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Tuesday, January 20, 2009
DIshonesty Within Towing Industry Hurts Everyone : Consumers , Trucking Industry
Most of the towing company owners I know are honest individuals, male or female, who built their respective businesses with integrity, although, none of them ever thought it was necessary to deceive a customer, regardless the situation, when it involved the towing fee(s).
The incident in Bexar and Harris Counties where two different towing companies, both charging an unauthorized towing fee, while one of these companies, "tampered with a governmental record" by marking up the original receipt for towing to coincide with their nonconsent tow fee schedule submitted to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations.
As shown above in the two pictures, you can see that the tractor (truck) and the trailer were altogether being towed with one heavy duty wrecker. This is how tractor trailers drive on the highways, as one unit, but, some towing company owners feel the rush to charge a towing fee for the trailer, when the trailer was never hooked up or attached to a wrecker, during the time that tractor trailer (one unit) was transported to the storage facility.
As in both incidents, neither parking facility, complied with the Occupations Code 2308.252.
Had a sign as shown below been posted at the Flying J by Milstead Towing, the towing of all 23 of those tractor trailers would still be illegal because the towing sign is illegal itself for failing to bears the words "Unauthorized Vehicles Will Be Towed at Owner's or Operator's Expense", as required in Occupation Code 2308.301(b)(5).
All I can say, is that anyone who has been towed from any parking facility with a "Milstead Towing" sign posted as shown above, should seek an attorney and pursue action against the parking facility, since the statute of limitation is two years.
Between the illegal towing sign, the unauthorized charging of a second towing fee, and the various violations with the paperwork given to the consumer, this should be more than enough to prove that Amy Milstead- Ellzey is not qualified to advise the very state agency that regulates her business. These errors in judgment is ample reason to remove her from the Towing and Storage Advisory Board for the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulations.
Had either of these incidents happened in Austin, Texas, these individuals that participated in this criminal conduct would have been arrested for auto theft, by the Austin Police Department Wrecker Enforcement Unit.