Recent CTTA Legislative & Regulatory Victories
CTTA’s legislative program is designed to protect and advance the interests of professional towing companies at the California State Capitol. Thanks to the dedication of CTTA’s Towing Regulatory Oversight Council (T-ROC), with help from its legislative advocates Ellison Wilson Advocacy and other stakeholders including the Emergency Road Service Coalition of America (ERSCA), CTTA has proudly achieved the following legislative and regulatory victories over recent years:
- Changes to Hours-of-Service Regulations for Tow Truck Operators were the result of years of collaborative discussions with state regulators to address the unique working conditions of the tow industry – whose workload is unpredictable by nature – without jeopardizing motorist safety. In order to increase flexibility for tow companies, amendments were ultimately adopted to allow tow truck operators to use the 16-hour “on-duty” time non-consecutively.
- AB 2825 (Jones-Sawyer) would have required towing companies to provide free oral and written translation services to non-English speakers, and would also have applied the burdensome, and expensive requirements that currently apply to debt collectors to “at the counter” tow company transactions. CTTA worked closely with the author and Legislature to explain the workability problems with the bill, as well as the negative financial consequences it would have on our small businesses, and ultimately the bill was killed before it made it to the Governor’s desk.
- AB 1222 (Bloom) would have authorized every city and county in the state to regulate and tax any tower that simply drove through its jurisdiction, which would have been economically disastrous to towing companies throughout the state. CTTA had its entire membership directly contact Assemblymember Bloom and other members of the Legislature, which successfully persuaded him to remove the offensive provision and work with CTTA on a reasonable bill that minimized the impact on professional towers.
- AB 2392 (Santiago) was introduced by the insurance industry to reduce perceived “unreasonable” fees in the towing industry. After months of negotiations between the tow industry, insurance representatives, and other stakeholders, the bill was amended to minimize the negative repercussions and ultimate tied “reasonable” rates to those authorized by law enforcement or comparable rates charged by other towing companies in the same locale.
- AB 873 (Jones) would have subjected towing companies to regulation by the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) if they did so much as change a vehicle’s battery. In order to avoid more unnecessary governmental regulation on the towing industry, CTTA successfully argued alongside fellow stakeholders for a complete exemption from BAR for all towers performing roadside service that have a valid Motor Carrier Permit and are in the BIT Program.
- AB 306 (Lowenthal) was formulated and sponsored by CTTA to increase safety on California’s roadways and level the playing field by requiring any business that contracts with a tow company to obtain proof of a valid motor carrier permit (MCP) before allowing the tower to retrieve vehicles from or deliver vehicles to its premises.
- AB 198 (Frazier) legally allowed tow truck drivers to use the center median or right shoulder upon the direction of a peace officer. Supported by CTTA, AB 198 allowed tow trucks to more rapidly render assistance to disabled vehicles or debris obstructing a roadway, as well as facilitating the free flow of traffic, thus reducing the number of secondary crashes.
- AB 2586 (Gatto) included an unreasonable provision that would have required towers to provide free towing and storage to owners of stolen vehicles. After intense lobbying from the tow industry, the author agreed to remove this offensive towing provision from his bill due to the unjustified negative impact this provision would have had on the small businesses in the tow industry.
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