No license leads to heavy tow truck pulled from the road in Caledon

Even tow trucks need a lift sometimes, like a driver in Caledon who needed a tow after police say they were operating without a permit.

The traffic stop happened when the OPP says officers stopped a heavy tow truck driver in Caledon on Sunday.

Police say the towing company had been operating without a license.

Ontario’s Towing and Storage Safety Enforcement Act (TSSEA) came into effect on Jan. 1, bringing in a new provincial program for the towing and vehicle storage industry.

The new rules take oversight and licensing away from individual municipalities, with tow truck enforcement now under the provincial Ministry of Transportation (MTO).

Police say the driver of the heavy tow truck required a tow themselves after the truck was put in a seven-day impound.

“Well, that tow-tally could’ve been avoided by following the law,” police said in a post on social media.

The province established a towing task force in 2020 to increase safety and enforcement while improving industry standards in response to “concerns about violence and criminal activity in the industry.”

If you need a tow truck while driving on the 401 you can call 511 for a tow truck through the province’s Tow Zone pilot project, or dial *OPP for service elsewhere in Ontario.