Tow Trucking - News & Views.

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searcher said:

Are Tow Truck Drivers Required To Clean Up Accident Scenes?​

Jan 29, 2026


10:56

The two VinWiki videos I mentioned would be these two:

- • Strange loads & crazy profits: Tow Truck S...

- • Steve Lehto's Craziest Tow Truck Stories!
Click to expand...

Interesting. I in fact did drive a tow truck for a few months, same time period (1982). No, I didn't make the cut.

Didn't make much money, either. I learned a few things, and then took it with me.

That said...big difference, pre-1982 cars and today's cars. I never saw a wreck with a wheel broken off. Oh, it happened, but not frequently...car would have had to really been destroyed for a wheel to come off. Now it seems, someone starts sliding and hits a curbstone at speed, and the first thing to go, is the wheel...and brake and spindle and part of the front suspension. Or half the fragile lightweight New-Age rear axle. This, even on these massive Bro-Dozers of recent years.

Bumpers were chrome (or painted metal on trucks, which were utilitarian vehicles back then). They mostly stayed put. Only the Trans Am and a few other sporty cars had rubber colored bumpers. I never had a wrecked TA in my short time.

But the bumpers stayed on. So did the doors. And if one came off, lifting it would have been a two-man job. I had to take the door off my Pinto, and yes, two big guys, both wondering about hernias.

Today's cars just EXPLODE with bumpers, doors, all kinds of fluids, on even walking-speed crashes.
 
repo.buzz

Ark. Agency Owner Busted - 58 Felony, 89 Misd. Charges - Repo Buzz

The owner of a Paragould towing company is facing multiple felony charges tied to what investigators described as a large-scale fraud scheme involving dozens of illegal vehicle repossessions and title forgeries.
repo.buzz repo.buzz

www.ky3.com

Towing company owner accused of repossessing dozens of vehicles illegally. Investigators reveal alleged scheme

The owner of a towing company is facing multiple felony charges tied to what investigators are describing as a large-scale fraud scheme.
www.ky3.com www.ky3.com

Owner of Towing Company Accused Of DOZENS of Fraudulent Tows​

Jun 28, 2026
This happened in Arkansas.
Some of my towing stories from VinWiki: • Strange loads & crazy profits: Tow Truck S...


11:18
 
Seems fraudulent tows are becoming A Thing. A way to mask a fast auto theft.

It's the Repo Crisis, and this new breed of wrecker - the type that snatches a car up by pinning the lifted-end wheels, two bars...just lift and pull. When not in use this lift gear folds into the back of the tow truck, usually looking like just one more pickup.

And of course no company name on the side. It's for fast repossessions - come in and get out in under ten seconds, before the deadbeat can remember where he put his cheap handgun.

When I was doing this, taking a car took TIME. We used slings - one of our trucks actually had a gantry on it; the newer one had a hydraulic lift arm, but slings were the order of the day. Only a few cars had plastic bumper covers, and those we'd tow with a flatbed. It would take about five minutes, if everything was in order and you found the right chains quickly. Back in, crawl under, chain the frame, lift, secure the sling extension, and go.

AND, the tow company's name, and license, and city medallion, all had to be displayed on the sides or rear, variously. Owning a towing rig with no permit, no company, no COMMERCIAL tag on the truck (commercial plates cost moar and have a lot moar documentation) meant a lot of inquiries by the po-po. The few that were out there - one in our area was owned by a hillbilly wrecking yard - they usually had NOT FOR HIRE on the side in big letters. The hillbilly junk-man used his wrecker to move cars about on his big yard and OCCASIONALLY (not legally) retrieve an immobile junker that the owner wanted gone.

Now with three million cars referred for repossession, and deadbeats getting stupid-violent about it, stealth snatches are the way it's going. With unmarked tow trucks.

And we wonder that this is being abused, especially in the Land of Fruits and Nuts, where spiriting a car into lawless Mejico takes less than an hour.
 

Tampa man sues towing company over $250 lien release fee​

TAMPA, Fla. — A Tampa man is trying to get the word out about his proposed class-action lawsuit accusing a Tampa towing company of unlawfully charging vehicle owners administrative lien fees too soon after their vehicles were towed, a potential violation of state law and a Hillsborough County resolution.

More:


 
searcher said:

www.yahoo.com

Tow Truck Driver Faces Felony Charges After Dragging Occupied Car and Pepper-Spraying Passenger

Tow truck stories tend to fall into two categories for car enthusiasts: the boring, professional kind where a flatbed shows up, does its job, and leaves everyone mildly annoyed but unharmed, and the k...
www.yahoo.com www.yahoo.com

Click to expand...

I've seen moar than one vid showing the deadbeat (often a she-boom water-buffalo) jumping in, trying to drive off the hook.

Hope the tow truck had a video cam. That should be SOP for repo men, these days.
 
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