FARK.com: (614602) Tow-truck driving business has outgrown getting in wrecks/illegal parking business, in some cases by 25 to 1

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(HoustonChronicle.com)		Tow-truck driving business has outgrown getting in wrecks/illegal parking business, in some cases by 25 to 1 (chron.com)		103
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13010 clicks; posted to Main » on 10 Aug 2003 at 6:44 PM | Favorite | share:

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HamsterBoy		2003-08-10 10:54:04 AM

That's pretty sad (read the article).

DandamanFL		2003-08-10 12:26:58 PM

HamsterBoy, I guess I will have to, that headline has even me tied in knots, and I was told yesterday "You must be used to reading sentences written by people with barely a remedial grasp of English. Yay you."

DandamanFL		2003-08-10 12:31:56 PM

Ok, clearer now, but this made me say "huh?".
The 1994 Federal Aviation Act, which deregulated the trucking and wrecker industry

ahhh, bureaucracy at its finest

DandamanFL		2003-08-10 06:08:23 PM

Wow nihil8r, I have this mental image of you going postal on a newspaper when you can't figure out the jumble. I think the poster was saying the # of tow trucks has grown 25 times faster than the business they are used for. I don't think his numbers are correct but I am not reading through that depressing story a second time to verify it.

Joey JoJo Junior Shabadoo		2003-08-10 06:54:13 PM

HolyMackeral		2003-08-10 06:55:13 PM

Poor dude... should move to Colorado where he can make BIG bucks in the towing industry. Forget cars, go for the semis... they started charging by the pound now instead of just a standard tow fee.

Pseudo Psy		2003-08-10 06:55:32 PM

This is not worth a divorce. Pathetic low-life..

illithid		2003-08-10 06:56:57 PM

I live in a college town and towing is a huge business here. You park against a red curb for five minutes with your hazards on (because, honestly, there isn't anywhere legal to park within four or five blocks) and you'll get towed.

Not that anyone cares...

No not really, If someone parks in a red even with their flashers it doesn't make it alright. That person deserves to get towed.

udo		2003-08-10 06:58:51 PM

Now I know why tow truck drivers drive like ass. If you don't get there in time, you need to drum up business.

peter_hook		2003-08-10 07:00:05 PM

Again, I am caught between the "My experience with wrecker drivers being crooked scumbags/towyards being a fraud" and "one bad apple shouldn't spoil the bunch."

I like AAA. It's better to have wrecking as part of your business, not be your ONLY business. And all of those guys should take AAA, insurance, whatever. I don't know why people would pay full price for a tow when you can have it for $2 a month from your insurer or $65 a year from AAA and you get free unlocks, gas, etc.

illuminatus		2003-08-10 07:01:02 PM

Seriously, I've seen tow truckers lined up for blocks when there is a accident.

NakedApe		2003-08-10 07:02:08 PM

I read somewhere (Fark?) that parking with your flashers on is just admitting that you know you shouldn't be parked there.

Aias		2003-08-10 07:03:39 PM

A human interest story on fark.com?

vandamm78		2003-08-10 07:06:31 PM

There should be a "Texas" banner

CowtownHouston		2003-08-10 07:07:13 PM

Bullsh*t!!
Yeah I had the pleasure of dealing w/ one of these fine outstanding individuals of the community last year. My truck was crashed (I wasn't ticketed, she was) and towed 3 miles to the closed dealership where the driver said he wanted paid immediately ($800!) or he would "have" to store it at his base ($250!) overnight and bring it back the next morning ($200 more ). Yeah the total tow bill was over $1000 and both Houston & the state of TX said they could do nothing about it.

Insurance paid for the entire bill. And people wonder why their car insurance is so high....

Needless to say I now flip off every tow truck driver I see. (and don't let me catch one of their trucks alone if I have a rock or keys in my hand) :)
F*ck 'em........

/not bitter at all

auspicious		2003-08-10 07:16:08 PM

They're fecking vultures and cause more problems here than they fix.

dav925		2003-08-10 07:20:03 PM

I don't have a tow liscense, but i do tow cars into the middle of the street when i need a parking spot.

antialias		2003-08-10 07:22:00 PM

Oh please. Poor tow truck guy isn't making as much money! fark him and all the other tow-vulture shiatbags.

TotallyFarkedDude		2003-08-10 07:23:04 PM

'I thought I was marrying a companion.'
No, you married a looser with a go-nowhere job. Obviously you thought for some reason that tow trucks == money. biatch.

Shyster		2003-08-10 07:29:31 PM

i hunt tow truck drivers at night. i shoot them while they're feeding and leave them to the vultures.

Gwendolyn		2003-08-10 07:32:57 PM

Why is everyone ragging on the guy for having a "loser" job?

Nine years ago, he was making $55,000 to $70,000 a year, .

She married a guy making 70k a year. If that's a go nowhere kinda guy, can I get me one of those?

Geesh

jgaynor		2003-08-10 07:36:01 PM

In New Brunswick, NJ (home of Rutgers) there are so many towing outfits that almost EVERY private parking lot is staked out by a contract truck. If you park in one of these lots and do not immediately walk into the establishment that owns that lot (bar, restaurant, etc) your car will be gone in minutes. It will then cost you $90 for the cost of tow plus $20 oer day of "car storage" - where the minute your car hits the tower's lot it counts as a "day."

TotallyFarkedDude		2003-08-10 07:39:28 PM

Gwendolyn - and now he doesn't make jack, and she left. But then, you just advertised that you're only interested in men with money!

cheeze		2003-08-10 07:40:56 PM

texas banner (feel free to use):

theflyingdutchman		2003-08-10 07:41:20 PM

This is why I use AAA. No fuss, no muss.

Tows, jumps, gas, and such is all covered. Plus those sexy TripTik things. So worth it. Especially if you occasionally leave the lights on.

For example, there was the guy who leased property across the street from the Astrodome during the rodeo. After the lot filled up, he towed away all the cars, Turner said.

What a stupid plan.

Shyster		2003-08-10 07:41:32 PM

should have known better

Sacred Nut Fuzz		2003-08-10 07:43:28 PM

CowTownHouston

Same thing happened to me - got hit head-on by a drunk driver (uninsured naturally), and the thing that pissed me off the most its that I had to pay up front for my car to be towed away. Broken wrist, 3 inch gash in my forehead, the asswipe needed his money then and there. It "only" cost me $100, but WTF is up with that? If you are not cited in an accident, the payment for the tow should automatically go to the idiot who actually caused the accident...

Gwendolyn		2003-08-10 07:47:50 PM

Ouch, bitter much?

My point was that he had a job where he worked hard and could provide a quality of life for his family. So he wasn't a Net Admin. He still got off his butt and worked to earn a living. Does everyone need a college degree to be in a worthy job? Last time I checked America needed mechanics just as much as CEOs.

rawsta		2003-08-10 07:47:50 PM

am I the only one who is depressed after reading that article?

I bet he would pick up more jobs if he drove this truck...

Gwendolyn		2003-08-10 07:49:49 PM

I was only ever in one wreck but we called our insurance. They sent a tow truck. He was very helpful. Then dropped us off at a nice hotel on the way. I signed an insurance form and that was that.

How do you just get picked up?

rawsta		2003-08-10 07:51:32 PM

everybody should have AAA

LeroyB		2003-08-10 07:55:16 PM

What an empty article. It must have been a slow news day in Houston when they printed this story.

The Gunslinger Roland		2003-08-10 07:55:45 PM

Hmm, Most tow truck drivers are the scum of the earth, profiting off of other people's misery and not giving a shiat about anyone. It's good to see that there may possibly be a good tow truck driver around.

TommyymmoT		2003-08-10 08:01:18 PM

Heart warming story time.
Years ago, while working as an independent electrician, I was called to install 2, 4foot flourescent fixtures at a towing garage. The same towing garage that had raped me a week before. I made it a point of screwing them. I charged $2.ea. for wire nuts. I charged roughly 3 times more than usual. They balked, then I threatened a mechanic's lien (which is how they keep your car until you pay). Afterward, I called in the fire inspectors to attend to several unsafe situations that I noticed. Their stupid lights ended up costing over $4000.

modernhamlet		2003-08-10 08:07:50 PM

Quit whining. Towing in Boston is still run by the mob.

Guess it keeps the competition down though.

Tow trucks are fair game where I come from. That's why you never see them unattended.

lbn		2003-08-10 08:11:27 PM

His home away from home is a Shell service station along Loop 610 in Bellaire. He spends much of a day there and sometimes camps out an entire weekend waiting for loads.

Strangely enough, I do the same thing. And I'm not a tow truck driver.

StinkyFiddlewinks		2003-08-10 08:14:38 PM

AAA farking rocks! I had to get pulled out of the snowbank known as a driveway 5 times at my last place this winter. Cost me nothing but the membership fees, hell, I even had my roommate pulled out of a snowbank when her car slid into one, also free.

domo-kun007		2003-08-10 08:17:56 PM

Gwen that pic is HAWT!

Tow truck drivers are the skum of the universe. My friends car got towed on a saturday because of a football game. He was out of the country at the time and the city didnt bother to post any signs that the street would be closed on football game days. So his car sat in the impound for 2 weeks racking up charges he then had to pay to get it back. Plus anytime you actually need one they smell bad...

culov		2003-08-10 08:19:52 PM

thebra:

About 30 posts too late.

lbn		2003-08-10 08:22:24 PM

3M_TA3		2003-08-10 08:26:09 PM

culov

30 posts too late, unless it took him/her two hours to type that message...

TylerEaves		2003-08-10 08:28:41 PM

This story hit a bit to close to home today.

I was driving my mothers car (so as to have AC, cruise control, etc) up to Raleigh for a concert today. Was in some fairly heavy rain, doing about 40 in a 65 because of it. Being real careful due to amount of water on the road. At about 3:50PM today the car ceased going forwards at 40mph and proceeded to starting doing 40mph sideways done the middle of the highway (median/ditch). There was a metal guardrail down the middle of the median that I did a most efficient job of taking out about 30 or 40 feet of it. The cars pretty wrecked (actually drove it home, but the bodywork resembles aluminum foil in places). I'm in one peice at least.

womdinmypants		2003-08-10 08:34:23 PM

nice try though thebra. I do agree. What is it with women and freaky eyebrows? Do they think that they are attractive? Yuck.

NoCostDials		2003-08-10 08:39:03 PM

Okay, I had my car towed across town....10 miles or so...it cost me $35. What's with $800??? You can get a car transported half way across the country for around $1000.

Sinatra		2003-08-10 08:39:23 PM

No wonder these guys are "gruff".

HowlingFrog		2003-08-10 08:48:04 PM

Gwendolyn, this is Fark. Everybody here earns high in the five digits or better. Except me; I maintain a trailer park for free rent, utilities and internet, and do odd jobs for my spending money. Everything from computer networking to stained glass. So I'm a loser. But I get up when I want to.

Pyrtwist		2003-08-10 08:52:33 PM

I usually call the place where I need my vehicle fixed. Clutch went out on two vehicles, I called Mitchel transmission. Free tow with $500 of work. Both times it was $500. Wife had flat and I could not remove one lug nut. Called BP and had it towed to thier tire shop. $50. The Mercury dealer screwed up replacing the timing belt. Mercury dealer paid for it.

Life in Iowa is ok. No $800 towing bills.

stiginz		2003-08-10 08:59:48 PM

I just can't get past that horrible headline...

chime		2003-08-10 09:03:21 PM

jgaynor

In New Brunswick, NJ (home of Rutgers).....

Yet another reason I don't have a car :) Live on Easton & walk everywhere. Got a couple of commuter friends to take me shopping once/twice a month. Beats parking tickets, Rt. 18 traffic, blah blah. Afaik, RU REALLY sucks when it comes to parking. I wonder if it's the same in most other city colleges.

palehorse95		2003-08-10 09:06:48 PM

Okay, Here I go (puts on flame retardant suit)

I work for a towing service here in TN and I am quite surprised at these horror stories I have just read in the above posts. My service charges $35.00 for a "simple breakdown" tow that begins and ends within the city limits of town.If we are "ORDERED" by the police to remove an illeagally parked vehicle the charge is usually $45.00-$55.00 due to the extra effort required to load a vehicle without the keys. If the car is to be stored in our compound the cost is $15.00 per day, which goes towards paying the overwhelming amount of insurance needed to cover all the vehicles to be stored.For long distance tows the charge is $35.00 for the first 10 miles then an additional $1.25 per mile afterward. Unlike most tow services we charge for "loaded" miles only, not both ways. As far as AAA is concerned It is far better for the customer and the tow service than any of the other roadside assistance insurances.You must know that AAA has very few of it's own trucks. Most of the work is contracted out to services such as mine.

The Gunslinger Roland : Re:"Hmm, Most tow truck drivers are the scum of the earth, profiting off of other people's misery and not giving a shiat about anyone. It's good to see that there may possibly be a good tow truck driver around." Most tow truck drivers I know are very hard working and dedicated people,most work 10-12 hours a day for a salary and then are on call at night for a commission of the tow fee. The drivers where I work are on call 24hrs. a day and receive only 2 days a month off. How many people do you know that are dedicated enough to work like that? When it comes to profiting from other peoples' misery, do you put doctors,lawers,vets,police officers,firemen,and paramedics in that same catagory? They all provide a service that is needed and required by this civilization for it to proceed.
Please re-evaluate your statement because under your current definition, just doing tech support for an ISP is an evil job.

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