Parking-lot-trap tows, roadside tows: Truckers' defense against predatory practices

In this week's Overdrive Radio podcast, get into the nitty gritty around "predatory towing," whether after a crash or disabling event at the roadside, or in a parking-lot trap. The episode continues the conversation following the relatively new trucking resource delivered near the end of 2023 -- the American Transportation Research Institute’s big report on how common outsize tow bills and unethical practices have become. ATRI also included plenty in the way of information to help assess big bills, and tactics to bring them down. 

The Truckload Carriers Association held an online seminar last week in an effort to raise awareness among carrier members there but also highlight some recent-history legislative victories, particularly in Maryland. In the podcast, you'll hear from Dave Heller, TCA senior safety and government affairs vice president, about ways anyone can engage and inform themselves on the issues to help bring change for the better.

Overdrive Radio's sponsor is Yet also: Dive into the work of Overdrive’s own Alex Lockie, who’s been covering the rise in predatory towing over the past year. His early stories over that time -- about parking-lot traps, about cross-town nonconsensual tows with hefty price tags, about tow companies' perspective -- brought a huge response from readers, as he details in the podcast. Likewise, owner-operators have delivered plenty advice to glean about tackling problematic tows, as did the ATRI report, underpinning a new step-by-step guide Lockie authored on how to play defense against predatory practices, published here a few weeks back.

That guide's not the end of the story, by any means, though. Stay tuned for further reporting suggested in some of the conversations throughout the podcast. Take a listen: