A trucking company out of Arkansas says that the infamous A-1’s towing is “holding our truck hostage” despite being loaded with a very expensive, important load of pharmaceuticals.
Little Rock, Arkansas’ BigTrux Transportation, owned by Andrew Adams, recently contacted WREG to report that the now-infamous A-1’s Towing is “holding our truck hostage as we speak.”
The story Adams told about his truck being booted and towed is now all-too-familiar of a story for truckers passing through the Memphis area, but the city has yet to do anything to help the drivers and the companies targeted by this predatory, potentially illegal towing company.
“I mean, truck parking in Memphis has been a huge problem lately, absolutely,” said Adams. “He [BigTrux’s driver] told me that our truck had been booted. Some random guy put a boot on our truck. One of them was unmarked, looked like a police car, Impala. They were making it look like a police car,” he said.
Adams explained that the driver agreed he had not paid the parking fee right away, so A-1’s booted the truck. The issue really started when A-1’s demanded $256 to remove the boot, and then towed the truck anyway. This particular truck was loaded with $70,000 worth of pharmaceutical products that required refrigeration, causing an even bigger issue than just an out-of-commission truck.
“Now we’re facing a penalty from this customer saying they’re going to file a $70,000 claim against our company because we can’t deliver the product on time like we said we would,” he said.
Adams then drove all the way to Memphis to deal with the issue, but it did not go smoothly.
“I started videoing the compound and where my truck is and all that to get some footage. A guy jumps out of the car and gets right in front of my face acting like he’s going to get physical with me and at that point I call the police,” Adams said.He was then told it would cost him $2,800 to get his truck back, but A-1’s refused to provide an itemized invoice for the cost.
Over the last 12 months, the City of Memphis Permits Office has received almost two dozen complaints from truckers accusing A-1’s of illegally booting and towing their trucks, but the towing company has filed a lawsuit against the city, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis, and multiple MPD officers for discrimination against a company owned by minorities.
For now, truck drivers and company owners say Memphis needs to get the situation figured out, or drivers may start refusing to make deliveries there.
“It needs to be put to a stop,” Adams said.