Oklahoma Wrecker Rules and Regulations: Costs, Consent, and Release

Oklahoma’s wrecker rules and regulations are set out in Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes and in administrative rules enforced by the Department of Public Safety (DPS), with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) setting maximum rates for non-consent tows. Together they cap what a wrecker service can charge, decide who is allowed to perform police-ordered and private-property tows, and give you the right to get your belongings back without paying the bill first.

What a Tow Can Legally Cost

Title 47, Section 953.1 sets hard fee caps on both consent and non-consent tows. The number depends on the vehicle’s weight, where it was parked, and when the tow happened. For a standard passenger vehicle under 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating, the maximum hookup-and-tow charge is:

Daytime weekday tow from a roadway: $150
Private property tow, vehicle not blocking a road: $125
Nighttime tow (10 p.m. to 6 a.m.) from a roadway: $150
Nighttime tow from private property: $175
Weekend or holiday tow from a roadway: $175
Weekend or holiday tow from private property: $200¹

For heavier vehicles at 10,000 pounds or more, the caps run from $200 for a private-property tow that isn’t blocking traffic up to $275 for a weekend or holiday tow from private property.¹

These caps include the hookup fee. A wrecker service that charges above these amounts on a non-consent tow is violating state law. On a consent tow, where you called the company yourself, you and the operator can agree to different terms, but the statutory numbers are still a useful benchmark.

Operators have to post the current DPS schedule of rates in a place the public can see, and the fees charged on a law enforcement tow cannot exceed what the operator charges for a similar owner-requested tow under the same conditions.²

Consent Tows vs. Non-Consent Tows

A consent tow is one you asked for: you called the company, you picked them, you agreed to the price. A non-consent tow is one ordered without your immediate approval, almost always by law enforcement. Oklahoma law lets an officer order a non-consent tow when a vehicle appears abandoned, when a driver cannot take charge of the vehicle after an accident, or when a vehicle is left unattended and creates a hazard to traffic or public transit.³

In a non-consent situation you do not get to pick the company or negotiate price at the scene. The officer or dispatcher selects a wrecker from a DPS-maintained rotation list of licensed Class AA operators, which is the classification required to handle police-ordered tows. For large truck wreckers (Class AA-TL), troopers and dispatchers have some discretion to call a specific operator out of rotation order when the situation requires it.⁴

Removal From Private Property

A property owner cannot have a car hauled off the moment it’s inconvenient. Oklahoma treats a vehicle as abandoned on private property only after it has sat there at least 48 hours, or when it was parked without express or implied permission.⁵

Only a licensed Class AA wrecker service can perform the removal. Before the tow, the property owner and the wrecker driver have to jointly complete a Tow Request and Authorization Form and inventory the personal property in or on the vehicle while in each other’s presence. The property owner must show identification, and the operator is responsible for verifying it and recording it on the form. The completed form goes to DPS and the local law enforcement agency.⁵

Notice to the vehicle owner happens in two stages. The wrecker service has three business days from the tow to request current owner and lienholder information from the Oklahoma Tax Commission. Within seven days of getting that information back, the service must send a certified-mail notice of the vehicle’s location to the owner and any lienholder.⁵

Getting Your Car and Belongings Back

You have the right to retrieve personal property from a towed vehicle without first paying the towing or storage bill. The operator has to release your belongings when you show up with documentation proving ownership. They cannot hold your things as leverage to collect the fee.⁶

During normal business hours there is no fee for retrieving personal property. Operators also have to allow access to the vehicle so you can grab ownership documentation such as the title or registration.⁷ Two exceptions: an operator does not have to pull property from a vehicle that is under a law enforcement investigative hold or that contains biohazards.

If you want the vehicle itself released outside normal business hours, there is a separate after-hours release fee capped by the OCC at $15 per quarter hour, which can cover travel to the lot, waiting for you, and processing. Before you request after-hours release, the operator has to tell you that picking the car up during normal business hours the next day would likely cost less.²

Storage lots must be fenced, lit, and secured against unauthorized entry, and any personal property an operator removes from a vehicle has to be kept under lock and key or watched by a round-the-clock attendant.⁷

Who Can Operate a Wrecker in Oklahoma

Every wrecker operator has to be licensed by the DPS Wrecker Services Division before performing a tow. The application requires the DPS form, the prescribed fees, a current Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation criminal record check for each owner and employee listed, and proof of liability insurance covering every wrecker vehicle. Anyone on the application who has lived outside Oklahoma within the preceding five years also has to submit a background check from each state where they resided during that period.⁸

Licenses come in classes. Class G covers general towing. Class AA authorizes tows for law enforcement, including non-consent tows and abandoned-vehicle removal from private property, and requires a DPS-approved storage facility. Class AA-TM and Class AA-TL cover medium and large truck wreckers, with progressively higher insurance minimums.⁹

Insurance uses a combined single limit structure. Class G and Class AA operators need at least $100,000 in combined bodily injury and property damage coverage for the wrecker and the vehicle being towed, at least $50,000 in garagekeeper’s legal liability (deductible no greater than $500), and at least $50,000 in on-hook coverage for damage to the vehicle in tow (deductible no greater than $500). Class G operators who do not provide storage are exempt from the garagekeeper’s requirement.¹⁰

Class AA-TM operators need at least $200,000 combined bodily injury and property damage, $100,000 garagekeeper’s, and $100,000 on-hook. Class AA-TL operators need at least $300,000 combined bodily injury and property damage. All policies have to be issued for at least six months.¹⁰

How to File a Complaint

Who hears your complaint depends on what went wrong. Rate disputes on non-consent tows go to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s Transportation Division. Licensing, equipment, storage, and operational violations go to DPS, which can investigate, inspect facilities, and impose penalties up to license revocation.

To challenge an overcharge, complete the OCC’s Nonconsensual Tow Rate Complaint form, attach a copy of your invoice, and submit it:¹¹

Mail: Oklahoma Corporation Commission, Transportation Division, Attn. Nonconsensual Tow Section, P.O. Box 52000, Oklahoma City, OK 73152-2000
Phone: 405-522-0131
Email: TRNonConTowComplaint@occ.ok.gov

Keep your invoice, any photos you took of posted fee schedules at the storage lot, and any records of what the operator told you. A complaint lands much harder when the numbers on the paper don’t match the caps in the statute.

1
Oklahoma State Senate. Oklahoma Statutes Title 47 – Motor Vehicles
2
Oklahoma Department of Public Safety. Oklahoma Admin Code 595-25-5-6 – Schedule of Rates and Fees
3
Justia. Oklahoma Code 47 – Towing of Vehicle from Roadway – Grounds and Licensed Wrecker Liability
4
Cornell Law School. Oklahoma Admin Code 595-25-9-3 – Rotation Calls for Truck Wreckers
5
Justia. Oklahoma Code 47 – 954A – Abandoned Motor Vehicle
6
Oklahoma Corporation Commission. Questions and Answers Regarding Nonconsensual Tow Rates
7
Oklahoma Department of Public Safety. Oklahoma Admin Code 595-25-5-3 – Operation
8
Cornell Law School. Oklahoma Admin Code 595-25-3-2 – Applications
9
Cornell Law School. Oklahoma Admin Code 595-25-1-2 – Definitions
10
Cornell Law School. Oklahoma Admin Code 595-25-5-4 – Insurance Policy
11
Oklahoma Corporation Commission. Nonconsensual Tow Rate Complaint Form