Tracy, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)
Key Facts
- Response time
- 30 minutes or lose rotation turn
- Storage lot
- within 2 miles of city limits
- Storage fence
- 6 ft minimum, barbed wire required
- Liability insurance
- $500,000/$500,000/$100,000 minimum
- Passenger transport coverage
- $1,000,000 required
- Suspension notice
- 72 hours written
Summary
Tracy Police Department dispatches non-consent tows only to operators on its Chapter 3.44 rotation list. Responding to a police radio call or soliciting tow work without a specific department request is unlawful, approved operators must reach the scene within thirty minutes, and each must carry at least $500,000 in liability coverage and a storage lot within two miles of the city limits.
3.44.040 - Unlawful responses: It is unlawful for any person, towing service operator or the agent, attendant or other employee of a towing service operator, whether or not on the rotation list, to respond to any police radio call for the purpose of removing from the public streets and towing away any vehicle subject to the provisions of this chapter unless specifically requested to do so by an officer or representative of the Tracy Police Department. ... 3.44.200 - Response time requirements: Tow service operators shall respond to all calls for towing service within thirty (30) minutes or less. If a towing service operator is unable to respond within such time and notifies the Police Department of that fact at the time the call for service is received, the operator will be assigned an alternate turn.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 69).
Full Breakdown
44, Police Towing Services, regulates every operator who tows illegally parked, abandoned, accident-involved or mechanically disabled vehicles at police direction. 050 separately bars soliciting any regulated towing work before being asked by the vehicle's owner or the police. 090 with ownership, vehicle and five-year criminal-history disclosures, fingerprints and a filing fee, and is rejected for felony or moral-turpitude convictions, multiple narcotics or DUI convictions, or inadequate towing experience. 150. 180 requires a storage lot within two miles of the city limits enclosed by a six-foot fence topped with barbed wire, twenty-four-hour on-call availability, and liability coverage of $500,000 per accident/injury and $100,000 property damage, rising to $1,000,000 if the operator transports passengers. 200 sets a thirty-minute response window; missing it without advance notice costs the operator its rotation turn. 240.
Violations & Fines
Unauthorized response to a police tow call or unsolicited solicitation of regulated towing work under §§ 3.44.040-3.44.050 exposes an operator to removal from the rotation list. The Chief of Police may suspend or revoke an operator's rotation status under § 3.44.170 for failing the chapter's requirements, lapsed insurance, an unexplained ten-day service gap, or an unnoticed change of ownership, after seventy-two hours' written notice; a rejected or disciplined operator may appeal to the City Manager under § 3.44.240.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can any tow company respond to a Tracy police call?
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Tracy
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