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Books featuring tow trucks
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Management Tips From Mark
Leadership Tips
TIP #1:Fix the problem, not the blame. It is far more productive, and less expensive, to figure out what to do to fix a problem that has come up than it is to waste time trying to decide who's fault it was.
Mark Schroeder will be updating these tips on a weekly basis. For pamphlets on management success from great skilled leaders of our time and of the past, give Mark a shout by email at: mark@assuredtowing.com
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Perry's Place
How to choose a Great Towing Company!
1. Search the web and/or phone book for different towing companies specializing in your specific need.
2. Ask them to send information to you or send someone by to explain their services.
3. Ask them about their insurance coverage; do not go with any company with less than $1,000,000 of insurance coverage.
4. Make a check list:
A. Are they damage free, if so, what kind of equipment do they have to back this claim up?
B. Do they have professional, trained drivers who are specialized in the area of expertise you are seeking, not just hiring drivers off the street creating an inexperienced, unprofessional atmosphere?
C. Do they provide every service you are seeking and do they have partnerships with other companies to provide you with additional services when needed?
D. How is there customer service? Do they train regularly their dispatch and receptionist as well drivers on customer service etiquette?
E. Do they know the latest laws and ordinances? (Do not trust anyone if they tell you they WROTE THE LAWS or any other false claims, lawmakers write laws, not individuals).
F. How quick is their response time? Will they get to you in an acceptable time or will you need to drag out the sleeping bag and tent until they get there?
G. Do they tow at 100%? Do not go with any company that will tow at 100%, this is taking advantage of your residence and guests and will eventually hurt your numbers in occupancy!
5. After gathering all of the information above, narrow it down to the company(s) who have your best interest in mind and call for an interview, get a fill for the person and the company.
You are now on your way to a great partnership with a great towing company, whomever that might be.
GOOD LUCK!
If you have any questions for Perry, email HERE and he will respond as soon as possible! |
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One of the most important issues here at Assured Towing, Inc. is making sure that everyone's questions are not only answered, but answered completely. In our FAQ section we have compiled some of the most frequently asked questions from our client and prepared the best answer for each one. Look through the following questions and see if one or more of them is exactly or similar to the question(s) you may have.
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How can I set up towing on my property(s)?
Will I have to call you everytime there is a car that needs to be picked up?
What is the difference in Patrol and Limited Patrol?
What is the 10-Day Rule, HB560, that took effect on January 1, 2004, and what am I required to do to be in compliance with the law?
What are my options on setting up for the new law of HB NO. 560?
What is supervisor and what is their purpose?
What is done to ensure that no "Bad Calls" are made on towing on my property?
What is the "No Hassle" Policy at Assured Towing?
What is Assured Towing, Inc.'s stance on damages?
How long is Assured Towing, Inc's office open?
How much insurance does Assured Towing, Inc. carry?
Does Assured Towing, Inc. have a bi-lingual staff?
What in the world is a "Red A"?
Does Assured Towing, Inc. pick and choose what they want when it comes to abandoned vehicles?
Does Assured Towing, Inc tag vehicles for their clients?
What are the codes I see on invoices and on the "Agreement to Handle Private Property Impounds" form?
Does Assured Towing, Inc. provide towing services to my tenants and/or residents for a discounted fee?
What if I, or someone I know, am involved in a collision? Can I have Assured Towing, Inc. pick up my vehicle for me at the scene of an accident?
Does Bernie's Towing Service, Inc. still exist, or did Assured Towing just buy the company and dismantle it?
Can I get money from Assured Towing, Inc. for having cars towed off of my property?
Does the towing service provided by Assured Towing, Inc. cost me anything?
What does Assured Towing, Inc. do with all of the vehicles that they have towed that have not been picked up by the owner or operator?
Assured Towing, Inc. has an auction every two weeks, is it open to public or is it just for dealers and such?
I am interested in employment with Assured Towing, Inc. What must I do to obtain information on employment with you?
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How can I set up towing on my property(s)? |
Setting your property(s) is as easy as filling in the blanks on either our "Agreement to Handle Private Property Impounds"form download or on our online forms. You can email us at info@assuredtowing.com and give us your information and we will prepare it for you or just call us at (512) 292-9869.
Setting the property is a breeze after the Agreement is filled out and signed. Everything else is handled by your newly assigned Property Supervisor from Assured Towing, Inc. He/She will make sure the proper, legal signs are placed at the entrances of the property and any other signs are put up as well. He/She will make sure you get your letter to send to your residents/tenants so that they are informed of any changes agree just current rules of parking on your property. He/She will order any permits and make sure that you are provided with "Red A's"(for employee parking protection) for their vehicle as well as keep you supplied with an ample amount of warning stickers, visitor passes and Assigned Spaces Cards.
Your done and ready to go and it usually only takes less than 24 hours to complete all of the above tasks.
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Will I have to call you everytime there is a car that needs to be picked up? |
No. We can easily set your property up on a Patrol or Limited Patrol system that only targets the violations you want us to look for. If you are not setup on one of these patrol systems, you will have to call us. ASSURED TOWING, INC. DOES NOT PICK UP ANYTHING ON MANAGEMENT REQUEST ONLY ACCOUNTS UNLESS AUHTORIZED BY OWNER OR MANAGER OF PROPERTY.
Here is an example of a Patrol account:
1. You sign up for a Patrol Account with Assured Towing, Inc.
2. You limit your needs for Patrolling for Fire Lane, Handicap and PArked On Grass violations.
3. Our drivers and/or supervisor spots a vehicle parked on the sidewalk and loading ramp.
4. If a driver spots the vehicle, he calls in the information requesting authorization to pick up, our supervisor checks out the violation and determines that it is not an authorized patrol item and tells driver to leave the vehicle alone and to not tow.
5. Supervisor spots vehicle parked in Handicap Spot that does not have a Handicap Plate or Permit.
6. He checks status of your requested patrol items and sees that this is a violation you want us to enforce.
7. He calls a driver to pick up vehicle.
8. Driver arrives and takes picture of vehicle and then loads vehicle and brings to one of our storage facilities.
9. Driver downloads picture from camera and it is delivered to email area. Dispatcher emails picture to your email account.
10. When you get back to your office, you will know what has been picked up and why. When the owner/operator comes in and tries to argue his point, simply show him/her the picture and no more argument. ( Of course always direct them to us and let them know that it is not in your hands anymore, and that they should be more careful next time.)
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What is the difference in Patrol and Limited Patrol? |
Patrol.... is a 24 hour patrol of your property. It does not mean that our drivers and supervisors will be out there 24 hours a day, unless severe circumstances require it from you the owner/manager. This means that a driver and/or supervisor will periodically check the property randomly for violations that you have detailed in your agreement with Assured Towing, Inc.
Limited Patrol.... is the same as Patrol except that there are time restraints on towing. This means instead of being patrolled for 24 hours a day, you may set it up to patrol the property between the hours of one time period and ending on another time period. For example: Begin at 6:30 PM and End at 6:30AM. We would only tow from 6:30 PM to 6:30 AM in this example setup.
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What is the 10-Day Rule, HB560, that took effect on January 1, 2004, and what am I required to do to be in compliance with the law? |
On June 20, 2003, HB NO. 560 was signed into law by Governor Rick Perry. This law states that in order to remove any vehicle off of an apartment complex, this law only pertains to apartment complexes, for the reasons expired registration and/or expired inspection sticker only, that a 10-Day letter must be either hand delivered to the Owner or Operator of the vehicle or a Certified Letter, Return Receipt, must be sent to the Owner or Operator of the vehicle in order to remove the vehicle from the property. This means that as of the day the letter is either hand delivered or is sent by Certified Letter, you must wait 10 Days in order to remove the vehicle as well as maintain records to prove you sent the letter. The new law also states that you must change the writing on any new leases to reflect this, along with the statement that you may not over-ride this law by what is in your lease agreement already, this law supercedes any agreement already in hand. THIS NEW LAW DOES NOT REFLECT ON ANY OTHER TOWING ENFORCEMENT ON YOUR PROPERTY, ONLY TO EXPIRED REGISTRATION AND/OR EXPIRED INSPECTION STICKERS! Check with Assured Towing, Inc. on ways to prevent this from being a worry and on how they can help you get setup for this type of towing enforcement.
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What are my options on setting up for the new law of HB NO. 560? |
We have actually come up with several options for this new law. The first of course is to download the letter to send from our Download Center and send it by Certified Letter to the Owner or Operator and wait the 10 Days required by law, then call us and have us tow it away if it is still there and the problem has not been fixed.
The second option is to forward the vehicle information to us with our Online Forms Center and let us take care of the delivery of the letter for you. We will send the letter Certified Mail and then let you know the progress of everything for that vehicle and when it is ready to be picked up if the problem is not fixed in that time period. We will keep all of the records for all vehicles towed and all records will be available to you as well anytime you request it.
The third option is to hand deliver the letter to the owner or operator. This is not the best way to do this in our experience. There is too much confrontation as well as a feeling of something becoming personal to the person who gets the letter. Allot of people who receive anything in person believe that they are being targeted by the management and/or owners of the property. Be careful, if you decide to go with this option, because the owner or operator you hand delivered the letter to may say that they never received the letter to begin with creating a huge mess.
There are many other ways to work around having to do any of the above to get rid of unwanted vehicles with expired registration and/or expired inspection. Call Assured Towing, Inc. and see what your other choices may be available to you and what we can get setup for you right away or anytime you feel the need to make the changes necessary.
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What is supervisor and what is their purpose? |
A supervisor is a position we created for our drivers as well as have someone in charge of any situation that may arise from towing. If a problem comes up on a property, a supervisor will quickly come to the scene and relinquish the problem before it becomes any larger. Before a vehicle is to be towed off of a property, a supervisor must approve it first. Almost every tow truck driver in the Austin Metro makes his earnings off of a commission pay. This eliminates a greedy or over anxious driver from being able to make costly and burdening mistakes on towing vehicles on private property by having the supervisors there to make the calls. All supervisors are salaried employees and receive no commission on towed vehicles, but they as well as the driver are fined heavily for mistakes made on properties and improper tows. Supervisors keep the peace and all towing mistake free, making it hassle free for you.
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What is done to ensure that no "Bad Calls" are made on towing on my property? |
Starting off with we have our supervisor program that keeps drivers from making those "Bad Calls" in the first place. The driver is not allowed to make a call to pick up a vehicle without the supervisor authorizing it first. If they do make that "Bad Call", they are fined heavily. The fine they receive is four times the amount of the commission rate of the driver and they are both charged an equal amount on each offence. This practice keeps supervisors on their toes and drivers from making mistakes they might normally make without this system of fines and supervisors. And if worse comes to worse, we do have the "No Hassle" Policy here at Assured Towing, Inc.
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What is the "No Hassle" Policy at Assured Towing? |
One of Assured Towing, Inc.'s proudest accomplishments is the creation of the "No Hassle" Policy. This simple, yet unheard of, WRITTEN policy is just one of the things that sets us apart from everyone else. It states:
"When the occasion arises that there is a conflict in a case in which a vehicle is mistakenly picked up, Assured Towing, Inc. guarantees that a satisfactory solution will be arranged and executed swiftly as to not cause any inconvenience to our client. There shall be no complications to the needs of our clients and the execution of our duties to those needs. If the current agreement that is in place with Assured Towing, Inc. and our client is in any way a detriment to such client, Assured Towing, Inc. will exhaust all avenues to create and/or amend such agreement to the convenience and specific needs to our client."
To sum it up, any problem that may come up while we act as your towing service provider, we will make the problem go away rather quickly and try our very best to make all parties involved satisfied in every manner. This eases up a lot of worries from our clients and creates a hassle free environment. After all, this is what we are all about, making everything easier and more convenient for our clients.
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What is Assured Towing, Inc.'s stance on damages? |
Assured Towing, Inc. promotes a "Damage Free Towing" environment. We use the latest technology and equipment on the market to better provide a true safe atmosphere. If the technology or equipment is not available, we will create it ourselves. We inspect our equipment twice daily as a mandatory rule of the company. This insures that every piece of equipment is working properly and is within the highest quality control measures set by our company. All of our professionally licensed drivers are trained in all processes of inspection and in the use of all equipment used. If, for any reason, damage does occur, we will drop everything and insure that the problem and/or damage is fixed ASAP! There is no excuse for damages and we have set this as the highest priority for our drivers and storage facility employees.
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How long is Assured Towing, Inc's office open? |
Our office is open 24 hours a day. What makes a great towing company is their availability to their clients. We understand the major impact this has to our clients to provide the utmost quality in service and access to that service. Dispatch and driver assistance is on the clock 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Our demonstration office is open from 8:00AM to 6:00PM, but our Property Supervisors and even our Executive office holders are on call 24 hours a day. There is not a time, any time, that you cannot reach us to get the job done or problem fixed for you.
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How much insurance does Assured Towing, Inc. carry? |
One of the most worrisome parts of any business is the assurance of insurance. With the sky rocketing cost of insurance, it is not uncommon to see towing companies "floating" without the necessary amount of insurance or even carrying any coverage at all. This is dangerous for all parties involved. This could, and eventually will, hurt their client as well as themselves. Assured Towing, Inc. is proud to carry the highest premium coverage available in the market today. Our insurance coverage ranges from over $1,000,000.00 all the way to over $5,000,000.00 in some cases. We will provide you with a "Certificate of Insurance" at your request any time on demand. We are proud to do it.
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Does Assured Towing, Inc. have a bi-lingual staff? |
Here at Assured Towing, Inc., we understand the importance of maintaining communication from all aspects. We provide our customers bi-lingual staff to better suit those needs and expectation to maintain a higher degree of comprehension with all involved.
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What in the world is a "Red A"? |
The "Red A" is a creation of Assured Towing, Inc. to better protect our clients from getting towed off their property(s). This creates a better relationship with our clients and allows them and their employees to relax and not worry about things like getting towed away, especially in the case of an on property emergency.
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Does Assured Towing, Inc. pick and choose what they want when it comes to abandoned vehicles? |
Assured Towing, Inc. does not pick and choose vehicle to pick up when it comes to abandoned vehicles. If you have a vehicle that needs to be towed away for any reason, we will pick it ip without any consideration of the shape it is in. This is the business we are in and, no matter what any other towing company tells you, it is our sole responsibility to accomplish the removal of any vehicle for you in a swift manner.
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Does Assured Towing, Inc tag vehicles for their clients? |
The answer is a un mistakenly, Yes. We will tag any vehicle you request as well as tag vehicles on a regular basis for things like missing vital parts, wrecked, inoperable, flat tires, sitting on blocks and much, much more. We have set up for you the "Sticker Patrol". These employees go out to all properties who have requested this service and tag any vehicles that the property wants tagged for violation of the rules. They then send the report of vehicles tagged to the property and do not have anything towed unless the property authorizes it first. This creates allot of free time that is desperately needed by the property managers and employees.
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What are the codes I see on invoices and on the "Agreement to Handle Private Property Impounds" form? |
The codes you see in these places are the designated violation code that is assigned to a certain violation for all properties. This means that if a Fire Lane violation is Code "D", it is code "D" Fire Lane violation for all properties. This makes it easier for our databases as well as recognition from owners and/or managers to recognize the code and it's designated violation despite what property they are on.
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Does Assured Towing, Inc. provide towing services to my tenants and/or residents for a discounted fee? |
Assured Towing, Inc. will provide towing services to your tenant and/or resident for a substantial discount if they say they are a tenant, resident or guest of your property when they call. We even put that in writing on all letters that we prepare for you to send to your tenants and/or residents.
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What if I, or someone I know, am involved in a collision? Can I have Assured Towing, Inc. pick up my vehicle for me at the scene of an accident? |
Yes. When you are involved in an accident, call Assured Towing, Inc. and tell the dispatcher your location and if you, or anyone else at the scene, need an ambulance. They will inform the local 911 and get the police, and ambulance if needed, in route right away. They will then get a wrecker to your location ASAP to assist you in any way possible. Let the dispatcher know if you need anything brought to you while they are in route. When the police arrive, tell them that you have Assured Towing in route to assist you and to not call an expensive rotation wrecker.
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Does Bernie's Towing Service, Inc. still exist, or did Assured Towing just buy the company and dismantle it? |
Bernie's Towing Service, Inc. does still exist despite the many horrible rumors started by local towing companies. The name has simply been merged with Assured Towing, Inc. and is now called Assured Towing, Inc. We have had clients call and say that they have been told things like:
Bernie's Towing does not exist anymore, they went bankrupt.
Bernie's Towing does not have insurance anymore.
Bernie's Towing has given me authority to act on their behalf.
Bernie's Towing was seized by the IRS.(this one is just funny)
We have even been told that there is a person who is claiming to be the sole representative of Bernie's Towing and is accepting new contracts on Bernie's Towing's behalf for another company. If you are coming across persons of this character, please do not be discouraged. Call us and inform us that this person is bothering you and we will take care of the rest. Assured Towing, Inc. nor Bernie's Towing Service, Inc. has given any outside persons the authority to conduct business in neither ones name. Assured Towing, Inc. acquired Bernie's Towing Service, Inc. in December of 2003. We have been working around the clock to get to everyone and get their properties setup Assured Towing, Inc.'s style. In the mean time everything is still as is and normal. If you are a Bernie's Towing client, please call us ANYTIME if you have ANY questions.
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Can I get money from Assured Towing, Inc. for having cars towed off of my property? |
State law disallows any property owner and/or employee from receiving any money from any vehicle towed off of any property. This is against the law and Assured Towing, Inc. will not participate in anything of the sort likewise. We are here to protect our clients, not lead them in a direction that will ultimately hurt them.
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Does the towing service provided by Assured Towing, Inc. cost me anything? |
No. We do not charge our clients for providing towing services on their property. We only charge the owner or operator of the vehicle towed when they pick up their vehicle from our storage facility. If the owner or operator does not pick up their vehicle from the storage facility, we will sell the vehicle in our auction after 72 days.
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What does Assured Towing, Inc. do with all of the vehicles that they have towed that have not been picked up by the owner or operator? |
Assured Towing, Inc. has an auto auction every two weeks to get rid of all vehicles that have been in the storage facility for more than 72 days required by Texas state law. Call if you are interested in going to the auction and purchasing vehicles.
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Assured Towing, Inc. has an auction every two weeks, is it open to public or is it just for dealers and such? |
Our Auctions here at Assured Towing, Inc. are Public Auctions. They are open to all general public and bids start at $25.00. Call for more info on Assured Towing, Inc.'s Auto Auctions.
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I am interested in employment with Assured Towing, Inc. What must I do to obtain information on employment with you? |
You may call our office anytime and find out what positions are hiring right away, or stop by and fill out an application so if a position does come available, we will call for interviews all of the applications we have in file. You may also look at our Employment Center online.
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____________ San Antonio 
