May 9, 2025 • 37 mins
Veteran tower Jared Innis pulls back the curtain on the economic realities of the towing industry in this eye-opening conversation about survival in a challenging business landscape. With 31 years of experience and as president of the Missouri Tow Truck Association, Ennis offers a frank assessment of the issues threatening towing companies across America.
The financial mathematics of towing simply don't add up for many operators. When insurance companies cap towing reimbursements at $5,000 while actual recovery costs for major truck accidents often exceed $50,000, who absorbs that difference? Innis reveals a startling statistic: between 30-40% of towed commercial vehicles are never reclaimed, leaving towing companies holding worthless damaged equipment after providing essential public safety services.
"We're seeing they have cargo only and liability on the truck and trailer, and we're getting trashed trucks and trailers," Innis explains. "It's become more of a challenge because you're getting paid for basically a third of the bill and getting stuck with junk."
The conversation shifts to the legislative battles being fought in Missouri, where proposed regulations threaten to create a towing recovery review committee with just one tower among seven members who would have authority over billing disputes. Even more concerning, a provision would allow customers who dispute a bill to retrieve their vehicle without payment, effectively eliminating the tower's ability to secure compensation for services rendered.
Locally, Kansas City faces its own crisis following allegations of "predatory towing" that have prompted reactionary ordinances. Jackson County's proposed regulations would charge towing companies $1,000 plus $250 per truck for licensing—ten times what surrounding counties charge—while implementing a punishment structure where a single violation by one driver could potentially shut down an entire company.
Whether you're in the towing industry or simply rely on these essential services, this conversation offers valuable perspective on the challenges facing the businesses we count on to keep our roadways clear and safe. For more information about the Missouri Towing Association, visit motowtrruck.com.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
you're on the train to success with april and wes
wilburn.
I'm dj harrington, the co-host,better known as the toe doctor.
We're all on our way to thetown of proper towing and
recovery, along with ourproducer, chuck camp, in the
studio.
Don't go to the town of woulda,coulda, shoulda.
(00:25):
You coulda had done this.
You should have done that.
Listen every week tothought-provoking wisdom from
great guests.
So if you have Spotify, itunes,pandora, stitcher, iheartmedia
or the number one podcast, ormaybe Amazon or wherever you get
(00:50):
your podcasts, turn in onWednesday and be turned on all
week long.
If you are a state associationand want your announcements or
upcoming state association newsannouncements or upcoming state
association news or maybe aco-show that's coming up, let us
(01:10):
know.
Our podcast studio phone numberis 706-409-5603.
I'm proud to be part of a greatteam at the american dorm
recovery institute.
Let's make 2025 our best yearever.
I I will turn it to AprilLoomis.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
As always, dj, thank you for your kind words, and we
have a great guest with us today, jared Ennis from All-Star
Towing.
He's got a lot of goodinformation and a lot of good
conversation with us.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Jared's also the president of the Missouri
Co-Truck Association and ifyou're following on social media
at all, they've got a whole lotof stuff also president of the
Missouri Co-Trust Association.
And if you're following onsocial media at all, they've got
a whole lot of stuff going onrelevant to Kansas City and the
towing industry.
So, jared, thanks for being ontoday.
Would you mind introducingyourself, telling our listeners
(02:01):
a little bit about yourbackground, and then we'll get
into the subject today?
I just want to get an idea ofwho they're talking to.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Sure, my name's Jared Ennis.
I've been in the towingindustry 31 years.
I've been very active in ourtow association.
I've served every office in ourassociation over the years.
I think this is my eighth orninth time I've been president
throughout the years.
I think this is my eighth orninth time I've been president
throughout the years.
I haven't been for a few years,but a couple people wanted me
(02:29):
to run and asked me to, so I didand was elected a few weeks ago
to the position again.
We run my companies are, youknow, the northern edge of
Kansas City.
Then we run all of northwestMissouri as well, so we cover a
pretty big footprint.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
So how large of a company is it?
Speaker 3 (02:48):
I have a total.
We have 35 trucks with threemajor locations, and then two
satellites as well.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Yeah, wow, that's impressive.
That's a pretty good operation.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
As well as Missouri, you also cover some of Kansas,
is that correct?
Speaker 3 (03:05):
That's correct.
We cover East Central Kansas,you know, whether it be Kansas
City or St Joseph, with theriver being right there.
I mean the state line's only afew miles from our location,
just very, very close.
One of them.
We're only less than a mileaway.
So we go over into Kansas, upinto Iowa, nebraska, a lot, and
(03:26):
then you know all over thecountry for different things,
but I mean on a day-to-day basis.
We're in those areas all day,every day.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Well, I'm sure that keeps you more than busy and
gives you plenty of time for avolunteer job.
That's right.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
That's right it doesn't pay very well, but it's
important work.
Thankfully, we've gotten morepeople involved the last couple
years.
I think there's some guysstepping up and doing a good job
.
Associations across the countrydon't have great participation
as far as percentage ofcompanies, but I think for a
(04:06):
small association we've alwaysgotten a lot done and done a
good job for the towing industryin Missouri.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Yeah, unfortunately, towing associations never get
the credit for what they put out, always get asked what are you
doing?
And they don't understand thatpeople are volunteering their
time like you and other folksaround the country to make a
whole lot of stuff happen forthe industry.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Oh, for sure, definitely I mean the time, and
you know you don't think aboutthe hours and the gas driving to
the Capitol and things likethat.
I don't care about it.
But you know a lot of peopleover the years have put a lot of
time and effort in and havewhat we have today in the state,
and that's a good point.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
You're not only not getting paid for your time, it
costs you money being involved.
I've been involved with severalorganizations and my hat's off
to you.
Again most people don't realizethe volunteer effort that
people put into this Sure, andespecially now because there's a
(05:10):
situation going on.
It gives you all a formalfootprint or stance to address
it.
Tell our listeners that aren'tfamiliar what's going on in the
great city of Kansas City.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
So we have two issues right now One at the state
level.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
OIDA, the Owner Operator.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Independent Driver Association has been trying all
over the country to regulateheavy-duty towing and especially
recovery.
They've used different tacticsand presented different things
Basically what they come in, asthese tow companies are putting
our small trucking companymembers and presented different
things Basically what they comein.
As you know, these towcompanies are putting our small
trucking company members out ofbusiness, which is not true.
(05:51):
What's happening is, whenthere's a major accident
rollover, they underinsure themwith a $5,000 towing cap.
So you have a rollover tractor,trailer liability on the truck
and trailer only the cleanup andrecovery far, know, far exceeds
five thousand dollars, and soso they're already out of the
(06:12):
truck.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Go ahead, hang on one second if you don't mind.
Uh, what I think is reasonableto say far out sees it by 10
times that amount in some cases,not all.
Is that a reason?
Speaker 3 (06:27):
oh absolutely you know the cost of.
You know, look at, look attrucks insurance in the last
five years alone they're up 50to 60 um, let alone other
external costs that we and wejust can't absorb.
We run a at a low um profitpercentage.
It's not like towing companiesare making a 50% margin.
You know, it just doesn'thappen.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
So we run on thinner margins and there's.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
You know, like I always testify as yeah towing.
Recovery is absolutelyexpensive, there's no question.
But you don't see the averagetower out there living in
million-dollar houses.
You know in the state it justdoesn't happen.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I mean they put in a lot of hours for really thin
margins.
That's right.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Many people don't see that.
They see that it's built at theend of the day, but they don't
take into account running safeequipment, paying the living
wage for your employees andusually, usually transportation
committees.
When you know, after I testify,they'll ask a lot of good
questions and all they hear isthe horror stories the bill is
$40,000, and, oh my God, it'shorrible.
Well then they ask a lot ofgood questions and they start
understanding your cost and whatequipment you have out there
(07:40):
and a lot of it you don't needvery often.
Often, but you have to have itwhen the time comes.
And then, and when you tellthem, like my insurance, I pay
575 000 a year and we havereally good rates they're
floored at the cost we haveinvolved with doing our job, and
so then they get a betterunderstanding of why it is
(08:01):
expensive.
Um, and I think you know, mostof them have common sense and
obviously there's always badapples in every industry and we
have some of that.
But you know, for the most partit's just yes, it's expensive,
but it's just what it costs todo the job and make a fair
profit.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
I'm going to ask one question too, too, because
you're a good company, you'vegot quality equipment.
Sometimes it's not that youwant to have it.
Sometimes it's that you have tohave it.
To do these jobs, you'rerequired to have a minimal
amount of equipment and whenthey make you have that, they
(08:42):
need to understand that there'sa cost associated with it.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
That is correct, absolutely, and you know,
missouri is not very regulatedwith um equipment minimums, like
some states are.
But um, some of the you know,maybe city or county contracts
do have equipment requirements,um, but the simple fact is they
(09:06):
want, even even though it's notrequired, they want you to have
it.
They want the roads because oftraffic incident management.
They want the roads cleared asfast as possible so there's not
secondary accidents.
And could you do the job withtwo traditional 30-ton wreckers?
Absolutely, you're going to beout there twice as long if
you're out there with 50 tonsand rotators.
Public safety is a veryimportant part of this and
(09:30):
getting the road cleaned up andopen as quick as possible is a
public safety issue.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Yes, and those very same people that are complaining
about the price of your billare the same trucking companies
that were complaining aboutsitting in traffic for hours now
?
Yes, in my opinion.
So another subject, or anothersubchapter of the same subject
(09:59):
you guys are going out cleaningup these roads they're not even
being guaranteed that you'regoing to be paid.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
I've seen that's.
I was going to bring that pointup, but I've seen in the last,
let's say the last 10 years,especially the last five years.
Used to we didn't have muchproblem.
We'd go work, a tractor trailerwreck, we got paid to come pick
the the damage units up and gotthem out of there.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Um in the last five, five years.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Um, we between 30% and 40% of every law enforcement
tow is not getting picked up.
We're seeing they have cargoonly and liability on the truck
and trailer and we're gettingtrashed trucks and trailers In
our area.
It's hard to get rid of them.
There's not a lot of salvagebuyers, Even though we're in a
(10:44):
major city.
You get an older truck andtrailer, no one's interested in
them, and so it's become more ofa challenge because you're
getting paid for basically athird of the bill and getting
stuck with junk.
But our title process is alittle bit slow.
We're going to have it you know,90 days minimum, but the
(11:06):
reality is you're probably goingto have it 5 months to get
titles for stuff, unlesseverything goes perfect, and
then, before you can get rid ofit, you get.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
I mean very little money out of it, absolutely
speaking of getting very littlemoney.
If I don't run some commercialshere, I'm going to get very
little money.
So you hang around until afterthe break.
Yeah, that's not a problem.
Speaker 6 (11:32):
For electric and other alternative fuel vehicles.
We have developed an app thatgives you all the manufacturers
411 for when that 911 happens.
Whether you are a fire tower orpolice, we got you covered.
To find the EV Clever app, goto your Apple or Google Play
store for a 30-day free trial.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
We also offer the National Tow Operator
Certification an independentlysourced virtual testing program
covering light duty, heavy duty,electric and alternative fuel
vehicle.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Welcome back listeners.
You know you're listening tothe new Towing News channel.
This has been a great one withJared and Jared 31 years he's in
business.
So I want all of you toremember we are available on
Spotify, pandora, itunes,stitcher, iheartmedia, amazon or
(12:25):
wherever you get your podcasts.
So, without further ado, let'slisten to the president of the
Missouri Towing Association andApril.
I'll pass it back over to youand Wes Wilber.
Yeah, I want to sneak a quickquestion in for you, just to
kind of finish the train ofthought.
I want to sneak a quickquestion in and just kind of
finish the train of thought.
You said, just to be clear,here, over the last five years,
(12:50):
30% to 40% of big rats don't getpicked up.
Correct?
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Yeah, we're seeing that they'll have cargo and at
times we're even having troublegetting paid through the cargo
insurance.
If they have a really low valueof cargo I use paper rolls, for
example.
We get those probably one a yearand I've gotten stuck with
several of them Because thevalue is so low.
The company will just pay thepaper itself and not turn a
(13:17):
cargo claim in.
And yeah, so we just had a lotmore issue in the last five
years with liability only andnot getting paid on the truck
and trailer and only gettingpaid on the cargo.
In some cases, not even that,and I think that's probably
everyone.
Seeing that I don't think it'sexclusive to our area?
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Oh no, it's definitely not exclusive to your
area.
It's happening all over thecountry, not exclusively in your
area.
It's happening all over thecountry and I'm just trying to
highlight it.
So we have good facts on recordfor people to work with.
Any other company, target oranyone that would experience
that rate of shoplifting wouldcompletely change their business
(13:59):
model.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Well, and that's one thing I explain to the
legislator a lot of times youknow that's one reason that not
just our costs have gone up, butthat's a major factor in why
prices are what they are,because we have to look at the
whole picture.
You know, when we don't getpaid on a job, it increases
everybody's cost, just so we canstay in business and make a
(14:21):
fair profit.
And that's just the reality ofthe situation.
I mean, it's unfortunate butit's true.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Yes, it's modern economics.
One more point I want to sneakin real quick, also on major
truck wrecks.
Would you agree?
There's a lot more burn jobsnowadays because of the DEF fuel
systems et cetera.
You know.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
I know some more.
We get a lot of them.
I guess we don't.
I think we get more break orbearing fires.
We do get some tractor stuffwith the DEF, but I mean, in our
area it seems like we get a lotmore bearing and breaks.
We're in more of a rural areawith a lot of interstate and
(15:07):
that's what we see more of thanthan we do tractor fires okay,
fair enough.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Many times when you've seen those brake fires,
you've seen the load andeverything being destroyed.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
In other words, a lot of work to clean up very little
value sitting there, yeah, andwe've had situations where we
use some, even though we haveroll-off containers ourselves.
Skid steers there's.
Sometimes we'll use an outsidevendor but they've got grapple
trucks.
Especially when it's a smallfood product, they're so much
(15:42):
faster at cleaning it up withthe grapple trucks and hauling
it.
You know I've spent you know$12,000, $14,000 or more on jobs
them picking up the burnt cargoand taking it to the dump so
that you know you hope you getpaid.
But we've had deals where youknow, I'm out that kind of hard
money, plus all of our costs ona job and don't get paid.
(16:04):
Unfortunately, it happens.
I think it doesn't happen realoften, but I know towers and
other states that are friendsthat, um, one of them got off
the high patrol rotation listbecause they're they're capped
at their fees and he was gettingstuck all the time without
getting paid and he's like I'mdone with this, it's just, it's
a losing, there's no profit init.
(16:26):
It's a losing, losing, there'sno profit in it.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
It's a losing thing for me to do and there's no
point in doing it.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Yeah, there's stories all over the country, no doubt,
about Jared, I know that you'rereally active in the
Association and you're thepresident and you're also active
in legislation.
Can you um go into some of thatand what recently has have you
been involved with?
Speaker 3 (16:53):
um, yeah, so we were monday.
We were at the capitol injefferson city, um, satisfying
an opposition of a bill, andit's in several different bills
or forms that's been added on to.
But, um, basically there areseveral points that are really
bad for the towing industry.
Instead of capping the fees,what they've done is try to get
(17:18):
a towing recovery committee toreview towing bills.
Well, what they have proposedis there seven people on the
board, only one.
One of them is a tow-er.
You know, we've got truckingindustry, insurance, police
people that have no idea what itcosts to do the build, to
(17:39):
review it just no qualificationsand no expertise.
And so we're for a board likewe've recommended, like what
Arkansas has.
Their board has nine members.
Seven of them are towers fromdifferent disciplines, and we're
all for that.
That way, if there really is alegitimate issue, you can have
(18:03):
someone review it and makerecommendations, because we want
, you know, the bills to be fairfor people yeah, they're
expensive, but they need to befair and just because it gives
us a black eye when they're not.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
It sounds like sometimes that's an overreaction
and just jumping the gun as faras what they want to regulate.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
you guys with too, yeah, but they've kind of come
up with this the last few yearsthat they've pushed very similar
legislation.
There's a little bit of achange.
The next big issue if someonedisputes a bit that they is
proposed, if they dispute thebill, we no longer.
Or if there's a dispute,whether it's genuine or
(18:42):
substantiated, they can come gettruck, trailer and cargo at no
charge.
And there's then you're stuckholding the bag how you ever
gonna get paid.
It doesn't have to be, yeah, itdoesn't have to be
substantiated or anything.
It's just if they file this,that's in there.
And there's also a section thattakes away a lien when we do a
(19:06):
non-consensual tow for thepolice department.
Two problems there A, you can'thold it if someone wants to come
get it because you don't have alien on it.
And B if we get stuck with it,there's no way to title that
through our titling laws.
We can never get a title for itand do anything.
And the last problem is itprohibits price per pound
(19:28):
billing and people havedifferent thoughts on it.
Myself, I'm a proponent of itbecause the same job, no matter
if you have the best equipment,the best operators and trained.
If you go out and do it inthree hours and the work takes
12 hours, you get paid the same.
(19:49):
It should.
There has to be incentives forpeople to invest in equipment,
invest in drivers, operators,training, um and being
proficient and be rewarded forit, where, if you go by the hour
, it's just incentive.
You know to be the best.
I mean you can milk the clock,get paid more where I like it,
(20:11):
where, hey, you get paid withthe jobs worth.
Whether it takes you four hoursor five hours.
Everybody's on the same playingfield, and so my personally, I
like it and I've used it foryears and it works well.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Well, you touched on several things there.
The price per pound method,when employed fairly, is a very
good method.
We've had the original creatorof it, stormy Norman out of
Alabama, on the podcast about ayear ago and he talked about it
and explained it in great detailand it absolutely is fair to
(20:48):
everybody involved.
Going all the way back to thebeginning of this conversation
about the towing board, um, I'dbe more worried about having
seven out of the nine people onthe account.
That's where this, this game,is one of us so I'm not a simple
matter of one-off.
(21:14):
So I had a simple matter of sixexpenses paying a decent way to
living wage to people that youknow.
You want good people on the jobsite, common people that have
technical skills that can do thejob.
You also want good people thatare being compensated well in
life doing well in life asthey're handling other people's
products and merchandise andvehicles.
There should be a premium paidfor that.
(21:35):
Absolutely, People don't lookat all that.
It's about accounting.
It's not about what theinsurance or the law enforcement
officers or whoever thinks weshould be charged in credit
Exactly, and you know I'vealways been one.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
I mean I want I want you know everyone and my
employees to get paid well.
I want to provide the bestbenefits we can and it took a
lot of years.
You know where we've been ableto provide more and you know I
want people to stay, I want tobe able to be a career and I'm
not working you know about theamount.
I mean I want it to be able tobe a career and I'm not worried,
you know, about the amount Imean.
Obviously it has to be withinwhat you can afford and still
make a profit and stay inbusiness.
(22:14):
But you know, I want people tomake a very good living and have
a good home life and untilthey've owned a business, people
don't understand the cost ofdoing business, especially ours.
People don't understand thecost of doing business,
especially ours.
I can show them a, you know, aPowerPoint and it shows the cost
of light duty but some of theheavy duty things for regular
(22:36):
towing, sure, but it's so hardto for them to understand all
the equipment we have andsometimes we use it once every
two or three months, sometimesonce a year, but you have to
have it setting there, ready togo when you need it um, and and
these are the people that arecomplaining about it the same
people that will complain aboutthe road not getting open.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Yes, for sure, for sure.
So tell us more about thetowing board and uh where that's
at right now so that's just.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
It's proposed legislation this year.
Um, the hearing was kind oflate in the session.
This this um week the senatewill be going doing budgetary
items.
Um, there's only about anotherweek of sessions for debate and
things.
Um, I think we're going to.
We'll have pre-filedlegislation ourselves next year.
(23:30):
That's clean, that's fair forboth sides, because currently
I'm sorry, just real quick.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
It's almost the end of the session.
You don't think it's goinganywhere this year?
Is what you're saying, right?
It doesn't appear so.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
It has a very low chance.
I mean you never say never butit doesn't appear.
So it has a very low chance.
I mean you never say never butit doesn't appear like it's
going.
We're out of time.
There's a lot of opposition tothe omnib of what bill it's
located in.
I don't see it moving.
But you know there can alwaysbe an amendment that it's thrown
(24:16):
on another bill, but there'sonly a couple transportation
bills that it can be on thisyear.
So I think we're in pretty goodshape and we're going to craft
something for next year thatlooks good for both sides of the
issue.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Awesome, that's very good to hear.
I'm going to ask you to hangaround for another quick break
and then we're going to comeback and I want to dig in deep
to what's going on there locallyin Kansas City.
Speaker 5 (24:45):
The best towing companies offer a combination of
great training, efficientoperations, along with quality
supplies.
Towing Equipment Direct iscommitted to help your towing
company stay ahead of thecompetition by providing the
best quality of towing equipmentand supplies.
Here's why you should chooseTowing Equipment Direct.
For all of your towing supplyneeds.
We provide affordable towingsupplies and equipment supply
(25:09):
needs.
We provide affordable towingsupplies and equipment.
All towing supplies andequipment are made from the
latest technology and we supplyproducts from the most respected
brands in the towing industry,offering the widest variety of
towing supplies and equipment inNew England.
If you're not using the latesttowing equipment, there's a good
chance your company has fallenbehind.
Savvy consumers can quicklytell which towing companies
provide the best service.
(25:30):
In many cases, the quality ofyour equipment and supplies can
make a huge difference.
Our representatives areknowledgeable in the towing
industry, so for the best towingequipment and supplies, count
on the team at Towing EquipmentDirect.
Browse our catalog online attowingequipmentdirectcom or give
us a call at 910-747-9000.
(25:51):
That's 910-747-9000.
We look forward to serving you.
Information in this podcast ismade possible by generous
sponsorship from Henry's Wrecker, serving the community with
quality towing and recovery forover 40 years.
Henrysweckercom.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Welcome back listeners.
This has been a great one.
I want to remind all ourlisteners to please like, review
and share everywhere.
That's the reason why this isthe number one podcast in the
towing and recovery industry.
Everybody share it.
If you want to hear anotherindustry expert like Jerry, by
(26:29):
all means.
We have a hotline number at thepodcast center.
The number is 706-409-5603.
And let Wes and April know whoyou'd like to hear on the
podcast next.
So without further ado.
I thank you very much forlistening and I'll pass you back
(26:49):
over to Wes and April Wilber.
Thank you, dj.
We've got Jared Ennis on fromKansas City giving us some great
insight on what's going on outthere on the state level.
There's also a bunch of stuffgoing on on a local level out
there, so Jared, tell us what'sbeen going on locally out there
in the Kansas City area.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
So, jarrett, tell us what's been going on locally out
there in the Kansas City area.
Well, so we've had a lot ofnews stories that what they
consider predatory towing, whichis private property tow-offs.
It's always a hot topicanywhere around the country and
we have our problems with ithere and there.
But what's happened?
There was a company that wasaccused of doing it improperly,
(27:30):
um, and there's been I don'tknow how many uh felony charges
against him, um, just recently.
So it has been the number onenews story for about two weeks
every day on every tv station inkansas city.
So it's been in the spotlightum.
The way the Missouri law workswith private property tow-offs.
(27:52):
I'll touch on the one that'sused the most.
If signs are posted and it hasto have maximum fees and a bunch
of information on it, a tow canbe done immediately.
The property owner, manager,leasee or security company needs
to be present and sign when thetow is done.
And what they're alleging isthat the company was towing
(28:13):
these and had pre-signed formsand the authorized person was
not.
There is what law enforcementalleged and what they're being
charged with.
They say it doesn't haveanything to do with the timing
of that, but in the last week,with the timing of that, but in
the last week, and the city ofMissouri and Jackson County have
proposed ordinances thatstrengthen their ability to
(28:39):
enforce the laws, which I don'tknow that we need anymore.
I mean, we have people chargedwith 15 or 20 felonies.
I think our laws are veryaggressive, but it's a hot item
right now.
What the city is causing theKansas City, missouri, it wasn't
(29:00):
that bad.
I just I recommended astair-step punishment approach
and not hitting someone with ahammer the first time.
The Jackson County ordinancehad a lot of problems.
The Jackson County ordinancehad a lot of problems, I did not
know, but so about 30 years agothe state of Missouri made a
(29:21):
law that a city cannot charge atow company a license fee
whatever for any reason.
If you're registered with theUSDOT, however, the county shall
issue your license, and so guysweren't having to get 20
licenses.
You buy one county license andthat's all you have.
Well, jackson County, I guess,did never adopted this, which
(29:42):
I'm not in Jackson, but I didn'tknow.
So they have a proposedordinance.
Their ordinance is $1,000 forthe company and $250 a truck is
$1,000 for the company and $250a truck.
Surrounding counties are at $75or $100 per company and $25 a
truck.
(30:06):
So they're 10 times what anysurrounding county is.
So that's the first problemwith it.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
In my case, I would spend $9,750 a year for a
business license yeah, that'ssubstantial.
And again, we need accountantsinvolved to explain to these
people that that simply getspassed on to the consumer at the
end of the day.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
That's our argument and thankfully we had a meeting
it wasn't sanctioned by the TowAssociation A bunch of Jackson
County Towers and I was involvedMonday night to talk about the
issues and two of the JacksonCounty legislature's elected
officials came and were very,very good.
They listened, they want tounderstand and they don't think
(30:51):
it's right the way it's proposedanyway, but to work with us and
get something that's fair anddoesn't hurt a bad company.
I mean a good company if theymake a minor mistake.
So in the punishment phaseright now, what it says, they
can suspend your license for 30to 45 days.
Basically, if you have onedriver, owner, principal violate
(31:14):
any of these provisions.
So if you had 50 trucks and whata driver does one thing, the
whole company could lose theirbusiness license.
The way it's written right nowand they're progressively much
worse so you have one guy thatmakes two or three mistakes and
they could be honest mistakes ina week.
The way it's written, businesscould lose their license for a
(31:38):
year, and so I think it's veryfar-reaching and it's going into
regulating consensual towing aswell, which it you know it's
preempted, but there's legalproblems with it as well.
But it's just a knee-jerkreaction to a perceived problem,
or even not a perceived problem, but one we already have laws
(32:00):
in place for yeah, and you knowmany of these situations where
they try to create newlegislation and whatnot, new
ordinances, whatever.
There's already laws in placethat the yeah, and, like I say,
you, the people that arealleging that broke the laws,
they have I think it's ninefelonies apiece against them.
(32:25):
I mean, there's very seriouspenalties and charges already
levied, and so, again, I don'tthink we need new laws.
It seems to me there's plentyof laws in place.
When someone breaks the law, ifthey're convicted this is the
mother-son coming yeah, they'vebeen accused of breaking the the
(32:51):
private property tow off lawsis what they went after them for
you know I've seen privateproperty tow-off laws is what
they went after them for.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
You know I've seen private property towing all over
the United States.
Many times it's handled properlyand professionally and it's a
needed service.
And there's times I see thatit's maybe not handled in that
same manner.
But many times you look at theproblems they're very simple to
solve.
(33:17):
Many times it's criminalbehavior that's already on the
books.
As a matter of fact, if you goback to the 1960s when the TV
show Dragnet looked at the wholetowing company issue and how to
interact with towing companiesand wildcatters one truck
operators out there they spelledit out exactly then and today
(33:40):
the problem is the same and tobe handled the same way by
enforcing existing rules on thebooks I couldn't agree more.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
Um, and I look, I see both sides.
It's a necessary thing becausein a lot of cities around us I
know that the city will find theapartment complex if there's
cars with expired tags there,because it's an ordinance
violation and so they do enforceit.
It's in their leases and whenthe tags are expired they'll
(34:09):
have the cars towed and it'svery legit and legal.
I mean, you have to do thepaperwork correctly, but still
everyone gets very upset whentheir car gets towed.
And it's very legit and legal.
And you have to do thepaperwork correctly, but still,
you know everyone gets veryupset when their car gets towed,
even though it was their fault.
People don't want to takepersonal responsibility, but you
know it's not fair for theproperty owner to deal with
those those situations eitherthat's right, and in america the
(34:32):
property owner still has rights.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
Thank god for that.
Anything else you want to tellus about what's going on out
there?
Speaker 3 (34:39):
Yeah, those are the hot topics we have going on
right now.
Our association we're trying tohave meetings.
You know it used to be met justin one location.
We had a meeting earlier thisyear in Columbia.
We have our meeting.
We meet the third Tuesday ofthe month.
We're going to Springfield,missouri, for our May meeting to
try to get, you know, reachmore members and, you know, get
(35:02):
in front of people and say, hey,this is what we do, this is why
we need your help.
You know, join us for the tofight.
You know, all these thingsaffect you and, just like the
towing business, legislation andthings are about relationships.
Everybody knows someonedifferent.
Someone might know the governorvery well, someone might know a
different legislator, and theyrespect the opinion of the
(35:25):
people that they know.
And so it's critical for peopleto be involved because
everything, whether it be on acity or state or county level,
affects you and your business.
So so, you know, get involvedand do what you can do to help.
There's, you know, ideas fromfrom everybody that are, that
are good, that can be used.
So I just wish more peoplewould get involved in the
(35:46):
associations across the countryand help out for a better,
better business environment.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
So you said, the second Tuesday of each month we
meet the third Tuesday of eachmonth other than December.
Speaker 3 (36:01):
Then we have just a holiday or Christmas party then
and we don't really havebusiness going on.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Where can people find out more information about the
association?
Speaker 3 (36:12):
It is motowtruckcom, motowtruckcom.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Motowtruckcom yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:21):
And there's our website.
We're trying to be better aboutour Facebook.
That's one thing that we'vealways lacked.
I think we do a lot of goodthings.
We've never been perfect,because it's all volunteer about
communicating and getting ourmessage out, and so we're trying
to be better.
We've added zoom to ourmeetings.
That way people that live along ways away if they don't
(36:42):
want to drive the meeting, theycan still participate and get
the information.
That was something Matt came upwith and got everything set up.
I was very glad to see we didthat and we're working on maybe
a training opportunity here thisnext year.
We don't have anything firm,but I know Matt's been working
on that so we can provide morecontent to our members, things
(37:06):
that are helpful to them intheir everyday business.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Okay, great, thank you for your time, great
interview and be safe out there.
We'll probably come back whenyou have some updates and more
information.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
Okay, it was great talking to you too, and you guys
have a good afternoon.
you're on the train to success with april and wes
wilburn.
I'm dj harrington, the co-host,better known as the toe doctor.
We're all on our way to thetown of proper towing and
recovery, along with ourproducer, chuck camp, in the
studio.
Don't go to the town of woulda,coulda, shoulda.
(00:25):
You coulda had done this.
You should have done that.
Listen every week tothought-provoking wisdom from
great guests.
So if you have Spotify, itunes,pandora, stitcher, iheartmedia
or the number one podcast, ormaybe Amazon or wherever you get
(00:50):
your podcasts, turn in onWednesday and be turned on all
week long.
If you are a state associationand want your announcements or
upcoming state association newsannouncements or upcoming state
association news or maybe aco-show that's coming up, let us
(01:10):
know.
Our podcast studio phone numberis 706-409-5603.
I'm proud to be part of a greatteam at the american dorm
recovery institute.
Let's make 2025 our best yearever.
I I will turn it to AprilLoomis.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
As always, dj, thank you for your kind words, and we
have a great guest with us today, jared Ennis from All-Star
Towing.
He's got a lot of goodinformation and a lot of good
conversation with us.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Jared's also the president of the Missouri
Co-Truck Association and ifyou're following on social media
at all, they've got a whole lotof stuff also president of the
Missouri Co-Trust Association.
And if you're following onsocial media at all, they've got
a whole lot of stuff going onrelevant to Kansas City and the
towing industry.
So, jared, thanks for being ontoday.
Would you mind introducingyourself, telling our listeners
(02:01):
a little bit about yourbackground, and then we'll get
into the subject today?
I just want to get an idea ofwho they're talking to.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Sure, my name's Jared Ennis.
I've been in the towingindustry 31 years.
I've been very active in ourtow association.
I've served every office in ourassociation over the years.
I think this is my eighth orninth time I've been president
throughout the years.
I think this is my eighth orninth time I've been president
throughout the years.
I haven't been for a few years,but a couple people wanted me
(02:29):
to run and asked me to, so I didand was elected a few weeks ago
to the position again.
We run my companies are, youknow, the northern edge of
Kansas City.
Then we run all of northwestMissouri as well, so we cover a
pretty big footprint.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
So how large of a company is it?
Speaker 3 (02:48):
I have a total.
We have 35 trucks with threemajor locations, and then two
satellites as well.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Yeah, wow, that's impressive.
That's a pretty good operation.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
As well as Missouri, you also cover some of Kansas,
is that correct?
Speaker 3 (03:05):
That's correct.
We cover East Central Kansas,you know, whether it be Kansas
City or St Joseph, with theriver being right there.
I mean the state line's only afew miles from our location,
just very, very close.
One of them.
We're only less than a mileaway.
So we go over into Kansas, upinto Iowa, nebraska, a lot, and
(03:26):
then you know all over thecountry for different things,
but I mean on a day-to-day basis.
We're in those areas all day,every day.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Well, I'm sure that keeps you more than busy and
gives you plenty of time for avolunteer job.
That's right.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
That's right it doesn't pay very well, but it's
important work.
Thankfully, we've gotten morepeople involved the last couple
years.
I think there's some guysstepping up and doing a good job
.
Associations across the countrydon't have great participation
as far as percentage ofcompanies, but I think for a
(04:06):
small association we've alwaysgotten a lot done and done a
good job for the towing industryin Missouri.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Yeah, unfortunately, towing associations never get
the credit for what they put out, always get asked what are you
doing?
And they don't understand thatpeople are volunteering their
time like you and other folksaround the country to make a
whole lot of stuff happen forthe industry.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Oh, for sure, definitely I mean the time, and
you know you don't think aboutthe hours and the gas driving to
the Capitol and things likethat.
I don't care about it.
But you know a lot of peopleover the years have put a lot of
time and effort in and havewhat we have today in the state,
and that's a good point.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
You're not only not getting paid for your time, it
costs you money being involved.
I've been involved with severalorganizations and my hat's off
to you.
Again most people don't realizethe volunteer effort that
people put into this Sure, andespecially now because there's a
(05:10):
situation going on.
It gives you all a formalfootprint or stance to address
it.
Tell our listeners that aren'tfamiliar what's going on in the
great city of Kansas City.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
So we have two issues right now One at the state
level.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
OIDA, the Owner Operator.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Independent Driver Association has been trying all
over the country to regulateheavy-duty towing and especially
recovery.
They've used different tacticsand presented different things
Basically what they come in, asthese tow companies are putting
our small trucking companymembers and presented different
things Basically what they comein.
As you know, these towcompanies are putting our small
trucking company members out ofbusiness, which is not true.
(05:51):
What's happening is, whenthere's a major accident
rollover, they underinsure themwith a $5,000 towing cap.
So you have a rollover tractor,trailer liability on the truck
and trailer only the cleanup andrecovery far, know, far exceeds
five thousand dollars, and soso they're already out of the
(06:12):
truck.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Go ahead, hang on one second if you don't mind.
Uh, what I think is reasonableto say far out sees it by 10
times that amount in some cases,not all.
Is that a reason?
Speaker 3 (06:27):
oh absolutely you know the cost of.
You know, look at, look attrucks insurance in the last
five years alone they're up 50to 60 um, let alone other
external costs that we and wejust can't absorb.
We run a at a low um profitpercentage.
It's not like towing companiesare making a 50% margin.
You know, it just doesn'thappen.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
So we run on thinner margins and there's.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
You know, like I always testify as yeah towing.
Recovery is absolutelyexpensive, there's no question.
But you don't see the averagetower out there living in
million-dollar houses.
You know in the state it justdoesn't happen.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I mean they put in a lot of hours for really thin
margins.
That's right.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Many people don't see that.
They see that it's built at theend of the day, but they don't
take into account running safeequipment, paying the living
wage for your employees andusually, usually transportation
committees.
When you know, after I testify,they'll ask a lot of good
questions and all they hear isthe horror stories the bill is
$40,000, and, oh my God, it'shorrible.
Well then they ask a lot ofgood questions and they start
understanding your cost and whatequipment you have out there
(07:40):
and a lot of it you don't needvery often.
Often, but you have to have itwhen the time comes.
And then, and when you tellthem, like my insurance, I pay
575 000 a year and we havereally good rates they're
floored at the cost we haveinvolved with doing our job, and
so then they get a betterunderstanding of why it is
(08:01):
expensive.
Um, and I think you know, mostof them have common sense and
obviously there's always badapples in every industry and we
have some of that.
But you know, for the most partit's just yes, it's expensive,
but it's just what it costs todo the job and make a fair
profit.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
I'm going to ask one question too, too, because
you're a good company, you'vegot quality equipment.
Sometimes it's not that youwant to have it.
Sometimes it's that you have tohave it.
To do these jobs, you'rerequired to have a minimal
amount of equipment and whenthey make you have that, they
(08:42):
need to understand that there'sa cost associated with it.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
That is correct, absolutely, and you know,
missouri is not very regulatedwith um equipment minimums, like
some states are.
But um, some of the you know,maybe city or county contracts
do have equipment requirements,um, but the simple fact is they
(09:06):
want, even even though it's notrequired, they want you to have
it.
They want the roads because oftraffic incident management.
They want the roads cleared asfast as possible so there's not
secondary accidents.
And could you do the job withtwo traditional 30-ton wreckers?
Absolutely, you're going to beout there twice as long if
you're out there with 50 tonsand rotators.
Public safety is a veryimportant part of this and
(09:30):
getting the road cleaned up andopen as quick as possible is a
public safety issue.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Yes, and those very same people that are complaining
about the price of your billare the same trucking companies
that were complaining aboutsitting in traffic for hours now
?
Yes, in my opinion.
So another subject, or anothersubchapter of the same subject
(09:59):
you guys are going out cleaningup these roads they're not even
being guaranteed that you'regoing to be paid.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
I've seen that's.
I was going to bring that pointup, but I've seen in the last,
let's say the last 10 years,especially the last five years.
Used to we didn't have muchproblem.
We'd go work, a tractor trailerwreck, we got paid to come pick
the the damage units up and gotthem out of there.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Um in the last five, five years.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Um, we between 30% and 40% of every law enforcement
tow is not getting picked up.
We're seeing they have cargoonly and liability on the truck
and trailer and we're gettingtrashed trucks and trailers In
our area.
It's hard to get rid of them.
There's not a lot of salvagebuyers, Even though we're in a
(10:44):
major city.
You get an older truck andtrailer, no one's interested in
them, and so it's become more ofa challenge because you're
getting paid for basically athird of the bill and getting
stuck with junk.
But our title process is alittle bit slow.
We're going to have it you know,90 days minimum, but the
(11:06):
reality is you're probably goingto have it 5 months to get
titles for stuff, unlesseverything goes perfect, and
then, before you can get rid ofit, you get.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
I mean very little money out of it, absolutely
speaking of getting very littlemoney.
If I don't run some commercialshere, I'm going to get very
little money.
So you hang around until afterthe break.
Yeah, that's not a problem.
Speaker 6 (11:32):
For electric and other alternative fuel vehicles.
We have developed an app thatgives you all the manufacturers
411 for when that 911 happens.
Whether you are a fire tower orpolice, we got you covered.
To find the EV Clever app, goto your Apple or Google Play
store for a 30-day free trial.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
We also offer the National Tow Operator
Certification an independentlysourced virtual testing program
covering light duty, heavy duty,electric and alternative fuel
vehicle.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Welcome back listeners.
You know you're listening tothe new Towing News channel.
This has been a great one withJared and Jared 31 years he's in
business.
So I want all of you toremember we are available on
Spotify, pandora, itunes,stitcher, iheartmedia, amazon or
(12:25):
wherever you get your podcasts.
So, without further ado, let'slisten to the president of the
Missouri Towing Association andApril.
I'll pass it back over to youand Wes Wilber.
Yeah, I want to sneak a quickquestion in for you, just to
kind of finish the train ofthought.
I want to sneak a quickquestion in and just kind of
finish the train of thought.
You said, just to be clear,here, over the last five years,
(12:50):
30% to 40% of big rats don't getpicked up.
Correct?
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Yeah, we're seeing that they'll have cargo and at
times we're even having troublegetting paid through the cargo
insurance.
If they have a really low valueof cargo I use paper rolls, for
example.
We get those probably one a yearand I've gotten stuck with
several of them Because thevalue is so low.
The company will just pay thepaper itself and not turn a
(13:17):
cargo claim in.
And yeah, so we just had a lotmore issue in the last five
years with liability only andnot getting paid on the truck
and trailer and only gettingpaid on the cargo.
In some cases, not even that,and I think that's probably
everyone.
Seeing that I don't think it'sexclusive to our area?
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Oh no, it's definitely not exclusive to your
area.
It's happening all over thecountry, not exclusively in your
area.
It's happening all over thecountry and I'm just trying to
highlight it.
So we have good facts on recordfor people to work with.
Any other company, target oranyone that would experience
that rate of shoplifting wouldcompletely change their business
(13:59):
model.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Well, and that's one thing I explain to the
legislator a lot of times youknow that's one reason that not
just our costs have gone up, butthat's a major factor in why
prices are what they are,because we have to look at the
whole picture.
You know, when we don't getpaid on a job, it increases
everybody's cost, just so we canstay in business and make a
(14:21):
fair profit.
And that's just the reality ofthe situation.
I mean, it's unfortunate butit's true.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Yes, it's modern economics.
One more point I want to sneakin real quick, also on major
truck wrecks.
Would you agree?
There's a lot more burn jobsnowadays because of the DEF fuel
systems et cetera.
You know.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
I know some more.
We get a lot of them.
I guess we don't.
I think we get more break orbearing fires.
We do get some tractor stuffwith the DEF, but I mean, in our
area it seems like we get a lotmore bearing and breaks.
We're in more of a rural areawith a lot of interstate and
(15:07):
that's what we see more of thanthan we do tractor fires okay,
fair enough.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Many times when you've seen those brake fires,
you've seen the load andeverything being destroyed.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
In other words, a lot of work to clean up very little
value sitting there, yeah, andwe've had situations where we
use some, even though we haveroll-off containers ourselves.
Skid steers there's.
Sometimes we'll use an outsidevendor but they've got grapple
trucks.
Especially when it's a smallfood product, they're so much
(15:42):
faster at cleaning it up withthe grapple trucks and hauling
it.
You know I've spent you know$12,000, $14,000 or more on jobs
them picking up the burnt cargoand taking it to the dump so
that you know you hope you getpaid.
But we've had deals where youknow, I'm out that kind of hard
money, plus all of our costs ona job and don't get paid.
(16:04):
Unfortunately, it happens.
I think it doesn't happen realoften, but I know towers and
other states that are friendsthat, um, one of them got off
the high patrol rotation listbecause they're they're capped
at their fees and he was gettingstuck all the time without
getting paid and he's like I'mdone with this, it's just, it's
a losing, there's no profit init.
(16:26):
It's a losing, losing, there'sno profit in it.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
It's a losing thing for me to do and there's no
point in doing it.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Yeah, there's stories all over the country, no doubt,
about Jared, I know that you'rereally active in the
Association and you're thepresident and you're also active
in legislation.
Can you um go into some of thatand what recently has have you
been involved with?
Speaker 3 (16:53):
um, yeah, so we were monday.
We were at the capitol injefferson city, um, satisfying
an opposition of a bill, andit's in several different bills
or forms that's been added on to.
But, um, basically there areseveral points that are really
bad for the towing industry.
Instead of capping the fees,what they've done is try to get
(17:18):
a towing recovery committee toreview towing bills.
Well, what they have proposedis there seven people on the
board, only one.
One of them is a tow-er.
You know, we've got truckingindustry, insurance, police
people that have no idea what itcosts to do the build, to
(17:39):
review it just no qualificationsand no expertise.
And so we're for a board likewe've recommended, like what
Arkansas has.
Their board has nine members.
Seven of them are towers fromdifferent disciplines, and we're
all for that.
That way, if there really is alegitimate issue, you can have
(18:03):
someone review it and makerecommendations, because we want
, you know, the bills to be fairfor people yeah, they're
expensive, but they need to befair and just because it gives
us a black eye when they're not.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
It sounds like sometimes that's an overreaction
and just jumping the gun as faras what they want to regulate.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
you guys with too, yeah, but they've kind of come
up with this the last few yearsthat they've pushed very similar
legislation.
There's a little bit of achange.
The next big issue if someonedisputes a bit that they is
proposed, if they dispute thebill, we no longer.
Or if there's a dispute,whether it's genuine or
(18:42):
substantiated, they can come gettruck, trailer and cargo at no
charge.
And there's then you're stuckholding the bag how you ever
gonna get paid.
It doesn't have to be, yeah, itdoesn't have to be
substantiated or anything.
It's just if they file this,that's in there.
And there's also a section thattakes away a lien when we do a
(19:06):
non-consensual tow for thepolice department.
Two problems there A, you can'thold it if someone wants to come
get it because you don't have alien on it.
And B if we get stuck with it,there's no way to title that
through our titling laws.
We can never get a title for itand do anything.
And the last problem is itprohibits price per pound
(19:28):
billing and people havedifferent thoughts on it.
Myself, I'm a proponent of itbecause the same job, no matter
if you have the best equipment,the best operators and trained.
If you go out and do it inthree hours and the work takes
12 hours, you get paid the same.
(19:49):
It should.
There has to be incentives forpeople to invest in equipment,
invest in drivers, operators,training, um and being
proficient and be rewarded forit, where, if you go by the hour
, it's just incentive.
You know to be the best.
I mean you can milk the clock,get paid more where I like it,
(20:11):
where, hey, you get paid withthe jobs worth.
Whether it takes you four hoursor five hours.
Everybody's on the same playingfield, and so my personally, I
like it and I've used it foryears and it works well.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Well, you touched on several things there.
The price per pound method,when employed fairly, is a very
good method.
We've had the original creatorof it, stormy Norman out of
Alabama, on the podcast about ayear ago and he talked about it
and explained it in great detailand it absolutely is fair to
(20:48):
everybody involved.
Going all the way back to thebeginning of this conversation
about the towing board, um, I'dbe more worried about having
seven out of the nine people onthe account.
That's where this, this game,is one of us so I'm not a simple
matter of one-off.
(21:14):
So I had a simple matter of sixexpenses paying a decent way to
living wage to people that youknow.
You want good people on the jobsite, common people that have
technical skills that can do thejob.
You also want good people thatare being compensated well in
life doing well in life asthey're handling other people's
products and merchandise andvehicles.
There should be a premium paidfor that.
(21:35):
Absolutely, People don't lookat all that.
It's about accounting.
It's not about what theinsurance or the law enforcement
officers or whoever thinks weshould be charged in credit
Exactly, and you know I'vealways been one.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
I mean I want I want you know everyone and my
employees to get paid well.
I want to provide the bestbenefits we can and it took a
lot of years.
You know where we've been ableto provide more and you know I
want people to stay, I want tobe able to be a career and I'm
not working you know about theamount.
I mean I want it to be able tobe a career and I'm not worried,
you know, about the amount Imean.
Obviously it has to be withinwhat you can afford and still
make a profit and stay inbusiness.
(22:14):
But you know, I want people tomake a very good living and have
a good home life and untilthey've owned a business, people
don't understand the cost ofdoing business, especially ours.
People don't understand thecost of doing business,
especially ours.
I can show them a, you know, aPowerPoint and it shows the cost
of light duty but some of theheavy duty things for regular
(22:36):
towing, sure, but it's so hardto for them to understand all
the equipment we have andsometimes we use it once every
two or three months, sometimesonce a year, but you have to
have it setting there, ready togo when you need it um, and and
these are the people that arecomplaining about it the same
people that will complain aboutthe road not getting open.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Yes, for sure, for sure.
So tell us more about thetowing board and uh where that's
at right now so that's just.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
It's proposed legislation this year.
Um, the hearing was kind oflate in the session.
This this um week the senatewill be going doing budgetary
items.
Um, there's only about anotherweek of sessions for debate and
things.
Um, I think we're going to.
We'll have pre-filedlegislation ourselves next year.
(23:30):
That's clean, that's fair forboth sides, because currently
I'm sorry, just real quick.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
It's almost the end of the session.
You don't think it's goinganywhere this year?
Is what you're saying, right?
It doesn't appear so.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
It has a very low chance.
I mean you never say never butit doesn't appear.
So it has a very low chance.
I mean you never say never butit doesn't appear like it's
going.
We're out of time.
There's a lot of opposition tothe omnib of what bill it's
located in.
I don't see it moving.
But you know there can alwaysbe an amendment that it's thrown
(24:16):
on another bill, but there'sonly a couple transportation
bills that it can be on thisyear.
So I think we're in pretty goodshape and we're going to craft
something for next year thatlooks good for both sides of the
issue.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Awesome, that's very good to hear.
I'm going to ask you to hangaround for another quick break
and then we're going to comeback and I want to dig in deep
to what's going on there locallyin Kansas City.
Speaker 5 (24:45):
The best towing companies offer a combination of
great training, efficientoperations, along with quality
supplies.
Towing Equipment Direct iscommitted to help your towing
company stay ahead of thecompetition by providing the
best quality of towing equipmentand supplies.
Here's why you should chooseTowing Equipment Direct.
For all of your towing supplyneeds.
We provide affordable towingsupplies and equipment supply
(25:09):
needs.
We provide affordable towingsupplies and equipment.
All towing supplies andequipment are made from the
latest technology and we supplyproducts from the most respected
brands in the towing industry,offering the widest variety of
towing supplies and equipment inNew England.
If you're not using the latesttowing equipment, there's a good
chance your company has fallenbehind.
Savvy consumers can quicklytell which towing companies
provide the best service.
(25:30):
In many cases, the quality ofyour equipment and supplies can
make a huge difference.
Our representatives areknowledgeable in the towing
industry, so for the best towingequipment and supplies, count
on the team at Towing EquipmentDirect.
Browse our catalog online attowingequipmentdirectcom or give
us a call at 910-747-9000.
(25:51):
That's 910-747-9000.
We look forward to serving you.
Information in this podcast ismade possible by generous
sponsorship from Henry's Wrecker, serving the community with
quality towing and recovery forover 40 years.
Henrysweckercom.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Welcome back listeners.
This has been a great one.
I want to remind all ourlisteners to please like, review
and share everywhere.
That's the reason why this isthe number one podcast in the
towing and recovery industry.
Everybody share it.
If you want to hear anotherindustry expert like Jerry, by
(26:29):
all means.
We have a hotline number at thepodcast center.
The number is 706-409-5603.
And let Wes and April know whoyou'd like to hear on the
podcast next.
So without further ado.
I thank you very much forlistening and I'll pass you back
(26:49):
over to Wes and April Wilber.
Thank you, dj.
We've got Jared Ennis on fromKansas City giving us some great
insight on what's going on outthere on the state level.
There's also a bunch of stuffgoing on on a local level out
there, so Jared, tell us what'sbeen going on locally out there
in the Kansas City area.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
So, jarrett, tell us what's been going on locally out
there in the Kansas City area.
Well, so we've had a lot ofnews stories that what they
consider predatory towing, whichis private property tow-offs.
It's always a hot topicanywhere around the country and
we have our problems with ithere and there.
But what's happened?
There was a company that wasaccused of doing it improperly,
(27:30):
um, and there's been I don'tknow how many uh felony charges
against him, um, just recently.
So it has been the number onenews story for about two weeks
every day on every tv station inkansas city.
So it's been in the spotlightum.
The way the Missouri law workswith private property tow-offs.
(27:52):
I'll touch on the one that'sused the most.
If signs are posted and it hasto have maximum fees and a bunch
of information on it, a tow canbe done immediately.
The property owner, manager,leasee or security company needs
to be present and sign when thetow is done.
And what they're alleging isthat the company was towing
(28:13):
these and had pre-signed formsand the authorized person was
not.
There is what law enforcementalleged and what they're being
charged with.
They say it doesn't haveanything to do with the timing
of that, but in the last week,with the timing of that, but in
the last week, and the city ofMissouri and Jackson County have
proposed ordinances thatstrengthen their ability to
(28:39):
enforce the laws, which I don'tknow that we need anymore.
I mean, we have people chargedwith 15 or 20 felonies.
I think our laws are veryaggressive, but it's a hot item
right now.
What the city is causing theKansas City, missouri, it wasn't
(29:00):
that bad.
I just I recommended astair-step punishment approach
and not hitting someone with ahammer the first time.
The Jackson County ordinancehad a lot of problems.
The Jackson County ordinancehad a lot of problems, I did not
know, but so about 30 years agothe state of Missouri made a
(29:21):
law that a city cannot charge atow company a license fee
whatever for any reason.
If you're registered with theUSDOT, however, the county shall
issue your license, and so guysweren't having to get 20
licenses.
You buy one county license andthat's all you have.
Well, jackson County, I guess,did never adopted this, which
(29:42):
I'm not in Jackson, but I didn'tknow.
So they have a proposedordinance.
Their ordinance is $1,000 forthe company and $250 a truck is
$1,000 for the company and $250a truck.
Surrounding counties are at $75or $100 per company and $25 a
truck.
(30:06):
So they're 10 times what anysurrounding county is.
So that's the first problemwith it.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
In my case, I would spend $9,750 a year for a
business license yeah, that'ssubstantial.
And again, we need accountantsinvolved to explain to these
people that that simply getspassed on to the consumer at the
end of the day.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
That's our argument and thankfully we had a meeting
it wasn't sanctioned by the TowAssociation A bunch of Jackson
County Towers and I was involvedMonday night to talk about the
issues and two of the JacksonCounty legislature's elected
officials came and were very,very good.
They listened, they want tounderstand and they don't think
(30:51):
it's right the way it's proposedanyway, but to work with us and
get something that's fair anddoesn't hurt a bad company.
I mean a good company if theymake a minor mistake.
So in the punishment phaseright now, what it says, they
can suspend your license for 30to 45 days.
Basically, if you have onedriver, owner, principal violate
(31:14):
any of these provisions.
So if you had 50 trucks and whata driver does one thing, the
whole company could lose theirbusiness license.
The way it's written right nowand they're progressively much
worse so you have one guy thatmakes two or three mistakes and
they could be honest mistakes ina week.
The way it's written, businesscould lose their license for a
(31:38):
year, and so I think it's veryfar-reaching and it's going into
regulating consensual towing aswell, which it you know it's
preempted, but there's legalproblems with it as well.
But it's just a knee-jerkreaction to a perceived problem,
or even not a perceived problem, but one we already have laws
(32:00):
in place for yeah, and you knowmany of these situations where
they try to create newlegislation and whatnot, new
ordinances, whatever.
There's already laws in placethat the yeah, and, like I say,
you, the people that arealleging that broke the laws,
they have I think it's ninefelonies apiece against them.
(32:25):
I mean, there's very seriouspenalties and charges already
levied, and so, again, I don'tthink we need new laws.
It seems to me there's plentyof laws in place.
When someone breaks the law, ifthey're convicted this is the
mother-son coming yeah, they'vebeen accused of breaking the the
(32:51):
private property tow off lawsis what they went after them for
you know I've seen privateproperty tow-off laws is what
they went after them for.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
You know I've seen private property towing all over
the United States.
Many times it's handled properlyand professionally and it's a
needed service.
And there's times I see thatit's maybe not handled in that
same manner.
But many times you look at theproblems they're very simple to
solve.
(33:17):
Many times it's criminalbehavior that's already on the
books.
As a matter of fact, if you goback to the 1960s when the TV
show Dragnet looked at the wholetowing company issue and how to
interact with towing companiesand wildcatters one truck
operators out there they spelledit out exactly then and today
(33:40):
the problem is the same and tobe handled the same way by
enforcing existing rules on thebooks I couldn't agree more.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
Um, and I look, I see both sides.
It's a necessary thing becausein a lot of cities around us I
know that the city will find theapartment complex if there's
cars with expired tags there,because it's an ordinance
violation and so they do enforceit.
It's in their leases and whenthe tags are expired they'll
(34:09):
have the cars towed and it'svery legit and legal.
I mean, you have to do thepaperwork correctly, but still
everyone gets very upset whentheir car gets towed.
And it's very legit and legal.
And you have to do thepaperwork correctly, but still,
you know everyone gets veryupset when their car gets towed,
even though it was their fault.
People don't want to takepersonal responsibility, but you
know it's not fair for theproperty owner to deal with
those those situations eitherthat's right, and in america the
(34:32):
property owner still has rights.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
Thank god for that.
Anything else you want to tellus about what's going on out
there?
Speaker 3 (34:39):
Yeah, those are the hot topics we have going on
right now.
Our association we're trying tohave meetings.
You know it used to be met justin one location.
We had a meeting earlier thisyear in Columbia.
We have our meeting.
We meet the third Tuesday ofthe month.
We're going to Springfield,missouri, for our May meeting to
try to get, you know, reachmore members and, you know, get
(35:02):
in front of people and say, hey,this is what we do, this is why
we need your help.
You know, join us for the tofight.
You know, all these thingsaffect you and, just like the
towing business, legislation andthings are about relationships.
Everybody knows someonedifferent.
Someone might know the governorvery well, someone might know a
different legislator, and theyrespect the opinion of the
(35:25):
people that they know.
And so it's critical for peopleto be involved because
everything, whether it be on acity or state or county level,
affects you and your business.
So so, you know, get involvedand do what you can do to help.
There's, you know, ideas fromfrom everybody that are, that
are good, that can be used.
So I just wish more peoplewould get involved in the
(35:46):
associations across the countryand help out for a better,
better business environment.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
So you said, the second Tuesday of each month we
meet the third Tuesday of eachmonth other than December.
Speaker 3 (36:01):
Then we have just a holiday or Christmas party then
and we don't really havebusiness going on.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Where can people find out more information about the
association?
Speaker 3 (36:12):
It is motowtruckcom, motowtruckcom.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Motowtruckcom yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:21):
And there's our website.
We're trying to be better aboutour Facebook.
That's one thing that we'vealways lacked.
I think we do a lot of goodthings.
We've never been perfect,because it's all volunteer about
communicating and getting ourmessage out, and so we're trying
to be better.
We've added zoom to ourmeetings.
That way people that live along ways away if they don't
(36:42):
want to drive the meeting, theycan still participate and get
the information.
That was something Matt came upwith and got everything set up.
I was very glad to see we didthat and we're working on maybe
a training opportunity here thisnext year.
We don't have anything firm,but I know Matt's been working
on that so we can provide morecontent to our members, things
(37:06):
that are helpful to them intheir everyday business.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Okay, great, thank you for your time, great
interview and be safe out there.
We'll probably come back whenyou have some updates and more
information.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
Okay, it was great talking to you too, and you guys
have a good afternoon.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.