服务请求 #5：伙计，我的车在哪？

嗯，我以为我的车被偷了，我当时就想，这种事真的会发生吗？

Well, I thought my car had been stolen, which I was like, does that even happen?

我想确实会发生，但你知道，我的车非常老旧了。

I guess it does, but, you know, my car is really old.

这是一辆2011年的马自达6，我真的想不通为什么有人会想偷这辆车。

It's like 2011 Mazda six, so I really didn't know why anyone would wanna take that car.

我是凯莉·普莱姆。

This is Kelly Prime.

我们曾在99pi一起工作，她住在布鲁克林。

We worked together at 99pi, and she lives in Brooklyn.

就在不久之前，她经历了一件让她深受震撼的事。

And not too long ago, she had an experience that shook her.

她和朋友们一整天都在康尼岛游玩，回家途中打算买些外卖。

She and her friends had been out for the day in Coney Island, and they were stopping to get some takeout on the way home.

他们在餐厅附近找了个地方停车。

They were looking for a place to park not too far from the restaurant.

你知道的，这是布鲁克林，停车位本来就很少。

And, you know, this is Brooklyn, so there's not a lot of parking available.

所有路边的停车位看起来都停满了。

And all the street parking looked like it was filled up.

但在右侧，我们发现了一个灯火通明、漂亮又空着的停车场，就在一家7-Eleven前面。

But on the right hand side, we come upon this brightly lit, beautiful, empty parking lot in front of a seven Eleven.

太完美了。

Perfect.

简直让人无法抗拒，听起来就是这样。

Like irresistible, it sounds like.

无法抗拒，像一片绿洲，有些人可能会这么说。

Irresistible, an oasis, allure, some might say.

于是我们把车停在了停车场，开进去时是唯一一辆车，真是奇迹，然后我们冲进超市，大概花了十五分钟买了东西。

So we parked in the parking lot, pulled up, only car there, what a miracle, and just ran out into the supermarket and spent probably, like, you know, fifteen minutes grabbing our stuff.

他们回来后走到7-Eleven的停车场，车不见了。

They came back out, went to the seven Eleven parking lot, and the car wasn't there.

不见了。

Disappeared.

车没了。

The car was gone.

我有一瞬间还抱着侥幸心理。

And I was sort of in denial for a second.

我想着，肯定不会吧。

I was like, well, surely.

我本来就不怎么记得自己停哪儿了，但这个停车场也不大，而且灯火通明，一辆车都没有。

Like, I just I'm not that great at remembering where I parked anyway, but it's not a big lot, and it's super brightly lit, and there's no cars there.

于是她和朋友们走进七十一便利店，问有没有人看到什么。

So she and her friends went into the seven eleven to ask if anyone had seen anything.

我们走到收银台，说：我觉得我们的车刚被偷了。

We go to the register, and we're like, I think our car just got stolen.

你们有没有看到有人偷车？

Did you see anyone steal a car?

那个家伙说：没有。

And the guy was like, no.

车没被偷。

It didn't get stolen.

是被拖走了。

Got towed.

那个家伙表现得好像这辈子从来没听过这么无聊的事。

And this guy is just acting like like he's never heard something more boring in his life.

他说道：是的。

And he was like, yeah.

每天有二十辆车被拖走。

Like, 20 cars get towed a day.

外面有个告示。

There's a sign out there.

打电话联系。

Call the number.

回到停车场后，他们确实发现了警告未经授权车辆将被拖走的标志。

Back out in the parking lot, they did find signs warning that unauthorized cars would be towed.

其中一个标志是西里尔文的，另一个被涂鸦覆盖，还有一个藏在停车场的远角。

One was in Cyrillic, one was covered in graffiti, and another was tucked away in a far corner of the lot.

凯莉想到去查看7-Eleven的谷歌评价，结果发现有数十人讲述了几乎相同的故事。

Kelly had the idea to pull up the Google reviews for the seven eleven, and they found dozens of people telling pretty much the same story.

上面写着：我曾是他们的顾客多年，多年来一直光顾这家店，直到我的车在离开不到六分钟就被拖走了。

It says, I was their customer for many years, gave a great business for all those years till my car was towed less than six minutes absence.

如果你读其他一星评价，就会明白发生了什么。

If you read the other one star review, you'll understand what's going on.

这家店在搞骗局。

Store is running a scam.

我们在店里买了饮料，然后有人叫了拖车。

We bought drinks in the store, and someone called the towing truck.

永远不要从这家店买东西。

Never buy anything from this store.

拨打311。

Call 311.

太糟糕了，太不道德了。

Terrible and unethical.

把你的车扣押，然后向你索要150美元。

Your car hostage and get a 150 from you.

我是德莱尼·霍尔，这是来自99%隐形和Campside Media的《服务请求》。

I'm Delaney Hall, and this is Service Request from ninety nine percent Invisible and Campside Media.

我们接收您关于基础设施的迫切问题，并进行调查。

We take your burning questions about infrastructure, and we investigate.

凯莉最终在当晚取回了她的车，我们会详细讲讲这件事。

Kelly eventually got her car back that night, and we will get into that.

但整个经历让她留下了一个挥之不去的问题，或者说是一连串的问题。

But the whole experience left her with a question that she could not shake, or really a whole bunch of questions.

你怎么可能只是把车停在那里，十五分钟后它就不见了？

How is it that you can just park your car, fifteen minutes later it's gone?

我不知道谁负责监管这件事。

I don't know who's in charge of regulating this.

我不知道是谁赋予这些拖车司机权力的。

I don't know who empowers these tow truck guys.

他们是在谁的授权下工作的？

Under whose authority are they working?

这感觉就像一个神秘的黑箱，显然影响了很多人，如果谷歌评价可信的话。

It just feels like this black box of mystery that's affecting clearly a lot of people if the Google reviews are to be believed.

今天，我们来揭开拖车和扣车这个神秘黑箱。

Today, the black box of mystery of towing and impoundment.

谁决定你的车该被拖走？

Who decides when your car gets taken?

谁决定你的车该被拖到哪里？

Who decides where it goes?

当事情出错时——而事实证明这种情况经常发生——为什么修复起来这么难？

And when things go wrong, which it turns out they do a lot, why is it so hard to fix?

当我们开始寻找凯莉问题的答案时，我了解到了描述这种行为的术语。

When we started trying to find the answer to Kelly's question, I learned the term that describes this kind of practice.

这被称为掠夺性拖车，指的是拖车公司主动寻找车辆进行拖走，并在车主试图取回时索要虚高的费用。

It's called predatory towing, and it describes towers who actively hunt for cars to pick up and then demand inflated fees when owners try to get them back.

掠夺性拖车到处都有，但在某些地方，这种情况尤为严重。

Predatory towing happens everywhere, but in some places, it happens a lot.

密歇根州底特律有着广为人知且长期存在的掠夺性拖车问题，因此它成为我们研究的绝佳案例。

Detroit, Michigan has a well documented and long running predatory towing problem, and so that makes it a good case study for us.

我的意思是，这是一门大生意。

I mean, it's a big business.

这是一门数百万美元的生意，他们靠这个赚了很多钱。

It's a multimillion dollar business, and they make a lot of money doing this.

是的。

Yeah.

所以这就是他们这么做的原因。

So that's why they do it.

这是汤姆·巴里。

This is Tom Barry.

他在底特律当了三十五年警察，大约十年前以警长身份退休。

He spent thirty five years as a police officer in Detroit, and he retired as a lieutenant about a decade ago.

此后，他为保险公司担任欺诈调查员，从各个角度了解过拖车行业。

Since then, he's worked as a fraud investigator for insurance companies, and he has seen the towing industry from basically every angle.

他既当过呼叫拖车的警察，也当过揭发拖车公司腐败运作的调查员。

He's been a cop who called tow trucks, and he's been an investigator who's uncovered how corrupt towing companies actually operate.

我想知道，你能帮我们理解一下吗？在理想情况下，拖车服务应该如何成为一种公共利益？

I'm curious, can you help us understand, in an ideal world, how is towing supposed to be a public good?

当拖车公司运作良好时，它们提供的是什么样的服务？

What kind of service do towers provide when they're working well?

如果运作良好——我们都希望看到这种情况——你住在橡树大道，有一天出门发现车堵在车道上，根本出不去。

If it's working good, which we all like to see, you live on Elm Avenue and you come out one day and you can't get out of your driveway because somebody's parked there.

于是你当然会报警，因为你得去上班，警察就会叫来拖车，拖车过来把那辆车移开，让你能正常出行。

So, of course, you call the police because you gotta go to work, and the police call the tow truck and the tow truck comes out and moves that car out of your way so you can go about your business.

这是一笔不错的交易。

That's a good deal.

此外，我们还会遇到事故。

Also, we have accidents.

你知道，一旦处理完伤者，我们就需要把那些车从路上移走。

You know, once they take care of the injured, we need to remove those cars from the road.

拖车公司会把它们拖到拖车场。

The tow companies take them to a tow yard.

所以它们也可以是好的。

So they can be good.

在许多城市，当发生需要清理的车祸或车辆被遗弃在街道上时，警察会呼叫一家私人拖车公司来拖走它。

In many cities, when there's a crash that needs to be cleared or a vehicle that's been abandoned on the street, police will call a private towing company to haul it away.

底特律也是这样运作的。

That's how it works in Detroit too.

汤姆说，当他还是警察时，部门会给他一份他可以呼叫的拖车公司名单。

Tom says that when he was a police officer, the department gave him a list of the tow companies that he was allowed to call.

这些公司都与警方签订了合同，负责覆盖城市中的特定区域。

These were companies that had a contract with the police to cover a certain area of the city.

大多数警员会按批准名单依次打电话，直到有公司能派出拖车为止。

And most officers would go down the approved list, calling companies until one was available to send a tow truck.

但几年后，作为一名中尉，汤姆发现并不是所有警员都这么做。

But years later, as a lieutenant, Tom discovered that not all police officers were doing it that way.

他们使用的是某一家拖车公司。

They were using a certain towar.

他们没有拨打名单上的那些指定拖车公司。

They weren't calling the scheduled towers, the towers on the list.

他们打电话给自己的朋友。

They were calling their friend.

一些警察会联系他们有关系的拖车公司，而这些公司往往将拖车费用远高于正常水平。

Some cops were calling tow companies they had a relationship with, and many of those companies were inflating their fees way beyond what a typical tow would cost.

然后他们会向为他们介绍业务的警察支付回扣。

Then they'd pay kickbacks to the police officers who sent the business their way.

腐败现象逐渐加剧。

And the corruption kinda swelled.

问题不断累积，最终总会崩塌。

It just keeps surmounting, and eventually, you know, it comes crashing down.

底特律的情况就是如此。

That that's what happened here in Detroit.

最终，联邦政府对汤姆所提及的腐败行为展开了调查，一些警察因此入狱。

Eventually, there was a federal investigation into the corruption that Tom is talking about, and some cops went to jail.

但这并没有结束这座城市拖车问题的根源。

But that wasn't the end of towing problems in the city.

事实上，汤姆说，最严重的一些拖车问题甚至与警察无关。

In fact, Tom says some of the most problematic towing doesn't even involve the police.

它涉及像凯莉这样的情况——人们因为停在私人停车场而被拖车。

It involves situations like Kelly's, where people get towed for parking in a private lot.

我想了解一下，如果从更宏观的角度看，你能给我讲讲掠夺性拖车操作是如何运作的吗？

I'm curious if kind of zooming out, you can walk me through how a predatory towing operation works.

比如，典型的一天是什么样子？

Like, what does a typical day look like?

你们最常见的骗局有哪些？

What are the most common schemes that you see?

嗯，我觉得大多数拖车公司基本上是诚实的。

Well, I think that most tours are basically honest.

首先，我想给他们一点肯定。

First, I wanna give them a little accolade.

所以，就像你那位在7-11的朋友，停在私人地产上是违法的，比如去医生办公室，或者去购物。

So what happens, like your friend there at the seven Eleven, so it's illegal to park in private property and go to the doctor's office, let's say, or go do your shopping.

如果你在城里拥有一家生意，比如麦当劳、汉堡王之类的，而一些非顾客的私人车辆占用了你的停车场，还不断涌来，导致你因为车位被占而失去顾客，那你肯定会生气。

So, if you own a business in your city, you know, McDonald's or Burger King or whatever, and you have private citizens that aren't patronizing your business tying up your lot and they keep coming in there and you're losing customers because your lot's full of people going to shop at Macy's, then you're you're mad.

所以，作为商家，你可以联系乔氏拖车公司，说：嘿。

So you, the business owner, can contact, you know, Joe's Towing and say, hey.

我停车场里有一辆红色雪佛兰。

I got a red Chevy out in my lot.

你能来把车拖走吗？

Can you come and get it?

它已经停在这半小时了。

It's been here for a half hour.

这种做法是有道理的。

This practice makes sense.

商家需要让停车场保持畅通，以便服务真正的顾客。

A business needs to keep its lot clear for actual customers.

凯莉就遇到了这种情况。

And that's what happened to Kelly.

她把车停在7-11，步行去附近一家餐厅，回来时发现车不见了。

She parked at a seven Eleven, walked to a neighboring restaurant, and then came back to find her car gone.

她确实违反了规定，拖车公司有权把她的车拖走。

She technically broke the rules, and the tow company had the right to take her car.

但有些拖车公司会使用更可疑的手段，以最大化他们能拖走的车辆数量。

But there are sketchier tactics that some towers use to maximize the number of cars they can grab.

比如，盯梢的人。

For instance, spotters.

盯梢的人是住在那片区域的普通市民，他们拿报酬做事。

Spotters are paid citizens that live in that area.

我去找他们，说：嘿。

I approach them and say, hey.

我是乔氏拖车公司的老板，我知道你的公寓正对着这边的汉堡王停车场。

I I'm the owner of Joe's Towing, and I know that your apartment overlooks, you know, the Burger King lot over here.

所以我们见面了。

So we meet.

我说：好的。

I say, okay.

我要你这么做。

Here's what I want you to do.

我要你盯着这个停车场。

I want you to watch this lot.

如果你看到有人进入这个停车场但没有在店里消费，就给我打电话。

And if you see somebody go into that lot and not use the business, you call me.

那样我就能立刻赶到。

And so I'll be right there.

如果我接到拖车业务，你就拿50或100块，这样拖车就能赚钱。

And if I get the tow job, you get 50 or a 100 So truck makes cash.

人们能赚50块，还不用交税。

People make $50, no taxes.

每个人都开心，除了那个停车的人。

Everybody's happy except the person that parked there.

除了那个停车的人。

Except the person who parked there.

这挺有意思的。

So this is interesting.

有些拖车公司，实际上是在招募一个社区里的地面监视网络，也就是眼线。

Some tow companies, they basically recruit a neighborhood network of eyes on the ground, of spies.

这么说挺恰当的，一个社区网络。

That's a good way to put it, a neighborhood network.

太好了。

Excellent.

有些人专门留意这些停车场，一旦看到有人停车但不进店消费，就给拖车司机打电话，然后拿回扣。

People who are just keeping an eye on these various parking lots, and when they see someone park there and not use the business, they just give the tow truck driver a call and they get a kickback.

没错。

Exactly.

在一些城市，拖车公司使用眼线是违法的，但在纽约市或底特律却不是。

In some cities, it's illegal for tow companies to use spotters, but not in New York City or in Detroit.

那里有一家拖车公司因为大量使用眼线而臭名昭著，甚至不得不在他们的Facebook页面上发布一段解释视频。

One tow company there became so notorious for using spotters, they felt the need to put out this little explainer video on their Facebook page.

很多人以为眼线是违法的，但其实不是。

A lot of people think a spotter's illegal, but it's not.

这完全不违法。

There's nothing illegal about it.

他们只是为房产所有者维护停车空间。

They're just maintaining parking spaces for the property owner.

广告中断后，我们将采访一位曾为那家臭名昭著的底特律拖车公司工作的司机。

After the break, we'll talk with a driver who used to work for that notorious Detroit tow company.

好吧，我想先请你介绍一下自己，比如你的名字、你在哪里、你在做什么？

Well, I guess to start, could you just introduce yourself, like your name and and where you are and what you're doing?

我叫谢恩·纳森。

My name is Shane Nation.

我在密歇根州底特律，目前从事拖车工作，已经在这个行业干了大约五年。

I'm in Detroit, Michigan, and I currently tow, and I've been in the industry for about five years.

当我与谢恩交谈时，他正在拖车里，趁着午休间隙等待下一个任务。

When I spoke with Shane, he was in his tow truck between calls on his lunch break.

据我所知，愿意向记者谈论这份工作真实情况的拖车司机并不多，但谢恩就是其中之一。

As far as I can tell, there aren't a lot of tow truck drivers who are willing to talk with a journalist about the realities of the job, but Shane is one of them.

他16岁时就进入了这个行业。

He started in the industry when he was just 16 years old.

一旦我开始从事这个行业，就像上了瘾一样。

Once I started, like, working in the industry, it's it's like a bug.

很难去从事那种没那么自由的工作。

It's it's very hard to to go do something where you're you're not as free.

比如整天坐在办公室里。

Like, go sit in an office or, inside all day long.

说实话，这工作一点都不无聊。

And it honestly, I it's not boring.

有些司机已经拖车二十五年了，他们都会说每天都能学到新东西，因为这确实是一种独特的职业。

There's people that have been towing for twenty five years, and they'll tell you that they learn new stuff every day because it's just genuinely that type of job.

对于不了解拖车行业的人，拖车司机的一天通常是怎样的？

So for people who are not familiar with towing, what is a typical day like in the life of a tow truck driver?

你通常会坐在卡车里。

You normally sit in the truck.

然后玩手机。

You play on your phone.

做点什么都行，就为了让时间过去。

Do whatever to, like, let time pass.

然后你就等着警察的呼叫进来。

And then you just wait for police calls to come in.

这些呼叫可能是拖走被扣押的车辆，比如有人被捕了，我们要把他们的车拖到扣车场。

Those could look like impounds, like somebody got arrested, and we would tow their car to impound lot.

也可能是车祸，我们需要赶到高速公路上清理现场之类的事情。

It could look like a car crash, and we have to be out there cleaning the scene on the highway or something.

也可能很简单，比如你妈妈的车抛锚了，她只是需要把车拖到修理厂修一下。

And it could be as simple as your, you know, your mom broke down, and she just needs to tow to the mechanic shop and to get her car fixed.

你拖过你妈妈的车吗？

Have you towed your mom?

是的。

Yeah.

不是我妈妈。

Not my mother.

幸运的是，他买了新车，还有保修之类的服务。

Luckily, buys newer vehicles and gets warranties and stuff.

但家人的话，是的。

But family members, yes.

所以他们就会说，唉，我知道该找谁了。

So they're like, ugh, I know exactly who to call.

谢恩。

Shane.

是的。

Yeah.

不幸的是，这似乎就是他们通常的做法。

Unfortunately, that is what seems to be what they do.

谢恩的第一份正式拖车工作是在底特律的一家公司，那家公司以掠夺性拖车闻名。

Shane's first real towing job was with a company in Detroit that had a reputation for predatory towing.

谢恩并不介意说出这家公司的名字。

Shane doesn't actually have a problem naming this company.

他在底特律的电视上谈论过他们。

He's spoken on TV in Detroit about them.

但我们不想在这集中点名这家公司。

But we don't want to name them in this episode.

我们不希望Shane惹上麻烦。

We don't want Shane to get in trouble.

所以从第一天起，他们就会说：嘿，你看，我们经常上新闻。

So since day one there, they would say, hey, look, we're on the news all the time.

事实就是如此。

It is what it is.

人们不喜欢自己的车被拖走。

People don't like their car getting towed.

所以我当时在那里听到的是：你会看到我们被说成这样那样，但别信那些，因为我们只是在为公众服务，有些人却不领情。

So that's pretty much how I was told there, like, hey, you're gonna see that we're this, this, and that, and just don't believe it because, you know, we're just doing the public a service and some people don't appreciate that.

起初，Shane以为，也许世界本来就是这样。

At first, Shane thought, maybe that's just how the world works.

人们经常向媒体抱怨。

People just complain to the media a lot.

而且，他很喜欢他的工作。

Plus, he liked his job.

他喜欢那些卡车，喜欢弄得满身油污，而且每天都很有趣、充满新鲜感。

He liked the trucks and getting greasy and how every day was interesting and new.

他做的很多工作都是私人财产拖车，也就是PPI。

A lot of the jobs he was doing were private property impounds or PPIs.

当拖车公司与物业所有者（比如公寓楼或7-11）签订合同，拖走不该停在那里车辆时，就属于这种情况。

That's when a tow company has a contract with a property owner, like an apartment complex or a seven eleven to tow cars that shouldn't be there.

而Shane工作的这家公司对此非常积极。

And this company that Shane worked for was aggressive about it.

他们会与线人合作，就像Tom跟我们说的那种。

They would work with spotters, like the ones Tom told us about.

他们派人坐在停车场里，盯着并等待有人非法停车。

They had people sitting in the parking lot, watching and waiting for someone to park illegally.

我们有两个不同的观察员。

We had two different spotters.

他们会坐在深色车窗的车里，等待有人驶入。

They would sit in tinted out cars and just wait for somebody to pull up.

我们会躲在拐角处，距离不会超过五分钟。

We would sit around the corner, and we wouldn't be no further than five minutes away.

谢恩工作的一个停车场就在底特律市中心医疗中心对面，那里是多家大型医院的聚集地。

One of the lots Shane worked was across the street from the Med Center, which is a cluster of major hospitals in Downtown Detroit.

人们会把车停在公寓停车场，然后步行过街去医院探望病人。

People would park in the apartment complex lot and then walk across the street to visit someone in the hospital.

谢恩的工作就是在他们一离开，立刻把车拖走。

And Shane's job was to tow their cars the moment they walked away.

我们会立刻驶近，把他们的车拖走，然后开走。

We'd pull up right away, grab their car, and drive off with it.

这些时候，人们有时会出来，你知道的，他们会尖叫、大喊，说我没有别的车了。

Now, these people is sometimes they would come out and, you know, they'd be screaming, yelling, I don't have another car.

我该怎么去上班？

How am I supposed to get to work?

我该怎么送孩子上学？

How am I supposed to take my kids to school?

当我17岁的时候，我不骗你，我对他们毫无同情心。

And when I was 17, I'm not gonna lie, I had no remorse for them.

我一点都不会为他们感到难过。

I didn't feel bad for them at all.

但当我逐渐长大，开始要付账单，才真正明白在这个世界上生存有多艰难，尤其是收入很低的时候。

But once I started getting older and having bills to pay and understanding that it's it's genuinely hard out here in the world to to survive, especially on a low income.

然后有人在你只是去探望住院的父母时，把你的车拖走了。

And then somebody's come in and taking your car when you're just trying to visit, you know, your mom or your dad that's in the hospital.

我现在明白了，对别人做这种事真的太恶劣了。

I can understand now that's like a just a really crappy thing to do to somebody.

谢恩说，他有时会整个班次都坐在卡车里，守在那个停车场附近，等待 Spotter 打电话通知拖车，因为那个停车场简直是个金矿。

Shane says he would sometimes spend whole shifts sitting in his truck near that one parking lot waiting for spotters to call in tows because that single lot was sort of a gold mine.

除了使用的燃油，利润是百分之百的。

It's a 100% returns other than the fuel you used on profits.

所以，我的意思是，他们每天仅从这个停车场拖走十五到二十辆车，就能赚得盆满钵满，而且他们还掌控了整个底特律市中心。

So, I mean, they're they're making a killing just towing 15 to 20 cars a day off that one lot, and they have all of Downtown Detroit.

所以，这是一笔大生意。

So I mean, it's a big operation.

鉴于这家公司的声誉，底特律警方有时会前来查看情况，或回应那些车辆被拖走的人的投诉。

Given the company's reputation, sometimes the Detroit police would show up to see what was going on, or they'd respond to complaints from people who were getting their cars towed.

但这家公司早有准备。

But the company was ready for that.

Shane说，他们培训员工在警察到来时该说什么，以及在争论拖车合法性时该引用哪些法律。

Shane says they trained their employees on what to say when the police arrived, which laws to mention in their arguments for towing a certain car.

Shane与公众的互动也好不到哪儿去。

Shane's interactions with the public weren't any better.

一切都充满对抗性。

It was all so confrontational.

他们总是会恳求和哀求，这可以理解，尤其是当你没钱的时候。

They would always beg and plead, and that's understandable, especially if you don't have the money.

这是常态。

It was standard.

我总是——用个不太恰当的说法——在每一次困境、每一次互动中，我都成了那个恶人。

I was constantly for lack of better word, I was constantly the a hole in every predicament I've ever like, every interaction I had, I was the aggressor.

这感觉真的很不好。

And, I just wasn't a good feeling.

如果你仔细想想，这些非执法的私人公司竟然被允许随意拖走人们无人看管的车辆，这确实有点荒谬。

If you think about it, it is kind of wild that these non law enforcement private companies are allowed to just take people's unattended vehicles.

Shane说，在私人财产拖车行业里，不良做法很普遍，因为整个系统几乎没有任何监管。

Shane says that bad practices are common in the world of private property impounds because there are basically no checks in the system.

确实如此。

Definitely.

这是监管最少的。

It's it's the least regulated.

你不是在有警察在场的警察现场停车，也不是在车主在场的抛锚车辆旁停车。

You're not pulling up on a police scene with police there, and you're not pulling up on a broken down vehicle with the car's owner there.

你停在一辆无人看管的车辆旁，而你完全可以接触它，然后你只是把这辆车挂上拖车，打电话给附近的警察，说：嘿。

You're pulling up on a unattended vehicle that you have full access to, and, I mean, you just hook up this car and you call the police nearby, and you go, hey.

我拖走这辆车是因为它停在这个停车场里位置不对。

I'm towing this car because it's parked incorrectly on this lot.

对此根本没有任何核实。

There's no verification of this whatsoever.

你只要打电话给警察，告诉他们你在拖车，他们就会把这辆车列为留置物，这样就无法被报告为被盗。

You just you call the police and you tell them you're doing it, and they put the sis they put the car in lien so it can't be reported stolen.

这就是私人财产拖车公司（PPIs）的全部操作，而整个系统里根本没有任何核实机制。

That's all it is to PPIs, and there's just no verification in the system.

所以每个人都利用这一点。

So everybody exploits it.

所以你是在这个公寓停车场做这种事？

So you're doing this at this apartment complex lot.

你年纪大了一点。

You've gotten a little older.

你会觉得，这感觉不太好，因为你明白了车子被拖走的后果。

You're like, this doesn't feel good because you understand kind of the implications of having your car towed.

这很贵。

It's expensive.

这简直是个大麻烦。

It's like a huge headache.

那之后发生了什么？

So what happened from there?

所以，我从来不是真的想继续做这个。

So it was never that, like, I wanted to continue doing it.

我只是因为要付账单，要养家糊口，才在那之后又坚持了这么久。

It was kind of the fact that I I had bills to pay in my own family to feed is why I stayed there for so much longer after that time period.

对。

Right.

但说实话，从那以后，我每天都讨厌它。

But, yeah, like, I hated it every day after that.

这让我彻底失去了对拖车工作的热爱，到最后，我真心想尽一切办法离开这份工作。

Like, it made me lose my love for towing, and it I genuinely just wanted out in any way, shape, or form by the end of it.

谢恩正经历一场彻底的良知危机。

Shane was having a full blown crisis of conscience.

他害怕去上班，整天拖走那些他认为根本不该被拖走的人的车。

He dreaded going to work and spending all day towing people who he believed didn't really deserve it.

最终，他离开了这家掠夺性的拖车公司。

Eventually, he left the predatory tow company.

他曾想过回到快餐行业工作。

He thought he might go back to working in fast food.

但相反，他加入了一家新公司，开始做不同类型的拖车工作。

But instead, he started with a different company, where he was doing different kinds of tows.

我只是不想再做PPI了。

I just didn't wanna do PPIs.

我最在意的就是，私人财产拖车根本没必要。

That was my biggest thing, was private property impounds feel like they're just not necessary.

至少他们那种做法是没必要的。

Like, at least in the way they did it.

这完全没必要，我整天24小时都在做这种拖车，简直不想再碰了。

Like, it it was just unnecessary, and I just I did them so much twenty four seven that I just didn't wanna do them ever again.

这正是我最主要的想法。

And that was my main thing.

我现在做的全是服务类拖车。

Where I'm at now, all I do is services.

我不会因为想拖车而去拖别人的车。

Like, I I'm not towing anybody's car because I want to.

你懂的？

You know?

只是有人打电话或者警察通知我，我才过去，要么是清理事故现场，要么是帮那些人回家。

It's simply they call or the police call, and I'm going there to either clean up the wreck or I'm going there to get those people home.

尤其是我现在这个地方，我过去从来都不是为了其他任何原因，只是为了提供服务。

Especially where I'm at now, it's never the case that I'm going there for any other reason other than to service them.

与汤姆和谢恩的这些对话，让我更好地理解了凯莉的车可能发生的情况。

These conversations with Tom and Shane helped me understand so much better what might have happened with Kelly's car.

她卷入了一起私人财产拖车事件。

She was involved in a private property impound situation.

她非法停在了那家7-11旁边。

She parked at that 711 illegally.

可能有人盯梢看到了她停车，而这家公司很可能与拖车公司有合作关系，她一离开，对方就立刻被通知了。

There may have been a spotter that saw her do it, and the company probably had a relationship with a tower who was contacted as soon as she walked away.

所以，在停车场站了好一会儿，试图弄清楚该怎么办后，她和

So after standing in the parking lot trying to figure out what to do, she and

她的朋友们决定联系拖车公司。

her friends decided to call the tow company.

所以我们打了电话，实际上不得不打了好几次才能获得我们需要的信息，因为每次打电话，他们都会挂断，或者我们打过去时，总得费劲才能问对问题。

So we called the number and we actually had to call like multiple times to to get the information we needed because, like, we'd call and then they would hang up or we'd call and sort of knock at the right information.

有一次，凯莉要求拖车公司通过复述车牌号来确认他们的车是否被拖走了。

At one point, Kelly asked the tow company to confirm that they had her car by reading back the license plate number.

他们说：‘我们不能告诉你车牌号。’

And they're like, we can't give you the license plate.

有一次，他们说：是的，你的车在我们这儿，但明天再来吧。

And at one point, they were like, yeah, we have your car, but come back tomorrow.

这一切都极其令人困惑。

It was all extremely confusing.

但最终，凯莉打了个出租车回家

But eventually, Kelly took a cab home

去放狗出来散步，她的朋友们决定自己去把车取回来。

to let her dog out for a walk, and her friends decided to go get the car themselves.

拖车场离7-11大约一英里远，他们不得不步行过去。

The impound lot was about a mile from the 711, and they had to walk there.

他们最终找到了那个地方，透过前门的栅栏缝隙，看到了凯莉的车。

They eventually found the place, and through the holes in the front gate, they could see Kelly's car.

他们到了那里，发现里面有一栋楼灯火通明，表明办公室可能并没有真的关门。

They got there, and there was a building that was brightly lit up inside, indicating that perhaps the office was not actually closed.

嗯。

Mhmm.

但他们被带进了那栋楼，那个人说，现在办公室关门了，要拿回车得付350美元。

But they were brought into this building, and the guy was like, it's gonna be $350 to get your car back because the office is closed right now.

哇。

Wow.

这钱也太多了吧。

That's a lot of money.

是的。

Yeah.

尤其是，我敢肯定牌子上写的是1.25美元。

Especially, I'm pretty sure the sign said $1.25.

牌子上明明写着收费标准。

Like, the sign had a pay scale on there.

他立刻就说：‘这要收3.5美元。’

And he was immediately like, that's gonna be $3.50.

所以这中间

So there's sort

好像正在进行一场谈判。

of this there's this negotiation going on.

就像哦，是的。

It's like Oh, yeah.

对。

Yeah.

完全没错。

Totally.

这确实是一场谈判。

There's There's totally a negotiation.

而且一开始他们说，因为我本人不在场，所以要额外收费。

And it included, like, at first, they said, oh, because I'm not physically there, that's an extra fee.

然后他们说，哦，店铺已经关门了。

And then they said, oh, the business is closed.

现在是营业时间之外，所以还要另收一笔费用。

It's after hours, so that's another fee.

但实际上并没有明确的收费结构。

But there wasn't actually a fee structure.

这纯粹就是一种谈判，像讨价还价一样。

It was just like a negotiation, like a bartering.

他们完全是随口编的。

They were just making it up.

是的。

Yeah.

他们把我的车劫走了，然后根据我朋友身上带了多少现金，漫天要价把它赎回来。

They kidnapped my car and then, like, ransomed it for an uncertain amount of money based on how much cash my friends had on hand.

简直太离谱了，他们居然能这么做。

Like, it's crazy they can do that.

但根据退休警察汤姆的说法，拖车公司经常这么做。

But according to Tom, the retired cop, tow companies do this all the time.

他们假装关门，迫使人们第二天再来，这样就能提高他们收取的停车费。

They pretend they're closed so that people have to come back the next day, and that allows them to inflate the storage fees they charge.

他们要求查看车辆登记证和保险单，而这些文件通常都在被扣押的车里，因此人们不得不四处奔波去获取新文件。

They demand to see registration and insurance, which is often in the car that's been impounded, and so people have to run around gathering new documents.

可能得花他们一整天。

Might take them a day.

他们可能需要两天时间去获取这些信息并带回以满足拖车公司的要求。

It might take them two days to go get that information and bring it back to satisfy the tow company.

与此同时，每天又要多收50美元。

Meanwhile, another $50 a day.

每天再收50美元，就为了保管你的车。

Another $50 a day for for keeping your car.

这些公司通常不会公开他们的收费明细。

Often, these businesses don't disclose their fee structures.

即使他们公布了，费用也可能被操纵。

And even when they do, the fees can be manipulated.

比如说，车是在第二天晚上11点拖来的，现在是第三天凌晨一点。

Say, well, it came in on the second at 11:00 at night, and here it is the third, and it's 01:00 in the morning.

这就算是两天的停车费了。

Well, that's two days' storage.

那就是110美元。

That's a $110.

等等，不对。

But wait a minute.

他说，我的车只停了两个小时。

He said, my car's only been here for two hours.

是的。

Yeah.

但情况就是这样。

But that's the way it is.

因为从技术上讲，即使只是在半夜停留了几小时，也已经跨了两天。

Because it's technically touched two days even if it was just a few hours in the middle of the night.

我

I

明白了。

see.

没错。

Exactly.

凯莉的朋友算是幸运的，如果你能称之为幸运的话，因为他们当晚就赶到了。

Kelly's friends were lucky, if you can call it that, because they showed up that same night.

他们最终支付了200美元才把车取回来。

They eventually paid $200 to get the car back.

这真的非常可疑。

It's really, really sketchy.

说真的，这一切都感觉不合法。

Like, none of this feels legal.

你可以随便把别人的车开走，勒索一笔钱，然后和对方谈好价格。

You can just take someone's car, ransom it, figure out an amount of money between you.

但他们说没有收据。

And then they said no receipt.

所以他们只能乖乖付了200美元。

So they just had to pay their $200.

你还能怎么把车弄回来？

How else are you gonna get your car back?

这五个人手里就攥着你的车。

Like, these five guys have it.

你还能怎么办？

What else are you gonna do?

这简直让人觉得，拖车公司根本不想让你把车开回去，或者至少，他们对你拿不回车并不在意。

It almost seems like the towers don't want you to get your car back, or at the very least, they might not mind if you don't retrieve your car.

一些拖车公司其实很懂车，知道哪些是好车，哪些是差车。

Well, what some of these tow companies do, they know good cars and bad cars.