The Jamie Davis Towing Discussion Thread

The reason for the shell companies is so the owners, Jamie in this case, get more slots on the police rotation. In a typical police contract you will get a call out then go to the bottom of the list until all the other companies on the list have had a call. The call you get may be the money maker or it may be to remove an abandoned car that no one will come claim so you don't get paid. The owners with deeper pockets set up shell companies so they increase their odds of getting called out, happens all over the towing industry.

As a former owner I never did that, didn't see the benefit of it and would like to see the rotation call out list limited to one turn per owner. The only shell company I had was two trucks in a different name that did the private property impound because even thought the person who parked illegally is at fault they make it out to be my fault they were towed away and I would lose cash business in my main company from them badmouthing me for impounding their car.

 

VSA=Very Seldom Available

 

The shell game is almost as old as the towing industry itself, owners get away with it forever. Sad part is, the police and local government know who owns what, but as long as there are different names on the door of the truck they don't care, they can tell the public at town meetings "hey, we have 20 different tow companies to keep competition up and rates down, we are doing our best to help you out, please vote for us!". You also have areas with many smaller incorporated towns or villages, sometimes only a few square miles, they want police response towing but make it hard for out of town companies to qualify for their rotation list, so the big boys buy a used truck and park it in a rented spot in town just for the in town address, then they respond from out of town with their other equipment.

Towing is a brotherhood, although we act more like dysfunctional in-laws than brothers most of the time LOL! We are fiercely competitive yet quick to help each other out at the same time. We are also the only emergency responders to highway incidents that are private sector companies that need to make a profit (except for some advanced life support ambulances), yet we are treated like thieves and bandits by the insurance companies, groups like OOIDA, and even the police departments that call on us for help. Yes, some companies take advantage of people, all industries have that, but really think about what it costs to have more than million dollars of equipment sitting at the ready, plus a trained and certified staff on call 24/7/365, hoping you get a cal lout and are able to collect on the job when it is done. The for-hire ambulance services are guaranteed payment by the city they contract with, we are not. In fact, in many cities it is becoming common for the towing company to have to pay a portion of the tow fee back to the city just to be on the list. Our company in Albuquerque, NM paid approximately $38,000 a year in fees to the city for the privilege of being on the police list.