Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, April 23, 2024:
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on April 19 signed a bill into law that aims to cut down on predatory towing practices targeting commercial vehicles in the state. With the new law, Mississippi joins Maryland, Florida, and other states that have recently made similar efforts to rein in egregious rates and other predatory practices.
The new law establishes a Commercial Vehicle Towing Advisory Committee within the state’s Department of Public Safety’s Public Commercial Transportation Enforcement Division. That committee is charged with:
[Related: DOT's Buttigieg, FMCSA call out predatory towing, propose penalties]
“Predatory towing is an egregious practice that not only disrupts our state’s supply chain, but also costs Mississippi truck owners thousands of dollars for each unwanted tow,” said Mississippi Trucking Association President Hal Miller. “We are grateful to Mississippi legislators for listening to our concerns about this unfair tactic, and we thank Gov. Reeves for swiftly signing this bill into law.”
The law defines “nonconsensual towing” as “the moving, transporting or recovery of a commercial vehicle by a towing and recovery service without the prior consent or authorization of the owner or operator of the motor vehicle from private property and/or by police-initiated towing,” which should cover not only roadside emergency tows but also parking-enforcement tows. The new law prohibits towing and recovery services from using vehicle immobilization devices, such as boots, unless directed to by law enforcement.
The law also requires that when a vehicle is nonconsensually towed to a storage facility, the towing service will allow a vehicle owner or designee of the owner to access the vehicle to collect personal property, “regardless of whether any payment has been made for the towing and recovery service charges.”
