03-07-2025
Follow the rules or get towed at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront
VIRGINIA BEACH — July Fourth weekend is one of the busiest times for towing companies in the Virginia Beach resort area.
When parking spaces fill up, drivers in desperation bend the rules. But a beachgoer who parks in a retail store lot where signs outlining the rules are posted takes a costly risk. A tow truck driver is waiting in the wings for their car.
'Pay attention to signs,' said Mark Sawyers, operator of Affordable Towing, a Chesapeake-based company that monitors parking lots at the Oceanfront. 'Don't ignore them.'
Affordable Towing and other local towing companies have agreements with dozens of private property owners to service their lots. Tow truck drivers can match license plate numbers to a list provided by the property owner or can check for parking permits displayed in vehicle windows. The police department also uses local towing companies to remove vehicles on the street or public property for public safety purposes.
'They dictate the rules; we don't go willy-nilly to properties,' said Brad Volner, owner of Aristocrat Towing and a member of Virginia Beach's Towing Advisory Board.
The cost of a tow is $200, plus a daily storage fee ranging from $60 to $100 per 24 hours of storage based on gross vehicle weight. Virginia towing companies can also charge a $20 fuel surcharge for each vehicle towed from private property without the owner's consent.
The City Council approved an increase in towing fees in 2023 to help the local towing industry offset the rising cost of equipment and operations. State law allows localities to set limits on towing fees. The council will review the rates later this year.
Many tow companies face challenges with staffing because of the gritty nature of the work.
'This is a tough job,' Sawyers said. 'You can make $15 to $17 an hour working at Chick-fil-a saying 'my pleasure,' or you can get screamed at for 10 minutes by somebody that's mad at you.'
It can also be dangerous if a car owner becomes enraged about their car being towed, said Mark, a driver for Affordable Towing. He did not want to provide his last name out of fear of retribution given the nature of his job. Mark, 53, has worked in the industry for more than 20 years.
'Everybody thinks we're horrible people,' he said. 'We're just enforcers of the rules. We're the parking lot police.'
But his job is commission-based, and he earns 25% from every tow, he said. He sets a personal goal to tow 10 cars a day, though that doesn't always happen.
'It varies, but this time of year if I don't take home $1,500 to $2,000 (a week) I get mad at myself,' he said. 'It's all about hustle, get out here, find the cars and get it done.'
In the tow truck business, there's no room for empathy.
'You have to put your heart to the side,' Mark said. 'It's a job, that's all it is. Was the vehicle illegally parked, yes or no.'
On a recent afternoon, Mark fired up his company truck and headed to the resort area to make the rounds. The first stop was a private self-pay parking lot at the South End where drivers are required to display a receipt in their window. He jumped out of the driver's seat and walked the lot to check each car. Later, in a residential lot on 36th Street and Atlantic Avenue, he found a car parked without a required permit displayed, hooked it up and hauled it to the company's storage yard on 18th Street.
Affordable Towing keeps tabs on its drivers through cameras mounted in the trucks and a vehicle tracking app. The drivers also take photographs of the cars they tow and upload it to a database. Each tow is reported to the city's police department, he said.
The city wasn't immediately able to provide data on tow numbers for this year.
Virginia Beach's Towing Advisory Board advises the City Council on private and police-directed towing issues. The committee consists of three members: one representative of licensed towing and recovery operators, one representative from local law enforcement and one member of the general public.
Affordable Towing has storage lot for impounded cars next to Atlantic Park at the Oceanfront. If a car is towed, the vehicle's owner can come to the office next to the lot to retrieve it.
Car owners can dispute a tow if they have information that contradicts the tow truck driver's details. For example, if license plate data is slow to load in the app that the tow truck driver uses to determine which cars have paid to park.
'If it truly ends up being a technical glitch, then we will refund them,' Mark said.
If a car owner sees his or her car being towed before it's fully hooked up, they may be able to pay a drop fee of $25. Driver's like Mark work quickly to haul cars away.
'I don't get paid extra to argue with people when they come out and catch me,' he said. 'The point is get the car and get out of there. That's the job.'
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125,
