The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has just concluded a public hearing titled “Transparency in Fees CMV Operators Are Charged for Towing and Recovery Services.” As stated by Brian Stansbury, FMCSA Chief Counsel, today's meeting was the direct result of TRAA's engagement with the agency. Bill Johnson, TRAA’s President, provided opening remarks and submitted written testimony. In the testimony, TRAA emphasized three concerns with the FMCSA position:

1. FMCSA’s position is based on only one biased and industry-funded “study” conducted by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) with funding from the ATA. Additionally, the “study” includes misleading information that overstates the scope of the perceived problem.
2. FMCSA ignores basic facts around the complexity of towing and traffic incident response that make providing exact quotes nearly impossible to generate before seeing the scene and specific circumstances of an incident.
3. By adding to the complexity and time associated with incident response, FMCSA’s seemingly preferred solution would create new safety concerns for not only towers, but other traffic incident responders as well. This is due to the fact that it would likely require on-site negotiation and the response of multiple tow companies with additional traffic incident management responders present. Further, such requirements could violate state laws in some circumstances and would create dangerous roadside conditions, the opposite of FMCSA’s statutory mission.

TRAA engaged the FMCSA immediately following their submission of public comments to the FTC regarding the “Junk Fee” Rule. Among our requests was that FMCSA involve the towing industry and stakeholders in a public setting rather than blindly do the ATA’s bidding. TRAA continues to encourage DOT to establish a task force to investigate transparency in towing rather than regulate without any evidence or industry input.

The hearing is evidence of the continued progress that TRAA is making, including the appropriations report language from last week.

TRAA is also continuing to work directly with the FTC, providing follow-up information following an initial meeting and more planned for next week.

Thank you to all of the TRAA members who participated in today's meeting.

We will continue to keep you apprised of any additional updates from Washington. 

Sincerely,

David J. Garriepy

Vice President, Government Affairs

Tremont Strategies Group (TSG)

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