Ohio Administrative Code › Title 4901:2 - Motor Carriers › Chapter 4901:2-22 - Towing Safety Standards › Section 4901:2-22-01 - Definitions

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1, 2024
(A) "Advertisement"
			 means any written communication to the public in connection with an offer or
			 sale of any towing service but does not include a listing of a carrier name,
			 address, and telephone number in a yellow or white pages listing, if that is
			 the only information provided in the listing.
(B) "Boom" means a structural member of a tow
			 truck that extends from a mast to support the load and to hold, extend, or lift
			 a load free of the ground and clear of the tow truck body, and may be operated
			 mechanically or hydraulically.
(C)
			 "Breaking strength rating" means the maximum weight or load, as established by
			 the manufacturer of the equipment, that equipment can bear under ideal
			 laboratory conditions, without breaking or being damaged.
(D) "Certificate number" means the
			 identification number issued to a for-hire motor carrier by the commission
			 pursuant to the rules in Chapter 4901:2-21 of the Administrative
			 Code.
(E) "Commission" means the
			 public utilities commission of Ohio.
(F) "For-hire motor carrier" has the same
			 meaning as in section
			 4923.01 of the Revised
			 Code.
(G) "Front axle weight" means
			 that gross axle weight of the front axle.
(H) "Gross axle weight means the weight, in
			 pounds, that an individual axle actually weighs. The curb weight of an
			 individual axle.
(I) "Gross axle
			 weight rating" means the value specified by the manufacturer as the maximum
			 load carrying capacity of a single axle.
(J) "Mast" means a structure that houses the
			 boom and winches.
(K) "Motor
			 vehicle" has the same meaning as in section
			 4921.01 of the Revised
			 Code.
(L) "Overhang" means the
			 distance, in inches, from the center of the lift point to the center of the
			 rear axle of the tow truck.
(M)
			 "Safe towing capacity" means the maximum load that does not cause more than a
			 fifty percent loss of a tow truck's original unloaded front axle weight. Safe
			 towing capacity 
								is determined by multiplying one-half of a tow
			 truck's front axle weight by its wheelbase divided by the overhang (one-half
			 times front axle weight, times wheelbase/overhang).
(N) "Safety device" means a device used as a
			 secondary coupling system to connect the tow truck and towed motor vehicle and
			 to help prevent separation of a towed motor vehicle from the tow
			 truck.
(O) "Storage facility" means
			 any place to which such a for-hire motor carrier delivers a motor vehicle towed
			 pursuant to sections 4513.60,
			 4513.601,
			 4513.602,
			 4513.61, and
			 4513.66 of the Revised
			 Code.
(P) "Thimble" means a shield
			 to protect a cable at a hook assembly.
(Q) "Tow bar" means a device used to tow a
			 motor vehicle that allows all four wheels to remain on the ground.
(R) "Tow dolly" means a carriage used to
			 support the wheels of the trailing end of a towed motor vehicle whenever it is
			 necessary to keep the wheels of the towed motor vehicle from touching the
			 road.
(S) "Tow sling" means a
			 device used to lift and tow a motor vehicle with part of the load supported on
			 rubber belts.
(T) "Tow truck" means
			 a motor vehicle that is equipped with towing equipment and used in the business
			 of recovering or transporting a disabled, illegally parked, or abandoned motor
			 vehicle, or a motor vehicle involved in an accident.
(U) "Towing device" means any item including
			 but not limited to a wire rope, chain, cable, hook, or strap used in support of
			 a piece of towing equipment to pull, lift, support, suspend, secure or tow a
			 motor vehicle.
(V) "Towing
			 equipment" means any mechanism including but not limited to a boom, winch,
			 wheel lift, under lift, tow sling, or tow bar affixed to a tow truck to pull,
			 lift, support, suspend, secure, or tow a motor vehicle.
(W) "Towing service" has the same meaning as
			 in sections 4513.60,
			 4513.602,
			 4513.61,
			 4513.66, and
			 4513.67 of the Revised
			 Code.
(X) "Under lift" means a
			 device used for towing a motor vehicle by lifting with forks one end of the
			 towed motor vehicle from under the axle or other structural member.
(Y) "Wheelbase" means the distance, in
			 inches, from the centerline of the front axle to the centerline of the rear
			 axle.
(Z) "Wheel lift" means a
			 device extending from a tow truck and fitted under one set of wheels of a towed
			 motor vehicle to cradle and lift one end of the towed motor vehicle by the
			 wheels.
(AA) "Winch" means a device
			 used to wind or unwind cable that is used to pull, hoist, raise or lower a
			 load.
(BB) "Working load limit"
			 means the maximum weight or load, as established by the manufacturer of the
			 equipment, that equipment can bear under normal operating conditions.