GSTA - Towing & Recovery Definitions |
|
TOWING DEFINITIONS
Tow Truck: Commercial motor vehicle designed exclusively to lift motor vehicles which have become disabled, wrecked, recovered stolen and police impound by means of lifting from the front or rear by the following methods:
1. Sling Type - mechanical or hydraulic
2. Wheel lift type - mechanical or hydraulic
Towing: When a tow truck and/or hydraulic flat bed carrier takes in its possession the care, control and custody of a motor vehicle by means of standard industry procedures.
Light Duty Tow Truck: Used to tow and recover small light duty vehicles up to 10,000 lbs.
Medium Duty Tow Truck: Used to tow and recover small commercial type vehicles up to 26,000 lbs GVW or passenger vehicles unable to be recovered with light duty tow truck or flatbed.
Heavy Duty Tow Truck: Commercial manufactured truck with wrecker body. Minimum GVWR 26,001 lbs. used to tow and recover commercial type vehicles over 26,000 GVW as well as passenger vehicles unable to be recovered by other means.
Hydraulic Flatbed Car Carrier: Commercial motor vehicle designed exclusively to transport motor vehicles which have become disabled, wrecked, recovered stolen and police impound by means of bodily winching motor vehicles from road way level up onto hydraulic bed for transporting purposes.
Specialized Flat Bed Carrier equipped with special hydraulic oscillation knuckle boom crane. Commercial motor vehicle exclusively designed for special recovery procedures when needed and also to bodily lift and transport motor vehicles.
Road Service: Use of a tow truck or service vehicle to attempt to repair a vehicle at the point of the breakdown.
Recovery: A recovery is when the tow operator applies his knowledge in a skillful manner to preserve the condition of the motor vehicle while winching and/or lifting the damaged vehicle back to a normal towing or loading position.
Debris Clean-up:
Standard Site Clean-up: Refers to the amount of debris removal that should reasonably be anticipated at the scene of motor vehicle accident or incident. The standard site clean-up is usually defined to the point of impact, the final resting point of the vehicle and the associated debris field.
Extended Site Clean-up: Refers to the removal of debris at the point of impact, as well as along the path of pre-impact and/or post impact, where vehicle disintegration and/or other property damage occur as a result of the motor vehicle accident or incident.
Absorbents: Any group of products used to soak up spills or vehicle fluids. These would include oil dry, absorbent pads, socks, booms etc.
Collision Wrap: Used in an attempt to cover exposed areas from the weather elements.
Tarping: Covering or re-covering a vehicle to prevent against further weather damage or unauthorized access.
Disposable Bags: Used to carry away used absorbents, car parts, glass etc.
Labor: Means the additional work done at the scene by the tow truck operator which is beyond that required to perform a basic tow, or any additional man power needed to complete a recovery, winching or towing of a vehicle. Labor charge for additional man power shall be based on a per man, per hourly rate with a 1 hour minimum.
Waiting Time: Additional time a tow operator spends at the scene other than the time required for the actual tow and/or recovery.
Impoundment: The storage of a motor vehicle upon the order of a Law Enforcement Agency
Storage: “Storage charges for a 24-hour period” means the maximum allowable amount to be charged by a storage facility for a 24-hour period or fraction thereof. A new 24-hour period begins at 12:01 am. Storage is charged on a per calendar day or any part thereof.
Outside Secured Storage: Is when a motor vehicle is placed in an outside, secured storage facility which will be completely enclosed with at least a 6 foot fence, will have at least one entrance and exit gate and will be completely illuminated by outside lighting in order to safe guard the motor vehicles.
Inside Secured Storage: When a motor vehicle is placed inside a secured facility at the request of the vehicle/owner/operator or at the request of law enforcement agency for preservation purposes; i.e. owner/operator request antique or classic motor vehicle and/or an expensive luxury motor vehicle and/or law enforcement request for preservation of further law enforcement investigation.
Administration Charges: Charges for services including but not limited to physical inspection, telephone and/or fax calls, copying of documentation, removal of personal items and additional office paperwork before and at the time of release.
Vehicle Access Charge: Owner and/or insurance representative must be accompanied into the secured storage yard facility to inspect, remove personal belongings, adjust and take photographs. Documentation such as driver license of vehicle owner, business card of insurance representative must be photocopied and time stamped when this additional auxiliary service is performed.
Vehicle Removal Charge: (Lot Removal) Charge for a motor vehicle towed into the storage facility of the primary tower that is not moveable and must be towed out of the primary towers storage facility to a designated unsecured staging area for towing by the secondary tower.
Abandoned Vehicle: Any motor vehicle or vessel partially dismantled or not readily capable of operation under its own power or not currently licensed or wrecked or junked. It shall also mean any vehicle whose owner has terminated the use and care of the vehicle and has either indicated by his words or actions an intent to leave it and no longer claim ownership of it or left it without making arrangements for the storage with the owner, occupant or person in control of the premises on which it is located.
Air Cushion Recovery: Use of any number of inflatable lifting apparatus (commonly referred to as air cushions and/or air bags). Used to lift, under controlled recovery movements, any objects i.e. automobiles, trucks, tractors, tractor and semi-trailer combinations, either on and/or off the roadway, aircraft, underwater recovery and realignment of shifted loads inside semi-trailers.
Collection Expense: Cost of fees spent in an attempt to secure payment for services rendered.
Crane/Rotator: Use of specially manufactured vehicle that has an extendable boom that rotates to recover vehicles that need to be recovered from unusual situations
Documentation Fee: Cost of photographing, maintaining time line, written explanations used to explain nature of crash/recovery to assist insurance company/vehicle owner understand the incident and substantiate charges.
Fuel Surcharges: Applied to towing bill when cost of fuel is over the pre-determined amount.
The following chart was taken from the “Military Traffic Management Command”.
Cost per gallon (in cents) Rate Adjustment %
130 and below 0
130.1 – 140 1
140.1 – 150 2
150.1 – 160 3
160.1 – 170 4
170.1 – 180 5
180.1 – 190 6
190.1 – 200 7
200.1 – 210 8
210.2 – 220 9
220.1 – 230 10
230.1 – 240 11
240.1 – 250 12
Incident: Any recurring or non-recurring event that created a diminished capacity to roadway function or threatens the environment
Incident Management Escort & Support Vehicle: A truck or trailer containing assorted supplies to mitigate the impact of incidents i.e. spill control, traffic control, auxiliary lighting, clean-up materials and equipment.
Mileage Charges: Are calculated on a portal to portal basis which consists of the following examples: towing company dispatched from towing facility to destination of tow, tows or transports motor vehicle from point of pick-up back to destination point at a towing company protected storage facility, a motor vehicle is towed from a point of pick-up to another destination other than the towing company facility, i.e. vehicle owner residence, mechanical repair facility, auto body repair facility or any other destination, mileage accrual at arrival back to the point of dispatch. (Towing company facility)
Off-Road Recovery: Use of specialized equipment or tow truck to retrieve a vehicle that has left the roadway.
Portable Dolly’s and/or Portable Go-Jac type Dolly’s: A set of wheels installed under either end of a vehicle in order to facilitate it’s movement. Use of this type equipment would incur an additional labor charge.
Post Incident Expenses: A host of services provided to the customers vehicle after the vehicle has been removed from the scene.
Recovery Supervisor/Coordinator: A trained individual who utilizes his expertise to facilitate a safe and effective response to an incident through direct instruction to other employees dealing with the other responders or physically creating the conditions needed to terminate an incident.
Specialized Equipment: Use of a wide variety of primarily, but not limited to, construction type equipment not normally considered towing equipment used to access or clean-up a recovery scene of wreckage.
Sub-Contractor: Use of other commercial business to provide services needed that tower does not possess. Tower invoices a handling charge on top of Sub-Contractors invoice charge.
Trailering: The use of Landoll type recovery unit to transport anything that is too large to be flat bedded or would be damaged if towed in another manner.
Water Recovery: The process of recovering a vehicle or any other object as requested that is in water or under water.
Willful Abandonment: An action deliberately taken by an owner or insurance company to leave a vehicle or vessel at a storage yard in order to attempt to avoid paying the towing, recovery, storage etc. charges due against the vehicle. See NJ Statue 39:4-56.5 and 56.6
Winching: The process of moving a motor vehicle by the use of additional chains, nylon slings and additional lengths of winch cable from a position that is not accessible for direct hook up by conventional means for towing and/or loading onto a tow vehicle. Winching is not pulling a vehicle onto a flatbed carrier or lifting a motor vehicle by conventional means. (Tow sling, wheel left, etc.)
Wrecking: The process of removing wreckage from the roadway; i.e. the vehicle and its debris which includes the removal of pieces of vehicles from a crash scene with the end result being to return the roadway back to pre-crash conditions.
