WHAT IS THE TOWING NETWORK

The Towing Network started when a couple of motor carrier executives, tired of the challenges found in managing towing costs and relationships, reached out to a couple of ethical, hardworking towing company owners to help design a solution.

From those early meetings, The Towing Network was designed and brought to market. Now with a Board of Directors of some of the nations top towing professionals and a mix motor carrier representatives, The Towing Network defines a true partnership between the towing and motor carrier community. The Towing Network prides itself on its image and the image of its towing partners. Towing partners are vetted against their peers and only those with a positive business approach are invited to join. The Towing Network is an exclusive club and its partners benefit by having the rights to the areas that they serve. This also allows our partners the ability to grow into new areas where there are no Network partners.

WHERE IS THE NETWORK LOCATED

The Towing Network is headquartered in Brunswick, Ohio and operates a fully staffed 24 hour, 365 day call center with dedicated professionals who’s experience in the industry makes them a valuable asset to our customers and our towing partners. Our dispatch staff are experts at problem solving and have experience with solving complex problems.

HOW DOES THE NETWORK MAKE MONEY

The Network is a for profit service for the motor carrier and insurance industries. Our service is a single call solution for making the connection between our customer who has a problem and the problem solvers in the towing community. The big advantage for the customer is published pricing for common services which allows them to predict and plan their unplanned expenses. For this value, they pay a transactional fee to the Network for each call they place.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO JOIN

The Network does not charge our towing partners to join and there are no markups for a tow partner to pay unless the tow partner selects the area protection option in the agreement. The area protection is a first come option that allows the tow partner to receive EVERY call that comes into their area from the Network. For this service the tow partner will pay to the Network a small fee on a per call basis.

WHAT IS THE VALUE OF JOINING THE NETWORK

Joining the Network is an extension of your marketing strategy. Imaging having access to a growing list of customers that don’t require you to spend time and money building. Let the Network do the work for you. Want to grow into a new market? Use the Network to help drive business opportunities to you in that market to make truck and driver placement profitable and successful. Tired of hearing the same old things about our industry? The Network prides itself on only partnering with the best so not all towing vendors will be invited. As a towing partner, your peers in the Network will be service minded and provide exceptional products for a fair price.

WHO ESTABLISHED PRICING

The Network works with a number of respected towing companies in the country both in size and reputation. Using their knowledge of the industry they determined a fair price which is defined as a pricing model that is lower than your standard cash or tariff pricing and higher than a towers heavily discounted prices. Understanding the challenges in different markets, the pricing matrix underwent many revisions to arrive at the pricing we have today. It is fair, consistent and allows all our partners to profit on each transaction.

HOW DO ADDRESS LOCAL PRICING CHALLENGES

This established pricing is a "not to exceed" model and local pricing considerations are incorporated in to the model. When a tow company elects to sign up with the Network, they provide their pricing which should be similar to what they would price/quote any large customer. By defining local marketing pricing considerations, the towing community ensures they get a fair local price that is profitable and that the customer receives a price that ensures quality service at the right price.

WHAT KEEPS THE NETWORK FROM GOING WITH LOWER PRICED PROVIDERS

The Network understands the investment you have in your business and wants to ensure you get fair compensation for the work that you do. The Network is for the towing community and is not interested in driving pricing competition to get better pricing. Since our pricing model is published with our customers, our only concern is maintaining the nationwide average we promote with them. Understanding this, it is the Network priority get the call covered on the first call. Services, ability to perform and meeting ETA requirements is the first consideration when selecting members.

WHY DON'T YOU PUBLISH YOUR PRICING

The pricing that has been established works of a nationwide average based on local market trends. By providing Network pricing to the vendors, this mix would be interrupted as lower market areas would expect to get paid the same as someone in a high paid market. It is not the Networks intention to change the markets pricing economy. It is simply the Networks desire to promote consistence to our customers.

WHAT PRICE DO CUSTOMERS PAY

There is no difference. The price you provide is the price that you bill and the price that you get paid. The customer gets the benefit of the local market pricing if below the pricing guide. To ensure this is happening, the Network allows its tow partners to bill the customer directly so both parties know they are getting exactly what was promised.

HOW DO WE GET PAID

Not wanting to be like the others and wanting to learn from others challenges, the Network opted to remove itself from the billing and collection model as a means to provide transparency to its towing partners and customers. By allowing our tow partners to bill the customer directly ensures both that the Network is meeting its obligation of making the connection and ensuring a smooth transaction. In some cases the motor carrier may request that The Towing Network send them an invoice that includes both The Towing Network dispatch fee and your service fee. In these cases, an invoice will be generated the minute you provide your final price. The invoice will be sent to the customer to be paid based on the established terms. Upon payment to The Towing Network, payment will be automatically processed and sent to you through the system. To ensure transparency in this process, the details of the transaction will be posted on your account so you can see what has been billed, collected and which calls are paying on a daily or weekly basis.

WHO DOES THE CREDIT CHECKS ON CUSTOMERS

The Network works only with high rated customers with a history of consistent accounts payable success. Using DUNS research and account history, a score is determined by the Network to determine a customers fit into the Network. Only those customers with low risks are invited to participate. Those customers with a higher risk score may be selected on a zero credit program where the tow partner gets paid following the call.

WHY MILES INSTEAD OF HOURLY ON TOWING

Reviewing our customer base against the towing community it was found that a common language needed to be established. Motor carriers operate on a rate per mile basis while towers look at hourly rates as the norm. As the motor carrier is the customer it became important to convert the standard hourly rate to a rate per mile in cases when it could be applied. In cases when hourly continues to make sense, then hourly is maintained.

WHAT IS AREA PROTECTION

Many of our tow partners have asked us what they could do ensure that they get every call in the area they support. To address this request, the Network has provided an Area Protection Agreement to the contact. This ensures that anyone wanting to handle their area exclusively can for a small per call fee to the Network. This is a first come, first served opportunity so the first request for protection will be granted with all others being back up in that area for when they cannot accept that call due to volume constraints.

MY RATES FOR THAT CUSTOMER ARE HIGHER CAN I CHARGE THEM

The Network is providing customers with a "not to exceed" rate schedule. It is the Networks expectation that the pricing each vendor provides in the contract be maintained. To ensure this, the Network must be notified of the final amount after the tow is completed. The final will be audited against the vendors published rates and the amount will then be approved to be paid by the customer. It is expected that early in the relationship, there may be some confusion on how to correctly price an invoice. The experience Network dispatch team will assist all partners with ensuring constancy in the pricing process. If it is found that a Network tow partner is Increasing rates to the customer intentionally in violation of the pricing agreement, it may result in that partner being removed from the Network dispatch list.

WHY ALLOW US TO BILL CUSTOMERS DIRECTLY

By allowing the towing partner to invoice and collect from the customer directly it removes the unknown risk of that third party. The Network will work as an intermediary between the tow partner and the customer and ensure that the contractual obligation is passed down to the tow partners. Additionally, the Network will ensure that the customers contracted with are solid financially to that collection issues are not a concern for its tow partners. This is the preferred billing arraignment except in cases where the motor carrier cannot accept two invoices, one from the tower and one from the Network, for each tow. In those cases a fully transparent collection system has been put in place so all parties are informed on the payment progress and data on the motor carrier is collect to identify carriers with problems paying in accordance with their terms.

HOW DO I SIGN UP

Signing up is easy. You simply have to go to the “Sign up” option included on this page and fill in the information requested. Once submitted you will need to sign the agreement and fax back to the Network at 330-350-5277 or email to vendors@thetowingnetwork.com. You will have to then contact your insurance agent to send us an insurance certificate showing The Towing Network as an “Additional Insured as its interests appear” for all the coverage’s outlined in the agreement.

CAN I BE DENIED NETWORK STATUS

Yes. The Towing Network is and “exclusive” group of towers who embody a tow community culture. The Network is made up of professional towers who want to promoted good business practices in an effort to promote goodwill for the industry. Applicants who have historically not embodied this culture will be barred from being a Network tow partner. Additionally, the Network promotes professionalism and any interactions where the tower acts unprofessional (holding equipment hostage, changing terms to take advantage of customer, etc.) may result in the tower being barred or removed from the Network database.

TOPS SYSTEM

The Networks uses a proprietary system that will integrate with the TOPS dispatching platforms in the next few months.

WHAT ABOUT MY RELATIONSHIP WITH NETWORK CUSTOMERS

Local relationships are important and it is understood that in many cases a call from the Network may be from a customer you regularly do business with. If the call comes from the Network, it is expected that the pricing you provided to the Network be honored. If however, the customer agrees to the current pricing you have on file for them, and they are willing to honor that pricing when they call the Network and you are dispatched on the call, and they are willing to send an email to the Network stating as such, then the Network contract will honor the old pricing agreement.

WHY DO I HAVE TO NOTIFY TOWING NETWORK OF FINAL RATES IF CUSTOMER IS PAYING?

The Towing Network is responsible for maintaining consistency with our customers. This means providing good quotes and justifying the final rates after a call. Customer are provided a final settlement updated on all calls which then authorizes them to pay and provides the vendor information. Vendors have 7 days following closing a call to update The Towing Network with the final price, the invoice number and a copy of the invoice if requested.

If a vendor fails to update The Towing Network within the 7 day period, that vendor is placed on a do not dispatch board until the previous calls are finalized. For vendors that do not finalize their calls within 45 days, The Towing Network will close the call with the customer with a 'zero' balance due.