Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, March 7, 2024:
Florida passes predatory towing reform bill
With unanimous votes in the Florida House and Senate, the Florida Legislature has passed significant predatory towing and recovery reform legislation that is now headed to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
House Bill 179, led by State Rep. Melony Bell and State Sen. Keith Perry, was a multi-year effort to enact meaningful reforms to the towing and recovery business in Florida.
Florida Trucking Association President and CEO Alix Miller called the bill’s passage "a huge victory for trucking in Florida, the trucking industry nationally, who have seen invoices as high as $200,000, and the motoring public, who fall victim to predatory towing companies.”
HB 179 will require towing and storage operators to maintain a rate sheet listing all fees related to vehicle or vessel recovery, removal, or storage. They must post this rate sheet at their place of business and provide it upon request to vehicle or vessel owners, lienholders, insurance companies, or their agents.
[Related: Predatory towing: How can fleets avoid becoming victims?]
Additionally, before attaching a vehicle or vessel to a wrecker, the operator must furnish the rate sheet to the owner or operator if present. Any fee charged beyond those listed on the rate sheet will be considered unreasonable.
“The final bill includes some significant new requirements for the establishment and publication of rates, requirements for detailed and itemized invoices, a requirement for towers to accept multiple payment options, and a new dispute resolution process for consumers and carriers to challenge excessive fees,” Miller added.
The bill also helps in situations when carriers have problems recovering personal property and undamaged trailers that have been towed and stored. In these instances, the inspection and release of the vehicle, vessel, trailer or personal property must be permitted within one hour and during normal business hours at the site where the vehicle, trailer or vessel is stored. The operator must accept government-issued photo identification and cannot require additional forms of identification to access and/or release the vehicle.
“The towing and recovery industry is vital to the Florida trucking industry, and we’re grateful to have many as members of FTA and for their input in the legislation,” Miller said. “HB 179 will weed out the predatory towing tactics of bad actors and make the entire industry better and safer.”
If approved by DeSantis, the law will become effective on July 1, 2024.
[Related: DOT's Buttigieg, FMCSA call out predatory towing, propose penalties]
Texas suspends trucking regs for wildfire response
The largest wildfire in Texas history, which has burned more than 1 million acres as of Wednesday, has prompted Gov. Greg Abbott to issue an emergency declaration, waiving several regulations for truck drivers and carriers responding to the blaze.
The emergency declaration was issued last week for 60 counties across the Panhandle and South Plains regions into the Permian Basin and West Texas, which can be found in the declaration.
Following the declaration, Abbott granted waivers to help in the wildfire response. As such, he directed the Texas DMV to temporarily suspend interstate vehicle registration, 72-hour and 144-hour temporary registration permitting, and oversize and overweight permitting.
The Texas Department of Public Safety was also directed to temporarily suspend rules related to carriers conducting response and recovery efforts to wildfires, allowing additional hours without violating federal regulations and enhancing efforts for lifesaving measures to be taken by motor carriers.
Examples of disaster assistance, according to the Texas DMV, include but are not limited to, vehicles engaged in the transportation of relief workers, food, hay, water, clothing, equipment, medical supplies, materials, fuel, shelter, and other supplies to the disaster areas, as well as vehicles used to restore utilities and to remove debris from the disaster areas listed in the disaster declaration.
Operators utilizing the waivers are required to carry a copy of the Texas DMV waiver, as well as the governor’s emergency declaration.
Mack names Dealer of the Year
Nextran Truck Centers of Tuscumbia, Alabama, is the Mack Trucks 2023 North American Dealer of the Year, the company announced this week.
Mack named Nextran the winner during the recent Mack annual dealer executive meeting in Indian Wells, California.
Mack presents the Dealer of the Year awards to dealers that exceed business targets for sales, parts and leasing, as well as those that continue to grow the business and score highly among customers for satisfaction.
Nextran Truck Centers has 25 locations in Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri and Wyoming.
Mack Trucks also named 2023 winners for its regional sales divisions:
- Northeast Region: Ballard Truck Center, Tewksbury, Massachusetts
- Southeast Region: Nextran Truck Centers, Tuscumbia, Alabama
- Central Region: Vanguard Truck Centers, St. Louis, Missouri
- Southwest Region: Bruckner’s Truck and Equipment, Amarillo, Texas
- West Region: Vanguard Truck Centers, Phoenix, Arizona
- Canada Region: Vision Truck Group, Cambridge, Ontario
Vision Truck Group, of Cambridge, Ontario, was also named Canada’s Mack Financial Services Dealer of the Year, and Gabrielli Truck Sales at Jamaica, New York, was named the U.S. Mack Financial Services Dealer of the Year. Vanguard Truck Centers in Houston, Texas, was named the Mack Leasing System Dealer of the Year. Tri-State Truck Center, Memphis, Tennessee, received the Mack Remarketing Dealer of the Year Award, and the Parts Dealer of the Year Award went to Bruckner’s Truck & Equipment, San Antonio, Texas. Texarkana Mack Sales, Texarkana, Texas, received the Mack Customer Satisfaction Award.
