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A.  Any arrangement, agreement or understanding covering or contemplating the operation or use of wreckers or towing services for hire, charge or compensation or for any benefit amounting to a consideration is a business affected with the public interest.  As used in this section, “wreckers or towing services” means any motor vehicle capable of pulling or towing any wrecked, damaged or disabled motor vehicle or any motor vehicle otherwise incapable of self-propulsion.  Except as otherwise provided in this section, the provisions of this Chapter shall be applicable to the regulation of this business.

B.  The legislature, in the exercise of its police power, hereby finds and declares that the use and operation of wreckers and towing services should be the subject of regulation by the Louisiana Public Service Commission, that there has been within this state a marked increase in the number of such vehicles and the use thereof, that excessive charges have been levied at times by the persons engaging in this business, that the public is not adequately protected from the levy of such charges, that the irresponsible operation of this business is detrimental to the general welfare and that the health, safety and welfare of the public make it imperative that effective, uniform, reasonable and just supervision, regulation and control be exercised over the operation of the business of operating and using such vehicles to insure their responsibility in order that the paramount interest of the public be protected and conserved.

C.(1)  The commission has power and authority necessary to supervise, govern, regulate, and control the business of the operation and use of wreckers and towing services, to designate classes and categories of said vehicles, to fix reasonable and just rates, fares, tolls, charges for storage services, or charges for the commodities furnished or services rendered by persons engaging in the operation and use of said vehicles.

(2)  The power, authority, and duties of the commission shall include all matters connected with the service to be given or rendered, the records to be kept by persons engaged in said business.  Except as otherwise provided, the commission shall have the power to adopt and enforce such reasonable rules, regulations, and modes or procedure as it may deem proper for the discharge of its duties, to summon and compel the attendance of witnesses, to swear witnesses, to compel the production of books and papers, to take testimony under commission and punish for contempt as fully as is provided for by law by the district courts, and to prescribe and require the furnishing and filing of tariffs and schedules.

(3)  The commission shall be charged with the duty of policing and enforcing the provisions of this Section.  Its duly appointed officers shall have authority to make arrests for violations of any of the provisions of this Section, orders, decisions, rules, and regulations of the commission, or any part or portion thereof, and to serve any notice, order, or subpoena issued by any court, the commission, its secretary, or any employee authorized to issue same, and to this end shall have full authority throughout the state.  Such officers upon reasonable belief that any motor vehicle is being operated in violation of any provisions of this Section shall be authorized to require the driver thereof to stop and exhibit the registration certificate issued for such vehicle, to submit to such officers for inspection any and all bills of lading, waybills, invoices, or other evidences of the character of the lading being transported in such vehicle and to permit such officer to inspect the contents of such vehicle for the purpose of comparing same with bills of lading, waybills, invoices, or other evidences of ownership or of transportation for compensation.

(4)  It shall be the further duty of such enforcement officers to impound any books, papers, bills of lading, waybills, and invoices which would indicate the transportation service being performed is in violation of this Section, subject to the further orders of the commission.

D.  No person shall engage in the business of the operation and use of wreckers and towing services without first having obtained from the commission a wrecker license, the number of which shall be displayed on both sides of every wrecking vehicle he operates.  The fee for such license shall not exceed ten dollars.

E.  In addition to any other penalties imposed by this Chapter, no person shall violate any of the provisions of this Section or any of the rules, regulations, orders, or decrees of the commission promulgated pursuant to this Section, or engage in the business of the operation and use of wreckers and towing services without first having obtained a common carrier certificate or a contract carrier permit from the commission.  Whoever violates the provisions of this Section shall be fined by the commission at open hearing not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars for each violation.

F.  Municipalities and parishes may, by ordinance, regulate, control, supervise and govern the business of operation and use of wreckers and towing devices in the manner provided under this section until such time as the public service commission shall pass uniform regulations applicable throughout the state; provided that the authority herein granted to parishes shall not extend to such businesses within the corporate limits within any municipality lying within the parish.  The penalty for violation of such ordinances shall be no more severe than those contained in Subsection (E) of this section.

Added by Acts 1968, No. 219, §1.  Amended by Acts 1970, No. 56, §1; Acts 1999, No. 1107, §1; Acts 1999, No. 1108, §2.