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The Road Ahead for Towing Technology and Legislative Advocacy · Towing News Now

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Welcome one and all to the American Towing Recovery Institute podcast.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Remember this is your podcast to promote safety, education, positive public relations and networking within the professional and business-minded towing and recovery industry.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: I'm your co-host, dj Harrington, better known as the Tow Doctor, and my other host is Wes Wilburn, over 40-year towing industry veteran, the founder of American Towing Recovery Institute of Fayetteville, north Carolina.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: He has produced and conducted training and certification programs for leading towing companies, equipment distributors, towing associations, dot, fire departments, rescue, as well as military installations across the United States.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Wes has been published over 100 times in major towing publications published over 100 times in major towing publications.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: Wes has developed many courses, including the most recent awareness-level course for all responders that specialize in electric vehicles as well as hybrid, natural gas and hydrogen vehicles.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: Wes has provided insight as the main speaker for over 30 years, has more than 900 training classes and has been recognized as one of America's greatest towing trainers.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: He is well known for his straightforward but down-to-earth teaching style.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: Wes Wilburn and his American Storm Recovery staff have developed an electric vehicle phone app, wwwev-clevercom, with over 700 passenger vehicles and over 100 heavy-duty vehicles, bringing you a new level of convenience for information at your fingertips for all responders and their groups Without further ado.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: Here's my dear friend and a great guy for our industry, wes Wilber.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: Thank you, DJ.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: As always, I appreciate your kind words Busy time of year.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Just as you're listening to this podcast, we just got back from Charlotte, north Carolina.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: We had a great school hosted by Hunter's Record Service there in Charlotte.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: They really went all out.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: I'm telling you they have great hospitality when they do a school On Saturday.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: Of course, they had coffee and donuts in the morning when you got there.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: Well, let me back up.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: We started Friday night there with an article for vehicle class, had a few firefighters attend and we had probably 20 couple towing operators attend and we had the Tesla there, the demo Tesla that Paddock Trucking Service donated to us.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: We had that Tesla display vehicle there, so we did the electric vehicle.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: Last Friday night Hunter's got Fitzpatrick truck.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: They sponsored pizzas and coffee and sodas and what not.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: And then Saturday you got the coffee and fresh hot Krispy Kreme donuts one of the great things about town, which I guess they're all over now, but anyway, I digress.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: We had a great morning session.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: You know, we're doing kind of a revamped version of our training from last year, where we're really using a lot of videos and dealing with the YouTube generation, so to speak.
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: That's been very well received.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: And then for lunch on Saturday DJ, you won't believe it.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: I've seen a lot of things with these classes.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: I've never seen that Rick Hunter rolls in one of these food trucks that serves lobster.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Oh my.
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: I'm telling you it was something.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: They had lobster rolls, and I think they called it the Maine style, then the Connecticut style.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: They had a couple different taco lobster dishes.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: That's what it actually had.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: I didn't see this on the menu.
• 4:27
  Speaker 4: DJ, I would have ordered it.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: Remember those lug nuts that you liked at the plant.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, the Ohio show, yeah.
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: This food truck had tater tots with lobster oh man.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: I think it was a cheese sauce.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: I didn't see it on the menu.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: I would have ordered it.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: They were talking about it afterwards.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: One of the guys from Phillips was talking about it.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: But yeah they rolled in several of the operators.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: It was her saying it was the first time they'd ever had an operator.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: You know what In some cases that would happen Wes yeah.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: Oh.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: I thought about it.
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: If I had traveled with business.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: I don't know that, I don't.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: Maybe I don't really remember.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: You know, I remember starting to acquire myself personally at Taste of Lobster when I traveled to the New England region, you know.
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: So you know, one of the things that makes me realize how blessed I've been to be able to travel.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah so, but we had a great class DJ.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: There were a lot of serious tolling of the freighters.
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: We had a group travel from the upper Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, which you know, with wildfires going on there, that in itself was quite a feat.
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: We're praying for all those families affected in that region of the country by those wildfires.
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: We had a group from Phillips Tilling there.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: Hunters had a group.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: Several other companies were represented.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: And they had a fire truck from the city of Charlotte, a working fire truck, a direct one, or something that we did perform a demonstration of hooking up and towing.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: We had a new concrete mixer that was borrowed from a local concrete company.
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: So again it's not a wrecked air like a vehicle.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: It's a brand-new, modern truck where our hands-on instructors were able to talk about and teach different hookup methods, attaching the brakes, et cetera, airing systems, up, things like that.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: So then we had a loaded tractor trailer, we uprighted and we did it from the roof side did a reverse roll on it and we did, I think.
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: A hookup on a front and rear with a tractor, a standard tow.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: Then on Sunday we laid the tractor same tractor trailer back down loaded and did it from an exactly opposite side, did it from the wheel side instead of the roof side.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: So same truck and trailer, two different ways, fully loaded unit and had a school bus we did in one lane and some more towing techniques.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: And I don't know what it was about this group, other than they were all serious.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: We had a lot more done in a school than we do on a normal weekend.
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's almost like going back in time 10 or 15 years ago how much work we had done in a class.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: So I'm a proud guy.
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, chuck Hampton, producer Wes said he was fantastic.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: He saw pictures of it on Facebook and he said the place was packed.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: Oh, it was.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: It was Well part of it's that Southern Hospitality that Hunter's always provided.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: They're sitting on a new piece of property.
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: Now that's a family business that started in the 1940s with Rick's grandfather and the two his father and his uncle came home from the World War II just after that and joined the family business.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: The one son took very interest in auto parts and the other son took a big interest in auto repair and towing and they kind of always stayed together but they focused on two different aspects.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: And then Rick is third generation, his son Clay is fourth generation and he says there's a fifth generation coming along.
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: I can't remember the name, but it's a family business and they had a downtown Charlotte location when they started in the 1940s.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: It wasn't downtown, there was no downtown, and they basically have outgrown that over the years.
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: They've been through a big process where they bought another piece of property it was an old trucking company warehouse where the trucking company went out and they completely developed a dispatch center and have a fleet repair garage for their fleet there and that's where we did the class at.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, Rick Hunter himself was there during Saturday and was super gracious to invite anybody that wanted to come up and see the whole dispatch center and how they laid it out, how they laid it out for release of cards.
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: He invited everybody with open arms to come see what they had created and whatnot.
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: So it was really a great weekend, DJ.
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the Hunter family is just good people.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: They got a great name in the industry and they, sure enough, have been around a long time.
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: So all that just finished up.
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: We got a great interview today.
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: We did record this interview a couple weeks ago and we got shuffled a little bit so we could bring that bridge the job in Kentucky with those Kentucky gentlemen, that bridge job.
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: So we kind of shuffled the order here a little bit, but we have a great guest.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: He's going to give us some input on some current events in the industry.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: Also, I want to remind people we're still going to keep up with our free webinar series first Wednesday of every month, which becomes April 3rd this month, at 7 pm.
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: Visit our website, wwwamtowriorg for more details on that and other upcoming classes.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: I'm going to mention two more real quick.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: April 9th we're going to be in South Carolina with our friends in Spartakburg, with the South Carolina Tow Association for a free EV class.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: That's April 9th Again, go to our website.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: And we'll be in Chicago, illinois, may 3rd for a Friday night EV class.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: There's plenty of seats there.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: We're going to be there on the 4th and the 5th of Saturday and Sunday for a two-day heavy duty towing with a rotator class and DJ.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: We got 33 people signed up today for that class and the room.
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: We got 33 people signed up today for that class and the room size is only 45.
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: We're doing it there at Lynch, chicago, the Miller dealership in town and the room will only hold 44, 45.
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: I can't remember off the top of my head, but we're three quarters of the way there, so of course that's got us excited.
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: And we'll also be in May 17th and 18th in Indianapolis, indiana.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: We're doing the one-day class there, one day heavy duty, may 18th, and one day light duty, may 19th.
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: I got the dates wrong a little bit there.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, that's what we got coming up.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: I want people to.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: If you like the podcast, please click like share.
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: Also, go to our YouTube channel.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: American Towing and Covering Institute on YouTube.
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: We're getting content on there every day, so check us out there.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: I want everybody to hang around.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: Go after the break.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: We've got a great interview coming up.
• 11:56
  Speaker 4: The EV Clever app is an app created for all responders and emergency service personnel.
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: The EV Clever app is the only app containing easy-to-navigate quick links to access manufacturer-suggested instructions for emergency situations dealing with electric and alternative fuel vehicles while on the side of the road.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: That includes hybrid, fully electric fuel cell, compressed natural gas and hydrogen buses and heavy trucks.
• 12:21
  Speaker 4: These quick links are a convenient way to access information quickly.
• 12:24
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• 12:31
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• 12:33
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• 12:38
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• 12:43
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• 12:51
  Speaker 5: And that, my friend, is how you put all the information you need at your fingertips with the EV Clever app.
• 12:57
  Speaker 5: Go to ev-clevercom and download yours today.
• 13:02
  Speaker 5: Information in this podcast is made possible by generous sponsorship from Henry's Wrecker, serving the community with quality towing and recovery for over 40 years.
• 13:11
  Speaker 5: Henryswreckercom.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: Welcome back listeners.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: Remember, you're listening to the American Towing Recovery Institute podcast.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: This is your podcast Wes Wilburn, dj Harrington and, of course, we have a great guest today.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: Now I want to remind every one of you I can't thank you enough for telling fellow Towers all about us.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: We're available on Spotify, itunes, pandora, stitcher, iheartmedia, amazon or wherever you get your podcasts.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: And I know I say thank you.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: I know Wes says thank you, but, wes, I'll turn it over to you because we've got a great guest for today, absolutely.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: We do thank everybody and, as DJ said, like share, subscribe, all that good stuff.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: We have a friend of the podcast.
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: At least once before I should look it up, but at least once.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: Chris Reed from the West Virginia Tow Truck Association Now DJ Chris, was one of the towing companies that volunteered their effort.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: We did the Tesla static display product.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: Tesla static display static display.
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: As y'all may remember, a tower in Indianapolis.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: Attic Record Service donated us a late model Tesla Model Y that we used for a static display during electric vehicle courses with firefighters and towers, and it's worked out real well.
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: We're going to have it here in a couple weeks in Charlotte, Friday night before we do the weekend class there.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: So check our website for the details where they can see that Chris was one of the ones that moved that car all the way back from Indianapolis, North Carolina.
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: He covered the West Virginia leg for us us and he was super easy to deal with.
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: When I asked him about it, he said just tell me where it's at and where you want it to go, and it's handled.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: He did handle it.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: So, Chris, welcome back.
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: Introduce yourself to our listeners, a little bit about yourself and your business, and then I want to talk about the West Virginia Territory Association.
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: Sure, absolutely Glad to be back.
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: Guys Like Wes said, I'm Chris Reed, I'm the president of the West Virginia Toeing and Recovery Association and I got a couple of tow companies here in the state.
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: My cell phone is Charleston Auto in Charleston, west Virginia, and I also own Hurricane Wrecker Service down in Putnam County in Hurricane, west Virginia.
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: Been the president here at the association for quite some time now and it just seems to keep getting busier and busier here.
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: The more government involvement we get in our industry, the busier the association leaders get.
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: So that's where we're at right now.
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: We've got a couple bills going on our legislatures in full tilt here in the state right now.
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: The association's got a couple bills that they're doing pretty good.
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: They've cleared the House.
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: They're laying in the Senate right now.
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: We hope they get picked up.
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: So would you mind telling us about those bills what they are?
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: So would you mind telling us about those bills what they?
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: are Sure.
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah, one of them we introduced last year and it passed through the House unanimously.
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: It landed in a committee in the Senate and that committee didn't meet in time to get us across the finish line, but it basically pertained to obtaining titles to abandoned vehicles.
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: We assisted in writing some legislation several years ago I think it was in 2016,.
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: If I remember correctly we developed a process here in the state of West Virginia to obtain a clear title to some of these abandoned vehicles so we could resell them to the general public and try to recover some of our lost revenue.
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: Well, somewhere in that legislation we're not sure where it came from or who added it in there but someone put a cap on the book value of these vehicles at $9,500.
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: So what that means is any vehicle that has a book value of over $9,500 we were not able to obtain a title for, which is ridiculous to me.
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: I mean, why would you force a vehicle to go to a salvage yard or crushed or sold for parts or whatever, when it can be put back in the used car inventory, you know?
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: So we're not sure where that cap came from.
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: It wasn't in our legislation, but when this stuff become law it just kind of popped up.
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: We've been trying to get rid of it for a couple years now.
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: We came back to the legislature this year with the same bill.
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: Once again it cleared the House.
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: I think it was 88-4.
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: This time we had a couple of the representatives there that didn't quite understand the bill.
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: They weren't comfortable with it, so they just voted against it.
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: But we still had an overwhelming support on it.
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: So it's in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee now on the Senate side.
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: We're hoping that it gets up and gets across the finish line this year.
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: There's another bill in the House.
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: Well, actually it cleared the House.
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: Also it's in the Senate.
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: We're not really sure where it comes from.
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: The Towing Association didn't introduce it, but we're supporting it.
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: It's basically the same thing as the Auto Data going to the DMV and requesting all that stuff.
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: It just kind of streamlines the process for notification.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: So hang on a second Right now.
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: In order to tow someone's car, you're trying to notify them.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: You have the car In order to get that information.
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: That requires a physical trip to the DMV right now.
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah usually Now some of the companies and us as well.
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: You know you can fax that stuff up to them and then wait on them and they'll mail it back to you.
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: But see, here in West Virginia you only have 30 days to notify the owner of a vehicle once you take possession of it.
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: If you don't notify them within the first 30 days of possession, then all your towing charges are null and void.
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: I think they only have to pay, like I don't know, seven days or something like that.
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: I'd have to pull the law out to get exact on it.
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: But yeah, and then back during the pandemic, you know it was virtually impossible to get exact on it.
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: But, um, yeah, and then then back during the pandemic you know it was, it was virtually impossible to get the information to the dmv and get it back and get it in certified mail and get it in that owner's hands in 30 days.
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: I mean, we saw, we saw delays of almost three months just getting the information back from the DMV.
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: So you know, if we can take that out of the mix to where we can, just, you know, get down behind our computer, log in to a specific website and obtain that information ourself.
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: You know it really streamlines that process.
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: So, like I said, the association didn't, we didn't introduce that bill, but we haven't found out who did.
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: But whoever did, we're in full support of it.
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: We've been giving it our full support at the legislature.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: Well, that's good to hear.
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I spoke at the committee when it was in the House I went up and kind of done a little Q&A session with some of the delegates up there for anyone that had any questions, and there was a couple of representatives from the Department of Motor Vehicles there in support of our bill and this other bill as well.
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: So you know it's got some positive outcome but we just hope it makes it all the way across the finish line outcome, but we just hope it makes it all the way across the finish line.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I can't imagine that the mv would be in favor of it, because it helps make their job a little bit easier, so to speak yeah, yeah.
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: Well, just like we said, and you know the the 9500 cap on the abandoned vehicles, that's.
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: That's crazy for anybody to even think that that's not a good thing, because here in west Virginia, I think, we've got like a 6% sales tax on vehicles.
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: So every vehicle that we would title as a towing company and put back into the used car market every time that title's transferred, if that car sells for $10,000 at 6% taxes, that's $600 for the state of West Virginia tax revenue.
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: 6% taxes, that's $600 for the state of West Virginia tax revenue.
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: So you know, if you've got, I think West Virginia's got 386 registered towing companies throughout the state.
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: Last time I checked.
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: And if every one of those towing companies just titled one vehicle per?
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: year and it generated $600 for the state of West Virginia.
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: That's a pretty good pile of cash, right, absolutely.
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: And they passed some legislation that our state safety inspection stickers went to a two-year rotation now instead of a 12-month rotation, and the proceeds from our state we just call them inspection stickers, our safety inspection stickers.
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: The proceeds always went to the purchase for new state police cruisers.
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: So you know, now that it went from a one-year rotation to a two-year rotation, I'm sure they're going to have to find that additional funding somewhere.
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: So you know why not use this piece of legislation we got as an income generator to put back what they've lost from the state inspections.
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: Boy, that makes a lot of sense.
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: That really does.
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: That's what worries me.
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: That's why I don't think it's going to get there, because it makes sense.
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: Right Making sense in the state government.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: We all know how that works out sometimes.
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, hey, we're up against it.
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: We need to take a quick break.
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: You hang around, we'll talk more right after the break.
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 23:24
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  Speaker 5: We look forward to serving you.
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: Welcome back listeners.
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: Of course you're listening to the American Tone Recovery Institute, Wes Wilburn, dj Harrington and our guest today, chris Reed.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: We can't thank you enough.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: Please, listeners, remember to like, review and share everywhere.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: If you want another industry expert, like a Chris Reed I will mean, just dial our hotline number here at the podcast center 706-409-5603.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: And before the break, chris was explaining to us about being involved.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: Chris, I got two, really three questions.
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: But how do you get I mean how did you get your lobbyist?
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: And how do you tell your fellow towers how important it is to be involved with your state representatives?
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: And I know you they're unusual.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: You have a lot of volunteer time that you spend with it.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: But if you could talk about those three things, I would love it.
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: Sure, absolutely Well.
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: Unfortunately this year, dj, we don't have a lobbyist.
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: I'm the guy.
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: Only most.
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: Yeah, which leads into the second part of your question.
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: It's very important for towers to be involved in their state association.
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: You may not get a free T-shirt or a newsletter every other week or whatever, but you know we're we're a nonprofit organization, so the only funds we have to work with are from our membership, um, or our annual dues from our membership.
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: So you know, when your membership falls off to a very low number, you've got a very low amount of money to work with.
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: So the more members you get, the more people that spend that money and become members of the state association.
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: That gives the association more money to work with, to hire these lobbyists and to pay these attorneys to go in there and kind of help you push.
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: But yeah, right now we're doing this on our own.
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: We don't have the funding to go drop $10,000, $15,000, $20,000 on a lobbyist.
• 26:46
  Speaker 3: But that don't mean we're not going to put up a good fight, but we could sure use the help.
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: And that's the importance of becoming a member.
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: See, here in West Virginia we're a regulated state, so it doesn't really matter what the association can achieve.
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: Every towler in the state benefits from it, whether they're a member or not.
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: And you know that's kind of a double-edged sword.
• 27:12
  Speaker 3: You know you're fighting for the entire industry but the more involvement you have and the more support you have, the more strength you have.
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: So yeah, being part of the association is the key.
• 27:25
  Speaker 3: You know that's another.
• 27:26
  Speaker 3: You know your annual dues is another hour's worth of attorney fees.
• 27:30
  Speaker 3: I think West Virginia's dues are only like $200 a year and you know an attorney average attorney is $200 an hour.
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: So for your annual dues you pay for another hour that we can use that attorney or we can use that lobbyist.
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: Well, chris, the reason why I brought it up and I want to let our listeners know I shared lunch with Wes Wilburn in Atlanta at the OK Cafe one day and he was asking me because I took a call from my state representative and Wes leans over and said are you that close to that politician?
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: I said, oh yeah, I have to be, because I want him to know me and I know him because when something comes up in front of the Georgia legislation, we want to know ahead of time because I don't want it to go to the floor for a vote if it's against us.
• 28:28
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: You know and that's not a company check but every year I give $300 to that state representative, every year for his election, for campaigns he's involved in Even when he's supporting a friend of his I cut him a check and when I need something, guess who goes to fight for me, chris?
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: He does absolutely so.
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: Our fellow towers know they got to know you and you got to know that and they got to know what you do for a living right.
• 29:08
  Speaker 3: You got to leave your differences at the door.
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: We're all competitors, but we're all competing for the same cause.
• 29:14
  Speaker 3: We all want to make a living, we all want to have decent equipment, we all want to be safe when we're all competitors, but we're all competing for the same cause.
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: You know, we all want to make a living, we all want to have decent equipment, we all want to be safe when we're working.
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: We want those safeguards in effect and in place.
• 29:23
  Speaker 3: You know we're all going after the same goal, even though we're competing and getting there.
• 29:32
  Speaker 3: But when it comes to this type of stuff, you know the legislation and whether you're trying to make your industry better or you're trying to fight off something that's going to have an adverse effect on your industry, you've got to leave your differences at the door and you've got to team up.
• 29:46
  Speaker 3: You've got to play for the same team.
• 29:47
  Speaker 3: Some people have trouble doing that.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: I'm going to turn it back over to Wes.
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: Wes, I wanted everybody to know that.
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: That's one of the reasons why you and I became friends, because you knew that I was involved in political stuff and you looked at me differently and said you know what, dj, I'm proud of you.
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: West Virginia your state representative should be able to call you on the phone when something comes up calling and recovery related.
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: They call you for advice on how to vote.
• 30:27
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 30:27
  Speaker 3: I agree with you 110%.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: Because you become that person.
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: All right, wes turn it over to you, buddy.
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: Well, I don't know what else I can say other than it's important that you're registered to vote.
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: It's important that you participate in political things in your state for situations like this, so you have a relationship with the state delegate, your state legislator.
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure what form they take in West Virginia, but those elected politicians that represent you need to hear from you, and this is an ongoing thing.
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: There's issues every year in the legislature, isn't there, chris?
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: Some good, some bad, but virtually every year there's issues aren't there.
• 31:09
  Speaker 3: Oh, absolutely.
• 31:10
  Speaker 3: We're trying to head something off every year and and I don't think most people don't realize that there are industries out there that would crush the towing industry If they, if they thought they could get a piece of legislation through, you know, without without us looking.
• 31:26
  Speaker 3: Um, that's one of our.
• 31:28
  Speaker 3: Our main expenses every year is we.
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: We pay an attorney firm here in Charleston to monitor every bill that comes through that legislature and anything that would have an adverse effect on our industry.
• 31:38
  Speaker 3: He contacts us and we get involved in it and he has been very valuable throughout the years.
• 31:46
  Speaker 3: There's been several pieces of legislation come through just on a state level that would have crippled us as an industry here in the state.
• 31:54
  Speaker 3: That would have crippled us as an industry here in the state had we not caught it and got in the ear of some of our delegates and senators and stuff and explained to them why this was bad for our industry.
• 32:07
  Speaker 3: And a few years back I hate to keep beating the same drum, but OIDA would have destroyed the state of West Virginia with their legislation if we hadn't have caught it and fought back.
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: Oh, I don't know that that's beating the same drum.
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: That's very important, especially with everything else that's going on nowadays.
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: It's very important.
• 32:27
  Speaker 3: You know we can talk about some of that if you want some of this federal stuff that's going on.
• 32:33
  Speaker 3: But you've got the same captain steering the boat on this, one that used to be the Director of Legislative Affairs for OIDA.
• 32:41
  Speaker 3: I think he left there and went to work for the American Trucking Association.
• 32:47
  Speaker 3: And I read the 58-page report.
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: American Transportation Research.
• 32:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that one, and there was several references at the bottom of some of the pages with his name on it.
• 33:02
  Speaker 3: That's where they were getting their information from.
• 33:04
  Speaker 3: So yeah, it's, it's a battle being fought on a national level now.
• 33:12
  Speaker 3: It's not just here in the state of West Virginia like it was before it went to the big show.
• 33:16
  Speaker 3: So I'm hoping that the group of guys that have grabbed this bull by the horn they seem like they've really got some momentum heading into it.
• 33:27
  Speaker 3: I just got an email today about a Zoom meeting tomorrow that I need to set in on again.
• 33:33
  Speaker 3: I was in on one two weeks ago when actually we were on.
• 33:38
  Speaker 3: We were vacationing in Destin, florida, and I had to carve out a couple hours to get on the Zoom meeting when when all this kind of came about and it was a very informative meeting and I've got a lot of confidence in the people that have formed this, this coalition, to to go up against it.
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: Well, we had them on two podcasts ago and we had the other side on and the Quite.
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: A bit of energy is happening on both sides, it appears, so we're just hoping we can harness all that together in the same direction.
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the same industry.
• 34:19
  Speaker 3: Absolutely Like I said.
• 34:20
  Speaker 3: You know, whether it's this coalition of guys that have formed here or our national representatives.
• 34:28
  Speaker 3: You know, like I said, it's time to once again put your differences away.
• 34:34
  Speaker 3: Leave them at the door, because we're all fighting for the same thing here.
• 34:37
  Speaker 3: Um, so, so, yeah, I'm, I'm hoping that this has a positive outcome.
• 34:44
  Speaker 3: Um, it's kind of hard for me to understand some of it, but but it's the same playbook that a lot of guys used here in West Virginia.
• 34:53
  Speaker 3: They'll take a couple situations that are not the norm.
• 34:58
  Speaker 3: They'll take the worst actors that they can find and they'll use them as examples for the entire industry.
• 35:05
  Speaker 3: And that's how they get in front of these legislators.
• 35:09
  Speaker 3: Like, look, we had this recovery bill that was $250,000.
• 35:14
  Speaker 3: They charged for equipment that was never used.
• 35:17
  Speaker 3: Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
• 35:18
  Speaker 3: It's the same story over and over.
• 35:20
  Speaker 3: But that's that one guy out of thousands, but they decided to use him as an example.
• 35:25
  Speaker 3: That's right, and it's no secret.
• 35:29
  Speaker 3: I mean, every industry's got some bad actors in it and we as an industry ought to squeeze on those ourselves, because we're making the rest of us look bad.
• 35:37
  Speaker 3: But those are the ones that these big special interest groups like to use as the example for the entire industry, and that's the part that really rubs me the wrong way it's definitely a case of the exception of the rule, but they take advantage of that exception every chance they get, absolutely so.
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: We're just about out of time.
• 35:58
  Speaker 2: I definitely don't want to cut you off, but I do want to make sure we give people a way to contact you if they're interested in joining the West Virginia Tollian Recovery Association.
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: Am I getting the name correct, chris?
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah.
• 36:12
  Speaker 3: We've got a Facebook page or you know, they can call my office here.
• 36:16
  Speaker 3: I'd be glad to give you the phone number here at my office.
• 36:18
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that'd be wonderful.
• 36:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's 304-343-0522.
• 36:27
  Speaker 3: And all they have to do is it'll ring into my dispatch office.
• 36:31
  Speaker 3: All they got to do is ask for Chris, tell them they're calling about the West Virginia Toeing and Recovery Association and they'll buzz them right to my office.
• 36:37
  Speaker 3: If I'm not here, please leave a message.
• 36:40
  Speaker 3: I will call you back.
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: Any meetings coming up or anything we can promote.
• 36:47
  Speaker 3: We haven't scheduled our next meeting just yet.
• 36:49
  Speaker 3: We're making sure that the snow is over.
• 36:51
  Speaker 3: It's always tough in the wintertime to schedule an association meeting and then you get three or four inches of snow and none of the towers can come.
• 36:58
  Speaker 3: So we're probably going to try to push one out toward the end of April, first part of May, you know maybe towards the end of the legislative session.
• 37:07
  Speaker 3: So we'll have a little bit of something to report on, kind of watching this federal stuff really closely to see if there's anything that our state association needs to be doing to support these guys.
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: So yeah, we're just waiting on Mother Nature to get over her temper tantrum and we'll get another meeting scheduled.
• 37:33
  Speaker 3: Well, let us know when you do so, we can help advertise it for you.
• 37:35
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: I sure will.
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: We definitely appreciate you being on today and we'll look forward to having you on sometime in the near future.
• 37:41
  Speaker 2: I always look forward to it.
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Chris.
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: Well, I want to remind all of you and Chris, I can't thank you enough and I hope that each and every one of you listening to Chris Reid today.
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: Wes is right.
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: Make sure you register to vote.
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: If you don't vote, then you cannot have the privilege of complaining when something doesn't go your way.
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: You have to get involved in your state association.
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: You have to get involved in your state association.
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: You have to get involved in associations that help the towing and recovery industry.
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: If you want to participate in the coalition, you get involved, but if you sit and do nothing, then do not get up and complain, because it happened to you and we in the towing industry got to stick together.
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: Wes Wilburn is correct.
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: This is the time that you need to register to vote and make sure your voice is heard.
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: And if there's a political action committee at your state association, get involved in it and let people in your church know exactly what you do for a living.
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: Because I'm going to tell all of you the best thing that ever happened to me.
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: Some little old man at my church walked me to my car one day and said Mr Harrington, is what you said in Sunday school today really true are they really true, that the state's going to charge veterans $600 for a used car tax?
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: I said yes, sir, so maybe just pray on it.
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: Huh, never knew who he was.
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: Two weeks later, the governor of Georgia called the association and said I don't know who the hell DJ Harrington is.
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: But that vote is not even going to the Senate floor.
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: And the guy said well, how come?
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: He said he met a guy named DJ Harrington at church.
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: Well, who was that guy?
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: The director of the Civil Service Association Didn't even know who he was.
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: He had to be 83.
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: He's the retired director.
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: And Chris, I was just telling this old man in the parking lot of church never knew who he was.
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: When I told Wes, wes was like did you know who he was?
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: I said Wes, I never even knew who the guy was.
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: I just said you better pray on it, because veterans are going to pay that bill.
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: We need to be involved in our industry.
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: So I thank Wes for having the podcast, but, chris, I tip my hat to you, my friend.
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: You are a leader of leaders, and I'm proud every time you're on this podcast.
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: And I know Rex is too CJ.
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: I do want to clarify one thing.
• 40:37
  Speaker 2: You made a comment in your comments which I really appreciate them.
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: Very well spoken, but to support the coalition and we do believe you support the coalition and or the other side.
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: We want to be clear.
• 40:52
  Speaker 2: Our podcast is trying to take a neutral stand so we can report on it from a news perspective, and I just want to clarify that.
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: Dj, you know how people, some of the listeners, sometimes commit to things a little bit.
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: We think you should support both sides, whether it's on the West.
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: Thank you, whatever side is what you think you should do.
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: Yes, at least support one side.
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: Sorry about that.
• 41:18
  Speaker 2: Chris Just wanted to clarify.
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: I swear I'm trying to stay neutral and it's very difficult.
• 41:23
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, no problem.
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: No problem.
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: I want both sides to feel comfortable coming in and talking to us and telling our listeners what's going on.
• 41:32
  Speaker 2: So I'm trying desperately to be fair to both sides.
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: Sure, absolutely.
• 41:37
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: You're right.
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: Just support what every side is helping the industry the best that you believe in, or?
• 41:45
  Speaker 2: both or both, you know.
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: I mean, we just need to do something.
• 41:51
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 41:52
  Speaker 3: Like I said before, this is a perfect time to leave it at the door and everybody fight the same fight.
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: Boy.
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: Yes sir, yes sir.
• 41:59
  Speaker 2: I want to thank Chris Reed for taking your time for this great interview and your insight on such a topical subject right now.
• 42:07
  Speaker 2: I want to thank our listeners, as always, we really appreciate you.
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: We know you're loyal.
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: If you're listening to the end like this, Please like share.
• 42:17
  Speaker 2: If you haven't subscribed, please subscribe.
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: Speak at us subscribing.
• 42:21
  Speaker 2: Don't forget to visit our YouTube channel American Tone Recovery Institute on YouTube.
• 42:26
  Speaker 2: Adding content every day, DJ.
• 42:29
  Speaker 2: That's all I got.
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: I want to ask all our listeners to be safe, Thank you.