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Towing Rates In Escambia County To Increase For First Time In 11 Years
March 12, 2021
The Escambia County Commission has agreed on new towing rates, the first increase for towing companies in 11 years.
The rates applies to no-consensual towing and storage — that’s for vehicles that are parked without the property owner’s permission or when police request a car be towed such as in the event of a wreck. Insurance companies will often pay the towing fee for wrecks.
Local tow truck companies have lobbied the commission for the increase, saying their cost of doing business has increased since 2009.
For vehicles less than 10,000 pounds, the maximum towing fee will increase from $100 to $150, and daily storage will increase from $20 to $40.
For vehicles over 10,000 pounds, the towing rate will increase to $250 to 450 depending on vehicle weight. The current rates range from $175 to $400.
Commissioner also agreed to allow an annual increase based upon the Consumer Price Index.
The Escambia County Commission will formally vote on the rate increase at their next meeting on March 25. The new maximum rates do not apply if the vehicle owner requests a voluntary tow.
Detailed rates are below:
Comments
11 Responses to “Towing Rates In Escambia County To Increase For First Time In 11 Years”
It’s been 11 yrs since the rates were increased. The people that seem to have an issue shocks me especially since people are willing to pay more for a pair of tennis shoes or a pair jeans than to have their vehicle towed. Most do not realize what it takes to simply tow a vehicle besides the knowledge (yea some shouldn’t be towing anything) and/or the cost.
The MOST IMPORTANT thing most don’t realize is “A TOW TRUCK DRIVER IS KILLED EVERY 6 DAYS IN THIS COUNTRY ALL THE WHILE OTHER TOW TRUCK DRIVERS ARE STILL OUT THERE HELPING STRANNDED PEOPLE INCLUDING THE ONES CLAIMING HE’S OUT THERE JUST TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF PEOPLE EVEN THOUGH HE IS THE ONLY ONE THERE TO HELP WHEN NO ONE ELSE IS!”
I doubt this makes a difference to most about tow truck drivers or companies because no matter why someone’s vehicle is towed the tow truck driver/company is already considered the bad guy no matter if it’s warranted or not but a good company already understands this & doesn’t take it personally so the situation doesn’t escalate to a problem when confronted instead allows the customer to vent so they can both move forward as quickly & calmly as possible. This is not an easy profession especially working 24/7 and no matter what or when a driver attempts to do something such as shower or eat dinner that phone will ring and that driver will STOP what he is doing & that driver will GO and it begins all over again.
Just a little insight into a day in the life of a tow truck driver just tryin to HELP
Wrenchman, The Escambia County Commission has no control over the Florida Highway Patrol or the City of Pensacola Council. I have, in the past, been to Rate Increase meetings with the FHP. These rates are not just for accidents. Other reasons like DUI arrest, abandoned on the right-away, or any other reason the driver cannot physically or lawfully drive the vehicle. I know, over the years, that just because one governing authority raised the rates, the others do not just fall into place. Yes, trucks are expensive. Most tow companies do not rely on Law Enforcement rotations for steady income. They tow for such customers as rental car companies, dealerships, Auto Clubs, salvage buyers etc….
Malcolm Rand, the owners of the tow companies are in the same Covid19 boat as you are. Their truck, property tax, insurance and utility payments did not stop when the economy “shut down”. Just how many times has your vehicle(s) been towed? I have never had a vehicle towed without my requesting it.
Everything is going up. Dollar value is going down. Plywood prices indicate 300% inflation.
These rates are for accidents. Fhp/City will recognize these rates because the Escambia County commisionors are the only county in the state of Florida that still controls the rates. And the city usually will just follow the fhp rates. But the cost of trucks, little rollback 80-120 thousand. Big rollbacks 140-200 thousand (mine was 189,000 before federal tax, road usage tax and tags.) The middle to heavy trucks 250-550 thousand, and rotators are 500-950 thousand. And then all the insurance we have to have to cover your vehicle we are Towing. Insurance to cover our trucks and employees. And then workers comp to cover (God forbid) one of us gets hit and or killed. Insurance for a Towing company runs somewhere around 250-300 thousand a year…..
Don’t do the things that cause your vehicle to be towed. If you are in an accident, you can request a tow truck of your choice. If your vehicle breaks down, call any tow company you want and negotiate the price. I am not sure if these new rates will be recognized by the Florida Highway Patrol. The FHP has it’s own set of rules and regulations that must be followed to be on their “call allocation” list, and so does the City of Pensacola. Join an auto club.
My opinion: This is ridiculous. Every day expenses to live are steadily increasing; including gas prices nearly rising to $3.00 a gallon.. towing expenses are expensive as it is already. So why raise them?
It has now been a year mark since the past pandemic. Most people are still trying to recover from the setbacks of COVID-19. Lost jobs, hours, etc. I am one of them. This is totally unfair and unjust to the people to raise, almost doubling the amounts of towing rates.
Thank you for listening,
- Mal.
Bout time .folks dont realize the cost of ins on trucks and all the crap that comes along with towing ..BOUT TIME
$50 a day for storage. Seems pretty excessive.
Real world example, one of my coworkers had his vehicle stolen and it was picked up by a tow company. The police and tow company took 14 days to finally notify him of it sitting in “storage” aka a muddy unpaved lot with the window broken in spring rain.
He had to pay out of pocket for the impound and storage fees and his insurance took two months to reimburse him. The total cost was more than his monthly rent on his apartment.
Personally I have benefitted from high impound fees. I purchased a motorcycle that had been sold at a tow company auction that had been in storage long enough the owner had no chance of being able to pay the fee.
this is just another ploy to either steal your property or steal your money based on your vehicle being towed(legally or not) The basis for some vehicles being towed is often subjective at best, so for a towing company to charge this much for the tow AND further storage is pure theft. I see some attorneys jumping on this pretty fast.
Pay the man