Public Transportation- House
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Bills discussed (11)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
SB498
Act 581
· 7 mentions in agenda, chapter, transcript
Matched: “…OF RAIL EMPLOYEES IN REPORTS INVOLVING RAILROAD FATALITIES. SB498 J. Petty TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DISCLOSURE OF DRIVER A…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DISCLOSURE OF DRIVER AND VEHICLE RECORDS AND TO PROTECT DRIVER … | J. Petty | Notification that SB498 is now Act 581 |
|
HB1897
· 6 mentions in agenda, transcript, chapter
Matched: “…ERNING THE ACCESS OF ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLES TO UNPAVED ROADS. HB1897 Painter TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS TOWING AND RECOVERY REFORM A…”
|
TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS TOWING AND RECOVERY REFORM AND EFFICIENCY ACT OF 2025; TO AMEND … | Painter | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
HB1944
· 4 mentions in transcript, agenda, chapter
Matched: “…ou. Next we're gonna go to Representative Volt, uh, she had House Bill 1944. She has an amendment that we're gonna be handing out, so g…”
|
TO AUTHORIZE THE ISSUANCE AND RENEWAL OF A SPECIAL LICENSE PLATE TO PROMOTE AND SUPPORT … | Vaught | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1914
· 3 mentions in transcript, agenda, chapter
Matched: “…ut objection, Representative Long, you're recognized to run House Bill 1914. If you will identify yourself, you may proceed. Thank you,”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE ARKANSAS MOTOR CARRIER ACT, 1955; AND TO REQUIRE AN … | Long | Died in House at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1550
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “AGENDA (Revised 04/03/25 @ 8:45 AM) Removed HB1550 House Committee on Public Transportation Thursday, April 3,…”
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CONCERNING EXPEDITED SECURITY SCREENINGS AT AN AIRPORT. | Andrews | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
HB1913
Act 928
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…SAS TOWING AND RECOVERY BOARD; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. HB1913 J. Moore TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DRIVER'S LICENSES; AND…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DRIVER'S LICENSES; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE QUALIFICATIONS … | J. Moore | Notification that HB1913 is now Act 928 |
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SB261
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB261 A. Clark TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE OPERATION OF AN AL…”
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TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE OPERATION OF AN ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLE ON CERTAIN ROADS; AND … | A. Clark | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB397
Act 931
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB397 D. Wallace TO PROTECT CONFIDENTIAL PERSONAL INFORMATION OF…”
|
TO PROTECT CONFIDENTIAL PERSONAL INFORMATION OF RAIL EMPLOYEES IN REPORTS INVOLVING RAILROAD FATALITIES. | D. Wallace | Notification that SB397 is now Act 931 |
|
HB1284
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…M PUBLIC DISCLOSURE. DEFERRED BILLS Number Sponsor Subtitle HB1284 Unger TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE SUSPENSION OR REVOCAT…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF A PERSON'S DRIVER'S LICENSE FOR … | Unger | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1371
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…D TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING A RESTRICTED DRIVER'S PERMIT. HB1371 Wardlaw TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE COMPLETION OF A H…”
|
TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE COMPLETION OF A HUMAN TRAFFICKING PREVENTION COURSE FOR THE … | Wardlaw | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1623
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…estrictions designating areas as 'Members and Staff Only'. HB1623 J. Moore TO EXEMPT H-2A VISA PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS WHO HAVE…”
|
TO EXEMPT H-2A VISA PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS WHO HAVE A VALID INTERNATIONAL DRIVER'S LICENSE OR PERMIT … | J. Moore | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
Machine transcript
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- October 2, 2026
OK. Thank you everyone. We will begin, uh, Public Transportation
Committee meeting, uh, first of all, we're gonna start, we're gonna go out over a little bit we have, we have representative running bills all over, you know, we've got the end of session it's kind of a tight schedule, so we're gonna try to move along so without objection, Representative Long, uh, you recognized run House bill, uh, 1914, if you will identify yourself, you may proceed.
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
0:56
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, uh, Wayne Long, uh, House District 39. proceed
Representative Tracy Steele
Unverified
1:05
with it and good morning committee. Um, this is a very simple bill. Uh, it came, it came from a really complicated loan bill. We, we work for weeks trying to come up with something to um um address the problem of uh folks driving, uh, commercial, uh, commercial vehicles that are not proficient in English. And uh in meeting with um uh the
agencies, um, state police and state highway police, we come up with the idea of running this bill, uh, currently, Um, federal law requires a person with a CDL to be proficient, uh, in English, but state law, uh, there's, there's not a state law that requires that. So consequently, the, um, State Highway police can enforce this, but the state police, uh, county sheriffs, and, uh, a local police departments are unable to, um. Um, do anything about, uh, folks
that they catch that are driving and can't communicate in English, which is a real problem because if they have an accident, they can't communicate with the the police authorities on what happened, um, also they had trouble maybe reading the signs and everything, so, um, that's pretty much all there is to the bill, um, be happy to try to answer any questions. Any questions from committee? Anyone
here to speak for or against the bill, you have a question, uh, Representative Steele, you recognize. Um, going
Representative Tracy Steele
Unverified
2:31
OK, uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. uh, Representative Long, um, How, how would we know? I was trying to see on there, is it a test?
No, sir, uh, it actually it's just, um, you know, in an encounter with the, the police officer, uh, he probably, you know, with the, uh, an accident is something that if someone has stopped
and they're not going out looking for folks and trying
to stop them, you know, and harass them. Now this is primarily gonna be uh the if they come up in a traffic stop or an accident and and uh like I
said this basically this uh exactly mirrors federal law and it goes exactly with the same um. Fine, which is $500 for the first offense, it could go up to $1000 for subsequent offenses. I'm not sure on the federal
level, but I'm, I, I'm just curious is uh If the, if someone with a CDL goes through Texas and goes over in Mexico, should they be fluent in Spanish as well? I don't know what. I know they're, they're a lot more
strict about people going that way than they are about people they may be doing it. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Speaker 29
3:41
Uh, represents. Childers, you recognize. Thank you, Mr.
Representative Paul Childress
Unverified
3:46
Chairman. Representative Long, I know we've had testimony earlier in the session about, uh, Already on the books that they have to speak English professionally because I think that's a current law, and I'm not mistaken, OK, and we had, uh, the highway police come here and talk about that they try, that they do
enforce it. He, he told us that the chief told us they do enforce it, uh, and then we also had another bill that was passed by Representative Hawk that kind of was amended to include this. Is this just kind
of a On top of that, or is is it's doing the same thing,
Representative Tracy Steele
Unverified
4:21
it kind of sounds like to me. Can you help me with that? Yeah, Representative Hawke's bill was addressing more about the non-domicile licenses, so that's, you know, currently there's 5 states that accept licenses from other countries and that his law his bill was
basically adding Arkansas to a state that could accept uh a CDL from another country, um, to enable somebody to get, to be able to drive in Arkansas. Um, the difference here is, um, we're just trying to make sure that nobody gets through the cracks as far as not being able to speak English. Follow up, and I agree 100%. I mean, they need to speak
Representative Paul Childress
Unverified
4:56
English and I'm perfectly fine with that. But I, I thought, and I may be a slept since then that Representative Hawke did amend it in the Senate to include this
language that they had to speak English proficiently. I thought that happened, but maybe I, maybe I, I missed something. OK, no expert on his bills. I'm
Speaker 24
5:14
sorry. Any other questions from the committee? I see not anyone
here to speak for or against the bill. Uh, sing them, them long you really close. I'm close to the bill. Thank you, sir. What's the will of committee? Uh, in McIlroy is at his due pass. I have a recommendation do pass any discussion. Now seeing none, all in favor,
say I. Any opposes same like sign. Congratulations your bill passes.
Thank you. I appreciate it. OK, thank you. Next we're gonna go to Representative Volt, uh, she had House Bill 1944. She has an amendment that we're gonna be handing out, so give us just a minute unless we've already done that, we've done that yet? OK. All right. Aend will
be coming to you. Representative Volt, give us just a minute to. Do that
I appreciate Representative Richmond setting in as vice chair, I would imagine that our vice chair representative Milligan's somewhere in Lakeville, Lake
City where they had a tornado come through last night, so, uh, let's get, let's remember them as we move along. He's been the vice chair before, so he, he knows what he's doing usually all right, uh, we got it out. OK. Representative Val, would you, uh, identify yourself and you may proceed with the amendment. District 8.
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
6:48
It's just adding Senator Boyd as my. Co-sponsor. Any questions or comments from the committee
question Representative Richmond, you recognize, Put your punch a button. Is Boyd the only I
Speaker 45
6:59
knew that was going to be the question. I'm sorry any
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
7:04
questions from committee? Can I get a
motion? Representative Childers has a. adopt the amendment, any discussion, all in favor say
aye. Any oppose them like saying hey no I don't you remember pastor,
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
7:23
you may proceed. Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee. So the Arkansas EMS Foundation came to me and asked, could we please create a, a license plate that like the firefighters have for their memorial, just do it for the EMS, uh, so I got with DFNA to figure out what plates were not selling enough, um, license plates and one that we could take out and it was the grand Lodge and I think it had, it was either 27 or 127 that had been
sold. Um, and you need 500 to stay active. So this is just creating a license plate for them and removing one off of the. books, and I'd
appreciate a good vote. Any questions from committee? Representative Childers, you recognize? Representative Vault, just as a former
Representative Paul Childress
Unverified
8:09
EMS worker for about 8 years. I appreciate you bringing this. I think a lot of times, you know, EMS workers gets overlooked. So thank you for bringing this
forward. Thank you. I'm, I'm glad to carry it for them.
Any other questions? Anyone here to speak for or against the bill? Seeing none, what's the will of the committee,
Representative Steele, you recognize? Mo do pass motion passed a motion as amended. Any discussion all
in favor say aye. Any opposed Sam La sign hearing none. Congratulations. Thank you so much, Mr. OK.
OK Upset Burks are you, are you prepared to run Senate Bill 498, if you will go ahead and uh Approach and
identify yourself and you may proceed. OK. Thank
Speaker 62
9:21
you, Mr. Chairman. Nick Burkes, state representative, District 14, Southwest Bentonville Centerton.
Um, members of the committee, this is a cleanup bill, uh, brought to me by DFNA which updates Arkansas laws on motor vehicle and driver records to verify privacy protections while ensuring that law enforcement and other authorized entities can continue to access records as needed for official duties. First, this bill simply brings Arkansas law into alignment with federal regulations, Arkansas currently declares driver and motor vehicle records to be public records while the federal
government requires substantial protections. And so, SB 498 resolves this conflict and provides additional protections to our driving records in Arkansas. Specifically, only allowing access to the vehicle owner, law enforcement, courts, and legal representatives under defined legal conditions. Second, SB 498 creates a single standard for releasing those driver and motor vehicle records rather than having multiple standards across different code sections. Finally, current Arkansas law
prohibits the disclosure of the digital driver's license photo, other than by the approval of the driver. This bill adds that these photographs can be disclosed to both law enforcement and courts. And so that information can be effectively utilized for official purposes. Um, thank you for your time. There are representatives from DFNA to help answer any questions, um, and I appreciate a good vote. Any questions from committee? Seeing none anyone here to speak for against the bill.
Is in Bert, she likes clothes I'm close for my bill and
I make a motion to pass the proper time. Have a motion to pass any discussion from committee. Seeing none all in favor, say I. And your polls seem like sign here, none. Congratulations to your bill passes. Thank you. OK, uh, uh,
Speaker 66
11:24
committee, we're gonna, we're gonna recess for about 5 minutes, so just uh or
Unknown speaker
11:31
maybe, maybe a little bit longer should be longer than that but.
Representative Kendra Moore
Unverified
12:28
Thank you Mr. Chair. Thank you members of the committee, uh, I swear to you that this will be a much less controversial driver's license bill than the previous one I presented before this committee, and I would hope that you would do me a favor, um, I've got a good friend of mine who has a stepson who was 17 years old, uh, he got his learner's permit. He was driving with his mother, got into a little fender bender, um, he did everything by the book, fender bender sometimes happen regardless of who you are they.
exchange insurance they called the police, filed a report and everything was fine. In fact, it really didn't do any damage to the other person's car. It did more damage to his car. He continued, he turned 18 and then on his after his 18th birthday, he took. The final portions of his driver's license exams, pass them, and then was told, you cannot get your driver's license. You have to wait a full
year until after the period of time has elapsed from when you got into that fender bender to when you can get your license. Now That rule exists for a reason, but there's another rule that exists, and it's called the ability to get an intermediate driver's license. What's screwed up is that if he had taken his exams before his 18th birthday. He would have been able to get that intermediate driver's license, but simply because he turned 18 and became an a legal
adult. He can no longer qualify for that intermediate license. So what that's gonna make him do if we don't pass this law, he's gonna go to college. This fall and not be able to drive himself from point A to point B. Now an intermediate driver's license is slightly more restricted, um, you can only have so many passengers in the car. I believe there's a curfew, uh, from when you can drive and not drive. But what this bill does, it does not punish him for turning 18, but it will give him the ability to get from point A to point B
within reasonable measures and. Treat him equitably under the law for doing the right thing in that little fender bender. And with that, I'll take any questions. Any questions from committee none anyone
here to speak for or against the bill. Seeing none, oh excuse me, in McIlroy, you recognize. Motion it proper time. OK, singing none, are you
Speaker 75
15:02
prepared to close? I'm closed for my bill and I
Representative Kendra Moore
Unverified
15:05
would appreciate a good vote. Thank you, committee. Representative Mcroy, you have a
motion do pass any discussion from committee. Seeing none at all in favor, say I. Any oppose same like I hear you none. Congratulations your bill passes. still OK, we're gonna take a short recess.
Thank you for your patience. Committee, we resume. Representative Painter, you recognize run House Bill 1897. I understand you have an amendment to We'll
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
24:12
be handing that out if you'll hold on for just a minute. All right, Mr. Chair, if it's, uh, OK with
you, I'd like to have Secretary Bassett, uh, to join me at the table. No problem. Give us just a minute to hand
the uh And then after you introduce yourself, we'll let those at the table introduce themselves also.
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
25:01
Can represent painter, you may proceed,
uh. OK. uh, thank you, Mr. Chair. Stetson Painter, District 3, Baxter and Fulton Counties. I, I want to first state, uh, that I do appreciate, uh, the towers that have reached out to me, had their concerns, um, we, and this amendment are hearing those concerns that some of my voiced, uh, their concerns were about the 20% cap. They wanted to see 40 range. We, we try to get as
close as we could, so we came in agreement on 3. 5%, um, so that's in this amendment. Also, they had concerns about the felony part, uh, they would like to see it as a misdemeanor and we met that request and lowered that down to a misdemeanor. We also included, they had some uh some questions about insurance and making sure that truckers, if they're doing a trans load on towing property that they have valid proof of insurance and it's current and also uh that they would be held liable for any damages, uh, that they might might happen. That's
that amendment as well. And so, uh, this is what that does the AG's office reached out to us, uh, last night about some due process concerns. We took those concerns and, and, and put that in the amendment. That's what the amendment does, and if you want to say anything about an amendment, if not, would be open to questions. Any questions from committee on the amendment. Seeing none, excuse me, Representative
Hall. Thank you, Mr. Chair. On page 20 that going from a felony to a misdemeanor. What, I mean, what,
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
26:35
why was that their biggest, I know in a felony what it is, but why was that a concern
for them? I get it down to mis misdemeanor. They, they believed that it might
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
26:45
hurt, you know, if somebody did something wrong, accidentally, not, you know, not on purposely that that penalty was really high. And so, and it might hurt, uh, you know, uh, if I remember correctly, also help getting more towing drivers and so forth like that. And so we heard that accommod we Heard that and said we'll accommodate you on that. OK, thank you.
Any other questions from committee on the amendment. Seeing none. Do I have a motion from committee Representative Childers motion. Do pass, have motion to pass on amendment in the discussion. All in favor say aye.
OK, you may proceed with the bill represent a painter. All right. uh,
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
27:26
thank you, Mr. Chair, HB 1897, uh, is, is the towing recovery, reform, efficiency Act, and, and I'm gonna let, uh, uh, Secretary Bassett and and
Lacey from the department too as well to go in more depth, uh, with this since they, uh, it's coming from the agency. Mr.
Secretary, if you will introduce yourself and, and any other witness you've got with you and
Speaker 102
27:50
we'll proceed. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, uh, Mr. Vice Chair, members of the committee, Darryl Bassett, secretary of Labor. I have,
Speaker 103
27:56
uh, accompanying me, my general counsel, uh, and we'll, we're just going to talk about, uh, in general, the, the, the bill and what the intent of
the bill, uh, is, uh, recognizing that time is of the essence, uh, today. But so we'll be, we'll be brief, uh, our department, uh, has a bifurcated responsibility, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, that is to one, preserve business and industries to promote business and industry, but also we have a responsibility to the consumers. Over time we have had a number of concerns lodged from, uh, business and industry as well as consumers regarding this
particular division that is within my department. What this bill attempts to do is. be somewhat solemmaic, that is to address the uh interest of the consumer as well as the interest of of business and industry. What we're trying to do in this bill and what I think we effectively do is is is accurately defined the actions that would be considered predatory towing. Predatory towing is an issue that continues to rear its ugly head, uh, as I talked to consumers around the state and as I talked
to, uh, industry, uh, this is a concern that is real. It is valid and in some cases it has been substantiated, so the goal of this bill is also, Mr. Chairman, is to protect Arkansas consumers and businesses from any unlawful deceptive, or improper towing practices, not to say that it is pervasive, it is not. It is not, by and large, we have an industry, a towing industry that goes by the book and they are excellent. However, we do have some actors, uh, in
the industry as they are actors in most. industries who sometimes skirt that that line and so in the interest of protecting consumers, we have this bill. This ensures we hope, uh, that the towing and the recovery board will also be able to take immediate action or immediate action is necessary. Our current rules and regulations regarding this particular uh division are somewhat ambiguous, uh, and I, I say that being somewhat, uh, careful, but uh it is somewhat
ambiguous. There has been a tremendous amount of concern over the 20% and now I think it's 35%, uh, regarding the toe, the, the, the percentage that is uh. It's somewhat uh. Befuddling for me, quite frankly, because it is a particular posi a provision that we place in this bill, as we were being solemaic, that helps not only the consumer.
The owner of the cargo, but it also helps the tow truck operators. It ensures that they're going to get 35% of the value of the cargo upfront. And then they can still have a lien on the cargo. So potentially they're looking at 135%. That is a positive for the industry and it's also a positive for the cargo owner because no longer do they have to wait for their cargo, uh, because they've got to go out,
find a surety bond for 100% of it and, and hold it up and be held up, they can get their cargo, they can get it to market, they can make the sales, they can pay the total. drug operator. That's a provision I think that we needed to really explain and I've got my general counsel here. Would you care to elaborate on exactly that position, uh, that provision rather and just speak to the committee on that. Would you please identify yourself and then you may proceed, Lacey Kirchner,
general counsel for the Department of Labor and Licensing.
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
31:45
Um, as the secretary stated that now 35%. It is a fee, it is 35% of the towing invoice for all of the services. So ultimately, the Cup Benny can actually potentially get 135% of their fees for the tow service. So, currently under state law, we do not have a way for cargo owners to retrieve their cargo unless they pay the entirety of the towing bill, which is not necessarily their
responsibility. So in this instance, the cargo owner can come in, they can pay a fee, which is, if this goes through, will be 35% of the total invoice. Then the toe business can still either perfect their lean on the truck and trailer if no one has paid that bill or receive 100% of the invoice for that truck and trailer towing services. So it's going to be an additional er additional fee that the
company gets, not just the simple 35% and the tow company doesn't get anything else. We understand that tow companies struggle sometimes getting. their invoices paid either because of insurance, lack of insurance or what may, but at least this will give an opportunity for them to have something upfront, but also giving the cargo owners the opportunity to get their cargo and get it out to whichever consumers or manufacturing plants or whatever that cargo may be out back into the public.
Speaker 102
33:19
Thank you. uh, thank you, General Counsel. Uh, if, uh, Mr. Chairman, if I might
Speaker 103
33:26
just add to that. Sure. OK. Uh, another concern, of course, is, uh, there's not a person in this room or a person in Arkansas for that matter, Mr. Chairman, who has not been affected in some way or know someone that has been affected by the by the towing industry. We all know or we've had some exposure to that, to that, uh, particular, uh, that particular industry and so but what we have
learned uh from the uh from the complaints that we've gotten in from around. the state is that there seems to be a lack of transparency on the invoice. People are wondering what they are actually being charged for when they get towed. Uh, these are regular consumers. Now I'm not talking about the mega people. I'm not talking about the Walmarts or the Tyson's. I'm talking about the everyday, uh, folk like us who uh wonder what is going into this invoice this bill, uh, assigns maximum towing rates and
says that that was maximum. race will be posted on the towing and recovery board's website for easy access to consumers, so all consumers are going to understand what the rates are, they're going to be able to go on the website and ascertain whether or not they've been overcharged, uh, and then secondly, uh, the tow businesses as currently there are no provisions where they will accept payments. This bill also uh uh
that the towing businesses require at least that they accept at least two forms of payment. Not everyone in Arkansas is similarly situated where they, they need alternatives. We think this gives the consumers a range of alternatives in multiple ways to pay, uh, and that kind of encapsulates encapsulates what this bill is all about. I'll take questions. Is a painter, you, you have anything to add?
Chair
Unverified
35:22
I, I think the secretary said it best. All
right, we're ready for questions, uh, Representative Hawke, you recognize? Thank you,
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
35:31
Mr. Chair. OK, I want to go
back to the cargo owners and the 35%. OK, so, uh, I'm just stay with me on this for a minute cause I the last session, I had a constituent, right? She paid $80,000 for a brand new vehicle, right? Paid cash for it. Had to get it delivered from Detroit, and it was on a truck, came down, truck had an accident. Right? And they towed the truck, they tow her Tahoe to the tow
yard, right? She waited 6 months before she got that car because they had to pay, as you said,
they had to pay the, the whole truck. So are we saying in this bill that she now has to pay
35% to get her cargo, uh, to get her car that she's already paid $80,000 for? She would
Speaker 124
36:16
have the option to be able to pay 35%, 35% fee of the invoice to be able to. get her cargo
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
36:22
or her vehicle back. Currently, if she wanted to get her vehicle back, the only way she would have been
able to do that was to pay the entirety of the tow bill. Tow companies are under no obligation to release her vehicle to her without being paid currently in full. So under this provision, yes, if she chose to and didn't want to go through the trucking, the company that had was uh bringing her vehicle and transporting it. If she didn't want to wait for them to pay. invoices or insurance to kick in, then yes, she could pay a 35% of the Toe invoice, and we're talking
the invoice, not 35% of her of what her vehicle would be worth, but the towing invoice itself, then yes, she could pay that fee. It's trying, it is like trying to help, is it perfect? No. But is it a good start in trying to give people who didn't have an option in the first place, something, yes, I believe it is and that it will help. I mean, I understand there's still going to be that I'm gonna, if I can have some
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
37:33
She just paid $80,000 for a car. Why is it her responsibility because the truck had an accident that she now has to pay to get that thing out of the tow yard because once again, she's, it's her hard earned money that she's paid for that vehicle to have it delivered down, she shouldn't be having to pay the 35% on the accident. I, I'm sorry, I, there's no world that you can tell me that that's that's her responsibility. And I understand that entirely and
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
37:57
agree with you that it shouldn't be her responsibility. It's The option is there, and I will
say too, in the way we have it drafted at the moment. It says the cargo owner or their representative. So arguably the transport company, whatever contract she has with the transport company could also step in and just pay the 35%. And it's an up to 35%. So that's gonna be again up to, that leaves it does leave some discretion to the to business themselves on how much that fee is, but it could be that the transportation company who
should be fully responsible for the invoice, could go ahead and do 35% of it and then let it entirely be the transportation. It's just we wanted to ensure that the name cargo owner was listed in there, so that there, if there is an instance, I mean, I've heard another instance of something very similar recently happened with a gentleman who had a Lamborghini. And it took Uh, it was a lot for him to get that Lamborghini, and I understand that it shouldn't be the cargo owner's responsibility
to have to pay it, but I also believe that that could somewhat be worked out to that the trans, it would give the transport company an option to do that as well as the representative of the owner of the cargo. And
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
39:17
I think, I mean, I, I hear what you're saying. I just wish that there could be some language that could cause it just doesn't
seem like we're protecting the Arkansan consumer. It just to me, it just doesn't seem like we're doing that if we're, if we're sitting there saying, you're paying cash, you're, you're using your money to buy something at no
fault of your own. I is this truck on or this vehicle or whatever it might be in transportation back and no fault of your own, it's now
gotten towed and you're gonna have to pay potentially pay more to get something you've already paid for. Representative
Speaker 102
39:50
Hawk, you're, uh, again, if I may address your, your question is well taken. It is, it
Speaker 103
39:55
is well taken. The, the issue is how then do we work, uh, and be as I said in my opening remarks solo makes are.
How do we help the bus how do we help the business, uh, and then help the consumer as well. 35%, I get your point. It is. Still 35%, but it's not 100%. Currently, it's 100%. It currently it's 100% so how do we then give the business and industry, give the towing industry something and then help uh mitigate the damage to the uh to the consumer. The 35% is
Is is that is that way now, that does not mean that the consumer himself or herself has to pay the 35%. The the the the trucking company, the truck owner that actually caused the accident, then the, the uh consumer has the option to go to them and they
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
40:59
can pay the 35%. The, the, we don't care who pays it, but we've also seen here recently that that had been
doing, that had been happening like the Lamborghini or like my person. That it sat there for 6 months, right? Like, I mean, so I, I almost wish
that we could have something in the bill that there was a caveat that if the consumer, right, wanted to go and they couldn't work something out with the, the transporter. They would, let's say 5% for the consumer, right? Because once again, I get it that the towing company has, they have fees and
stuff, but there was not a fee for a for a car sitting on the back of a trailer to sit on a parking lot. That you can't tell me there's a fee for that. And and the the the fee was towing the, the eighteen-wheeler to their yard and then it's sitting on their yard. And so I just wish that we could have something in the bill that says if if said consumer can't work anything out with the transporter, and they have to come up there. It is a
much reduced rate for that for that person that owns the cargo to be able to get their product that that they've paid for. That's all
Speaker 102
42:03
I'm saying. I have no rebuttal to that, sir, and I think that that would be something that we could work on.
Chair
Unverified
42:12
Thank you. Representative Barry. Reckon that Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, get, get in there, Mike, just a little bit more, please sir.
Representative Stan Berry
Unverified
42:21
Thank you. How about that? There you go. Is there a difference, uh, in dealing with perishable cargo
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
42:33
and non-perishable cargo. As far as the fee percentage or in
Representative Stan Berry
Unverified
42:37
what in, I mean, you. Do, if you've got a truckload of
lettuce you're trying to get or keep cool, that's a lot different
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
42:48
than nuts and bolts in the back of the truck. I agree with you entirely, but as far as the whether or not the cargo owner currently could get that lettuce versus those nuts and bolts because it is a perishable. No, there's no provision currently that would allow them to get that, the cargo owner to
Representative Stan Berry
Unverified
43:10
get that property faster unless they pay the
entire tow bill. So that they are treated the exact same. So you're perishable cargo is going to ruin. It could potentially ruin, yes they have some means of, of hooking it up or something. Yes, sir, and then you get into a different issue with
the health department and stuff. Uh, and one more question if I may. Uh, we've talked about 35%. What's an average of 35%. On a tow bill or I mean, what it, what I
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
43:41
will be honest. No, no, no, you're perfectly good, um, the problem with kind of giving an
average is simply that Currently, that's partly why we brought this bill before y'all is because we've got issues with people overcharging, um, so I. Roughly, uh, it could depend. I mean, some of these tow truck, I mean, some of the things could go from anywhere from, you know, just your A couple of $2000 up into your 80 $90,000 bills. I'm talking about an 18 wheeler. Yes, yes, it has an accident on the
interstate. So you're potentially looking at that being one of your probably 70 $80,000 bills. Um, so that would be approximately $24,000 would be that 35%. Now again, that's if they go to the maximum of the 35%, they don't have to. They can go lower. Um, but yes, that would be about where it is roughly. I don't want to say that those numbers are 100% accurate simply because a lot of what the invoices is based on
How much work was actually done on the scene, you know, if, if it was a cleanup versus just simply towing the trucks, um, also what equipment had to be used and then again, you go back to Did what is the invoice accurate in that it doesn't overcharge anyone, and that's still an issue
Speaker 106
45:11
that we're seeing currently, but the bill itself should help address that beyond the 35%. Representative, uh, just
Speaker 102
45:17
to add to that, General Counsel
Kirchner is spoken accurately. One of the things,
Speaker 103
45:23
as I mentioned earlier, what we're trying to do is create transparency in the invoicing. You ask for an average. Well, we can't give you an average and for the reason we can't give you an average is because uh a lot of this is up to the uh people out there doing the work and how they're valuing this, uh, and so what we get back at the department are complaints about lack of transparency in the invoicing and how much, well,
what values placed on my cargo, uh, how did we, how did you place this value on my cargo? Why am I having to pay as Resentative Hawke says 35% of this value who established that value. This bill will allow the board and allow the department to start creating mechanisms where there is more transparency so that we can get at averages, but that's, I hope that answers your question. It does. You know, the
Representative Stan Berry
Unverified
46:15
whole thing, this bill is It's very confusing to
I mean, you get a different story, whoever comes to pick your truck up, I guess. And, uh, that's what makes it all confusing to. If It would
Speaker 102
46:36
to me anyway. OK, thank you, it's confusing to consumers, and that's kind of why we're here, uh, to you asking for some help in kind of getting
Speaker 103
46:43
this thing streamlined in such a way where the consumers at least know what they're responsible for, and they know what they're having to pay for. OK. Thank you, thank
Speaker 86
46:52
you, Mr. Chair. Represent McIlroy. Thank you, Mr.
Speaker 152
46:59
Chair. OK, I'm, I'm, uh, I'm a trucker and I'm coming
Representative Mark D. McElroy
Unverified
47:04
from, say, Mexico. Whether pretty cheap truck. I have an accident on the freeway, the towing company comes out there. Cleans it up, takes it in. They come up with 35%.
Of the tow bill to release a cargo, OK? The cargo is gone and the truck's not worth $10,000. And they've gone back to Mexico. Now, what about the other 65% of the bill that's owed to the towing company. How, how do they, how do you secure that, of course, you know, that, that's kind of like a loan, that's. But,
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
47:58
what covers that other 65%, it's kind of the same. Situation you're in currently, um, that would be that the tow company can perfect that lien, and so, I understand it's probably a cheaper truck, and I have heard that that is an issue, that there's issues that some of these truck drivers with some of these cheaper trucks do not have insurance, so the, the towing industry is facing some of that, um, but That would still be their recourse currently except for, yes, you're right, they could, they could sell that cargo.
which again I understand that that's not a perfect solution. For anyone, but it's a place to start simply because currently there's nothing. I mean, currently it is your cargo, you either pay that whole bill that is most likely not your fault in the first place to have to, should have to pay or your cargo sits there until somebody is willing to do it. Or it gets sold off in the lien in the perfection of the lien process.
It's unfortunately, I, I would hate to say that it's a cost of doing business sometimes, but I think to er to a certain degree that it kind of is in that instance, when it comes to the big trucks, I don't know that I would say that that instance is as prominent everyday occurrence as just your typical toes of, you know, everyday consumers vehicles, but I do know that it does happen and we have tried to find ways to help with that as well. but I think a lot of that is
gonna end up ultimately needing to fall back with insurance and highway, you know, the highway department, both state and nationally to ensure that those truck drivers do have insurance and can't just skirt back to Mexico or some other corner of the country. Thank you so much. And, and, you know, what,
Speaker 102
49:51
what I want to just emphasize is that is exactly the position that we're in now, Mr. Representative. If you've got say
Speaker 103
49:58
someone coming in from Mexico with a and a
dilapidated truck and they're hauling whatever. Uh, and it's barely made it across state lines, and it has an accident. Uh, and the tow truck, the tow operators go out, clean it up. Uh, if the argument is that, well, we, we don't know if we're gonna get our money. That's the position that the industry is in right now. With this bill, If you've got someone that's driving that truck, they're gonna make a decision. Is my truck worth it?
Uh, is my cargo worth it? Well, if they're gonna leave the truck, they're probably gonna leave the cargo too. And the tow truck operator is not gonna get anything. In this instance, they're more likely to give 35% of the cargo, and that way, the tow truck operator at least gets 35%. Currently, they could get 0. Thank you so much. Representative Hall, you recognize?
Representative Brad Hall
Unverified
51:01
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, currently, what are the
penalties for the bad actors for the towing companies because they, If I'm a towing guy and I get the call and I go out there and, and, uh, all of a sudden, I'm hooking up to it. I'm like, hey, there's a Lamborghini on the back of this sucker. This is a $90,000 tow, you know. Uh, my price is gonna go up. So, uh, are there any recourse to those folks? I'm gonna let
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
51:27
my legal team. Currently, the recourse is not as far as in the criminal court system, there's not, that's not there for that kind of instance. That's what this bill is wanting
to do with that. demeanor is to address when the invoices and the prices have gone up simply based off what that cargo is, because that Lamborghini, yes, we, if we knock that toe bill up high enough, then we've got the lean on the Lamborghini and we can sell that Lamborghini and make millions. Maybe, I don't, I don't know how much Lamborghinis go for right now, but, um, but as far as from the board standpoint, they can, I mean, they can issue their funds, they can suspend license, revoke.
Blossoms, I mean, but that's as far as the board can go. The board can't hold anybody even more responsible, and sometimes, you know, they don't even necessarily pay the restitution back to the board for those instances either. And so, yes, that is what part of this idea of this criminal charge at the end of the bill that we dumped down from the felony to the misdemeanor was to address. Is that kind of instance where the pricing of the invoices going up simply because of who Who owns it, because, you know,
your bigger companies, you know, the name on the side of the truck, what the cargo is, those are the instances we want to try to have a stronger teeth as to what to do with, and that way that gives law enforcement and the prosecutor and the judicial system, some way to also counter that instance too, because this is a nationwide problem.
Speaker 106
53:01
It's not just an Arkansas problem, predatory towing is national. And what we have, Mr. Representative, you need, you
Speaker 102
53:10
should know that this bill is trying to address as
Speaker 103
53:13
well. We, we don't have maximum fees that can be charged, uh, currently by the tow business. There are no maximum fees, uh, there are no maximum fees on storage fees. There's no maximum fees on administrative fees, all of these fees, uh, have no have no cap. This bill will allow us to put caps on those, on those fees. Thank you, Mr.
Give us elaborate on that that storage fee. Anybody can charge anything. There's there's no, there's nothing set in how we, how we regulate that we
Speaker 103
53:51
have no rules. We have no current rules, uh, no maximum fees, uh, on, uh, regarding storage or administrative fees. Uh, there's no transparency with regard to those types of fees, uh, that, uh, that the consumer can look at. And and and tell where we are in a very based on the operator.
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
54:12
Like Representative Ste. Thank you,
Representative Trey Steimel
Unverified
54:18
Mr. Chair. So, I need some education here, I guess, a little bit and uh would uh appreciate that. So, I have, uh, there's
a million dollar cargo. Um, the accident cost $100,000 and let's say that trucking company just said, hey, we're sorry, you know, we don't have that much coverage. Once that million dollar cargo is sold for a million dollars.
And that toll bills paid for, uh, $100,000 to the excess proceeds go back to the cargo owner. Yeah, I, I, no, I want to be
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
54:58
careful in that response because I don't have that statute right here in front of me. There is a provision, and I'm sorry for apologize for not having it right here in front of me to answer that. There is a provision in the law that does speak on
When a vehicle is sold for higher than. What the tow bill is on that, but I will happily get you that answer back because I want to get it perfectly correct for you. Right, I'm I'm just
Representative Trey Steimel
Unverified
55:28
curious on that and, and the reason being is that we have, you know, we talk about predatory towing, not that, you know, I mean, there's a lot of great tow companies out there and there's some Some bad actors, I'm sure as well, but we just don't want, you know, to RJ's point earlier, we don't want our consumers being taken advantage of and then selling that million dollar cargo and then paying her a
$100,000 toll bill, and then pocket it in another 900,000 without getting it back to the, uh, to the consumer. So, thank you. River and Steiner, we've got some some people here from
the towing board perhaps they can answer your question when they come to the table if you want to redirect that again, we get further. Representing
Chair
Unverified
56:05
Pure, you recognize? Thank you, Chair. So, just to make this very
Representative Chad Puryear
Unverified
56:10
simple. I've hired a, I hired somebody to haul my dozer from point A to point B. They have an accident, my dozer's in good shape.
They've got the dozer there. The bill's $10,000. Current law, I'm gonna have to pay $10,000 whether I, I mean, I'll fight it out with my insurance or whoever, but current law I had to pay $10,000 correct? Yes, sir. If we pass this law, I would only have to pay 3500 upfront and then fight it out with the insurance later. Is that correct? OK, thank you. Represent
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
56:40
Hawke Thank you, kind of piggybacking off what he said though. He's paying $3500 to get that car, that cargo out. But that's not
coming off the $10,000 the, the towing, the, the bill is still $10,000 correct? So there's a
fee of $3500 plus what the bill is. Yes, sir. Currently as it's drafted, yes, sir,
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
57:02
it was to try to ensure that they could still go after the correct individuals for paying the entire tow service. The idea behind it was to give the cargo owner some option to be able to offer something to get their cargo, because we have heard multiple instances where people have
offered something to the tow companies for, you know, for instance, for the vehicle, we've had one that said I'll pay you $20,000 to get my vehicle on a $4000 to $50,000 tow bill and the tow operator said no. So it's trying to give the cargo owner an opportunity and then yes, the transport company or whoever is actually responsible, the lien holder of the vehicle that was towed would then, yes, have to deal with the entirety of the invoice. Now granted, that doesn't stop them
in any way from negotiating with the tow company saying, OK, look, we've already paid a 35% to get the cargo. Can we now just pay the rest of this and everybody breaks even. That doesn't, nothing in here would prevent that. But yes, you're correct. It is a fee, an additional fee, but it is a fee in which may. Be used. It is not an automatically charged fee. It is only if the cargo owner wants to pursue that. It's just to give them an option. But why wouldn't we take that off the invoice. So
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
58:22
what, what we're, what we're saying is that the tow company is now getting the double dip off this step, because they're, they're getting a double
dip in the fact that they're gonna make money off the cargo, right? And then they're gonna make money again off the toe. Once again, at no fault to the consumer. There, so the, the tow company is getting a double dip on the deal, and, and by adding that fee and if we were to say, OK, 35% is the deal, right? They, they come and pay that. That is gonna be taken off of the
invoice, right? I think that would, I mean I'm speaking for me, but that would make a lot more sense than allowing the tow company to double dip
Speaker 115
59:04
off that one transaction that's arguable, uh, Representative
Speaker 102
59:07
Hawk, you are, as usual, always, uh, uh, you know, uh, the sto. The thing is, right now it's
Speaker 103
59:13
100%. Uh, the cargo owner has to pay 100%. That's just the way it is and so
I, I get your point about the 35%. I do, but we're trying to be able to do something for the consumer as well as the
Speaker 107
59:30
industry and I do get your point. I, I get it, but we could amend it in this bill to where
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
59:37
we could say that they couldn't double dip and, and there's not the fee, I guess that's what
I'm coming at is that I think that we're the intentions are good. I, I really, I'm not saying that the intentions are good. I just think that. some of the language in this, where we're not allowing to
double dip. We, we say, OK, you want to do the 35%, that's gonna come off the tow bill, right? I think that would be something that that would make a lot of sense because now, you know, like if I'm a realtor, right, and so I'm going to sell a house, I'm gonna say, OK, well, I'm gonna get my commission off this house, but I'm also gonna charge you a $500 professional fee for me just being, you know, being a good guy. Like, you know, I'm double dipping off the transaction. Yes, sir. OK, I, I apologize. OK, uh. Represents Childers.
Representative Paul Childress
Unverified
1:00:25
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Secretary, uh, Mr. Secretary, I have a question, but I'm gonna kind of lead you into that, and I'm representing my constituents, and that's what my job is, so I've had some concerns that this 35% that they're going to be able to collect and it could be an out of state company, they're potentially never gonna get the rest of their money or do you have a concern that this could take some of these tow truck operators to say, hey, we're not going to do any more big truck stuff, because we're losing money and we can't make it. Is that a
iron of yours that some of these say, hey, we're gonna get out of that marketplace and then we're down to limited numbers and I have an interstate running through my, my district. So it's important to us. So I guess I'm just more or less asking you, have you thought about that and is that a concern that some of these guys will quit, quit that arena because it's tough to, to make it with if they potentially lose money on these. No, I wouldn't be surprised
Speaker 102
1:01:18
though. It does, it's not a concern for me, but I wouldn't be
Speaker 103
1:01:21
surprised if some would say that, but I don't see how.
That that anyone would kill their business plan and uh and take money out of their own pockets by removing themselves from any kind of rotation where they would make money. The only way you lose money in this scenario is the scenario that, uh, one of the representatives gave over here for someone who was driving a jalopy and he had a wreck and it wasn't of value to him. There's no major trucker who's coming through Arkansas and hauling, hauling cargo is gonna walk away from the entire deal. There's no, no
trucker, no trucking company is going to walk away from their cargo and their truck and leave the towing company without getting paid at all. So no, sir, I don't have any concern about that at all. Uh, I don't know a trucking company that uh really looks at their bottom line. They would say, I'm gonna walk away from the ability to make money out here on the highway because now these people only have to pay me 35% on the cargo. That doesn't make business sense. So no, sir, it's not a. of mine.
You represent Hawke, you wanna. you wanna finish up? No, OK. Uh, we do. All right, Representative, uh, We got
Representative Stan Berry
Unverified
1:02:44
Representative Barry. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, you mentioned something I hadn't thought of, rotation. Is that rotation done statewide, I'm talking about interstate coverage, I guess. Is, is that rotation done
statewide or countywide or how is that rotation done for I believe and I don't
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
1:03:07
want to get this entirely wrong, but I think it might actually be by troop for the state troopers. I think they might have it, the rotation, uh, list is done by the different troop areas that the state troopers cover, but yes, it is the state police has their own rotation policy, their own rotation policies and their own rotation list, and that's the same for a lot of local, uh, law enforcement as well.
Representative Stan Berry
Unverified
1:03:34
And that's probably a sticky issue too for the. For the tow operators. I would, I don't know that
for sure, but I'm, I'm assuming it might be right, thank you. Well, it's a sticky issue
Speaker 115
1:03:45
for those, uh, who can't find a way to get on the rotation. For those who are on the rotation, they're being taken care
Speaker 103
1:03:52
of. Uh, what I get, what I get from the ones who can't seem to get on the rotation is that's where I get the complaints how the world do we get on this rotation, because they're always seeing, they, their complaint is that they
always. get the same people on the rotation. So it's a sticky wicket for some and not for others, sir. Uh, Mr. Chairman, I shouldn't have probably
Representative Stan Berry
Unverified
1:04:14
even brought that up. That may be a little off the subject. I don't know, but. I don't see where it's off
the subject and could be there's some bad players in there. We don't know what the issue is or what's going on there.
That's since they, but anyway, uh, are you OK, Representative Richmond, you recognize kind of along the same line. I'm right here in
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
1:04:35
front of you, even though the names incorrect, but I know who you are the rotation. On this, a state trooper makes the call on that in most cases, I, I take it. Does the truck driver, the trucking company or? Consumer, whoever, do they have any Decision making input as far as whether or not they're going to accept that towing company. Maybe they've dealt with that towing company before and they're going, we don't want, we don't want to go through the
difficulty we had last time. Do they have any input or are they just stuck with whoever the state troopers call. They have the
option to call their own, but I will say from what I have heard, and I don't want to speak for state troopers because that's not my place. But from what I have heard sometimes, it is based on how fast and how local the tow truck driver is in order to clear the accident off the interstate. I do know that there has been some debates and discussions on that,
that sometimes it is, if your tow truck driver that you want to call is 2 hours away and it's going to keep the traffic from Be stopped that long, then yes, I believe the state troopers do have whichever, whoever is next on their rotation policy, take over, even if that's not necessarily who the consumer wanted, but the consumer, yes, can say, I want to call this tow company. Now how that plays out on an accident scene, I
Sarah Moore
Unverified
1:05:58
can't speak to that. OK, thank you. That does help. Any other questions committee?
OK thank you. Uh We've got some testimony. We, uh, there's, I've got two sheets here and I don't know
what order we. We are to go in, but I'm gonna start with Mr. Hook. Uh, is that correct? Charles
J. Hook. All right, how about, uh, Greg Weiss. Is there Greg Weiss here?
OK, what I can't read the name. OK, come on up, come on up, you introduce yourself, speaking against
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
1:06:43
the bill. If you will, and uh. I'm sorry, I just OK, key in, key in your mic there
and introduce yourself. Just, yes, sir, there you go, just one you can you hear me now down where we can hear you. No, you, you
were on. Punch it again. It's green your own, it, the mic down to you. I can't
Speaker 210
1:07:08
hear well, so I talk loud sometimes, so please forgive me like loud talking, we can hear it. So I introduce yourself first, please. I'm Charles Tankersley. Uh, I'm one of the owners with Jay Hook Towing recovery out of North Little Rock. Uh, I've
Speaker 212
1:07:20
got, I've got a I got some rebuttal on some of this stuff I want to bring up. My, my big concern is, is people coming onto our property. Now I've heard They to come on the property do
a trans load, they would bring proper insurance. There's no such thing as proper insurance. Most people have a million dollar, uh, coverage with a million dollar blanket. That's $2 million. I say we accept that. They're out there doing a trans load, people from another company's doing the transload. Guy slips and falls out of the truck. He's 25, 30 years old. He's got a wife at home, just had 3 kids. She's a disabled. They're gonna sue everybody
that's involved in this thing for about $2 million. They're gonna sue them for $20 million. So what happens is the insurance company says, oh, man, let's, let's do our part. Here's your $2 million. Insurance company is out of it because that's all that binder was good for. Well then, now you got $18 million on a $20 million lawsuit, uh, and, and now you're into a 3 or 4 or 5 up to a 6-year period where you're trying to get out of something, we had nothing to do. with. I mean, we just happen to be the company that, that, that
got the last phone call for the tow, where the company that they're doing the trans load on, uh, it's just a losing situation. Now, the percentage of times that that would happen is, is few. I would, I would admit. But, but I've had the opportunity to talk to 3 or 4 lawyers in the last couple of days and said, hey, tell us about this. These are people that, that do insurance type claims. And I said, tell me about this. And they're, they're over 45
million cases of personal injuries filed annually. There's over $60 billion spent on negotiating, uh, insurance, personal injury insurance claims. Now, out of that 60, 60 to $80 billion 95% of them are settled. That's the settling price, the settling price. If it, if it was not settled, you, you're looking over. 200 billion. But there's 60 to $80 billion. That's the reduced
value after it's negotiated at 95% ratio, but Why would I, I'm all for checks and balances. We, we want to be transparent. I don't know how other people do it, uh, But we want to be able to itemize our bill. We did one yesterday, just yesterday, uh, did a trans low, and it was not a very big trans loop in time we itemized the bill it had 20 different segments to it. We itemize every person, what equipment, so on and so forth.
Now, I haven't been in the towing business that long. Uh, my partners and I, uh, invested in this business. 3 or 4 years ago. Uh, But, but I have been in business for a long time in multiple companies and transparency, I think, is, is imperative in any business, I think, I think that that should be regulated and my understanding it is regulated, it's regulated through the what's, what's now the tow board. I don't think they're,
for us, we've never had an open blanket where we could chart what we wanted to, uh, we, we, We've, we've let our prices be known to the state. This is what we're going to charge an hour for this machine or that machine, and this is how much we get for emergency supervision, blah, blah, blah, where it's, you know, implement weather or whatever we, we make all that known. I don't really understand. Where The idea that nobody knows what we're gonna charge and what do
you do then? Well, what you do is do what that board is set up to do as I understand it, in, in what I bargained to buy into was that if there, if you are an unsatisfied customer, you contact the tow board. Now, the tow board needs to do their job and the job would be for the consumer and the tow company and the state, and the insurance company is to, uh, To sit on that board with experienced people and go, No, this is not fair. These rates are good, these rates are
too high. Let's, let's get these down here in workable order and, and negotiate that way. But The idea that any companies in the, in the 15 or
Speaker 210
1:11:57
20 that I've owned over years that you could charge what you want to with no accountability. I don't understand that. I know that that's not the way we do business.
Speaker 212
1:12:07
So I don't have a problem in our business. I don't have a problem with transparency, uh, the, but the policing transparency is no good if nobody's gonna regulate it,
but the tow board is the one that I have always looked to, to, to be concerned. regulate. Now, sometimes you have people that argue just to be arguing. Now you can't make them happy if you is a $1000 bill, you say, give me $1 we're good. They're gonna bitch and raise hell. Well, when they do, they can go to the tow board, tow board's gonna call you and you've got to either fix it, mend it, uh, or eat it. And so that's the way we operate in our business. I can't speak for anyone else because I ain't been
in this business a long time. That's why we do it. We don't give any bills for which we're not prepared. to give fair market breakdown. If it ain't fair, I, the one yesterday goes, hey, uh, these, these items here, what about this, this is a little high. I said, well, let's just go back into the fair market rates and I sent them uh those, those rates for those machines for a whole host of different businesses, not the tow business, but rental equipment business, that sort of thing, and they said, you know, that's, now I understand. Yeah, that's fair. We called and we
can't rent one no cheaper, so that's how they, they did it, but they just, they were aren't in the business to know that that number for $110 an hour for that particular specialty machine was fair when it was going to cost them an excess of that just to rent it. That's one thing. The other thing on this insurance deal, you know, The gentleman made, I can't hear real well, so I'm back here, but what I, what I heard was some, some verbiage about there's no tow company gonna go out of
business because of whatever, but I'm gonna tell you, no longer than I've been in this business. Uh, there's a lot of good tow companies out there, 99% of them work their butts off, and they do a great job. There's 1% that's, that's not doing their job. They're trying to take care, take care of themselves and not the consumer. But that's in any business you go to, any business, there are people that, that give the name. I don't care if you're in the food business, I don't care if you were in the transportation business, you're
in the furniture business, name it. There are some bad apples in a bunch. trying to mandate or set rules in place, and I like rules. Uh, but, uh, I have plenty of them myself in my company, but trying to mandate rules that would, that would protect everybody, but the towing company is just not fair. Now, Uh The, the, the there
Speaker 210
1:14:45
was some language that, that I jotted down. About, uh,
The paying of the bills, I think that should be transparent at fair market rates. I think there ought to be someone to look at those rights if there's a, a problem, that's the tow board or whoever, whoever y'all want to look at the rates is fine with me, be fair
Speaker 212
1:15:07
market value. Um The cost of business. There was somebody said, well, there's, that's just the cost of business. I agree with that 100%, but it shouldn't be the cost of business for the tow company. Tow company is the last people to get called. The people that are are to be bearing at
35% or any, any, uh, information pertaining to that should be the first people that brokered the load. If it, if the broker's got it, the broker should say, hey, now, I got to be, I gotta to be transparent here. I gotta tell, it's a rule. If, if. Lord forbid, but if, if you, if you haul for us and you haul our cars and you haul our pro, whatever you haul in the event. There's an accident. There's a 35% provision to get this cargo
released, uh, we will take care of it. They should be the ones. We're the last guy called. We're the guy after somebody had a wreck. We, I mean, we're just sitting out there waiting on the phone to ring. We had nothing to do with this. Now we're gonna take a hickey. Because We got a, we got a bad apple. Now there was something said about produce. I agree with that 100%. I don't know what other people do. We have never let a load of produce or perishable food go bad. What we do is, uh,
we simply keep their reefer unit going, uh, if, uh, if, and we tell them, we say, look, you got, you got apples on here, you got steak on here, whatever. You've got your reefer running, we're gonna keep it running. We'll keep it fueled. Uh, we'll charge you. For the fuel and, uh, we'll, we, we won't let you all go bad. That's what we do. Uh, we make that commitment to do that and we charge them simply for the cost of the fuel because it's sitting on the yard and we have one of our service guys go by
and put fuel. So, we don't let foods go bad, uh, is there companies out there that goes, I don't care what they do. I don't care. It ain't my apples, it ain't my lettuce. So. Let it be. I just don't think that's good business. I think you should just do your best to do your best. Now, if he brings it on the yard and, and you're doing your best and you're keeping it fueled and, and you write the hours down, we write the hours down and, and it's been there for 4 days, 24 hours a day. You can look to our meter
to see we've let it run, then, uh, we've done that. We've had some about the time I got on the lot, uh, the, the, the engine shut down. We call them say hey, your motor shut down. Oh, we can't do anything about it. Motors shut down. We've had them send another reefer out there, and they've paid us to take it from one trailer to another, uh, and again, that should all be fair market rates, but the idea that people can charge what they want and no transparency that's never
Speaker 210
1:17:54
been the way we've operated. I don't think across the board it is
done that way. The idea of letting somebody on your property when there is no, I've talked to my insurance company today that covers our GNL and that's thing. There is no blanket insurance
Speaker 212
1:18:07
policy. You get what you pay for. We've got a customer that we obtained in Northwest Arkansas where we have a location there. Uh We want to do business for them and they said, well, we can't let you do it. I said,
Speaker 210
1:18:20
why is that? He said, you have $2 million insurance and I said, OK, so what, what would you like to have? So we need a minimum of $10 million insurance. Oh my
gosh, I talked to my general manager and I said, I don't know if we want to do their business. Turns out, I went to visit with them and they said, look, we ain't really happy with $10 million and I said, why? I said, well, a guy came out here and opened the back of his tailgate up with welding on it, fell on his legs, crushed his legs. We were sued for 20, I think it was $22 million. $22 million they got 6 years to make that claim. They can come in and 5 years and 9, 1011 months and go, I, I got hurt, leading up costing him about $12
million for the time they did that 95% negotiation. I'm gonna tell you. 85, 90% of the tow companies in Arkansas, it would put them out of business. And probably 25 or 30% of the tow companies, if they don't collect
Speaker 212
1:19:15
their fee, and, and, and they collect 35% and the guy goes back to Mexico. We have a lot of guys with, you know, turbans on their head and flip flops. Never see them. We have more problems with them. If
we release that for 35%. For 35%, and we never see them again, you'll have 25% of your tow companies go out of business. It's not a question of, hey, I don't want to let that guy go. They, they can't afford
Speaker 210
1:19:45
it. I mean, it's just not affordable. That's the problem is, and, and there, you know, There's a limb, there's a, there's a limited amount of, of, uh, tow companies that, that are on rotation. Talk about rotation. There's a limited amount, and there's a reason.
They either, they either have a bad record or they're, they're not qualified or they don't have a lot of times you have to have a certain size record so many this, so many, they can't financially make those numbers
Speaker 212
1:20:14
work. So if you start having the fallout of, of, of tow companies, it may be, uh, it may be a situation where they They can afford it, but they choose not to afford it. Um, You know, our, we're fairly lucky in that respect, but, you know,
We're not beyond just saying, you know, we're one of the largest, uh, heavy recovery companies in, in the state. And we're about not beyond going, hey, wait a minute, you know, if we get 3 or 4 hickeys a year and we go back and we look, we've lost a half a million dollars. Uh, We're not going to, we're not going to
Speaker 210
1:20:51
do a recovery for that trucking company or that trucking company or that trucking company, and we're on the rotation, there's 2 or 3 others. They're the same way. What we're gonna do? Now you got the interstate shut down. You know, we don't want to tell
the, the highway department and, and the state police. No, they're all our friends. We don't want to tell them no, but we also don't want to lose another half a million dollars on John Doe trucking. So now they got a truck shut down. They got fuel everywhere. They got environmental issues. They got a guy in the hospital. They don't know what they're gonna do. You're having, uh, secondary wrecks for 5 miles back and there's an argument on Call someone else because I lost half a million dollars last year.
So, I just believe that I believe y'all's concerns, I believe the concerns are fair, but I think you're using uh the tow company as a safety net to, to cure these concerns. It's just not fair. We're the last people called as long as we provide Uh, uh, transparency with fair pricing. We should be left alone. And if those few out there that ain't willing to show the transparency of a bill
Speaker 212
1:22:03
and, and stand behind a good fair number,
then, you know, hell, I, I don't care what the problems
Speaker 210
1:22:11
is, but for us, we're gonna provide transparency and, and we're gonna, we're going to expect to get paid. Now, you take the guy, I, I don't mean to cut you off, but we've got a lot of testimony if you
can go ahead and wrap it up, I think it, uh, there's a few
Speaker 210
1:22:24
other things, but I think somebody else can pick those up. I think some, you have a
question. Richmond. Yeah, I do. Go ahead. Very quickly you were talking
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
1:22:33
about a minute ago, you talked about uh losing half a million dollars on this thing. What,
what is the overhead, you go out, you pick up a, a vehicle for some reason, whatever it is, you take it,
you store it. What is the overhead that creates that potential loss. OK, uh, the
Speaker 210
1:22:52
biggest thing that we could see is, We do a lot of major accidents where the truck is destroyed, the
Speaker 212
1:22:58
trailers burn up, uh, half the car goes good. I've done several, did some here last week, where half the cargo
Speaker 210
1:23:05
was good call up insurance, hey, was anything salvageable? Yes, sir, we re-palaize this and wrapped
it. It's in our building for storage. It's not out in the weather, blah blah. If they come in there and pick it up, we got a we got a bill of $18,000. Now we're out there with $2.5 million worth of equipment, drivers getting run over all the time. Bad dangerous business. They're gonna come get You gotta, you know, 18 that, you know, 1012 $18,000 bill. They're gonna get half the load, half a load is gonna be worth. $4000. They're gonna get half a load.
This perishable, they're gonna pay 35% of half the load. We're sitting there on pins and needles. We're gonna lose our butt. And sure enough, they, they, the
Speaker 212
1:23:51
insurance company leaves the truck there so that we can sell it for salvage.
Speaker 210
1:23:56
It ain't worth nothing. You can't get $2500 out of a burnt truck and trailer. Nothing, cost you that much to get sound and kind of strip it out where they'll even take it. So If you start having those type of situation, even if they get
the whole deal, and that's the reason I don't want to tie people's,
Speaker 212
1:24:16
uh, stuff up, uh, that I'm, I'm sympathetic to the $80,000 car Lamborghini and all that, but it should be the people that hired the trucking company to make sure they
Speaker 210
1:24:26
had insurance, make sure they had an insurance company would act quickly, make sure that they know if one of your trucks has an accident. You are me, the broker, gonna have to pay 35% to get that 800,000 or that in your case a
million dollar loan, we're gonna have to pay that. You can't put that on a tow guide that's gonna go bankrupt because of that. Well he didn't hire them people. He didn't have the opportunity to verify their insurance or if that trucking company has had 55 wrecks that year. We, we're just sitting back here waiting on that phone call trying to do our little job. I, I think you're pointing fingers at the wrong bunch. It needs to be people to hire these people. Not, not, not the one that just come picks up the pieces. Alright, I'm, I'm, I'm not gonna
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
1:25:13
follow up for the sake of time, but I'm not sure I got an answer out of that. Thank you. Any other questions
from the committee. Thank you for your testimony. OK, thank you. Sorry it takes so long, sir.
OK, we're gonna, we're gonna go ahead and take one more against and then we'll, we'll let some speak for. How about Greg Weis? Greg? Greg, I'm not trying to rush you, but try
Speaker 225
1:25:38
to be don't get repetitive for them you go OK I was gonna give my time to Steve
Rogers if I could. That's fine. OK, thank you. You, if you don't want to speak? OK, all right,
Speaker 226
1:25:48
uh, who do you Steve Rogers? OK, uh. Do you want, do you want Mr. Poss first or Mr. Rogers first? Who do we want first? It didn't make me any difference. Mr. Rogers, uh, I'll tell you what, hold on
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
1:26:05
just a minute, let me let someone speak for. We've had to speak against, so let me call you up, so how about Tim,
Mr. Moody, Tim Moody here to speak for. You's on. It's on,
all you have to do is introduce yourself and you may
Speaker 228
1:26:29
begin. My name's Tim Moody. I'm with Jay Hook Towing and recovery out of North Little Rock. I've been in a toll and recovery business 46 years uh from Dallas, Texas, and Uh, I'd just like to share with you what we're seeing. I, I've been here since 2006.
And I'm the one that uh that helped build Jay Hook from the ground up. I'm on the state police rotation in several different locations. Uh, the truck that the gentleman back here was talking about. I worked that wreck. I want to explain that to you real quick just to kind of clear the air, but that belonged to Jack Cooper. Jack Cooper had a little tie hose on there, and Jack Cooper had a wreck, knocked the front end off the truck. I'm gonna make it real short. And it took Jack Cooper all that time to get a mechanic out here to get their Tahoe off the top. That wasn't the same same one
like that was a different one. All right, so and that's fine, but you know, we see a lot of semi trucks that come through. I work a lot of big truck wrecks a lot. And majority of the ones we see are people from out of the country. Your sons, your JB Hunts, your Hurricane Express, your Pam, your, you know, all these big major companies, they pay us the next day. We have no problems at all. The ones that are coming through from different states, different countries that only have $5000 worth of cargo
insurance. That's where we're having problems at. The cargo gets all over the highway. We have to go out there and work 12 to 14 hours cleaning all this stuff up. And a majority of the time, the cargo is salvaged anyways. Once food hits the ground. The, you know, the low, the load is no good anyways. So just wanted you guys to kind of know if if you got any questions for me, I can answer it. I'm gonna make it real short short because Steve, Steve needs to speak and uh that's why I wanted to kind
Speaker 229
1:28:17
of explain to you guys what this towing industry is like. Any questions from committee? OK,
Speaker 114
1:28:22
seeing them, excuse me. Representative Hall, I'll be quick. Um,
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:28:26
and this has nothing to do, you, you talk about the produce sitting in the ground and stuff like that. And I've thought about this for a little while that might help with this. Um, I, I've always thought it shouldn't be the towing company's responsibility to clean up the mess. I've, I've thought about that since the last session when we had you guys around in the capital with the tow trucks. I, yeah.
Is that something that is like normal in most states where the tow the towing company has to clean that up or, or is that, would that be like highway
Speaker 228
1:28:57
department to come through and clean that up. They, you know, they don't have enough people to do it and the tow companies have to have the equipment to do it. You got to have stitch ears on, on hand, sky tracks, but no, the, the highway department will not do anything. They used to block traffic for. They don't block traffic anymore. There's a tow truck driver killed every 6 days across America.
lost 37 last year being on the side of the highway working these accidents or our jobs are very, very dangerous. We're more likely to be killed before police, EMS or fire.
Thank you. Any other questions? No, thank you for your testimony, Mr. Moody. Any anyone else to speak against the bill
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
1:29:37
other than Mr. Rogers. OK, seeing none, uh, speaking for the
bill, Shannon Newton from the Trucking Association, Shan.
Speaker 233
1:29:56
You know the procedure, so. Yes, sir. Thank you. I also know that, uh, brevity is best, and so I'll try to, um, accomplish that
Speaker 234
1:30:07
with my remarks this morning. um I'm sorry, Shannon Newton, you gave me credit for knowing what I was doing, and then I missed the most important part. Uh, Shannon Newton, president of Arkansas Trucking Association. Those of you who are on the committee 2 years ago, remember the fact that our association introduced a piece of legislation that was specifically aimed at releasing
the cargo. And that was a major concern that we brought to this committee at that time and we got it out of this committee. Ultimately that bill did not pass out of the other end. But due to the activity and attention that was stemmed from that. There has been conversations ongoing for 2 years. In the 24-page bill that you have in front of you is a culmination of those concerns and conversations that have been taking place for the last 2 years. The majority of the bill is not trucking specific. And so I'm a little bit
Um, concerned or frustrated or I feel like we've kind of dived off into one or two specific issues that are, and we're losing, um, the big picture of the reforms that are needed within the department, specifically, um, the towing and recovery board, which is the entity that's charged with regulating the industry, um, the reconstitution of that board to have representation by people who are being towed as opposed to those who are doing the towing is a very important, and I would say that a lot of the issues that we've had,
have arisen by Either lack of action by the board or a lack of concerns being brought to the board in the first place. I venture to say that most of you had no idea that there was a towing and recovery board 18 months ago, especially if you weren't on this committee, um, and your constituents don't know that there's an entity that's supposed to serve as the clearing house for those complaints. And so what I've, I guess, been trying to raise is that the towing and recovery board doesn't really have an accurate representation of what's going on in the real
world because the real world doesn't. know that the towing and recovery board is the place to take those issues. And so a component of this bill that we hadn't even, has not even been said out loud, is that all invoices, if this were to become law, would have to have that procedure of who to file your complaint with and who the authority is if you are overserviced, overcharged, or if you have a question about your bill, that it should be taken to the towing and the recovery board, and I think that's very important, um, because I do think having that repository for all of the issues will help us be able to make better policy.
So Those two things are in the bill that we haven't talked about that I think are really important. Um, the additional investigative authority for the towing and recovery Board, the penalties, the rate regulation for admin and storage fees. I think all those are really good pieces of the bill that we support and have been, uh, appreciate the opportunity to collaborate on this bill. The 35% Do I love that? No. Do I think the possessory lien should extend to cargo that's not part of the transaction?
Absolutely not. But that's where we are today and frankly, I'm even a little bit more frustrated because I thought that It was a compromise that was going to avoid this hearing lasting the 30 or 40 minutes that it is, um, but I just want the committee to know that there's been a lot of work put into this bill. It is a very large bill and it is not perfect for any of the stakeholders, but it is better than where we are today. And with that being said, I'll take any questions. Any questions from committee? Seeing none, thank
you, Miss Newton. Thank you. I appreciate it. Mr. Rogers You will
Speaker 237
1:33:35
Speaking against the bill Speaking against the bill Ross
Speaker 5
1:33:45
introduce yourself and. Try not to get repetitive, but be as thorough as you
Steve Rogers
Unverified
1:33:51
can without doing that. I will, sir. Thank you. My name is Steve Rogers, uh, I am a, uh, an advisor for the Foundation for responsible Towing. To my right is, uh, Mr. Matt
Ross. He's the owner of ProAuto in Conway, Arkansas, and Mr. Ross, because of my, uh, loss of hearing will have to serve as my ears, uh, my apologies. Uh, I formerly Mr. Ross,
Speaker 240
1:34:19
you can tell him anything you want to then, is that right
OK. You may proceed. I formerly served as the director of the Arkansas
Steve Rogers
Unverified
1:34:27
Towing and Recovery Board. And although I retired, I occasionally serve as an advisor for the foundation for responsible towing.
We would have had a bigger crowd for you today, Mr. Chairman, but, uh, the weather, uh, changed that. A lot of our towers are alongside other first responders, uh, today, uh, taking care of storm damage, not just cars, but moving, uh, large trees, uh, and buildings and helping people recover from the tornadoes that swept Arkansas last night. House Bill 1897 restructures the
tow board, eliminating a majority of the toll owner appointees for, uh, most of the complaints received deal with equipment used, house used on scene time, personnel, and noticed the vehicle owners. Is that tours deal with every day. Eliminating tow owners from the board seems to me to be counterproductive. House Bill 1897 regulates a tow where the vehicle owner.
And The tow company have an agreement. The tow board has never had any authority over a consent tow. It's a contract between tow company and an individual. The distinction should be preserved. Regardless of who's appointed to the board. There's little room to discuss contract law or debate a word of
mouth, he said, she said agreement. Some arguments just do not need to be had in administrative hearing. Language and House Bill 1897, impacts the possessory lane on a tractor trailer unit. The new language takes away the notion that it is not one unit going down the road. It assumes, uh, that a trailer
and its cargo as an example, got to the middle of the road and wrecked itself on its own accord. As a practical matter and to preserve the integrity of the possessory lane. The tractor should be impounded as part of one unit. This bill sets fees for storage. One of the best and easiest way to avoid storage fees is simply pay the invoice.
2 guidelines for fee schedules, uh, or those types of things really belong in rulemaking to get away from the long two-term or 2-year cycle for our legislature. House Bill 1897 removes the lien from cargo. If the transporter pays a fee based on a percentage of the invoice. This provision guarantees a loss for the tow company for every
big track, uh, truck accident, they work. This provision alone will absolutely drive tow companies away from nonconsent towing. And it will apply to every accident. The language in this bill does not distinguish between cargo that is whole and cargo that has been compromised or damaged. The provision creates the biggest loophole imaginable. For nonpayment.
The result of adding a regulatory burden to any company. Including a tow company will cause them to adjust their business model. This bill passed in its current form. will cause many good tow companies to abandon nonconsent toasts. Non-consent towing is a unique relationship, uh, and, and, and provider, uh, for
The creation and, and fixing of a problem. It's kind of like you create the problem. You drove carelessly and had the accident, we fix it. You parked illegally in a parking lot space. We fix it You break down on the side of the road. We fix uh. Non-consent towing is already a difficult business to manage. Depending on the toe owner's
business model and location, tow companies already lose income because 25 to 40% of their vehicles towed are never redeemed by the owner. Today's scrap metal prices and public sales do not allow a company to recoup even a fraction of their losses. Finally, we're somewhat disheartened by the stories and rumors admonishing the tow board for not doing a good job.
I can tell you that the last 2.5 years of my tenure as director, the board returned $267,000 in restitution to vehicle owners, and those were with the same board members. As a or at least a majority as there are today. Today you have a reg a director that is not scheduled a board hearing since January. Complaints are backed up. That is not the board's fault.
They work when cases are ready. The doctors, the, the director's response to any query. I worked for Secretary Bassett. I did too. I deeply respect Secretary Bassett, but if one of my board members asked me a question, I knew how to answer it. This is a tow board and a Department of Labor and Licensing bill that ask you for
more power that gives staff more responsibility. Perhaps they should eat the elephant they already have. On behalf of the tow industry, I would ask you to vote no on House Bill 1897, and we would encourage the sponsor to move this bill to an interim study so that the tow industry could join the discussions others are having behind closed doors.
Chair
Unverified
1:41:24
Thank you. Mr. Roger, you take a question. Representative Hall, you recognize? Thank you,
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:41:31
Mr. Rogers, for your testimony. I, I, I, I do take a little bit of exception with um what
you're saying about the tolling and recovery board because if the tone recovering board were, they, they were doing what they were doing, we would not have these bills in front of us. Um, and I would also say that when you talk about, you know, the fees in this bill, this is once again, even though I'm not crazy about
fees, it's giving consumers, uh, a right to get their stuff back, uh, whether there's a fee or not, would you not agree? Because the The current model that we have, you guys just keep all the cargo and it just sits there until somebody pays up. This bill would allow for me as a, if I bought a car or whatever to
be able to recover my my stuff and I have to pay a fee. Would you not agree? That's a good
part of this bill. You made a good point earlier.
Steve Rogers
Unverified
1:42:20
Um, and, and Matt make an address that even, uh, uh, more
accurately than I, but, but I can share with you real quickly, my experience and, and, and your scenario. When a transporter is involved in a minor minor accident or it's picked up for some offense, it breaks down. It creates a dilemma of For a lot of tow companies, and we've dealt with that a lot. Unfortunately, the statute as it exists today, nor does this bill, as you noted,
Addresses that issue when a transporter and private ownership is involved. But I can assure you on multiple occasions when the tow owner had possession and a lien already on the tractor and the trailer. We would help negotiate as a staff, the release of that vehicle with no charge to the consumer. So you're already doing that. You're doing that now? OK. Yes, sir. We were
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:43:28
I wish my constituent would have had you as a, as a tow company because that wasn't the case whenever she had her, her car towed in and they were not willing to negotiate at all. So I, I think, I think that the reality of this is the reason for this bill is to put a, a level playing field for everybody because while there are gentlemen, the gentleman that was up here just a minute ago, sounds like he does the right things. You guys do the right things, but there are bad actors like what my constituent dealt with that just
Totally got screwed on the deal because her car sat there for 6 months. And so I think this bill, wouldn't you agree, kind
Steve Rogers
Unverified
1:44:09
of puts everybody on the same playing field. The foundation for responsible towing, nor the tow board. Have ever endorsed supported or helped bad actors ever. And, and it's always been our intention, never to be defined by the common denominator. And, and, and we will support
good legislation. I, I am confident that the gentlemen and women in this room will support good legislation. But Mr. Representative, we need to be involved in the discussions in the beginning. We would, if there had not been a FOIA filed with the Department of Labor and Licensing, we wouldn't even have known that there was a bill in the works until it was introduced to the legislature the earlier
Speaker 205
1:45:03
OK. Thank you for, for your time. I appreciate it.
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
1:45:08
Representative Richmond. Mr. Rogers, I'm gonna ask you a question that I don't want you to answer. I want Representative Painter to answer it in closing, and so I'm just giving him notification, and that is, if you would please address the non-consent. Uh, towing. Whether or not it's addressed in this bill or, or how that's going to be done. Thank you, sir. Any other questions for Mr. Rogers? Chairman No, thank you for your testimony.
Anyone else to testify for against the bill that I missed. I didn't see anyone else on the
Speaker 240
1:45:43
list. Represented painter. You reckon? Clothes as you see fit. We
Chair
Unverified
1:45:53
may have another question or two. I don't know, but we'll, we'll deal with that as we move
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
1:46:02
forward, uh, if I can, I know some, um, uh members had certain questions during uh when
they were asking, uh, folks up here, but I, I do want to say for the record too. I have talked to towing members. So I do take a little offense to being projected as not upfront or try to work. I could tell you I have many conversations I have tried to work with, tried to bend where we can work together where we can. Is this the 100% perfect bill. No.
There's not been a bill in this legislature so far that's been 100% perfect. But is it a step in the right direction? Yes, and Representative Hawk and I, I will work with you on fixing that correction, but the demands that some of the towers have, have asked for. We have tried to accommodate the best we can to make sure we serve everybody, them truckers, the consumers. Also too is, is we're not good
at ridding towers on the board. They're still gonna be there. The amount's just different. So I take a little exception to being saying that we're getting rid of all of them. And so sorry, it's just a little passionate real quick. I just take offense when I try to go above board, and then it makes it looks like we're not. And uh I think you had a a specific question on the non-consent, if you want to address that for the vice chair. Representative, would you
Speaker 106
1:47:36
mind stating exactly what I've, I'm a little confused on what the
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
1:47:41
actual question is. Well, it came up non-consent towing and That creates a concern about if, if somebody is forced to use a towing company, they don't agree to it, then, you know, they could just say, well, I'm not ever gonna pay for that and how does this bill address that? I can't
Speaker 138
1:48:03
say that this bill specifically addresses that instance simply because that is something that I'm sure comes up
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
1:48:13
currently now since if we're looking at it based off of a rotation policy and who's come out to do it in the consumer didn't, uh, get to pick who they wanted. I do know that the consumer could complain to the board if they did have an issue, um, as far as paying that bill if they thought it was too high. Or if something had happened during that, the board would look at that, um, but as far as does the bill specifically address that issue, I would say it most likely does not
specifically address it, but it can help the bill overall can help some of those problems. And if the chair wouldn't mind, I do have an answer to representative Steel's question from earlier if that would be OK for me to answer. I got someone else in
the queue and then we'll get back to that if he still wants to answer. Representative Barry, you recognize? Yeah I
Representative Stan Berry
Unverified
1:49:17
I'm sorry about that. Uh, we've talked
about towing 18 wheelers. Basically, the whole discussion here, how does this bill, or does
it affect and I apologize, I haven't read it all. How does it affect, uh, our passenger vehicles as I, as I said briefly, yes, we've spent most of
Speaker 103
1:49:37
the time talking about 18 wheelers. But most of our complaints and our issues
Speaker 102
1:49:43
that come to my department, Mr. Representative, don't involve major truckers,
and I understand that they, they, their mom
Speaker 103
1:49:50
and pop issues. It addresses that, sir, completely because what we are interested in doing with this bill is creating transparency. So that consumers know when they have an accident or they're being towed and they get an invoice that that invoice specifically outlines everything that they're being charged for. Secondly, it, we, we designate in, in this bill, this gives us
the opportunity to set maximum fees. That can be charged by tow truck operators, uh, not just, uh, the, the towing, but the, uh, administrative fees as well and the storage fees that are, that are accompanying this. And so that's, you know, in a nutshell, that, that's how we address those concerns because most of our complaints don't involve 18 wheelers. They don't involve wrecks that go on on the freeway.
They, they're mom and pop kind of issues where the average Arkansan has an experience with a tow truck operator. And those are the kinds of, you know, believe you, you know, I am not anti-toeing. They're part of my division, they're division. I'm not at war with myself here. Uh, what we're trying to do is be open and honest with the Arkansas consumer, and that's what this bill does. Bottom line is there's more issues
Representative Stan Berry
Unverified
1:51:16
with 18 wheelers than there are passenger vehicles. Well, there's more money
involved there, yes, sir, absolutely. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Representative Chad Puryear
Unverified
1:51:26
Representer Every since I believe we're in the closing portion of, of the bill presented I would like to
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
1:51:34
make a motion to pass at the proper time. At the time. Representative Steiner, did you, did you have a
question? OK. Saying no more questions. Uh Represent painter, excuse me, I
Speaker 262
1:51:51
say one more question. OK, we, we haven't taken a motion yet uh.
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
1:52:00
Mr. Chair, I'm close and with respect to good, uh, a good vote. OK, thank
you, uh. Representative Hawk, was that, no, excuse me, Purio, you recognize? Motion to pass. I have a motion to pass.
We're now open for discussion as motion as amended, is that correct? Yes, sir. OK. We have a motion as amended.
Uh, from Representative Pori and I we're open for discussion, uh. Representative
Richmond, you recognize? Very quickly on this, uh.
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
1:52:32
This is one of those bills that uh unfortunately. It's difficult to decide who's the good guys and who's the bad guys, uh,
other than the insurance companies, I think we can all agree that they're probably the bad guys in most of this, most of the time. But I'm gonna be a fortune teller.
If this bill fails, or even if it passes. That if things don't change, you're going to be back here in 2 years. And what you're going to see is even going to be more restrictive. Whether it's prices or anything else, I would say to the towing folks and everybody involved in that. And that this is for the people here as well that if you have a good idea, please, please bring it forward early on, but You got to get a handle on this stuff, and the complaints and help the consumers because
ultimately that's who votes for us. Is the consumers and so you're going to keep seeing this over and over again, it's gonna get worse. Now as far as the safety thing, this is the real thing, and I'm talking to my colleagues, it's disturbing to me that we're having so many. Towing people get injured or killed on the roads. They need some help on that, and there may be a need for legislation here, one of these days soon. Or at least in 2 years to address that, whether it's the state troopers or RAT or
somebody else. Needs to be involved to improve the safety on this. Thank you. Represented Hawk Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, committee members, uh,
Representative RJ Hawk
Unverified
1:54:02
look, I, it's been said, this is not the perfect bill. This is the,
this is my 2nd time on this committee, and we, we had a towing issue come up last go around, right? And and it was a hard fight. We were here for 2.5 hours. But I will say that um, Representative Painter is a man of his word, and, and I've, I've
known him now for 2 years and everything he's ever done to, um, accommodate and do, he's held up to that. And I normally don't give a yes vote to pass something out and let the Senate try to screw it up and, and do things, but knowing that Representative Painter and or and Senator Hammer are on this bill. Uh, I think that they will follow through with those requests that we want to have amended, being that we're short on time. Um, I, I still have concerns though that, you know, whether it's
this bill secretary or what, uh, we've got to do something to protect consumers more. I, I, I'm, I, I will, as long as I'm here, I'm gonna keep fighting for consumers. Uh, and, and I think that that's what we all should do. And so, uh, with all that being said, I'm gonna be a yes vote on this because, uh, of my relationship with, with Representative Painter, and I know that he'll work to, to make this a, a better bill. Finger ribs and Hawk. Any other questions
or any other comment from committee? See, none, I have a motion to do pass as amended.
Speaker 270
1:55:38
all opposed. Caro Representative Womack. Representative Womack. Representative Whittaker. Representative Whittaker. Representative Richmond. Yes. Representative Richmond votes yes. Representative Barry,
Representative Barry votes yes. Representative Bro Representative Bre votes no. Representative McIlroy. Representative McIlroy votes no. Representative Hawk. Representative Hawk. Representative Hawk votes yes. Representative Carr. Representative Carr. Representative Perrier. Representative Perrier votes yes.
Represent representative Deffield Representative Deffield votes yes. Representative Shepherd. Yes. Representative Shepherd votes yes. Representative Steinwa. Representative Steinel votes yes. Representative Steele. Representative Steele. Representative Childress, Representative Childers votes yes. Representative Melissa Brown. Representative Brown. Representative Hall.
Representative Hall votes yes. Representative Burks. Representative Burkes votes yes. Representative Torres. Representative Torres, Representative Milligan. Representative Milligan. Bill passes with 11 votes. Medi Jones.
Agenda
Number Sponsor Subtitle
SB261 A. Clark TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE OPERATION OF AN ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLE ON CERTAIN ROADS; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE ACCESS OF ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLES TO UNPAVED ROADS.
HB1550 Andrews CONCERNING EXPEDITED SECURITY SCREENINGS AT AN AIRPORT.
HB1897 Painter TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS TOWING AND RECOVERY REFORM AND EFFICIENCY ACT OF 2025; TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE ARKANSAS TOWING AND RECOVERY BOARD; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
Painter
HB1913 J. Moore TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DRIVER'S LICENSES; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR AN INTERMEDIATE DRIVER'S LICENSE.
HB1914 Long TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE ARKANSAS MOTOR CARRIER ACT, 1955; AND TO REQUIRE AN OPERATOR OF A COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE TO HAVE ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY.
Long
HB1944 Vaught TO AUTHORIZE THE ISSUANCE AND RENEWAL OF A SPECIAL LICENSE PLATE TO PROMOTE AND SUPPORT THE ARKANSAS EMS FOUNDATION; AND TO REPEAL THE GRAND LODGE OF ARKANSAS SPECIAL LICENSE PLATE.
Vaught
SB397 D. Wallace TO PROTECT CONFIDENTIAL PERSONAL INFORMATION OF RAIL EMPLOYEES IN REPORTS INVOLVING RAILROAD FATALITIES.
SB498 J. Petty TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DISCLOSURE OF DRIVER AND VEHICLE RECORDS AND TO PROTECT DRIVER AND VEHICLE RECORDS FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.
Burks
Documents
| Title | Type | Pages | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda — PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION- HOUSE, Apr 3, 2025 | Agenda | 2 | Official source ↗ |
Speakers
Representative Mike Holcomb Chair
Unverified
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
Representative Tracy Steele
Unverified
Speaker 29
Representative Paul Childress
Unverified
Speaker 24
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
Speaker 45
Representative Marcus E. Richmond
Unverified
Speaker 62
Speaker 66
Representative Kendra Moore
Unverified
Speaker 75
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
Representative RJ Hawk
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Speaker 102
Speaker 103
Chair
Unverified
Speaker 124
Speaker 126
Representative Stan Berry
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Speaker 106
Speaker 86
Speaker 152
Representative Mark D. McElroy
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Representative Brad Hall
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Representative Mark Perry
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Representative Trey Steimel
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Representative Chad Puryear
Unverified
Speaker 115
Speaker 107
Sarah Moore
Unverified
Speaker 210
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Speaker 228
Speaker 229
Speaker 114
Speaker 233
Speaker 234
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Speaker 5
Steve Rogers
Unverified
Speaker 240
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