(b)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Is “on call” time compensable? Many tow companies require a driver to occasionally take their truck home at night or to answer weekend calls. However, some tow companies do not have a plan in place for determining whether this time is compensable. This is important because uncompensated “on call” time can quickly turn into a wage and hour nightmare of minimum wage and overtime claims.
Employment related lawsuits are on the rise nationally and the tow business is no exception to this trend. Tow companies are now faced with many new types of employment related lawsuits that few considered several years ago. Employment related lawsuits range from overtime and minimum wage claims from drivers to the more standard type of employment related lawsuits from support staff. Fortunately, there are some simple steps that tow companies can take to help protect themselves.
The TowLawyer gets this this call at least once a week. Scenario is this: tow company calls TowLawyer and is upset that they are not getting the opportunity to perform tow services for a particular law enforcement or governmental agency. TowLawyer asks the following question: what can you point to that gives you the legal right to perform tow services for that particular law enforcement or governmental agency.
In the tow business, it is common for companies to refuse to release vehicles until the full bill for towing and storage has been paid. Although this is rarely discussed, the legal basis behind a company’s refusal to release a vehicle centers on whether or not the tow company has a possessory lien. Stated another way, generally, it is unlawful to retain someone’s property without some legal basis.
This might be the most common case where a tow company is likely to get “stiffed” on their tow bill. In other blogs, we’ve covered the situation where there is property damage to a privately owned house or property. The tow company should get an assignment from the property owner. An assignment helps the tow company “stand in the shoes” of the damaged property owner, which can help them collect their bill on a liability only claim.
Insurance companies employ individuals on a full time basis to knock down towing bills. Do you employ someone on a full time basis to make sure your bills are correct? Probably not. But there a few basic practices you can put in place now that will certainly help your situation.
