Is this true ?
I was told it is and if so, seems very unfair. Cities and counties have always used a rotation system for accidents.

I wish TLAC would chime in she retired from CSPD

We can try to get some anecdotal data

A college student ran a red light and hit my car last year. It was in the city limits and CSPD responded and did the report.

*** Edit*** I went back and looked at Google maps. It was Excel towing.

I definitely remember the run down house as the office.

^ 100% accurate

WTM said:

---

Excel towing has the contract with the City of College Station. At any accident that requires a tow truck, the driver will be asked if they have a preference for tow company. If they do not, dispatch will send a wrecker from Excel.

---

After ready this I went to Google Maps. It was Excel that towed me. Around the same time, BDS moved some equipment for us at work with the giant boom.

Excel has the primary contract with BDS as the backup. Those are two very reputable companies. If a true rotation system was used would you be upset if one of the crappy/less reputable tow companies showed up?

But as someone else said you have the option of whatever company you want.

Given a choice I always use Ronnie. But he doesn't work 24/7 I don't think, because he doesn't have to. Once A1 closed down the options were limited.

Last 2 times I used AAA - they sent busse Wrecker Service - have been great both times

AAA used to be Phil Tweat but now it is Busse out of Navasota and they take a while.

WTM said:

---

Excel towing has the contract with the City of College Station. At any accident that requires a tow truck, the driver will be asked if they have a preference for tow company. If they do not, dispatch will send a wrecker from Excel.

---

As long as the contract is out for bids with the city every year or so and the towing company has a good record, I am all for competition.

I assume there is some control over what they can charge?

Exactly
You have to wonder is it a low bid situation or something else, the rotation system has worked for years why is CS different?

woodiewood said:

---

WTM said:

---

Excel towing has the contract with the City of College Station. At any accident that requires a tow truck, the driver will be asked if they have a preference for tow company. If they do not, dispatch will send a wrecker from Excel.

---

As long as the contract is out for bids with the city every year or so and the towing company has a good record, I am all for competition.

I assume there is some control over what they can charge?

---

There is supposed to be, but who monitors it? 10-12 years ago before we moved here my son had an accident. I asked the wrecker driver for a copy of the tow receipt at the scene. He handed me a receipt with no price and after being pushed he finally wrote $75, which was the agreed accident tow fee where we previously lived. When I went to the body shop where he dropped the car, I noticed the tow receipt in their file and he changed it to $175 which is what they paid him. Then the insurance company reimbursed the body shop based on the invoice.

To add to the contract/rotation system explanation, it doesn't speed up/slow down a response one way or another. COCS has used the contract system for about 10 years now.

A wreck occurs that needs a tow using the contract wrecker system currently in place. Here are the two variables:
A) You call your own wrecker (or the officer has Dispatch call on your behalf).
B) You don't care who does it or are incapacitated and can't call for your own wrecker, the officer has Dispatch call one of the contract wreckers.

Either way, a call is made to someone who is otherwise not aware they are needed on your crash. The response time is negligible between the two. Using a contract wrecker system, the City can at least say the companies involved are reputable and abide by the standards of the contract.

Under the rotation system, it could actually be even slower. Under the rotation system, similar variables exist. You can call for your own wrecker or defer to a rotation. You don't know who the rotation is (but they have shown a minimum standard at least once in the year when they had to be inspected to be a part of the rotation list). A couple of other things exist under a rotation system that aren't always great:
The rotation works on a time clock. If they don't respond in a certain amount of time, it's on to the next in rotation. The clock then starts over. This is actually slower than the contract system (where each company has numerous trucks). The other thing about the rotation system is you'll have companies forming DBAs and having numerous "businesses" with only 1-2 trucks per "business". This gets them in the rotation more frequently versus the contract company who has numerous trucks under the same, reputable company.

The reason you have clearances seemingly so quick in Houston is because of none of this. Their system is essentially somewhat controlled chaos. In Houston, wrecker drivers listen to a scanner and start heading to a crash when they hear one dispatched. This results in a race of sorts by wrecker drivers (you'll often see multiple on/around a crash scene) to see who can get there first/get the business. I'm sure Houston has some regulations in place, but the premise of how wreckers respond to a crash is completely different there.

happyinBCS said:

---

Exactly
You have to wonder is it a low bid situation or something else, the rotation system has worked for years why is CS different?

---

Why indeed?

Quote:

---

The reason you have clearances seemingly so quick in Houston is because of none of this. Their system is essentially somewhat controlled chaos. In Houston, wrecker drivers listen to a scanner and start heading to a crash when they hear one dispatched. This results in a race of sorts by wrecker drivers (you'll often see multiple on/around a crash scene) to see who can get there first/get the business.

---

Harris County does not use the first-come-first-serve basis. It uses the chip / lottery and it has to be a county issued tag.
If they are caught speeding or breaking any traffic laws, they can lose that tag.

I think the fact remains, that they are permitted in Harris County (rotation system or contract system -they've always been permitted in CS) but they are not necessarily being called by HCSO Dispatch. They are actively listening for crashes to respond to. When in the area, they can then be summoned. It isn't the same as anything that's been done in BCS because it allowed wreckers to get repetitive jobs instead of rotating through. They are heavily regulated just like BCS. No one ever said they could break laws to respond to a crash.

Here is the county ordinance for Harris. This is only for unincorporated areas. https://www.harriscountyso.org/Documents/Services/Harris%20County%20Tow%20Truck%20Ordinance%208-10-21.pdf

For inside Houston, they have an ordinance for contract wreckers. Once again, it appears they are numerous, and respond on request (listening and getting close - 100ft per ordinance). There are also certain parameters for freeways that are different than simple city streets.

Here is the city ordinance for Houston.
https://www.houstontx.gov/police/general_orders/600/600-10%20Towing.pdf

Both BCS, Harris County, and Houston are heavily regulated when it comes to law enforcement/crash tows; however, knowing specifics of ins/outs for BCS, I know that BCS wreckers are not scanning to respond to a crash. They're being directly summoned by a Dispatcher if they aren't called by an involved party. In Harris/Houston, they're listening and getting there on their own to wait for their "call".

And they are clearing the wrecks.

techno-ag said:

---

If you can call your own I see no big municipal graft or conspiracy here.

---

I don't think there is a conspiracy.

I just think it's the third best option out of four general options.