Great News!! The PTROI Defeated Every Bill
After a long legislative session, we can now state that the PTROI defeated every bill aimed at us in the Spring Legislative session.
HB 1617 This bill would allow mechanics, locksmiths, new and used car dealers, and law enforcement to possess vehicle security devices, but not towers. The sponsor has agreed to let towers also have this equipment. Support after amendment. Failed
HB1618 This bill would allow mechanics, locksmiths, new and used car dealers, and law enforcement to possess vehicle relay boxes, but not towers. The sponsor has agreed to let towers also have this equipment. Support after amendment. Failed
HB 1913 This bill comes from the fire fighters and is looking to require a decal on the rear of all electric vehicles. We supported this last year and, as a safety issue, we should continue our support. In committee. Failed. This is one we wanted to pass, but we will work on it again next year.
HB 2432 This bill comes from a few of our members who are regulated relocators. They are asking that they be allowed to charge the vehicle owners/operators any municipal fee that is charged to the towing company by a municipality. This bill failed last year. Support. In committee. Failed
HB 2671 This law provides that if a total loss vehicle 9 years of age or older does not agree to retain the vehicle, then the insurance company shall take possession. This bill comes from Red Bud, IL. Definitely support. Failed
HB 2727 This bill comes from a Chicago state rep, LaShawn Ford. We will need to talk to him and see if he will back down. Hopefully, the IL Commerce Commission will step in because some of these are covered by a law we are supporting, SB 2040. Oppose as written. The representative got it passed in the house transportation committee with the proviso that he will hold it for discussion with the ILCC. Failed
HB 3430 Non-Consensual Towing Act (from Mississippi) Support. This will form a committee to (1) establish rules and standards for the inclusion of a towing and recovery service on the tow list; (2) establish statewide maximum towing and storage rates for nonconsensual tows; (3) require the towing and recovery service to ban the use of per-pound billing for nonconsensual towing; (4) publish a Towing Service Standard Manual; and (5) collect and compile data and information on the number of people who have been towed nonconsensual and the areas where nonconsensual towing have occurred. Oppose. Failed
HB 3762 Extreme weather law. This bill would mandate that any time temperatures are above 80 F or below 40 F, whether indoors or outdoors the people working in this weather must be special consideration, up to and including hotsuits or coldsuits. This applies to any business in Illinois, not just towing. Oppose. Failed
SB 1255 This law allows passengers to ride in a vehicle that is in tow on a flatbed under certain conditions. Oppose. Failed
SB 2040 This bill is the one we worked on with the Commerce Commission and is intended to slow down wreckchasing and predatory towing. Passed the transportation committee, should pass out of the Senate. Support. Passed.
SB 2143 This bill is one that can kill the relocation companies. It has several conditions that would have made it impossible for relocators to survive. Just a few of these were that all vehicles had to be physically tagged with a sticker, as well as the sticker being time and GPS stamped, you would not be able to tow a vehicle for expired plates, and each contract would have to be renewed with a hard signature every year instead of using “until cancelled” as an expiration date. We feel at this point we have it under control, but as always, we must be vigilant. Oppose. Failed.
Many of these bills failed for a number of reasons. One reason is that in the last week of the session there were over 3,000 proposed bills still to be called. One reason is that we some of the bills that did fail were because we opposed them. They would have been so damaging that we had to put much of our time and resources into opposing SB2143, HB2727, and HB3430. We have stopped SB2143 and have now stopped HB2727 as well as many other bills.
We would like to thank all of you that did electronic filings and called your state legislators to help persuade them that these bills were not going to be good for everyone. Thank you again.
2024 PTROI Award Winners, Congrats to All!!
| Scholarship Winners | Legislation | Big Ed Award |
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Illinois Sexual Harassment Prevention Training Law takes effect on January 1, 2021. This is the most recent update. This must be renewed annually.This new law states that every employee in the state of Illinois must have this training. The PTROI has, on this website, the Illinois Department of Human Resources model training PDF presentation. This is free and is said to take about 30 minutes. For more, click here. Illinois Commerce Commission to Look at Overcharging by Rogue Towers I do not know how many of you have heard, but the Illinois Commerce Commission is discussing ways to correct the practice of overcharging for tows. Below is a TV report on the ways in which one company overcharges. There was also a company in the Lasalle area that overcharged for a police tow. It was a heavy-duty recovery that priced out as $221,000.00. Yep, that was two hundred twenty-one thousand dollars. While there are more than two companies in the state that overcharge, the vast majority of towers are reasonable with their rates, pricing to make a living, but not hurt anyone. Note that neither of these companies are PTROI members. One of them, we even spent a bunch of money to keep out. Click here for more.
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Chicago Passes Licensing Law for Tow Trucks The City of Chicago has passed an ordinance that will require licensing of all tow trucks. This is being done to fight wreckchasers. The PTROI has vehemently opposed this at considerable cost because, in our opinion, the law-abiding towers will be punished for the wrongs of a few. We had been making decent progress on this law, but at that last moment Chicago did what it wanted to do with no regard for the honest towers. We were told early on by Alderman Villegas that this was not a money deal, but now it appears that it is a money deal. The licensing fee will be $250.00 per truck and up to $750.00 per yard. We will be having zone meetings soon to try to get everyone up to date on the ordinance and it’s particulars. To view the ordinance click here. |
PTROI MEMBER BENEFITS Education and Training: As a #1 Priority the PTROI covers a wide range of topics from operating a tow truck to managing a business profitably to handling the stress of the day to day operations of a towing company. Through training schools and seminars the tower is kept up to date on knowledge of current laws that pertain to the industry. Click here for more.
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