(1) TOWING SERVICE
FEES. A towing service may charge a vehicle owner ordinary and reasonable fees
related to removal and storage of the vehicle from private property under s.
349.13(3m),
Stats., except that no charges may exceed the following individual total
amounts:
(a) $150 for a vehicle removed using
a flatbed, hook and chain, wheel-lift, boom, or any other method.
(b) $25 for each period of 24 consecutive
hours that the vehicle is stored at an outdoor storage facility.
(c) $35 for each period of 24 consecutive
hours that the vehicle is stored at an indoor storage facility.
Note: The daily storage charge under par. (b) or
(c) can be collected by a towing service the first minute after notice of the
tow is given to a law enforcement agency by the towing service. A second daily
storage charge cannot be collected until 24 hours after the time at which
notice is given to law enforcement, subject to the limits for closed storage
facilities specified in s.
Trans
319.03(4).
(d) $150 for any other necessary and
commercially reasonable charges relating to the use of special equipment in the
removal or storage, or both, of the vehicle, and for any expenses incurred by
the towing service relating to travel exceeding twenty miles. Administrative
fees, gate fees, lien processing fees, or any other fees for equipment or
procedures ordinarily required for the removal or storage of a vehicle may not
be charged under this paragraph. A towing service may collect charges under
this paragraph only if any of the following applies:
1. The removed vehicle possesses unusual
characteristics, such as size or mechanical condition that make the maximum
removal charge under par. (a) unreasonably low, or has a gross vehicle weight
rating or registered weight of 10,001 pounds or more.
2. The location in which the removed vehicle
was parked contains certain spatial constraints or limited access to the parked
vehicle impeding the tow that make the maximum removal charge under par. (a)
unreasonably low.
3. The roundtrip
travel by the towing service exceeds 20 miles. A towing service may charge a
surcharge of $3.00 per mile under this subdivision for miles in excess of
twenty miles. Mileage is based on roundtrip mileage from the storage facility
to return thereto. The towing service shall establish the mileage from the tow
truck odometer and shall include on the tow slip the beginning and ending
odometer readings to the 1/10 per mile. If the tow truck is dispatched from a
location other than the storage facility, the one-way mileage between the
location from which the vehicle is removed and the storage facility shall be
multiplied by two. Mileage fractions less than 5/10 shall be omitted, and
mileage fractions of 5/10 or more shall be rounded up to the nearest whole
number.
Note: Pursuant to s.
349.13(3m)
(dr)2, Stats., a towing service is prohibited
from collecting any charges for the removal or storage of an illegally parked
vehicle towed under s.
349.13(3m),
Stats., if the towing service has not complied with the requirement under s.
349.13(3m)
(d)2, Stats., to notify law enforcement prior
to removing the vehicle.
(2) MUNICIPAL SERVICE FEE. If requested under
s. 349.13(3m)
(dm), Stats., by the municipality in which
the removed vehicle was illegally parked, the towing service shall charge the
vehicle owner a service fee not exceeding $35 and shall remit this service fee
to the municipality. The fee under this subsection is in addition to any fees
charged under sub. (1).
(3) TOW
FEE. If the fee under sub. (2) is requested by a municipality, the towing
service may charge the vehicle owner a service fee not exceeding the fee amount
remitted to the municipality under sub. (2). The fee under this subsection is
in addition to any fees charged under subs. (1) and (2).
(4) STORAGE PERIOD. The storage period is the
number of consecutive 24-hour periods beginning on the date and time that the
towing service provides the notice required under s.
Trans
319.05(1) and ending when the vehicle
is retrieved, rounded up to the nearest whole number. No towing service may
charge a storage fee for any calendar day that the storage facility is open
less than 4 consecutive hours between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., for
retrieval of the vehicle.
Notes
Wis. Admin. Code
Department of Transportation
Trans 319.03
Adopted by,
EmR1425: emerg. cr., eff. 10-2-14; EmR1514: emerg. cr., eff. 4-30-15; EmR1606:
emerg. cr., eff. 1-22-16; CR 15-044: CRRegister
January 2016 No. 721, eff.2/1/2016
In general, the storage charge is the whole number of days
from towing until retrieval, multiplied by the storage charge rate specified
under s. Trans 319.03(1) (b) or (c). However, this subsection prohibits a daily
storage charge for any calendar day during which the storage facility is open
less than 4 consecutive hours between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. for vehicle
retrieval. For example, consider a vehicle towed at 10:20 p.m. on Friday and
retrieved at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, and stored at a facility that is open for
vehicle retrieval on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., closed Sunday,
and open Monday from 10:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. The vehicle was stored for a
period of three days, but the vehicle owner cannot be charged for one of those
days of storage since the storage facility was not open for vehicle retrieval
on Sunday; only two days of storage are chargeable by the towing
service.
