Tow drivers had license suspensions

They patrol city streets, slapping boots on cars that have overdue tickets and towing the ones illegally parked in handicapped spaces or in front of fire hydrants. But the city tow truck drivers who are hauling cars away may not be squeaky clean themselves.

A half-dozen Boston tow truck drivers have had their licenses suspended a total of 13 times while employed by the city. And they continued to work the streets, slipping through a hole in city oversight that the mayor vowed to fix five months ago.

According to a Globe review of Registry of Motor Vehicles records, the suspensions ranged from one week to five months for offenses from failing to show up for court appointments to excessive speeding violations.

City transportation officials said they did not know that any of the department's tow truck operators had worked while their licenses were suspended because the department only checks driving records of heavy equipment operators when it hires them, allowing subsequent problems on their records to go unnoticed.

"It's very difficult to stay on top of that," said Transportation Commissioner Thomas J. Tinlin.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino pledged in March to implement a policy requiring periodic reviews of the personal driving records of city employees who operate heavy equipment after a Globe report showed Public Works employees who drive equipment such as snowplows on city streets had amassed large numbers of violations, including license suspensions. One driver with multiple drug violations on his record allegedly hit a 64-year-old woman with a city snow plow in January.

Last week, the Globe reported that a tow truck driver arrested July 20 and accused of buying OxyContin in a city truck had been working without a valid license for nearly three years.

City officials say they have made little progress on implementing the new policy since the mayor made his promise in March. They say they have been delayed by disagreements within the administration and the heavy equipment operators' union over details of the policy. Officials said they have haggled over which employees should be subject to the checks, who would perform the checks, who would have access to the information, and where it would be kept.

"The administration, the different departments, and the union have been working out a number of different issues," John Dunlap, the city's director of labor relations, said.

For this report, the Globe reviewed driving records for 29 of the city's 35 tow truck operators. The remaining records were not obtained because birthdates and current addresses, required by the RMV for the release of driving records, could not be determined for some of the tow truck operators.

The review found that the 29 tow truck drivers had collectively accumulated 177 traffic violations as Massachusetts drivers, including 53 speeding tickets and 46 citations for accidents in which they were deemed to be at fault. Two drivers had alcohol or drug violations on their records. One fled the scene of an accident that caused injuries, and another was cited for refusing to obey police.

The Transportation Department said four of the drivers no longer work for the city. Still, officials said, they are eager to begin regular checks of driving records.

"If people are going to be driving for the city of Boston they have to have a valid driver's license," Tinlin said. "I'd like to go back and clean up the mess that has occurred before today, but we can only go forward."

City officials say they are planning to participate in a pilot program at the Registry to conduct computerized checks of city drivers' records every night and notify city officials by e-mail whenever a license is suspended.

"I think that the pilot program resolves a number of the key issues," Dunlap said.

Dunlap said the program will begin soon, but he couldn't give an exact date because negotiations hadn't been finalized.

Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.