Latest / Towing News Now / Ron and Quinn discuss Challenges, Training, and Advocacy

Transcript

Ron and Quinn discuss Challenges, Training, and Advocacy · Towing News Now

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Welcome one and all to the American Towing Recovery Institute podcast.
• 0:10
  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.
• 1:08
  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 at 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: No-transcript.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Without further ado, here's my dear friend and a great guy for our industry, wes Wilber.
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: Well, dj, as always, I appreciate your kind words Very humbling coming from you.
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: Especially Happy to be here today.
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: We've got a great episode, very informative episode.
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: Just got back a week ago from the train recovery class.
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: We're already looking forward to planning another one.
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: It looks like it'll be in the spring.
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: We're also looking at and I don't know if we're going to do this or not, but I think we're going to try to do something in May in the middle of the country.
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: It's going to be a five-day boot camp.
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: It's going to start out with me and JT Reeves that are leading it.
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: It's starting out with light duty into medium duty, into heavy duty.
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: It's going to be like a five-day program Probably start Sunday evening with dinner and end Friday evening with dinner, start Sunday evening with dinner and end Friday evening with dinner, and then Wednesday, thursday, friday, tuesday night Tommy Luciano would travel in and he would take the lead for Wednesday, thursday and Friday, which myself and JT and I'm sure there'll be a couple other people there helping as well will help back him up.
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: So we're thinking about doing that for the early spring, thinking about doing another Maggio class.
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: I'm not sure if it's going to be in the spring or in the fall.
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: The myJet class is the train recovery.
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: We've got a lot of good stuff happening these days.
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: It's very exciting.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, when you do that, we've got to really publicize that, because that would really be news in the industry.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: Boy.
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we're working out the details now.
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: We're going to make it an all-exclusive deal where they pay for the training, the meals are covered, the hotel rooms are covered.
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: Boy, it takes a lot to put all that together.
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: It really does.
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: So that's what we're working on right now is those details.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: With you and Tommy Luciano together.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: I have news for you.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: You'd have to have room for a lot of people.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Well, I hope you're right.
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: Me and Tommy are also trying to get a couple different events together.
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: We're trying to do this thing.
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: We're also looking at one east coast, one middle of the country, two-day weekend heavy recovery class, what he's doing with the tank vehicle stuff.
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: He's working with the different armies around the world.
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: You know he's been all over the world teaching the different armies to buy the miller tow trucks to the us government, teaching them how to do recovery and he learned quite a bit about heavy winching.
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: So he does a course where we get an 80,000, 90,000, 100,000-pound track vehicle.
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: It's got to be somewhere where you can get it really stuck and he's got a heck of a good course.
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: I haven't seen it, I've heard about it, we've talked about it.
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: We're going to do two of those together, one in the East Coast, one in the middle of the country.
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: Middle of the country will probably be in the fall of the year.
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: So yeah we've got a lot of good things happening.
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: We've still got some good stuff happening this year too.
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: We'll be up in Rhode Island September 7th and 8th for a light and medium-duty class.
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: That's working with the Rhode Island Towing Association.
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: Adam Branch is the contact up there.
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: They're handling the registration 401-248-1600.
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: And again, that's September 7th and 8th for light and medium duty Talk about yours truly.
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: And then September 20th we'll be in Lynchburg, virginia, doing the three-hour electric vehicle class that's a freebie for firefighters and towing operators together.
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: On the 21st, 22nd we'll be doing a heavy-duty class same location, lynchburg, virginia.
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: D-line Towing is the host there.
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: Then we'll be out at Old Friends of O, ours, one of the founders of the Institute Wax Hoteling Lake Station, indiana, right there next to Gary's, the bottom side of the lake.
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: There, october 18th we're doing that electric vehicle class in the evening, and 19th and 20th doing a two-day heavy duty sewing recovery with some rotator usage.
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: More information go to wwwamcowriorg for more information on classes.
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: I got one more DJ.
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: I didn't even think of this one.
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: Go ahead 16th and 17th, Sumner, South Carolina, two-day fire tower cross training class Me and Ron Moore.
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: That's going to be in Summit, South Carolina, working with Summit Records Service.
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: So that's where we're going to be at.
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: Had a real good interview after this break to get the listeners to hang out with us and we'll be right back.
• 7:04
  Speaker 5: The EV Clever app is an app created for all responders and emergency service personnel.
• 7:08
  Speaker 5: 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.
• 7:21
  Speaker 6: That includes hybrid, fully electric fuel cell, compressed natural gas and hydrogen buses and heavy trucks.
• 7:29
  Speaker 5: These quick links are a convenient way to access information quickly.
• 7:34
  Speaker 6: To date, we have a total of 789 passenger vehicles, over 181 heavy trucks, and adding more every day, thanks to our research team.
• 7:44
  Speaker 6: You can go to evclevercom and use the code PODCAST2024, get a free 30-day trial and then after that you get 20% off.
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: Henryswreercom.
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: Welcome back listeners.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: Of course, you know you're listening to the number one podcast in towing and recovery, the American Towing and Recovery Institute podcast, wes Silber and DJ Arrington, the tow doctor.
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: Every week, Wes and I do our best to bring you informative episodes like this one.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: Make sure you download and listen.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: Every week, wes and I do our best to bring you informative episodes like this one.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: Make sure you download and listen.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: We're available on Spotify, itunes, pandora, stitcher the number one iHeartMedia just rated number one Amazon or wherever you get your podcasts, wes.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: We got a great one for today, so I'll turn it over to you, buddy.
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: Thanks, cj.
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: I certainly appreciate it.
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: I should let our listeners know that the day that we're recording this, hurricane Debbie is coming through the Carolinas and I am in North Carolina.
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: It's quiet right now but we might have an issue as we go forward, so just want to let everybody know what's happening.
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: But we're doing good DJ Doing good.
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: Just got back from the train recovery class up in Maggios and Rockford Illinois Went real well.
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: We dressed up last week but, yeah, doing real good Getting ready, gearing up for the fall season.
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: We got some good guests today.
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: They've been on with us before.
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: They've got their finger on the pulse of several hot-button issues.
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: I'm going to ask you guys if you don't mind to reintroduce yourself for our listeners.
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: Introduce yourself, tell us a little bit about who you are.
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: Let's talk about what's going on with the industry and the coalition.
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: Who wants to go first, quinn or Ron?
• 9:50
  Speaker 7: I'll go first.
• 9:51
  Speaker 7: Wes, this is Quinn Pining.
• 9:55
  Speaker 7: I'm the chairman of the Open Commerce Safer Highways Coalition.
• 10:03
  Speaker 7: I've been in this industry for over 40 years.
• 10:08
  Speaker 7: I own a company out here in Northern California.
• 10:12
  Speaker 7: I've paid my dues and gotten a t-shirt.
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: You definitely have, Glenn.
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: I know you've been involved in a lot of organizations.
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: I know I witnessed you put a lot of effort into the Telly Museum.
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: Tell us a little bit about some of your volunteer efforts that you've been involved with, if you don't mind.
• 10:35
  Speaker 7: Well, probably my biggest down-to-earth effort is what we're doing with the coalition.
• 10:43
  Speaker 7: Earth effort is what we're doing with the coalition and where this is going, and the severity of the issues that our industry is faced with today.
• 10:54
  Speaker 7: And I think we'll get into that as we move forward in the podcast and I don't want to take up Ron's time to introduce himself.
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: Okay, we'll start it up, Ron.
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: Go ahead and introduce yourself if you don't mind, sir.
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: Hello, this is Ron Myers and I'm with Pine Tree Towing and Recovery in Southeast Ohio and our company's been in business about 35 years and I was involved with tow trucks from the time I was about 10, 11 years old.
• 11:30
  Speaker 4: Long story there.
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: Um, my dad had a tow truck but it was just with a body shop, no police telling or nothing, and uh, that's why I originally cut my teeth.
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: And then we um got involved with um, with our state association.
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: We ended up creating ABTO, me and some other towers in Ohio.
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: That's going on about nine years strong.
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: Bob Dotsonis from Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in the comments that they submitted to the FTC, immediately put together a group of people and started some Zoom calls that a lot of people were involved with, because something we felt needed to be done and that's how the National Open Commerce Safer Highway Coalition was formed.
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: Okay, both you guys have a background in the industry.
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: Tell us about the coalition and what's going on now.
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: I know you just finished the comment period, if I'm not mistaken.
• 12:42
  Speaker 7: Yes, wes.
• 12:43
  Speaker 7: The comment period is closed.
• 12:45
  Speaker 7: There were over 40-some comments made.
• 12:50
  Speaker 7: That comment period was opened by Federal Highway.
• 12:57
  Speaker 7: They asked some questions that they wanted us to answer.
• 13:04
  Speaker 7: They wanted all the speakers to answer and the coalition, along with our attorneys and our lobbyists, spent quite a bit of time putting together the answers and the responses to what they had asked.
• 13:22
  Speaker 7: And in the roundtable discussion that was held at Federal Highway it was in regards to predatory towing, was what they named this roundtable discussion as, and we kind of changed the narrative on them.
• 13:47
  Speaker 7: We brought out some very strong facts and have supported those facts not only in writing but in actuality, and that is the non-payment issue, what the insurance companies are doing to our industry and that basically between 40% and 60% of the work that towers do they don't get paid for.
• 14:14
  Speaker 7: As a matter of fact, I'll highlight that and tell you right now, today, as we speak today is day three that a burned trailer is sitting on a highway in the state of Oklahoma and all the towers for 150 mile radius refuse to go and do it because there's a $5,000 insurance policy on the trailer and the trucking company and the broker and everybody else has said they are not responsible.
• 14:49
  Speaker 7: So no towler wants to go out and incur the cost it's going to cause to to do that job.
• 14:58
  Speaker 7: So everybody has refused it and it's sitting on the side of the road right now as we speak, and I take my hat off and commend all the towers in Oklahoma for standing up for their rights.
• 15:12
  Speaker 7: We should not be working for free.
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: That's good that that problem is being addressed, because that definitely is the number one issue across the country with heavy duty towers.
• 15:25
  Speaker 7: Well, it's not just the heavy duty industry Wes, it's across the board, it's everything that we do.
• 15:32
  Speaker 7: Yes, I think that in the light duty market we get paid a little, probably a better average, but the overall average is still in that 40 to 60 percent, depending where you are.
• 15:49
  Speaker 7: And I highly and Ron and I have talked about this quite a bit we both take offense to the word predatory and I challenge the federal government and anybody else to go look up the definition, because we are not predators.
• 16:09
  Speaker 7: In actuality, we're victims because we provide a service to the state, the county or the local municipality and we get called to those scenes.
• 16:26
  Speaker 7: Yes, there are some bad actors that do take advantage of situations, but those situations should be dealt with on an individual basis, not lump the whole industry into that.
• 16:44
  Speaker 7: We are predators.
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: I totally agree with that.
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: As a matter of fact, I'd like to just add to that that true predatory telling which it is out there.
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: That true predatory telling is less than one-tenth of one percent.
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: In almost every case there's a local mechanism, some kind of law that's being violated, that can be dealt with.
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: That many times is just ignored by local law enforcement, et cetera.
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: In my opinion, Correct, and so the predatory blanket they've thrown on us is primarily, from my opinion, results back to PPI, where some PPI towers not all I know far more maybe it's because of the friends I keep I know more reputable, down to earth, honest PPI towers that are looking out for the property owner's interest through a collaboration than I do.
• 17:44
  Speaker 4: People using spotters and setting.
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: Having a spotter wait for the guy who's interest through a collaboration than I do.
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: People using spotters, you know and setting.
• 17:47
  Speaker 4: You know having a spotter wait for the guy walks in the store because he's in the wrong spot.
• 17:51
  Speaker 4: They come in and snatch it in 30 seconds.
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: That's an issue, but this other issue, the problems of what I call perceived predatory selling.
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: And you're right, we have people, bad actors, but currently and I can speak directly for mine and people in Ohio that we know we've done some research, we've asked our members, but we're averaging just a tick over 50% non-payment for law enforcement selling.
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: That's just the fact.
• 18:22
  Speaker 4: So in order to compensate for that and it's part of what we teach in a billing class is that's why law enforcement telling costs so much more.
• 18:31
  Speaker 4: For the most part, you're not allowed to pick and choose.
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: You're not supposed to.
• 18:35
  Speaker 4: I mean, I'm not allowed to quiz a dispatcher about, well, have you verified their insurance and do you know what their coverage limit is?
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: And is this car five years old or newer?
• 18:46
  Speaker 4: You don't get that opportunity.
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: You are supposed to respond because we have an obligation and I believe that most towers take that obligation serious that we're to open the highway in a timely fashion to reduce secondary crashes, improve the motoring public's experience and, quite frankly, make the highway safer.
• 19:07
  Speaker 4: Secondary accidents are usually worse than the original.
• 19:10
  Speaker 4: So we have a function and an obligation to perform well and there is a cost that comes with that that I'm not sure as an industry.
• 19:19
  Speaker 4: We've done a good job at sharing, and so we have to get involved, and that's what the coalition is doing.
• 19:27
  Speaker 4: We have to get at the right table, we have to explain this, and then we have to work together to come up with a solution, and lip service doesn't do it.
• 19:39
  Speaker 4: It's going to take some real work.
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: Okay, that's fair enough.
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: What work needs to be done?
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: Well, what we have to do is we have to engage the other parties involved in this issue, and that is primarily trucking organizations and insurance organizations trucking organizations and insurance organizations and it's going to be a little bit of a minefield to figure out who the people are that really want to work with us to solve the problem and the people that just want to exploit us and they don't care about the problem.
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: They're just looking at a spreadsheet and they want to reduce the cost of this selling and recovery.
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: One of the reasons and this is what I feel this is personal is that some of the trucking groups ATA specifically.
• 20:37
  Speaker 4: Their membership is generally the trucking companies that pay their bills.
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: They're bigger companies, they're more solid companies and they're getting the blunt of it because they're having to, in essence, somewhat cover operational costs that we have to recover because they pay their bill.
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: And the analogy I use is Walmart.
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: If half the people that walked into Walmart walked out without paying and half of them went to the register and paid their bill at some point, walmart has to charge the people that are paying more money.
• 21:15
  Speaker 4: They're not creditors, walmart wouldn't be.
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: They're not taking advantage of the situation, they're simply trying to stay in business because they're only able to collect from half the people that come in their store and remove merchandise.
• 21:29
  Speaker 4: And so what we are is we're out here performing a service and we're only getting paid by half the people that come in their store and remove merchandise.
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: And so what we are is we're out here performing a service and we're only getting paid by half the people that are getting the benefit of our service, and so all this needs rethink, and I don't know 100% what the outcome would be.
• 21:44
  Speaker 4: I don't know I've said it for a while and people think I should wear a tan hat but at some point we may be subsidized.
• 21:51
  Speaker 4: Maybe that's the solution to stabilize these recovery bills so that underwriting and trucking companies actually have some stability when they're trying to develop their business plan, and that's what we have to do.
• 22:07
  Speaker 4: And so the other work we have to do is we need legitimate tow companies, or even if you're not legitimate, I guess we need you to share with us and we're doing this so that your information is shielded, like you would have client privileges with our people that the coalition has hired.
• 22:23
  Speaker 4: We need to actually have data on what you're not getting paid for, data on what you're not getting paid for, and we need data on what you are charging, and that's a sensitive subject because we're such a competitive industry.
• 22:43
  Speaker 4: But the problem is the insurance industry, primarily, and some of the truckers.
• 22:45
  Speaker 4: They know exactly what the numbers are and they're never going to share with us the tow companies that are undercharging.
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: They're never going to share with us the tow company that's operating in the backyard, doesn't have a business front or is collecting cash and not claiming it, and so therefore they're undervaluing their services.
• 23:08
  Speaker 4: They're never going to share that with us.
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: All they're going to share is the ones that they feel are excessive, and that's the problem.
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: So we need some real, clear information from people in the industry, preferably legitimate companies, and we need to know what that number is.
• 23:30
  Speaker 4: I don't think anyone honestly can tell you what the average rotator rate is.
• 23:35
  Speaker 4: We all speculate and we have hearsay, but I've never seen any place I can go get real data, like real numbers, not something made up.
• 23:43
  Speaker 4: What's the average rate for a rotator?
• 23:47
  Speaker 4: Is it $2,000 an hour?
• 23:49
  Speaker 4: $1,000 an hour?
• 23:50
  Speaker 4: $400 an hour?
• 23:51
  Speaker 4: I don't think anyone can tell us.
• 23:54
  Speaker 4: I know what my operational costs are, but we have to figure that out, and we should be smart enough to do that, and the biggest problem we have from my perspective is there is no one-size-fits-all People operating on the West Coast and the extreme East Coast people operating in the Midwest South.
• 24:16
  Speaker 4: All of our costs are different, and then it also has to be.
• 24:19
  Speaker 4: It has to be tuned into volume.
• 24:22
  Speaker 4: So a guy in the Midwest who may have low overhead based on taxes, real estate and labor wages, his costs might actually be higher if he's doing less volume because the cost of his equipment is not less.
• 24:37
  Speaker 4: I've never seen a record advertise that if you live in Utah you only have to pay 80% of the retail because you don't have much volume where you're located.
• 24:49
  Speaker 4: It's usually pretty much the same number for everybody.
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: So it's a complicated issue.
• 24:54
  Speaker 4: We have to get to the bolts and nuts of it and we're actually heavily involved in that process right now.
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: Well, I want to hear about the process, but we need to take a quick commercial break.
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: You guys hang around until after the break.
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: Sure.
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: The best towing companies offer a combination of great training, efficient operations, along with quality supplies.
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: Towing Equipment Direct is committed to help your towing company stay ahead of the competition by providing the best quality of towing equipment and supplies.
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: Here's why you should choose Towing Equipment Direct for all of your towing supply needs.
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: We provide affordable towing supplies and equipment.
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: All towing supplies and equipment are made from the latest technology and we supply products from the most respected brands in the towing industry, offering the widest variety of towing supplies and equipment in New England.
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: If you're not using the latest towing equipment, there's a good chance your company has fallen behind.
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: Savvy consumers can quickly tell which towing companies provide the best service.
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: In many cases, the quality of your equipment and supplies can make a huge difference.
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: Our representatives are knowledgeable in the towing industry, so for the best towing equipment and supplies, count on the team at Towing Equipment Direct.
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: Browse our catalog online at towingequipmentdirectcom or give us a call at 910-747-9000.
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: That's 910-747-9000.
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: We look forward to serving you Welcome back listeners.
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: Of course you know you're listening to the number one podcast, the American Towing Recovery Institute podcast.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: Wes Wilburn, dj Harrington and Ron Myers and Quinn are doing a great job today.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: I want to remind all of our listeners remember to like and review and thank you for sharing with fellow toers and recovery experts, because this is the reason why the podcast has grown.
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: We have a hotline right here at the podcast center.
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: If you want to hear another industry expert like a Ron Myers and a Quinn, by all means dial our hotline number 706-409-5603, and it comes right here to the podcast center.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: That way you can leave a message for Wes and we'll follow right up on it.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: So without further ado, wes, let me take it back to you this has been a great discussion.
• 27:22
  Speaker 3: Thanks, bj, and it has been a good discussion.
• 27:25
  Speaker 3: Very nice to hear people with well-thought-out views and sharing them.
• 27:28
  Speaker 3: So we were talking about the process.
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: I don't know who wants to take it off.
• 27:37
  Speaker 7: I'll take it first Wes.
• 27:39
  Speaker 7: The process has started, first and foremost dealing with the trucking industry, dealing with the insurance industry.
• 27:55
  Speaker 7: We have put out and extended the olive branch to them to sit down and have conversation if they'd like, through this task force, if need be.
• 28:07
  Speaker 7: That's probably the first real major step of it, besides reaching out to towers.
• 28:17
  Speaker 7: Yes, sorry to interrupt.
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: What's the response been from that so far?
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: Reaching out to the people?
• 28:23
  Speaker 3: Not very favorable.
• 28:25
  Speaker 3: God bless.
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: I figured that was the answer.
• 28:28
  Speaker 3: I thought I'd ask Go ahead?
• 28:31
  Speaker 7: Yeah, it's not.
• 28:32
  Speaker 7: They don't want to this issue, you know, and I don't want to venture down a rabbit hole too far, but this whole process was started incorrectly, uh, tra asked for this task force and you better be careful what you ask for it's kind of like calling up the irs and asking them to do your taxes for you.
• 29:04
  Speaker 7: You know, um, and this is not going away.
• 29:08
  Speaker 7: Uh, we sent out a legislative update just not that long ago.
• 29:14
  Speaker 7: That is the physical year 25 Transportation, housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill, which the federal government is already implementing and putting money to go to these agencies, like Federal Motor Carriers, to look at our industry.
• 29:33
  Speaker 7: And now that the spotlight's on us, I don't know whether any of us are really prepared to get involved, to understand what it is, because it's going to take money and the nuts and bolts of this whole deal comes down to no matter who's doing it, whether it's an association or the coalition or individual tow companies it's going to cost money companies it's going to cost money.
• 30:16
  Speaker 7: The coalition is banded together of a group of people that wants to make a difference and is willing to shield this from industry.
• 30:20
  Speaker 7: But you need to go to the coalition's website and press that donate button.
• 30:27
  Speaker 7: You've got to start supporting the coalition so that we can defend some of this stuff and we can force the insurance industry and the transportation industry to the table to sit down and have these meaningful conversations, looking at standards and best practices.
• 30:51
  Speaker 7: We are a firm believer that the Federal Motor Carrier Highway does not have jurisdiction or regulatory authority over this.
• 31:04
  Speaker 7: They are a safety-minded operation.
• 31:10
  Speaker 7: That was what they were based on was safety Motor carrier safety Nothing to do with pricing or anything like that.
• 31:21
  Speaker 4: So to double down on that, the coalition has spent.
• 31:27
  Speaker 4: We've far exceeded six figures.
• 31:29
  Speaker 4: We have literally hired the best transportation law firm.
• 31:33
  Speaker 4: We've hired, uh, you know, one of the top, uh, consulting firms, lobbyist firms, United States.
• 31:42
  Speaker 4: They have offices, you know, um, you know, all over the country, um, up and down the East coast.
• 31:49
  Speaker 4: They're not cheap and you get what you pay for.
• 31:52
  Speaker 4: If you want a cheap tow and you don't care if tie rods are bent or broke or tires damaged or your car is ripped out of alignment because of the way it's tied down, then go with the cheap guys.
• 32:03
  Speaker 4: But if you want to make a difference, you have to have quality people working for you and your cause.
• 32:09
  Speaker 4: The coalition has put, as far as I'm concerned, the A-team on the playing field and it's important that we maintain them and it's important that we pay them, and we've been doing that.
• 32:23
  Speaker 4: So that's why that's the first call to action is you have to contribute and we're not looking.
• 32:29
  Speaker 4: We'll take whatever you can give.
• 32:31
  Speaker 4: Question is you have to contribute and we're not looking.
• 32:33
  Speaker 4: We'll take whatever you can give, by the way, but we're looking for grassroots support.
• 32:37
  Speaker 4: We're trying to support, honestly, every toer, from a one truck operation to a hundred truck operation.
• 32:46
  Speaker 4: We have guys that are donating annually.
• 32:47
  Speaker 4: I think the smallest donation we have set up is $25 a month.
• 32:50
  Speaker 4: We have a few at $50.
• 32:51
  Speaker 4: We have several at $100.
• 32:53
  Speaker 4: We have some at $500 a month.
• 32:55
  Speaker 4: That's what we need to keep this going, because our expenses literally are close to $20,000 a month, and that's without one tower taking a penny.
• 33:05
  Speaker 4: No one on the coalition's board has any compensation, no expense account.
• 33:10
  Speaker 4: We are committed to this industry because we love it.
• 33:14
  Speaker 4: Everyone on our board is passionate about the towing industry and go ahead.
• 33:22
  Speaker 3: Well, just a minor point.
• 33:23
  Speaker 3: I hope everybody heard the no expense account.
• 33:26
  Speaker 3: People don't understand when you're involved in any kind of volunteer organization in the towing or other industries, that it's not only your time but it's every expense to travel to a meeting, whatever, whatever, whatever.
• 33:39
  Speaker 3: I just want to point that out because I am involved in that.
• 33:42
  Speaker 3: You know that type of stuff myself and I don't think people realize that the true commitment you put folks like you are making on this subject that you're so passionate about.
• 33:53
  Speaker 7: Sorry, you know, that's fine.
• 33:58
  Speaker 4: Yeah, you're right, you're spot on.
• 34:00
  Speaker 7: To dovetail on that West.
• 34:01
  Speaker 7: You know I was asked a question by one of the board members of the coalition what kind of time do I spend as chairman working on coalition business?
• 34:14
  Speaker 7: And I'm spending upwards of 20 to 30 hours a week already just on coalition business that I get nothing for and don't want anything for, because it's the passion that I have for the industry.
• 34:33
  Speaker 7: I want to make this industry better for everybody, whether it's the one truck guy or the hundred truck guy or gal, the the reality of the whole deal comes down to.
• 34:48
  Speaker 7: So we are at a point in legislation that if we do not have lobbyists on the ground in Washington DC, you are going to see some regulations come that this industry has never been faced with before, faced with before.
• 35:14
  Speaker 7: The Democratic Society that we have in Washington DC today is going to pick our industry apart, not only from the financial side but from every other side that they can get their fingers into 100%.
• 35:34
  Speaker 4: We've never had a good offensive team.
• 35:36
  Speaker 4: And, um, you can't say enough about a good defense, because a good defense is critical.
• 35:43
  Speaker 4: But at some, some point, if all you have is defense, defense just gets beat down.
• 35:48
  Speaker 4: The other team scores.
• 35:49
  Speaker 4: So the best way to and I'm I'm not a sports expert, but my opinion and I've learned this in my own business sometimes the best defense is a good offense.
• 36:02
  Speaker 4: Don't let the other team have the ball.
• 36:03
  Speaker 4: They can't score if they don't have the ball.
• 36:06
  Speaker 3: There's a lot to be said about that, and there's a lot to be said about the grassroots movement like this that should be able to have a relatively strong offense.
• 36:19
  Speaker 7: Well, I think that you're seeing our offense when we walk into federal motor carriers, and Ron did a superb job of turning the narrative to making them aware that we are not getting paid for all the services that we do, and they were shocked at that.
• 36:40
  Speaker 3: That's 100% the biggest issue that's really solved Well, solving some of the problems and I've had the same experience talking to different organizations government agencies, et cetera making them try to understand our industry.
• 36:57
  Speaker 3: That is one of the biggest problems.
• 37:00
  Speaker 7: It is and nobody has really taken the steps that the coalition has to do the education and to sit down and explain what goes on.
• 37:12
  Speaker 7: You know it kind of goes back to the definition of predatory, you know, seeking to exploit or oppress others.
• 37:23
  Speaker 7: How does a toer do that?
• 37:26
  Speaker 7: All we do is we pick up the phone and we go out and perform a service and we try to do that service to the best of our ability at a fair and reasonable price.
• 37:38
  Speaker 7: The problem comes into that nasty word called profit.
• 37:45
  Speaker 7: But I have a family to support.
• 37:48
  Speaker 7: I chose this business to support my family and I should be able to make a profit at what I do.
• 37:55
  Speaker 7: That doesn't mean 100% profit, but it does mean that I should be able to get some sort of profit and I want every tower to start reaping that benefit of profit from doing the job that he does.
• 38:12
  Speaker 3: Correct 100%, absolutely the um.
• 38:17
  Speaker 3: I think, though, that reality of the situation is and again, I think it's one 10th of 1%.
• 38:22
  Speaker 3: There is, there is, some bad apples actors out there.
• 38:26
  Speaker 3: I know, here in the state of North Carolina that I live in, there's one or two companies that make the news all the time.
• 38:32
  Speaker 3: I think we have 2000 companies, you know the time.
• 38:35
  Speaker 3: I think we have 2,000 companies in the state, so that 1.1, a percentage of 1%, is pretty accurate in that situation, again, in the situations that I'm referencing, it appears that they're violating local statutes.
• 38:51
  Speaker 3: That could be solved.
• 38:52
  Speaker 3: You know, the situation could be solved that way if it's handled correctly.
• 38:56
  Speaker 3: Well, just let me finish just real quick.
• 39:00
  Speaker 3: I'm sorry to interrupt, but I just want to make it clear.
• 39:02
  Speaker 3: I think the vast majority of towers out there are doing good work at a fair price and they do need to worry about being profitable.
• 39:12
  Speaker 7: And Wes.
• 39:13
  Speaker 7: I couldn't agree with you more.
• 39:15
  Speaker 7: The problem comes down to is and it gets very complicated when you dig into it the consumer only has one recourse in reality, and that's go to the attorney general or the district attorney and file the charges there.
• 39:35
  Speaker 7: The problem that we have, with our judicial system being as broken as it is today and you've got district attorneys that don't want to do the work and go after these companies.
• 39:49
  Speaker 7: We're seeing bills.
• 39:51
  Speaker 7: I got one just yesterday, $3,000 to boot a big rig.
• 39:59
  Speaker 3: That's the exact kind of behavior I'm talking about Absolutely $1,000.
• 40:05
  Speaker 7: That trucking company.
• 40:06
  Speaker 7: I totally agree.
• 40:08
  Speaker 7: They are being abused, they are being taken advantage of.
• 40:13
  Speaker 7: The remedy is for that district attorney to file charges and go after that business.
• 40:24
  Speaker 7: And if the district attorneys and the state attorney generals would do this, this would stop.
• 40:33
  Speaker 7: You would put these guys out of business and they wouldn't be there and you wouldn't be having it.
• 40:41
  Speaker 7: And if you knew that the attorney general was going to do that, you wouldn't do that business.
• 40:52
  Speaker 4: That's part of where.
• 40:53
  Speaker 4: Coming back to the work that needs to be done and what we're doing, part of what the coalition is done and doing is we are communicating with the transportation industry as a whole, trucking companies specifically, and we want to help them come up with a solution.
• 41:13
  Speaker 4: We want to create the model to help them come up with a solution.
• 41:18
  Speaker 4: We want to create the model to help them and, in turn, help us, because that kind of behavior hurts every single person.
• 41:23
  Speaker 4: I mean, we could go into war stories forever, but we just have a really challenging PR problem problem and it seems that every piece of news article you see or something that goes viral is some type of supposed tow operator that is committing some kind of heinous abuse of a consumer, but you don't see the story.
• 41:51
  Speaker 4: You don't see the main lines where you know towers are hurt or injured trying to help someone.
• 41:55
  Speaker 4: You don't see the stories.
• 41:56
  Speaker 4: You don't see the main lines where you know towers are hurt or injured trying to help someone.
• 41:56
  Speaker 4: You don't see the stories where the guys bent out literally in sub-zero temperatures to open up a highway.
• 42:03
  Speaker 4: You don't see where the towers responded and all this is generally done without the guys knowing being paid.
• 42:10
  Speaker 4: We have a few stories, you know, but guys are literally going to the extreme to help save or rescue someone, or help fire departments, underfunded fire departments.
• 42:20
  Speaker 3: Let me interrupt you right there, if I could, for half a second.
• 42:23
  Speaker 3: We're experiencing the hurricane coming through the Carolinas today.
• 42:27
  Speaker 3: I get to see you.
• 42:29
  Speaker 3: There's no less than a thousand towing companies between North and South Carolina that have been out with chainsaws in their trucks helping local fire and state and whoever else getting roads, trees off of roads and things like that.
• 42:44
  Speaker 3: That occurred a thousand times today Somewhere in these Carolinas, especially the smaller towns where the towers and the firefighters work together so closely.
• 42:57
  Speaker 2: And.
• 42:57
  Speaker 3: I apologize for interrupting you like that, but it's just an example.
• 42:59
  Speaker 3: Nobody saw one of those thousands that happened today, I guarantee you.
• 43:06
  Speaker 4: No, that's not being reported.
• 43:07
  Speaker 4: But you let some unscrupulous individual boot a car that got put in a parking lot because their driveway's flooded and it'll make headlines.
• 43:15
  Speaker 4: It's really lopsided.
• 43:17
  Speaker 4: So we're working on a lot of stuff.
• 43:20
  Speaker 4: I mean, we're kind of.
• 43:22
  Speaker 4: There's so much more that I know Quinn and I both would like to share, but it's still very early in the shaping and we can't really say anything yet.
• 43:32
  Speaker 4: But there's big things coming and as soon as we feel comfortable you'll be one of the first people we contact.
• 43:44
  Speaker 3: I was going to say we'd love to have you back as things progress, Definitely to keep us up to date on it, or even if there's just a message.
• 43:48
  Speaker 3: You know, as we go along here, we want to get everybody's message out of what's going on in the industry.
• 43:56
  Speaker 4: I encourage everyone to go read our response.
• 43:58
  Speaker 4: I mean, we responded to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration during the comment period.
• 44:05
  Speaker 4: We specifically addressed the questions they asked us.
• 44:09
  Speaker 4: At the in-person meeting and meeting we were very cautious, you know, to, I guess, not give them information that they could try to use against us.
• 44:26
  Speaker 4: We wanted to address their concerns.
• 44:27
  Speaker 4: But the biggest thing that we believe is they don't have the authority to try to come in and regulate it.
• 44:33
  Speaker 4: They just don't is they don't have the authority to try to come in and regulate it.
• 44:38
  Speaker 4: They just don't and they're kind of overstepping going this route and one of our from day one and we have to deal with it and it is what it is.
• 44:43
  Speaker 4: We're dealing with it.
• 44:44
  Speaker 4: But we've asked an agency to step in, kind of, and look at this predatory towing thing or research it.
• 44:52
  Speaker 4: This is the same agency that can suspend your DOT authority.
• 44:56
  Speaker 4: So if we want that oversight, which we probably need, I'm not sure that was the best agency to ask, because we all know sometimes, you know there's usually two sides to every story and the truth in the middle and you know if you get the wrong complaint filed against you by the right person, you can find yourself behind the eight ball, have done nothing wrong but simply not in the position to properly defend yourself and literally lose your operating authority.
• 45:27
  Speaker 4: It would be devastating.
• 45:28
  Speaker 4: So we want to tread lightly down this road and we acknowledge that something has to be done.
• 45:35
  Speaker 4: We acknowledge there's bad characters.
• 45:38
  Speaker 4: We don't currently have a mechanism to address them and that's what we have to partially what we have to do, to work at.
• 45:45
  Speaker 4: But while we're doing all that, the coalition has also made the commitment that we're going to work hard to make positive change in insurance.
• 45:57
  Speaker 4: These ridiculously low limits and I'm going to call a light out they're the worst.
• 46:01
  Speaker 4: I find it comical that they're one of the people that are so critical of these tow bills.
• 46:05
  Speaker 4: And what's funny as hell to me is most of the time they don't pay them.
• 46:08
  Speaker 4: They're selling $5,000, $10,000 limits.
• 46:11
  Speaker 4: It doesn't matter if the bill's $500,000.
• 46:14
  Speaker 4: They're only going to pay five or 10 grand because that's all they sell these poor truckers.
• 46:18
  Speaker 4: They are so abusing some of their membership by underinsuring them.
• 46:22
  Speaker 4: It's not funny.
• 46:24
  Speaker 4: They don't realize until they have an accident.
• 46:26
  Speaker 4: What do you mean?
• 46:27
  Speaker 4: I only have $10,000 coverage.
• 46:29
  Speaker 4: They assume that they were buying a quality product and then OIDA says well, hey, that's the coverage you picked.
• 46:35
  Speaker 4: You could have paid more for this, but that's not how they're selling it.
• 46:38
  Speaker 4: They're making huge profits in their insurance program and they're one of them that they simply they just need called out.
• 46:44
  Speaker 4: I mean, how dare they complain about a tow bill that they don't pay?
• 46:47
  Speaker 4: They're complaining on behalf of their member, but it's because they've underinsured their member.
• 46:56
  Speaker 7: It's bizarre.
• 46:57
  Speaker 7: Go look at OIDA's response to the Federal Motor Carrier.
• 47:00
  Speaker 7: I mean it was pretty sad to me that he went through and called out eight or nine, maybe even 10 tow bills that they've had.
• 47:16
  Speaker 7: Well you may think that's a lot of complaint, but when you have the amount of membership that OIDA does and how many trucks they have out on the road that it's such a small percentage in reality of what they actually have to pay out.
• 47:38
  Speaker 7: But the bottom line comes down to is it's because of the low coverage limit policies that these guys are writing doesn't want to accept the fact that the majority of these claims should be put under the liability side of the policy, not the comprehensive, and the liability should be picking it up and we should be able to trigger that liability side because we are clearing a highway or a roadway or a motorway.
• 48:16
  Speaker 3: Absolutely on that, absolutely All right.
• 48:19
  Speaker 3: I don't want to cut you guys off, but we run pretty long here.
• 48:22
  Speaker 3: Give us a closing comment.
• 48:24
  Speaker 3: How can folks take action?
• 48:26
  Speaker 3: How can they see some of the stuff you're talking about, et cetera.
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we need a website or something like that.
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: Ron and Quinn.
• 48:35
  Speaker 7: National Open Commerce Safer Highways Coalition N-O-C-H N-O-C-S-Hcom.
• 48:46
  Speaker 7: Go there, press the donate button.
• 48:49
  Speaker 7: There is also an updates page that has all of our updates on there.
• 48:55
  Speaker 7: You can also go in there and put in your email and get on our email list where we blast out all the updates that come out.
• 49:05
  Speaker 7: We need to have the industry get involved with the coalition and help us help them.
• 49:13
  Speaker 3: Okay, well, Ron, any closing comments from you?
• 49:18
  Speaker 4: Hey, no, I just wanted everyone to know out there that's fighting this battle.
• 49:21
  Speaker 4: Just help us get engaged, Reach out, email us if you have a specific issue.
• 49:27
  Speaker 4: One of the things we need is we don't need that we're we get the fact that we're not getting paid.
• 49:32
  Speaker 4: We all know that.
• 49:32
  Speaker 4: We need specific claim numbers, date of accident and the amount, Like we have some letters where they're saying they're only going to pay $5,000 or they only pay $10,000.
• 49:43
  Speaker 4: We need hardcore facts.
• 49:46
  Speaker 4: We don't need hearsay.
• 49:48
  Speaker 4: We don't need everyone bitching about it.
• 49:50
  Speaker 4: We need you to submit a claim number, a date of loss and the ridiculous coverage limits that these truck companies have so that we can present it to the right people and some of them right people as legislators.
• 50:02
  Speaker 4: It's not just Federal Motor Carriers.
• 50:04
  Speaker 4: We need to show them that we are being abused and opening the highway, and that's what we're after.
• 50:10
  Speaker 3: So, Rob, just could I ask a quick question?
• 50:12
  Speaker 3: Sure.
• 50:12
  Speaker 3: So, Ron, just could I ask a quick question?
• 50:13
  Speaker 3: Sure, so you need ones where they don't have the proper coverage, but you also need ones where they just don't have any coverage at all.
• 50:23
  Speaker 3: Of those two, right Any one?
• 50:27
  Speaker 3: So correct?
• 50:30
  Speaker 4: There's a lot of companies that don't have coverage and, for example, we just recently had a company that has 20 trucks.
• 50:35
  Speaker 4: They have 20 trucks listed.
• 50:37
  Speaker 4: They look really great on the website for federal motor carriers, but the reality is they had insurance on one truck.
• 50:43
  Speaker 4: They were operating 20.
• 50:45
  Speaker 4: They had insurance on one truck.
• 50:47
  Speaker 4: The truck that was wrecked was not covered.
• 50:49
  Speaker 4: We need that type of stuff so that they understand what's happening and then we need to figure out how we got to fix that.
• 50:57
  Speaker 3: All this information was confidential to people 100% confidential.
• 51:02
  Speaker 4: Email us, tell us what you have and what we have you do is we have it, send you directly to the lobbyist consultant, and there's an attorney client privilege involved in that consultant and there's an attorney client privilege involved in that.
• 51:18
  Speaker 4: And so, therefore, even us coalition members, even Quinn myself we'll never know who I've come from and we'll have a summary, but we have to have it validated.
• 51:25
  Speaker 4: So it depends on where it goes.
• 51:26
  Speaker 4: We have to be able to prove that we didn't make this stuff up, and that is crucial.
• 51:31
  Speaker 4: We need specific cases and it's not hearsay.
• 51:36
  Speaker 4: We need to be able to prove.
• 51:37
  Speaker 4: Hey look, here it is, mr Senator, mr Congressman, mrs Congressman, whatever it may be, this is what's happening.
• 51:45
  Speaker 4: How can we fix?
• 51:46
  Speaker 3: it.
• 51:46
  Speaker 3: Okay, well, good stuff.
• 51:48
  Speaker 3: I can't thank you guys enough for being on with us today, looking forward to having you come back and keep us up to date.
• 51:53
  Speaker 3: Listeners.
• 51:55
  Speaker 3: Thanks for listening.
• 51:56
  Speaker 3: I know it was a long one, but there's a lot of good information, current information on what's going on out there, so I thank both y'all and DJ.
• 52:03
  Speaker 3: Thank you, we'll see y'all next time.
• 52:05
  Speaker 3: Thanks, guys All right, thank you.