MEDIA EVENTS: 'Move Over' Law Expanded

MEDIA EVENTS: 'Move Over' Law Expanded:

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Hit and Run Kills Tow Operator | NBC Los Angeles

Sad, sad news. Our condolences to the family and acquaintances of 40-year-old Chris Tatro, who died Saturday (12/17) evening after being hit on the side of the road while trying to load a disabled vehicle. The driver fled the scene. Tatro worked for Advanced Auto Tow.

Hit and Run Kills Tow Operator | NBC Los Angeles:

Police are seeking the driver of a tan sedan who killed a tow truck a driver in Riverside last night and then fled the scene.

The hit-and-run driver swerved into the tow operator as he tried to load a disabled vehicle onto his flatbed tow truck on the right shoulder of the road on the eastbound side.

The operator has been identified as Christopher Tatro, 40, of Corona, who worked for Advanced Auto Tow. Tatro taken to Riverside Community Hospital, where he died on Saturday.

The collision occured at about 2:05 a.m. just west of Monroe Street in Riverside. Witnesses told the California Highway Patrol that the tan sedan continued on afterward, exiting the freeway at Adams Street.

Part of the vehicle was left behind at the scene and officials said they have footage of the tan sedan after the incident occurred.

The CHP is seeking the public's help in tracking down the hit-and-run driver, asking witnesses or others with information to contact the California Highway Patrol, Riverside Area office, at (951) 637-8000.

Dangerous Duty In MI

Here's the story from AnnArbor.com:

A tow truck driver was shot in the foot early Tuesday by a man who was upset that his vehicle had been towed from an apartment complex because he didn't have a parking permit, police said.
Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Derrick Jackson said deputies responded to a call of shots fired at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday in the 9000 block of MacArthur Boulevard.
Police found that a 31-year-old Ypsilanti Township resident and employee of Discount Towing had been struck once in the foot and the suspect had fled, Jackson said.
Deputies had responded to the area earlier in the night while the employees were towing the suspect's car, Jackson said. The suspect did not have a parking pass for the complex and was upset that his car was being towed, Jackson said.
"Tow truck drivers get this all the time," Jackson said. "It's common practice for them to quickly call us before things escalate."
It wasn't until the employees came back to the complex to check if there were any other cars that needed to be taken from the area that trouble started, Jackson said.
According to Jackson, when police went to the scene earlier, the situation had calmed down and the suspect went back inside while the drivers towed his car and deputies left the area. The employees returned, and while they were leaving, three shots were fired at the vehicle, Jackson said.
The suspect was arrested hours later, Jackson said. The 25-year-old Superior Township man was lodged at the Washtenaw County Jail, where he is waiting to be arraigned on charges, Jackson said.
There was no one immediately available at Discount Towing on Tuesday evening to comment on the shooting.
A Nixle alert to the community regarding the shooting was issued by the sheriff’s office Tuesday evening.

Season 2 Premiere Of ‘Lizard Lick Towing’ Draws 2.2 Million Viewers - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers

Season 2 Premiere Of ‘Lizard Lick Towing’ Draws 2.2 Million Viewers - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers: "truTV's hit series Lizard Lick Towing returned to launch its second season last night and came away with a truckload of outstanding numbers. The half-hour season premiere at 10 p.m. delivered 2.2 million viewers, up a remarkable 30% over the show's February launch. The episode also scored 621,000 adults 18-34 (+34%); 1.2 million adults 18-49 (+24%); 404,000 men 18-34 (+73%); and 740,000 men 18-49 (+43%).

For the 10 p.m. timeslot, Lizard Lick Towing ranked among basic cable's Top 5 programs with men 18-34 and men 18-49. It also ranked among the Top 5 entertainment programs with total viewers and adults 18-49."

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Tow truck run brings toys to kids - San Jose Mercury News

Tow truck run brings toys to kids - San Jose Mercury News: "More than 30 tow trucks from 12 companies drove from San Jose to Fremont on Saturday to deliver hundreds of toys for less fortunate children to Bridges Community Church.
Dino Tomassi, owner of Finish Line Tow and a member of the church's "Band of Brothers" Men's Club, started the drive three years ago to reach out to the community.
The drive, called the Bay Area Tow Truck Toy Run, comprises members of the Greater Bay Area Chapter of the California Tow Truck Association.
Volunteers were treated to a pancake breakfast at the Mission San Jose church, and Santa Claus portrayed by Mission Pass Tow and Transport owner Walt White, made an appearance at 505 Driscoll Road."

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Round of Applause! B/A Products

B/A Products' founder Mel Berman and sons-in-law Fritz Dahlman and Chip Kauffman present a check to Bill Gratzianna and Troy Barnett of the ITRHFM.

Kudos to B/A Products for raising $15,000 for the International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum during the company's auction on Nov. 18 during their Fifth Annual Open House. The money will be split equally between the museum and the Survivor Fund. The event was attended by more than 500 members of the towing and recovery community who were in Baltimore for the American Towman Expo. 

Cross Country Network News: Cross Country Announcement: Branding Changes Coming Soon

Cross Country Network News: Cross Country Announcement: Branding Changes Coming Soon:

Cross Country Automotive Services has been going through a rebranding effort over the past few months to better unite ourselves and ATX Group (a telematics organization which we acquired a couple of years ago) under one brand. We are very excited to announce that our new brand, Agero® was launched for our automotive and insurance clients on Monday, December 5.
The new Agero brand will officially launch for our Service Providers on March 1, 2012.
New Look – Same Great Benefits for Our ProvidersWhile you may start to see a new look on some of our applications and web portals next spring, in no way will this re-brand affect billing or invoice processes, rates/territories, performance management, or any other best practices currently in place at Cross Country. Argosi.net will continue to be your go to, online billing and performance portal. As we near the roll out of the Agero brand for our Service Provider community in March, further communications will be sent detailing the new look and feel that may be applied to some existing applications. However, again, the impact of the new brand on your day to day operations and communications with us will be minimal.
We continue to strive to be the best motor club to work with and we are confident as we enter this next chapter of our organizational story, our services, innovation and leadership will only continue to flourish and get stronger. We are proud to offer our Service Providers the most volume in the industry, the largest variety of dispatch options, a one of a kind discount Perks program to access business essentials, and the most comprehensive resources and training outlets available.
For further information on our new branding update, please take a moment to review the resources below:

• Branding: Frequently Asked Questions

• Press Release – TowTimes.com

• Agero.com

We appreciate your continued service and all of the hard work of our Service Provider partners. The best is yet to come.

Tow truck operators could face additional background scrutiny « IdahoReporter.com

Tow truck operators could face additional background scrutiny « IdahoReporter.com:

Idaho State Police (ISP) is planning to bring legislation forward in the next legislative session asking for a more thorough background check for tow truck driver operators who tow for the agency.
Currently in Idaho, there is a law allowing ISP to run background checks on operators who tow for them based on their records within the state. The legislation would expand the parameters to all 50 states. Meaning, if a tow truck operator wants to be part of ISP’s tow rotation, not only would any criminal record in Idaho be subject to review, but any record in the other 49 states would be as well.
Sgt. Sam Ketchum, with Region 3 of ISP, explained, “We currently do a background check on all of our tow truck operators that are on our tow truck rotations as it concerns the state police. Obviously, we try not to let criminals or felons, or people like that tow for us because they are securing property that we’ve taken people away from.”
The proposed legislation came as a surprise to Randy Colson, president of Idaho Towing and Recovery Professionals. He said he was under the impression that background checks like this are already done. “To the best of my knowledge they already do that. So, I don’t know enough about it (legislation), I guess, to give you a very intelligent comment truth be known.”
Ketchum said, “The thing that the legislation is doing is expanding it so we can check all 50 states for their (tow truck operator) background as opposed to just Idaho’s. So right now, as it stands, say tow operator A wants to apply to state police to be on our rotation. We will do a background check, but only in Idaho. So whatever they have done in other states, we don’t know about. … If they want to get on the rotation then they know they have to submit a packet and submit to these things (background checks). All we’re doing is expanding the opportunity for us to look outside just the state of Idaho. We’re going to look at all 50 states.”
Ketchum said that there are around 50 tow truck operators on the voluntary tow rotation for ISP in Region 3, based out of Meridian. Region 3 covers 10 southwest counties: Ada, Adams, Boise, Canyon, Elmore, Gem, Owyhee, Payette, Valley and Washington. There are six regions in the state, with other centers in Coeur d’Alene, Lewiston, Jerome, Pocatello and Idaho Falls.
Think about the scene of an accident. If your vehicle is disabled requiring a tow, it and whatever is in it are out of sight and control of the owner. Ketchum said that because someone’s property is being essentially taken away and put in the hands of the tow truck operator, ISP doesn’t just look for felonies or heinous crimes, but also crimes against people or possessions.
“We look for felonies is the big thing,” said Ketchum. “We look for any kind of crimes against people such as petty theft, burglary, things like that. When we need a tow truck, basically we have removed the driver from their property either through arrest or crash or a motorist assist or something. Because we are removing them from that property we want to make sure that person who is coming to get that vehicle is somewhat responsible. Obviously we don’t want them to have this background of theft, or violence, or things like that. We’re turning property over to them.”
In Idaho in 2010, there were 7,729 single vehicle accidents and 14,826 multi-vehicle accidents. ISP was the lead investigator in 3,683 of the accidents, or an average of 10 crashes per day. In all, ISP is responsible for patrolling 60,000 miles of roadway in the state.