As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
ADMINISTRATIVE FEE
A one-time fee per vehicle for the purpose of compensating
the licensee for inspecting the vehicle, allowing owners to retrieve
personal property from the vehicle and for the preparation of additional
paperwork beyond the initial towing bill.
CRUISING
The operation of a tow truck in and upon a roadway within
the Township of Morris to solicit vehicle towing and/or storage business
except in response to a police request.
HEAVY DUTY
A tow truck with dual wheels, capable of towing large trucks,
and shall meet the following minimum requirements:
A.
Gross vehicle weight (GVW): 30,000 pounds.
B.
Gross combination weight rating (GCWR): 80,000 pounds.
C.
Boom rating: 50,000 pounds.
D.
Winch rating: 50,000 pounds.
E.
Cable size and length: 5/8 inch and 200 feet.
F.
Equipped with chassis lift/underreach:
(1)
Retracted rating: 30,000 pounds.
(2)
Extended rating: 15,000 pounds.
HEAVY-DUTY WRECKER
A tow truck with dual wheels, capable of towing large trucks,
and shall meet the following minimum requirements:
A.
Gross vehicle weight (GVW): 30,000 pounds.
B.
Gross combination weight rating (GCWR): 80,000 pounds.
C.
Boom rating: 50,000 pounds.
D.
Winch rating: 50,000 pounds.
E.
Cable size and length: 5/8 inch and 200 feet.
F.
Equipped with chassis lift/underreach:
(1)
Retracted rating: 30,000 pounds.
(2)
Extended rating: 15,000 pounds.
LABOR
The additional work done at the scene by the tow truck operator
which is beyond that required to perform a basic tow or any additional
manpower needed to complete a recovery, winching or towing of a vehicle.
Labor charged for additional manpower shall be based on a per-man,
per-hour basis.
LEASE
A vehicle leased by the licensee through a leasing company
and showing the licensee on the registration as the owner or lessee.
If the registration is such that the lessee is not listed, the licensee
will be required to show a lease agreement.
LICENSE
The document approved and issued by the Township of Morris
granting the privilege to tow and store vehicles and perform other
towing operations for the Township of Morris.
LICENSEE
A towing operator having a license granted by the Township
pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
LICENSE FOR STORAGE
The document approved and issued by the Township of Morris
granting the privilege to store vehicles within the Township of Morris.
LIGHT-DUTY FLATBED
A car carrier of the rollback and tilt type, with dual wheels,
capable of removing and transporting passenger cars damage free, and
shall meet the following minimum requirements:
A.
Gross vehicle weight (GVW): 14,000 pounds.
B.
Winch rating: 8,000 pounds.
C.
Cable size and length: 3/8 inch and 50 feet.
E.
Bed width: 84 inches inside side rails.
F.
Wheel lift:
(1)
Retracted rating: 6,000 pounds.
(2)
Extended rating: 3,000 pounds.
LIGHT-DUTY WRECKER
A tow truck with dual wheels, capable of towing passenger
cars, and shall meet the following minimum requirements:
A.
Gross vehicle weight (GVW): 14,000 pounds.
B.
Gross combination weight rating (GCWR): 18,000 pounds.
C.
Boom rating: 8,000 pounds.
D.
Winch rating: 8,000 pounds.
E.
Cable size and length: 3/8 inch and 100 feet.
F.
Wheel lift:
(1)
Retracted rating: 6,000 pounds.
(2)
Extended rating: 3,000 pounds.
MEDIUM-DUTY FLATBED
A car carrier of the rollback and tilt type, with dual wheels,
capable of removing and transporting small trucks, full-size vans
or large passenger cars damage free, and shall meet the following
minimum requirements:
A.
Gross vehicle weight (GVW): 18,000 pounds.
B.
Winch rating: 8,000 pounds.
C.
Cable size and length: 3/8 inch and 50 feet.
E.
Bed width: 84 inches inside side rails.
F.
Wheel lift:
(1)
Retracted rating: 6,000 pounds.
(2)
Extended rating: 3,000 pounds.
MEDIUM-DUTY WRECKER
A tow truck with dual wheels, capable of towing small trucks,
and shall meet the following minimum requirements:
A.
Gross vehicle weight (GVW): 18,000 pounds.
B.
Gross combination weight rating (GCWR): 30,000 pounds.
C.
Boom rating: 16,000 pounds.
D.
Winch rating: 16,000 pounds.
E.
Cable size and length: 1/2 inch and 200 feet.
F.
Wheel lift:
(1)
Retracted rating: 10,500 pounds.
(2)
Extended rating: 8,500 pounds.
OWNER
An individual or entity who or which owns or leases and/or
operates, parks or abandons a vehicle within the Township.
POLICE
The Police Department of the Township of Morris or of any
jurisdiction having authority in the subject matter.
PRINCIPAL LOCATION
The business office of an applicant/licensee, where a licensee
shall conduct business associated with the towing and storage of vehicles
under authority of the towing license issued by the Township of Morris.
RECOVERY
When the tow truck operator applies his training and knowledge
in a skillful manner to preserve the condition of the vehicle while
moving it to a towable position. This can be accomplished in various
ways, including, but not limited to, winching and rigging.
ROAD SERVICE
A service provided at the scene to enable a vehicle to be
driven away, including, but not limited to, the changing of a flat
tire, jump start of a vehicle or the delivery of fuel. There will
be a separate charge for the fuel at its face value.
ROUTINE CALLS FOR SERVICE
A police request for road service of a disabled vehicle,
i.e., dead batteries, flat tires, out of gas or other services that
do not require towing.
STORAGE SERVICES
The storage, housing or holding of vehicles, indoors or outdoors,
by a licensee under authority of this chapter.
TEMPORARY LICENSE
A towing license authorized by the Chief of Police and issued
by the Township of Morris for the purpose of replacing a current license,
whether that replacement is due to the closing of the business or
the revocation of the licensee's towing license for a violation of
this chapter. This license is for emergency situations only, and the
cost will be prorated on a monthly basis.
TOWING OPERATOR
An individual or entity engaged in the business of providing
towing and storage services.
TOWING SERVICES
The towing service and/or on-site vehicle repair, including
tire changes, jump starts or furnishing fuel, rendered by a towing
operator.
VEHICLE
Every device in, upon or by which a person or property is
or may be transported upon the highway, excepting devices moved by
human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks or
motorized bicycles.
WAITING TIME
The time a licensee has equipment and personnel waiting at
a scene to perform a towing operation.
WINCHING
The process of moving a vehicle by the use of the tow cable
from a position that is not accessible for direct hookup by conventional
means for loading onto a tow vehicle. "Winching" shall not mean pulling
a vehicle onto a flatbed or carrier or lifting a vehicle with a conventional
tow truck.
YARD CHARGE
The relocation of a vehicle from the licensee's storage facility
to a public roadway for removal by another towing company. It shall
not apply to vehicles that are capable of being driven from the storage
facility to the roadway.
Licenses to tow and provide storage of vehicles shall be issued
for three calendar years commencing January 1 of the initial calendar
year.
The following schedule of nonrefundable fees is adopted for
the obtaining of a towing or storage license:
A. Application fee: $300 for three-year licenses, payable before January
1 of the initial license year. For a temporary license for a period
of less than 12 months, the fee shall be prorated on a monthly basis.
Towing and storage services shall be governed by the following
provisions:
A. The tow schedule when a tow licensee will be on duty will be set
by the Township Police Department's Traffic Bureau and approved by
the Chief of Police. The schedule shall be known as the "rotational
duty service list."
B. Tow licensees will respond to all police requests for towing and/or
road service when requested by a police dispatcher or any other police
officer expressly authorized to communicate such a request. Licensee
will respond with the number of tow trucks requested to the scene
within a reasonable time. Such reasonable time shall be deemed to
be within 20 minutes under normal atmospheric conditions.
C. If a tow licensee is wholly or partially unable to respond due to
failure of any equipment or personnel insufficiencies, the licensee
will immediately notify the Police Department, which will contact
the next towing company in the rotation to handle the request. If
such an incident occurs, the licensee will furnish, in writing, within
five business days, the details of the circumstances which caused
the failure to respond to the Township Police Department's Traffic
Bureau, which will make a determination if a follow-up investigation
and/or inspection of the licensee's facility is required.
D. Tow trucks of a licensee shall not cruise roadways within the Township for business and shall not respond to any scene where towing may be required except upon request of the Township Police Department or as permitted under §
460-3A of this chapter.
E. No rotating or flashing lights or sirens shall be used on a tow truck
except as permitted by the New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles/Department
of Transportation (NJDMV/DOT) (N.J.S.A. 39:3-50), and all vehicles
operated by the licensee shall have a current permit for said lights
issued by the DOT, along with all other required vehicle documents.
F. All tow trucks shall be operated in accordance with all existing
traffic regulations and in a safe and prudent manner. Tow truck drivers
will request police assistance when they find it necessary to turn
around, back up, tow in a direction opposite the flow of traffic,
cross a median or other hazardous situation during the course of providing
service or towing.
G. Each licensee will be responsible for all vehicles and visible contents
in his/her custody that are towed off the roads under direction of
the police and shall make an inventory at the scene to note such contents
of each vehicle.
H. No vehicle will be removed from any roadway within the Township without
proper authorization from the police at the scene or the vehicle owner
or operator as the case may be.
(1) No vehicle shall be removed from any roadway or private property
within the Township of Morris, where it is evident that the vehicle
has been involved in a motor vehicle accident, without authorization
from the Police Department. Vehicles with any noticeable body damage,
or in close proximity of property damage, shall be considered evidence
of a possible vehicle accident that the police shall be present to
investigate.
(2) No vehicle shall be removed from any roadway or private property
where the operator of the vehicle appears to be under the influence
of alcohol or drugs based upon the observations of any reasonable
person.
(3) Violations of Subsection
H(1) or
(2) shall be forwarded immediately to the Chief of Police and the Township Committee for their review.
I. No licensee shall be required to tow to an area farther than the
licensed storage area between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.,
unless said licensee agrees to tow farther. If the licensee agrees
to tow farther than the licensed storage area between 6:00 p.m. and
8:00 a.m., he/she will only do so if adequate towing coverage will
be available to the Township of Morris.
J. The investigating officer and/or supervisor at the incident scene
is in complete charge of the incident scene (excluding actual towing
operations), and all tow truck drivers shall comply with the officer's/supervisor's
instructions.
K. Each licensee, prior to departing from the scene of towing services,
shall be required to clean and clear the roadway of any debris resulting
from any accident at such scene when rendering towing services and
at all times carry the necessary equipment to perform such cleaning
services. Such equipment shall minimally include, but is not limited
to, a broom and shovel. The licensee may charge the owner's insurance
company for the services rendered.
L. In the event that a licensee refuses to tow or render services at
the scene of an accident or disabled vehicle when requested by the
police or vehicle owner/operator, the officer assigned to the incident
shall report the refusal to his supervisor with all pertinent details.
Police Department standard operating procedure (SOP) will be followed
to secure a service to clear the scene, and the report of the refusal
shall be forwarded to the Township Chief of Police and Township Traffic
Bureau as soon as possible for evaluation and follow-up of the licensee's
refusal to perform its obligation under the license. No towing operator
shall be required to tow any vehicle in an unsafe manner or in such
a way as to cause unnecessary damage to the vehicle towed or that
may cause damage to the towing vehicle.
M. Each licensee shall be required to keep up-to-date records of all
vehicles towed in conjunction with this license. Each licensee shall
provide the Township Police Traffic Bureau with a list of all vehicles
towed by order of the police (impounded) that remain unclaimed in
storage every Friday by 12:00 noon.
N. Vehicles impounded or confiscated by the police and stored by the
licensee shall not be released by the licensee without written authorization
by the Police Department. The authorization to release document must
be signed by an authorized Police Department representative before
it is provided to the licensee.
O. The on-call service, when called out, must respond with its own equipment.
P. If the on-call towing service is unable to respond when called, for
any reason (inability to handle heavy duty, etc.), that towing service
must advise the front desk officer so that the next towing service
can be called.
[Amended 6-16-2010 by Ord. No. 10-10; 2-19-2014 by Ord. No. 1-14; 6-17-2015 by Ord. No. 20-15; 7-15-2020 by Ord. No. 16-20]
Towing and storage charges shall be paid by the owner of the
vehicle towed and/or stored by a licensee at police request, and such
charges shall be as follows:
A. Towing charges. The following is the fee schedule for towing services
(The fees do not include state taxes.):
(1) Passenger vehicle rates.
(a)
Basic towing service.
[1]
Day or night rate, light-duty tow, standard or flatbed, 10,000
pounds GVW:$150.
[2]
Day or night rate, medium-duty tow, GVW 10,000 pounds to 26,000
pounds: $250.
[3]
Day or night rate, heavy-duty tow, GVW 26,000 pounds and over:
$425 per hour.
(b)
Road service. Day or night rate for tire changes, jump starts,
fuel delivery, etc. (price does not include the cost of fuel for vehicles
out of gas): $95. Administrative fee does not apply.
(c)
Recovery and/or winching service (per hour): $225, said service
to be charged in thirty-minute increments with a one-hour minimum
pay. This charge shall include the use of additional equipment to
remove the vehicle, to include skates, wheel lifts, chains or other
equipment that is required to be carried on the wrecker by this chapter.
(Overturned passenger vehicles will carry a one-hour minimum.)
(d)
Cleanup and/or labor charge (per hour): $75. This charge is
for cleanup and/or removal of debris or mechanical work to ready vehicle
for towing. This shall include the use of any speed dry or fluid absorbing
materials. This charge shall be in effect for additional manpower
needed at the scene (per man/per hour). This charge is to be charged
in thirty-minute increments with a one-half-hour minimum. As provided
for in N.J.S.A. 39:4-56.8, the towing service is not required to remove
any hazardous materials.
(e)
Administrative fee: a one-time fee per vehicle for the purpose
of compensating the licensee for inspecting the vehicle, allowing
owners to retrieve personal property from the vehicle and for the
preparation of additional paperwork beyond the initial towing bill,
not to exceed $65.
(f)
Yard charge: for the relocation of a vehicle from the licensee's
storage facility to a public roadway for removal by another towing
company. It shall not apply to vehicles that are capable of being
driven from the storage facility to the roadway. This charge is not
to exceed $75.
(g)
Mileage rates. If a vehicle is removed to a location outside
of the Township of Morris, with the exception of to the storage facility,
a fee may be assessed for the mileage as follows:
[1]
Light- or medium-duty tow: $5.50 per mile.
[2]
Heavy-duty tow mileage is contained in the per-hour service
charge.
(2) Heavy-duty rates (non-passenger vehicles), 26,000 pounds GVW and
over:
(a)
Basic towing service (per hour), day or night: $425, to be charged
in thirty-minute increments with a one-hour minimum.
(b)
Recovery, crane, boom and/or winching service (per hour): $525.
B. Storage charges:
(1) Inside secured storage (per calendar day):
(b)
Vehicles over 22 feet in length will be charged double the rate.
(2) Outside secured storage (per calendar day):
(d)
Vehicles over 22 feet in length will be charged double the rate.
C. The licensee shall accept a minimum of two major credit cards 24
hours a day and must be able to do so at the principal location, on
the road at the time service or tow is performed or at the storage
facility location.
D. The Township and its Police Department shall not be liable to a licensee
with respect to towing and/or service rendered to any owner pursuant
to the licensee or otherwise. The licensee shall look to the registered
owner of such vehicle for payment of towing and/or storage service
charges or any other compensation.
E. If a vehicle is towed by a licensee to premises controlled by the
Police Department for the purpose of utilizing the vehicle or its
contents as evidence or in an ongoing criminal investigation, such
vehicle shall not be released from Police Department custody, except
to the licensee, unless the owner of the vehicle furnishes the Police
Department with a receipt that all applicable fees for towing and/or
service have been paid in full. A second fee may be charged if the
vehicle is removed to the licensee's storage area or other destination
desired by the police or vehicle owner. If a vehicle is released by
the police to any party other than the licensee without proper receipt,
the Township shall be responsible for all charges but may pursue its
remedy against the owner or other person(s) responsible.
The licensee shall have in effect, prior to application and
at all times during the term of the license, the following insurance:
A. Garagekeeper's policy in the amount of $1,000,000 for any one claimant
and $3,000,000 for more than one claimant, with coverage of $500,000
for property damage for any one event. This policy must include on-hook
coverage of at least $100,000.
B. Automobile liability insurance issued by a financially sound insurance
corporation of, or authorized to transact business in, the state,
insuring the licensee and every tow truck operator against liability
imposed by law for damages because of bodily injury, including death,
sustained by any person and injury to or destruction of property,
including the loss of use thereof, caused by accident and arising
out of the ownership, maintenance or use of tow trucks of the licensee.
The amount of the limits of liability coverage to be offered by such
policy shall be $500,000 for bodily injury to each person, $1,000,000
for bodily injuries in each accident and $500,000 for property damage
in each accident.
C. The licensee shall supply a certificate of insurance to the Township
Clerk describing every policy of insurance and identifying the Township
as an insured party. Each such certificate of insurance shall contain
a provision that no cancellation of the policy shall become effective
until after the expiration of 15 days' written notice of such proposed
cancellation forwarded by the insurance company to the Township Clerk.
D. The insurance coverage carrier shall have an A.M. Best rating of
A or better.
The application of any towing operator for a license pursuant
to this chapter shall include an agreement by the towing operator
that, upon the issuance of a license, the licensee shall indemnify
the Township against all claims of third parties relating to towing
and/or storage service of the licensee.
The Township Police Department shall provide, when requested,
towing operators with Department of Motor Vehicles information regarding
registered owners and lienholders. The information requested and given
shall be in conformance with N.J.S.A. 39:10A et seq. and shall not
in any way violate the confidentiality that is reported in the Police
Department.
The Township Chief of Police is hereby designated to enforce
the provisions of this chapter in accordance with due process of law.
Copies of such rules and regulations, this chapter and the fee
schedule of the licensees shall be made available to the public at
the Township police headquarters during normal business hours.