Predatory towing is focus of new Arkansas law
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed into law towing reforms that are intended to end predatory towing and excessive pricing for commercial and personal vehicles. The new law also overhauls the state’s Towing and Recovery Board.
Daryl Bassett, Arkansas Secretary of Labor and Licensing, previously told legislators there are some “bad actors” in the towing industry. As a result, action is needed to protect consumers and the large majority of towing companies that run their business the right way.
Arkansas law permits a towing or storage company to hold a vehicle for a lien or claim for unpaid towing and storage fees.
Rep. Stetson Painter, R-Mountain Home, and Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, led the statehouse charge to address concerns about nonconsensual tows. Their pursuit, HB2001, permits vehicle owners to get their cargo returned for a fee.
Painter told a Senate committee the new rule ensures that towers will get 20% of the value of truck cargo up front, and they can still have a lien on the cargo.
Hammer added that the remaining balance of the tow bill must still be paid.
“(The new law) still requires the remaining balance of the tow bill to be paid, but this allows (motor carriers) to remove their cargo,” Hammer explained on the Senate floor.
Complaint process
Also covered in the new law is a process to file towing complaints.
Beginning July 1, towing services must include on invoices a notice of the state’s complaint process.
The new rule requires notification “prominently printed in bold letters at the bottom of each invoice” that includes the phone number and web address of the Arkansas Towing and Recovery Board.
“It is going to be required to be on all forms that there is information about how to file a complaint because of predatory towing that is occurring that is not necessarily addressed in (HB2001) but will be addressed through rule under the new board’s direction,” Hammer said.
Cleaning house
The towing board is also getting a makeover.
An emergency clause included in the new law immediately removed all nine existing board members. The governor is charged with appointing all new board member positions. Senators will confirm all members.
“An urgent need exists to enact towing industry reforms, improve towing industry regulation and enforcement and provide statewide efficiencies to state and local law enforcement,” the emergency clause reads. “This act will accomplish these objectives and is immediately necessary to protect consumers from illegal, fraudulent and unauthorized towing practices.”
The new law states that one board member must represent the trucking industry. Another member will represent the commercial trucking insurance industry.
Previously, six of the nine board members were tow owners. There was no requirement to include a representative for the trucking industry.
The revision to the board makeup has been described as necessary “to decrease the influence of active market participants” and to enable the board to “more fairly and efficiently perform the duties and obligations of the board.”
OOIDA welcomes new rules
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has worked and continues to work with states to adopt regulations to protect truck drivers involved in a nonconsensual tow.
Doug Morris, OOIDA director of state government affairs, said the majority of towers are running their business the right way, “but there are a few that give the industry a bad reputation, which is unfair to those who are fair and professional.”
He added that the Association welcomes the Arkansas rule changes. He pointed out that as Arkansas and other states look at their towing programs, they are learning there are towers that take advantage of people and overcharge them. LL