The ordinance regulating the towing industry in Chattanooga only pertains to towing companies that are on the city’s rotation list. Those are companies that are called by the city to move vehicles on a rotating basis. That means the city has no authority over towing businesses other than those on rotation, leaving others to make their own rules.
During the past year, two businesses, Chattanooga Impound Services, 2800 Rossville Blvd. and American Tow and Recover, 5910 Shaw Ave., have repeatedly taken advantage of the lack of regulations for their own benefit, members of the Wrecker Board were told Thursday.
Discussions about these companies have taken place at several Wrecker Board meetings in recent months. American Towing is on the city’s rotation list, but Chattanooga Impound is not. Owners of these businesses have a personal relationship and the businesses intermingle their vehicles, storage lots and tows, it was stated.
Examples of how their businesses operate together, include practices such as American Towing vehicles being used to tow cars for Chattanooga Impound, the board was told. In one case, an invoice was from Chattanooga Impound, but the vehicle which had been towed had to be picked up at American Towing’s storage lot. And “astonishing prices,” have been required from people when retrieving their vehicles, especially from Chattanooga Impound which is not on the rotation list, Sgt. Jason Wood told the Wrecker Board.
Earlier this year, the two companies caused a bus load of people to have to find rides all across town to pick up their cars at the American Towing lot near the airport, after being taken there by Chattanooga Impound. That time, a parking lot was cleared of cars by the towing company, while the owners of the vehicles had taken an overnight bus trip to gamble in Mississippi. And more recently, the board heard a complaint from the owner of a car which had been towed out of an apartment parking lot and charged an exorbitant amount to get the vehicle back.
The most recent problem became known when David Bagley, the branch service manager at Penske, a truck rental business, complained to the Wrecker Board of a recent incident involving one of his company’s vehicles. He said the truck had been leased to people doing work for Erlanger Hospital. On April 23, the vehicle had been parked where it was blocking a loading dock and Erlanger did not call the driver to move it, but did call Chattanooga Impound Services for the truck to be towed. The towing was justified, but the problem was the amount that was charged to Penske for getting the truck back, it was stated.
Penske has a relationship with Doug Yates Towing, which they call when help is needed. The cost of an average local tow for Penske is about $400-$500, said Shannon Yates. In this case, the vehicle had been taken from Erlanger Hospital and stored at the American Towing lot near the airport for less than one day. When Mr. Bagley from Penske went to pick it up, he was charged $2,000 that had to be paid in cash before the truck was released. “With no regulation, they could have charged $5,000 or whatever they wanted, since the towing company is not on the rotation list,” said Mr. Bagley.
The city does not have any authority over “predatory towing” if the tow company is not on the city’s rotation list, said Sgt. Jason Wood with the Chattanooga Beer and Wrecker Board. “People are being taken advantage of and it makes the towing industry look bad. Something needs to be done.”
Assistant City Attorney Kathryn McDonald said that the ordinance needs to be changed and suggested for the wrecker board, which does not have the authority to change ordinances, to make a recommendation to the Chattanooga City Council, which is the body that does have the power to make and change ordinances.