4718

Edg

ewat

er D

rive

Orla

ndo

FL

3280

440

7-29

6-33

16w

ww

.pw

of.o

rg

Feb

ruar

y/M

arch

201

1

By: Mike Seamon

The legislation thatPWOF is filing this year is aLien Letter bill that will re-duce your cost and work-load. We have been pressed

to make changes to our lien notificationprocess for some time now. Law enforcementhas wanted to reduce the fraud that can occurif a tower wants to scam a vehicle owner orlienholder.

The new process will cost a flat fee of $7per vehicle with DHSMV mailing the letters toall parties. DHSMV will send them regularmail. The reason we had to mail certified is toprove the letters mailed. However, with Talla-hassee sending the letters, they will pay far lesspostage. The lien letter will give the owner,lienholder and insurance company notice ofthe lien and explain if the vehicle is not pickedup it can be sold at public sale after a date (35or 50 days). The tower can announce the saleby newspaper ad any time after that date.

To start the process, a tower submits theform with the information to the tag office, orDHSMV will allow a third party company viainternet to submit the information. When the

sale time is up, the tower will submit the proofof newspaper ad along with the tow invoiceto the tag office to receive the title or CD. Thisprocess will save towers time and money andthe time that the tag office needs to check thepaperwork will be substantially reduced.Companies like Beacon and Auto Data Directwill be eligible to be a third party provider ac-cording to DHSMV.

There will be several other issues thatPWOF is watching in Tallahassee this year,specifically the sale of salvage vehicles andthe buying of junk cars. PWOF is reviewingthe three bills being filed to mandate the tow-ing of vehicles driven by drivers with sus-pended DLs. Law enforcement wants to stopthe illegal buying and selling of junk vehicles;this should not affect towers but we will keepan eye on all bills and amendments through-out session.

This session will be a fight for budgetmoney and we will be on the lookout for anyproposals that will cost us money this year.The economy is looking a little better and ifwe can reduce our cost and workload of lienletters, it will help with the small pieces thatput it all together so we can get back to mak-ing more profits.

February/March 2011

www.pwof.orgwww.floridatowshow.com

PROF

ESSION

AL W

RECK

ER OPE

RATO

RS OF FLOR

IDA

SERV

ING TH

E FLOR

IDA TO

WING INDU

STRY

SINCE

1977

SERV

ING TH

E FLOR

IDA TO

WING INDU

STRY

SINCE

1977

PROF

ESSION

AL W

RECK

ER OPE

RATO

RS OF FLOR

IDA

Boo

k yo

ur hot

el

room

res

erva

tion

s

today

for th

e in

dustry

’s

larg

est intern

ational

tow show

.

Visit

www.floridat

owsh

ow.com

for m

ore in

form

ation

PWOF 2011 LegislationTHE LEVY REPORT

Is Florida Insane?By: Bob LevyRobert M. Levy& Associates

If the definition of in-sanity is doing the same

thing over and over and expecting a dif-ferent result, then our state could be inserious trouble.

Tax Cuts Florida Senate President Mike Hari-

dopolis said that the Legislature is un-likely to take up any big-ticket tax cutsthis year, given Florida’s $3.62 billionprojected budget shortfall - and in anunprecedented statement in my mem-ory, he added that education could alsoface big cuts to patch the holes.

The President said, “If GovernorRick Scott wants to follow through onhis campaign pledge of cutting taxes by$2 billion in his first year in office, hewill have to offset them with spendingcuts.”

The Governor has proposed to cutschool property taxes by $1.4 billionand make up the millage reduction withmore state dollars. He also promised tostart phasing out Florida’s corporate in-come tax, which could cost another$700 million this year. Florida‘s corpo-rate tax is already the 40th lowest in thecountry. The corporate income tax pro-posal will also have an impact on thestate’s scholarship program that allowscorporations to receive tax credits forproviding scholarships - last year theprogram cost the state about $120 mil-lion in lost revenue.

The President said that educationcould be particularly hard hit becauseof the $1.2 billion in expiring federalstimulus dollars that are financing coreclassroom programs.

Apparently not on the same page asthe President, chair of the Senate’shealth budget committee, Senator JoeNegron, said he wants to halt a trend ofthe state increasingly paying for Medi-caid and other health and human serv-ices programs at the expense ofeducation.

During a recent committee hearing,Senator Eleanor Sobel (D) pointed tostatistics that show Florida spends lessper Medicaid enrollee than the nationalaverage. Florida ranks 45th nationallyon spending on children in the Medi-caid program in 2007, the last year ofavailable stats.

And over in the House, property taxbreaks, unemployment compensation,corporate incentives and a revenue capproposal - TABOR - favored by the Sen-ate president will be among a handful ofhigh priority items which were all dis-cussed recently in the Finance and Tax-ation Committee chaired by Rep. StevePrecourt (R-Orlando).

Meanwhile, in November, theFlorida Center for Fiscal and EconomicPolicy released a report that claims thephasing out and eventual removal of theso-called intangibles tax and the estatetax is estimated to cost the state $2 bil-lion each year in the future. The reportargues that the removal of these taxeshas since put a heavier financial burdenon the middle and lower class citizensof the state. The removal of the twotaxes that target the wealthy in Floridahas cost the state more than $12 billionto date.

Issues

• Unemployment Compensation The recession has caused the state

to exhaust its reserves to pay joblessbenefits. Florida now owes the federalgovernment a whopping $1.8 billion,which must be repaid. Some unemploy-ment tax rates have tripled since Janu-ary 1. We are borrowing moneyconstantly from the Federal govern-ment as our trust fund is depleted.Among solutions - raise the 5.6 percentcap on premiums or raise the rate onspecific industries that are high-endusers of the system, e.g. construction.One state estimate says that half of the460,000 eligible employers could faceminimum per employee rate increasesfrom $25.20 to $72.l0 a year.

• Back To School Sales Tax HolidayAn annual issue, the issue will again

be debated - last year because of a lackof cash it was limited to three days.

• Online Hotel BookingsThis is a huge issue in South

Florida, Orange County and high touristdestinations. Last year the Housepassed a bill to protect online bookingservices like Travelocity and Expedia,which currently don’t pay sales tax ontheir fees for rooms booked online. Lastyear the measure passed the House but

SEE THE LEVY REPORT, PAGE 3

We specialize in towing programs for all size fleets. • Call us today for a no-obligation quote.

At Gulf Coast Underwriters (GCU), we don’t want to be just your insurance agent. We want to be part ofyour team, taking the burdens and worries of insuring your company’s vehicles off your shoulders - givingyou more time to operate a successful towing company.

We offer several ways to save you time and money:• GCU represents many insurance companies therefore we provide several competitive quotesthrough one agent.

• We insure towers, body shops, service stations and provide workers comp programs.• We review driver records and advise you accordingly.• We automatically cover newly-acquired vehicles.• We provide lightning fast issuance of certificates, ID cards and endorsements.• We offer safety programs to help you keep your drivers safe and your losses down.

Hook Up with Gulf Coast Underwriters Today.800.875.0154813.864.4428813.864.4429 Fax

Serving Florida towers since 1996.A proud member of PWOF since 1996.

Don’t buy your heavy-duty wreckers anywhere else.

We specialize in heavy-duty equipment. With our large selection

of NEW and USED heavy-duty wreckers, we have a unitfor every towing company in the Sunshine State, no matterwhat you’re towing or recovering.

Stop by and check outour wide range of equipment:

751 Jetstream Drive, Suite 104Orlando, Florida 32824

Or call and talk to any of our sales reps

407.438.4160or 800.628.5212

Financing Available. Low Rates. Best Heavy-Duty Selection in the State.Full Service Shop – Sales, Parts, Service, Installation. Full Line of Accessories.

Authorized SP Dealer. Large Selection of Auto Loaders.

MEET FLORIDA’SHEAVY-DUTY EXPERTS

www.crouchtowtrucks.com

• Commercial Property

• General Liability

• Garage Operations

• Auto Transporters(tractor trailers with cargo)

In ADDITION to theCOMPLETE TOWING PACKAGE, ATIG also offers:

Florida’s Choice for Towing Insurance

LET US OVERHAULYOUR COVERAGE

INSURING FLORIDA’STOWING, RECOVERYAND REPOSSESSION

INDUSTRIES

Ask for Chip Thompson, Jim Donato,Bob Roddenberry or Brian Hapney

CALL TOLL FREE: 877-933-2550LOCAL: 407-472-9600

1507 Park Center Drive, Unit 1C, Orlando FL 32835CLUB MEMBERS

A SUPERIOR TOWING COMPANYADVANTAGE TRANSPORTARC TOWING SERVICEARNOLD’S TOWINGAVON TOWINGBABBSCO TOWINGBEACH TOWING SERVICEBOLTON’S TOWING SERVICEC & L TOWING & TRANSPORTCORTES TOWING SERVICECOX CAR CAREDIRECT TOWINGDRISCOLL’S TOWING SERVICEELVIS TOWING SERVICEELVIS TRANSPORTEMERALD TOWING SERVICE

EXCALIBUR TOWING SERVICEFRYER’S TOWING SERVICEHERB DANIEL TRUCK & AUTODAVE JONES - PAST PRESIDENTKOTAKIS AUTO & TOWINGMAGIC TOWSMIDWAY AUTO SALVAGE & WRECKER SERVICEHAROLD MURPHY - PAST PRESIDENTSAM’S WRECKER SERVICESCALLY’S LUBE & GOSHELBY’S TOWINGTHE TRUCK SHOP, INC.TOP GUN TOWINGUNIVERSITY TOWING & TRANSPORTUPMAN’S TOWING SERVICEZUCCALA’S WRECKER SERVICE

PWOF recently introduced our 365 Club. Thisclub provides members a means of offering addi-tional support to our industry throughout the yearby paying $1 a day for their dues in lieu of the reg-ular $250 annual dues. The following membershave already joined our new club. To add yourcompany name to this list, call Stevie at the PWOFoffice, 407-296-3316.

Noah had faith…a wooden boat and two termites.�

�

February/March 2011 PWOFNEWS 32 February/March 2011 PWOFNEWS

2010-2011EXECUTIVE BOARD

PRESIDENTDREW ZUCCALA

ZUCCALA’S WRECKER SERVICE633 E. INDUSTRIAL AVENUEBOYNTON BEACH, FL 33426PHONE: 561-737-1212FAX: 561-737-6379

SECRETARY/TREASURERLYNDA M. WOODCOX CAR CARE

7018 U.S. HWY. 19NEW PORT RICHEY, FL 34652PHONE: 727-847-6655FAX: 727-841-7268

1ST VICE PRESIDENTGLENN LANDAU

FRYER’S TOWING SERVICE722 N. SEGRAVE STREETDAYTONA BEACH, FL 32114PHONE: 386-255-0481FAX: 386-238-0971

2ND VICE PRESIDENTRICK MOORE

UNIVERSITY TOWING & TRANSPORT2546 NW 74 PLACE

GAINESVILLE, FL 32653PHONE: 352-373-4671FAX: 352-377-2435

3RD VICE PRESIDENTJOEY SALADINO

PROMPT WRECKER SERVICE11139 TAMIAMI TRAILPUNTA GORDA, FL 33955PHONE: 941-639-4000FAX:: 941-639-2163

PAST PRESIDENTJOE DRISCOLL

DRISCOLL’S TOWING SERVICE1701 N. DIXIE HWY.

POMPANO BEACH, FL 33060PHONE: 954-946-4747FAX: 954-946-3616

PAST PRESIDENTJIM STEWART

TOP GUN TOWING & RECOVERY624 17TH AVE. WESTBRADENTON, FL 34205PHONE: 941-747-7809FAX: 941-747-6828

4718 Edgewater Dr., Orlando, FL 32804PHONE: (407) 296-3316 FAX: (407) 296-6335

E-MAIL: pwof@hotmail.comWEB SITE: www.pwof.org

THE PWOF NEWS IS THE OFFICIALPUBLICATION OF THE PROFESSIONALWRECKER OPERATORS OF FLORIDA INC.

Copyright© 2011 Professional Wrecker Operators of Florida

By: Drew Zuccala

2011 has begun!PWOF is on a fast track tothe greatest show on earth– the Florida Tow Show® –

in Orlando, April 14-17, 2011. You reallyneed to book your hotel rooms now be-cause this show is going to be busy. All thiscold weather up north is going to bringeveryone to sunny Florida. There will bepeople from around the world at the Show.This is one Show you do not want to miss.

Don’t forget your raffle tickets: theflatbed, supplied by Hino Trucks andMiller Industries, is a real beauty. Ticketsare just $10 each or get 12 tickets for $100.The Area Chairmen around the State havetickets to sell.

On January 22, PWOF held its firstboard meeting of the year. The meetingwas well attended and a lot was discussed.Bob Levy gave a report from Tallahassee.Mike, Sam, Bob Cortes and Ruth havebeen making multiple trips to Tallahasseeto campaign against some of the issuesthat could negatively affect our industry.Remember, the PWOF never sleeps.

The Area Chairmen have held multi-ple meetings statewide, which have beenwell attended - keep up the good work.Elections were held and your new Execu-tive Board for 2011 - 2013 is: Drew Zuc-cala, President, Boynton Beach; GregGaylord, Secretary/Treasurer, Jack-sonville; Glenn Landau, 1st Vice Presi-dent, Daytona; Rick Moore, 2nd VicePresident, Gainesville and Ray Crego Jr.,3rd Vice President, Miami. Also electedwere your Directors at Large: SeanLoscalzo, Davie; Geoff Russell, West PalmBeach; Joe Bolton, Winter Haven and StanForron, Gainesville. Congratulations toeveryone who participated. I am lookingforward to working with these gentlemenduring the next two years and I wish themluck and success. Keep up the good work.

The next Board meeting will be April30, 2011, after the Florida Tow Show®. Thethird Board meeting of 2011 is in July, atthe same time as our annual members re-treat in Key West at the Casa Marina.

Finally I would like to tell you a littlestory. I was at the South Florida Fair inWest Palm Beach, where I entered a big ex-hibit building and came across an exhibitthat truly brought me to tears. It was a low-boy tractor-trailer loaded with burnttwisted metal. The City of New York, ex-mayor Giuliani and the local New York firedepartments donated this metal to theCity of Wellington. I was told that the Cityof New York has saved the recovered metalfrom the Twin Towers disaster. The peopleat the exhibit said that if a city or countywants to build a memorial park as a dedi-cation to 9-11, they can request a piece ofthis metal and everything is donated.

The City of Wellington asked Sister’sTowing of West Palm Beach to go to NewYork and transport this precious metalback to Palm Beach County. Tim Day, afamily member of Sister’s Towing, waselected for the task. I called him the dayafter seeing this exhibit and told him howproud I was that the towing industry wasinvolved in this task. He told me that whenhe arrived in New York, after dropping histrailer at JFK Airport, he went to the hoteland found multiple vehicles from WestPalm Beach to escort him back. On his wayback to Florida, he stopped at several firedepartments in various cities and wasoverwhelmed by the emotional effect thisburnt twisted steel had on so many. Peoplewere saluting, crying and waving, standingon overpasses and blowing their horns. Ipersonally want to thank Tim, Sister’sTowing and their whole crew for being in-volved in this piece of history.

Hopefully I will see you at the upcom-ing Florida Tow Show®.

Your President,

Drew Zuccala

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

not the Senate. The Scott transition team also suggests the state needs to develop a com-prehensive strategy in dealing with Internet sales tax issues. Some lawmakers havepushed for an Internet sales tax in the past, but leadership has always failed to get be-hind the idea.

• Revenue CapsA priority of the President, the concept of capping state and/or local revenue growth

will be a hot button for the next two years - everyone will know and understand TABORby the time it’s over.

• Immigration ReformBesides balancing the budget, expect major issues to include immigration reform.

Illegal immigration promises to be one of the toughest, and possibly most divisive, top-ics lawmakers will discuss during this session. The long-controversial issue gained newprominence last year when Arizona adopted a law requiring police, while in the processof enforcing other laws, to check the immigration status of anyone suspected of beingin the country illegally. As a candidate, Rick Scott, who favors the Arizona approach,quickly made the issue a centerpiece of his gubernatorial campaign, which resonatedwith many conservatives.

• ForeclosuresPrepare for another rough year in housing. The number of foreclosures is expected

to continue to increase and we already are among the states leading the nation in thenumber of foreclosures.

Continued high unemployment and upcoming interest rate resets on adjustablerate mortgages will heighten the foreclosure rate in the year ahead. Some say the tem-porary halt to foreclosure proceedings over the so-called robo signing controversy is toblame.

• Casino GamblingExpect this to be an issue. The Senate committee, which is definitely going to hear

a bill to bring casino gambling to Florida, heard a report on how 13 other states collectedmillions of dollars in revenues after opening their doors to traditional Las Vegas-stylegames. Senate President Mike Haridopolis was quoted saying “there is a 50-50 chanceof the legislature approving casino gaming this year.”

• Pension ReformBoth municipal and state pension reform will be a hot button this year. There is al-

ready a major war on words between the AFL-CIO and the legislature - the AFL-CIO say-ing that “the system is not broken and doesn’t need fixing.” There are 600 unions inFlorida with a membership of 500,000. The Florida Retirement System has 572,000 activeemployees and 319,000 retired members, with beneficiaries drawn from more than 900state and local government employers. The $109 billion fund has had a rollercoaster runin the economy.

• Health Care The health care reform law brings many changes, but perhaps none affect states

more than the revisions to Medicaid. And they come at a time when our system is al-ready strained by increases in caseloads and costs. The law expands the number ofFloridians who have health-care coverage. Individuals with incomes less than 133% ofthe federal poverty level will be eligible for Medicaid. By 2014, Medicaid enrollment willskyrocket. We will have to set up insurance exchanges and overhaul our IT systems tocarry out the new responsibilities under the law. We are participating in a lawsuit seekingto repeal the changes.

Legislative leaders are poised to block spending and rules necessary to implementthe federal health care reform law. Already, state regulators have refused to impose min-imum spending mandates that might generate refunds for consumers - but which healthinsurers say will hurt their profits. And Governor Rick Scott has also made it clear hedoesn’t want the state doing anything to help the law along. With 3.8 milion uninsured,we are one of the states that would be most affected by the law.

• Agency MergersGovernor Rick Scott is being urged by his transition team to fold three state agencies

- DOT, DCA, and DEP - into one new agency charged with helping the state grow. Thereare currently more than 11,000 employees in DOT, DCA and DEP and combined theagencies this year had budgets of more than $9 billion.

• Electricity In the careful-what-you-ask-for department - Governor Rick Scott is promising to

save businesses $3.2 billion on their electric bills - consumer groups fear his plan willpush higher costs onto residential customers. The idea is being floated for an economicdevelopment rate for corporations that agree to relocate to Florida or expand businesseswithin the state. The level of utility cost savings would be tied to job creation. ButFlorida’s four big investor-owned utilities would not have to absorb the rate reduction- instead rate reductions would be offset by higher charges imposed on a utility’s overallrate base - with residential customers shouldering most of the costs.

• Plan for Citizens Property Insurance Another careful-what-you-ask-for. Governor Scott wants to raise rates at Citizens

Property Insurance Corp to make them actuarially sound but doing so would requirehomeowners covered by the state run insurer of last resort to absorb a 55% rate in-crease. Citizens is currently prohibited from raising rates by more than 10% a year, underrestrictions imposed in the aftermath of the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons wheneight storms hit the state in two years. Citizens is now the largest insurance companyin Florida with 1.3 million policyholders and has written about $457 million worth ofproperty coverage.

The Republican agenda for the new Congress may have a greater impact on the 2012elections than on the lives of Americans in the next two years.

Republicans promise to cut spending, roll back President Obama’s health care over-haul and prevent unelected bureaucrats from expanding the government’s role in soci-ety through regulations that tell people what they must or can’t do (unless it’s a woman’sright to choose). Getting this agenda through the House will be easier than in the Senate,given the GOP’s 241-194 majority in the House. Getting the Senate to act where theDems still hold an edge will be a challenge - although the majority is smaller than theone the President had during his first two years in the White House. Even if the next twoyears end in gridlock, Republicans will have built a record for the next election that theyhope will demonstrate to voters that they can get it right.

It will be difficult to do anything with the debt - the federal government has accu-mulated more new debt - $3.22 trillion - during the tenure of the 111th Congress - thanit did during the first 100 Congresses combined. That equals $10,429.64 new debt foreach and every one of us. If you’re in a family of four - you owe $41,716.

THE LEVY REPORT FROM PAGE 1

We need to attract new members to our as-sociation. The PWOF is only as strong as itsnumbers; more participation gives us morevoice in Tallahassee and around the state. Knock on afew doors around your shop and let them know whattheir trade association is doing to protect their interests.

MEMBERSHIP! MEMBERSHIP! MEMBERSHIP!

WE NEED MEMBERS!

February/March 2011 PWOFNEWS 54 February/March 2011 PWOFNEWS

AAG ENVIRONMENTAL, INC. ..................................................800-472-9251ACCESS TOOLS & EQUIPMENT ...............................................800-323-8324ALLSTATE ROADSIDE SERVICES ..............................................508-867-2400AMERICAN TRANSPORTATION INSURANCE GROUP, INC. .................877-933-2550AMSOIL INDEPENDENT DEALER ..............................................407-421-5584ASHFORD RECOVERY (ENGLAND) ......................................011441233 655999AUTO DATA DIRECT, INC.......................................................850-877-8804AW DIRECT, INC. ...............................................................800-270-3975B & B PROTECTOR PLANS, INC...............................................800-338-1935BEACON SOFTWARE, LLC .....................................................866-437-6653BLACKADAR INSURANCE AGENCY, INC......................................407-831-3832CHASE INSURANCE AGENCY INC. ............................................954-792-4300CROUCH’S WRECKER & EQUIPMENT SALES................................800-628-5212CUSTER PRODUCTS LTD .......................................................800-490-3158DIVERSIFIED LEASING SOLUTIONS, INC. ....................................813-282-0357DUAL-TECH, INC. ...............................................................800-852-0345FLEETMATICS USA, INC. ......................................................866-844-2235FLORIDA UTILITY TRAILERS, INC.............................................800-404-6021FLORIDA WIRE & RIGGING SUPPLY, INC.....................................800-432-2269FLORIDA WRECKER SALES, INC. .............................................813-626-2144FOX EVERETT INSURANCE ....................................................228-897-6758G.V.S. ENTERPRISES, INC.....................................................800-541-0460GREENLEAF AUTO RECYCLERS ...............................................888-849-7887GULF COAST UNDERWRITERS ................................................813-864-4428HAMRICK INSURANCE ASSOCIATES .........................................850-877-3108HOOKS TOWING & RECOVERY SUPPLY ......................................800-876-8963INDIANAPOLIS INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS, INC. ..............................800-827-3755INSURANCE AUTO AUCTIONS .................................................407-438-7191INTEK TRUCK & EQUIPMENT LEASING ......................................973-403-7788INTERGIS, LLC ..................................................................877-483-7426JERR-DAN CORPORATION .....................................................800-926-9666KAUFF'S KUSTOM LETTERING & SIGNS .....................................561-775-3278LIFT AND TOW, LLC ............................................................866-494-6500M & S SIGNS ....................................................................407-855-9162MATRIX EMPLOYER SERVICES ...............................................866-453-2722MGA INSURANCE GROUP......................................................941-907-3828MILLER INDUSTRIES TOWING EQUIPMENT .................................800-292-0330NATION SAFE DRIVERS MOTOR CLUB .......................................800-338-2680PEOADVICE.COM...............................................................561-392-5500PEO EXPERTS, INC. ............................................................727-421-8250PHOENIX USA, INC. ............................................................800-786-8785RADIO ONE, INC.................................................................407-296-9488RUSH TRUCK CENTERS OF FLORIDA .........................................813-361-1199S & S ELITE, LLC................................................................888-769-9905SOUTHEAST PERSONNEL LEASING, INC. ....................................727-919-0199SOVEREIGN BANK ..............................................................631-531-0627STOVER SALES, INC............................................................904-696-3496TECHNOGRAPHICS .............................................................352-989-4377THE INSURANCE PROFESSIONALS ...........................................800-266-4446TIM HALPIN EQUIPMENT CORPORATION....................................305-591-3164TLC TRUCK & EQUIPMENT ....................................................866-690-4902TNT INSURANCE AGENCY .....................................................800-691-0053TOWPARTNERS .................................................................877-401-2345TRAIL-EZE TRAILERS...........................................................800-232-5682TRAVIS BARLOW COMPANY ..................................................800-537-7152TRUCKMAX INC.................................................................305-592-3800UNITED STATES AUTO CLUB - MOTOR DIV ..................................888-300-8722U-PULL-AND-PAY - WEST PALM BEACH.....................................561-846-1597WHITE FORD COMPANY, INC..................................................352-225-1466WRECKERS LTD .................................................................305-888-0111

Please Support YourAssociate Members

DID YOU KNOW?

• When Disney began production on the first Herbie film, it organized a castingcall for about a dozen likable automobiles. Included in the mix were Volvos,Toyotas and, of course, the lovable VW Bug. When the staff inspected the cars,they’d kick the tires, grab the steering wheel, and generally roughhouse eachone a bit. But when they finally came to the Beetle, they just began to pet it. Thesmug car landed the part immediately.

• An earthquake on December 16, 1811, caused parts of the Mississippi River toflow backwards.

• The original city chosen to be the home for Disney World was not Orlando,Florida, but St. Louis, Missouri.

• The longest continuous sidewalk in the world is along Bay Shore Blvd. in Tampa,Florida.

• President Gerald Ford was offered contracts with the Green Bay Packers andthe Detroit Lions.

• Two-thirds of the world’s lawyers live in the United States.

• The famous Mount Rushmore in South Dakota featuring the heads of presidentsWashington, T. Roosevelt, Jefferson, and Lincoln was built solely as a tourist

trap to give South Dakota tourism dollars that itdesperately needed. And guess what? Itworked. Almost 3 million people visit themountain each year.

• Al Capone’s brother was a cop.

• William Shatner (Captain Kirk fromStak Trek) could never spread hisfingers in the Vulcan greeting un-less the studio crew taped or tiedfishing line around his fingers.

• The shotput used by male athletesweighs 16 lbs., the same as themaximum weight for a bowling ball.

NEW MEMBERS

REGION 2HOBKIRK ENTERPRISES TOWING& RECOVERY INCDAVID HOBKIRK2301 RONELLIS DRIVETALLAHASSEE, FL 32310850-224-6456 • FAX: 850-578-1135

REGION 5ACE WRECKERROBERT FAULK5601 S. ORANGE BLOSSOM TRAILORLANDO, FL 32839407-855-6631 • FAX: 407-855-0848

REGION 5HUGHES TOWING & RECOVERYKEITH JOHNSON2202 W. WASHINGTON STREETORLANDO, FL 32805407-425-9999 • FAX: 407-649-1643

REGION 5KISSIMMEE B LOGISTICS TOWINGRAUL ESTREMERA125 E. WETHERBEE ROAD ORLANDO, FL 32824407-852-9362 • FAX: 407-852-9363

REGION 7PRIORITY TOWING INC.AARON COCUZZO714-740 BARNETT DRIVELAKE WORTH, FL 33461561-533-5573 • FAX: 561-533-5589

REGION 7PANTHER TOWING INC.ANAYZA ALI7640 HOOPER ROAD – UNIT 6WEST PALM BEACH, FL 33411561-422-9910 • FAX: 561-422-9960

February/March 2011 PWOFNEWS 76 February/March 2011 PWOFNEWS

BUSINESS