Press Release – (Cherryville, North Carolina, October 9, 2007) FleetNet America’s Senior Director of Vendor Relations, James Williams, attended the following towing events in September: The International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame induction; Towing Advisory Group Meeting; TRAA Board Meeting; Inaugural National Highway Traffic Incident Management Conference – Canada; Tow Show in Canada, and Time Task Force Conference – 2007.
The first event held in Chattanooga, TN on September 14, 2007 was The International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame Museum. The Hall of Fame Class 2007 Induction Ceremony and Banquet included seven members of the towing community who were inducted into the Hall of Fame including one member from Canada. Three members have a connection to FleetNet; Harriet Cooley, Executive Director of TRAA; Pat Herring, Herring Motors, a Select vendor; and Joseph Pedigo, member of the Towing Advisory Group. This class brings the total number of members inducted into the Hall of Fame to 245.
The second event, Towing Advisory Group meeting, included a 4 topic discussion of Incident Management Practices. The 4- topics included: Consent vs. Non-consent towing; Incident Management Practices and Programs; and Insurance Issues. The next meeting is scheduled for November 7, 2007 in College Park, GA at the Georgia Motor Trucking Association (GMTA), 25th Annual Georgia Fleet Expo. This meeting will include Old Dominion Freight Line, Southeastern Freight Line, 4- members of the TRAA, Towing Advisory Committee and FleetNet America.
The third event was the TRAA Board Meeting. The meeting was called to order with the invocation, pledge to the flag, antitrust statement, mission statement and president Sam Brewer made his opening remarks. Harriett Cooley requested approval of last meeting’s minutes; the treasurer (FleetNet select vendor with multiple locations throughout the US) Tom Tedford gave his report. The following items were discussed:
- National Certification of Towers
- Peter O’Connell, Attorney, for the TRAA reported on Legal and Legislative issues
- FMSCA review of Federal and State Laws
- I-95 Corridor Coalition Scanning Tour
- AAA case in New York City, NY
- New Jersey / Albany, NY – Passed bills directed at so-called predatory towers who engage in private property towing.
- Auto Club involvement at the legislative level to support towers issues
The Inaugural National Highway Traffic Incident Management Conference held in Toronto, Canada September 19, 2007 centered on the agreement for the following to work together: Provincial Towers of Ontario; Ontario Recovery Group; and Towing and Recovery Alliance of Canada.
The second Canadian event, The 10th Annual Tow Show Trade Show and Training seminars – Provincial Towers Association (Ontario) was September 20-23, 2007
The Time Task Force Conference – 2007 held in Lake Lanier Island, GA on September 24-25, 2007 covered the topics listed below.
- Quick Clearance / Incident Management Workshop
- Fire / Rescue
- Innovative Congestion Mitigation
- 511 – Introduction of the new Georgia traveler information system
- Team Building Exercise
- View exhibit and first responder vehicles
- Traffic Incident Management issues and activities of North Carolina, Wisconsin, Tennessee and Atlanta
- 3D Interactive Transportation Management & First Responder Training
- Developing Traffic Incident Management Protocols for Fire First Responders
- NTIMC – National Unified Goal – NUG – The National Unified Goal is a National Traffic Incident Management Coalition comprised of 20- national organizations to develop common polices to address common goals. The TRAA is involved with this group.
- This conference also reviewed the TRIP (Towing and Recovery Incentive Program) set to start in Metro Atlanta in December 2007.
FleetNet America’s involvement in Incident Management and Towing is a belief that collectively the Fleet and Towing communities can address the very serious issues that they have in common. We value our Fleet customers and Vendor relationships and want to be an information resource for them.
FleetNet’s Towing Advisory Group is comprised of members from the Fleet and Towing communities. The scope is to develop and design methodology recommendations from the group that ultimately allow unilaterally accepted guidelines and towing procedural standards. The objective is for the members to meet regularly to discuss resolutions to occurring issues that drive dis-satisfaction and negatively affect the fleet and towing communities.