Bills, Bills, Bills

If you were to be asked to define the word “bill,” what would your definition be?

A duck’s bill, the visor of a cap, an itemized account of services or work done on an invoice as a bill of charges, or what you owe on your electricity bill, or charges for food or drink after asking the waiter to bring your bill, or maybe a bill of a law presented to a legislature.

The towing and recovery industry should mostly be concerned about bills for services or work done, and legislation regarding towing-related issues. Both types of bills are being looked at from four national associations.

These associations are focusing on pushing for change in the towing industry: the American Trucking Association (ATA), the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA).

The Towing and Recovery Association of America (TRAA) has secured a seat on ATA’s towing task force to advocate for towing operators, which – hopefully – will help to educate and address the concerns of this association. Oftentimes, issues stem from a lack of communication, and understanding how our industry works.

I sometimes want to ask a rep from any of these associations if they would get up at 3 a.m. during a snow storm for a jack-knifed, loaded tractor-trailer while not knowing if they would be paid. Would the rep get out of a nice, warm bed to do the call 24/7/365? Does the rep know the dangers of working an incident along the roadway, or the demands of law enforcement to get the roadway cleared in a timely manner, or the costs involved for equipment, trained towing operators, insurance, etc.?

Come ride along on these calls to get a hands-on experience of a recovery. And the job doesn’t stop once the incident is cleared and stored in the tow yard.

Bills, bills, bills. Some you like, some you don’t.