Tracy, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

Chapter 3.44, Police Towing Services, regulates every operator who tows illegally parked, abandoned, accident-involved or mechanically disabled vehicles at police direction. TMC § 3.44.040 makes it unlawful for any towing operator, listed or not, to respond to a police radio call for a tow unless a Tracy Police officer specifically requests that operator, and § 3.44.050 separately bars soliciting any regulated towing work before being asked by the vehicle's owner or the police. To join the rotation list, an operator applies to the Chief of Police under § 3.44.090 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.

Approved operators must meet the equipment standards of § 3.44.100 (one-ton chassis, required lighting, two-way radio, tools and absorbent material), obtain a CHP Tow Vehicle Inspection Certificate annually under § 3.44.110, and staff every truck with an attendant holding a permit issued under §§ 3.44.130-3.44.150. Section 3.44.180 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.

Section 3.44.200 sets a thirty-minute response window; missing it without advance notice costs the operator its rotation turn. The Chief of Police may suspend or revoke rotation status under § 3.44.170 for noncompliance, lapsed insurance, an unexplained ten-day shutdown, or an unauthorized change of ownership, with seventy-two hours' written notice, and any denied or revoked applicant may appeal to the City Manager under § 3.44.240.