Tow trucks

The Tow Truck Act 1973 was established to assist in the management of, and set standards for, the crash related towing industry within regulated areas.

The Act provides for the licensing/certification of:

• Tow truck drivers (tow truck certificate holders)—authority to drive/operate a tow truck.
• Tow truck assistants (assistant certificate holders)—authority to be employed on or in connection with a tow truck. The tow truck assistant is not authorised to drive a tow truck.
• Tow truck licence holders—authority to operate a tow truck business.
• Tow truck vehicle licences—licensed tow truck/s operating in regulated areas in accordance with scheme requirements.

The main purpose of licensing/certifying tow truck licence holders and drivers (including assistants) is to regulate and control the towing of damaged vehicles from the scene of an incident and subsequent handling and storage of those vehicles. The scheme does not regulate vehicle breakdown towing, trade towing or towing from private property.

Regulated areas

The tow truck licensing scheme operates in the following regulated areas:

1. The Shires of - Beaudesert, Boonah, Caboolture, Esk, Gatton, Kilcoy, Laidley, Maroochy, Noosa, Pine Rivers and Redland.
2. The Cities of - Brisbane, Bundaberg, Cairns, Caloundra, Gold Coast, Hervey Bay, Ipswich, Logan, Mackay, Maryborough, Redcliffe, Rockhampton and Toowoomba.
3. The areas made up of the parishes of:
   1. Clement and Hinchinbrook in the county of Gray
   2. Beor, Bohle, Coonambelah, Ettrick, Halifax, Hervey, Lansdowne, Magnetic, Margenta, Rokeby, Ross, Stuart and Wyoming in the county of Elphinstone.

Note: For the purpose of the scheme the above pre 15 March 2008 local government areas (pre-amalgamation) are taken as the current regulated areas.

Maximum regulated towing charges

Schedule 3 of the Tow Truck Regulation 2009, provides the maximum charges that apply to towing in regulated areas.

See the industry licensing fees page for details.

Legislation

The Tow Truck Act 1973 provides for:

• licences
• certificates
• authorities and permits
• cancellation and suspension of authorities
• record keeping
• offences.

The Tow Truck Regulation 2009 provides for:

• obligations of an approval holder
• records/towing authorities
• storage requirements
• tow truck specifications
• maximum towing charges
• tow truck regulated areas
• approval holders conduct, at scene of an accident/incident.

The Tow Truck Act 1973 and the Tow Truck Regulation 2009 legislation can be found on the Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel website.