By Tom Cowie
It’s a weekday afternoon on Sydney Road in Brunswick and the peak-hour traffic is starting to build.
Alert drivers who have parked in the left-hand lane heading north rush to their cars to move them before the clearway zone comes into force. They have good reason.
A car being towed from a clearway zone on Sydney Road in Brunswick.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Idling on the streets nearby is a platoon of four tow trucks, ready to scoop up any lingering cars with ruthless efficiency.
As the clock strikes 4pm, it’s feeding time. The Nationwide Towing trucks rumble onto Sydney Road looking for easy prey.
They pounce on several vehicles – now illegally parked – and winch them into VicRoads’ custody. The process is over within minutes, but the penalty is severe.
It costs at least $361 – plus a credit card surcharge – to get a car released from Nationwide’s impound yard in Collingwood. The charges are even higher on some other roads across Melbourne that fall under the jurisdiction of local councils.
“They’ll also get a nice surprise in the mail,” says one tow truck driver. He means the $192 parking fine that is added on top of the release fee.
The number of places where your car can be towed in Melbourne has expanded greatly in recent years, after the state government converted all clearways within 20 kilometres of the city into tow-away zones in 2020.
Previously, parking in some clearways only resulted in a fine, rather than towing. The change increased the tow-away locations by 221 to 326.
Sydney Road is Melbourne’s ground zero for clearway towing, with 2617 cars impounded in 2023.
Connor Gill, tow-away victim.Credit: Tom Cowie
By 4.15pm on Wednesday, The Sunday Age had witnessed the towing of six cars and a motorbike. Sometimes two are taken away by one truck. It’s not an unusual haul, according to the drivers.
The unencumbered lane is instantly full of traffic, like a drain that’s been suddenly unclogged.
Outside the Cornish Arms Hotel, the owner of a black Subaru manages to stop the tow-truck driver from leaving with his car.
But that doesn’t save him any fees – just the hassle of retrieving the car. Once the wheels leave the street, it’s too late.
Nationwide Towing’s impound yard in Collingwood.Credit: Tom Cowie
Payments must be made on the spot before a car is let down off the truck bed. The tow-truck driver whips out a handheld device and the transaction is completed with a tap.
Others who don’t witness the seizure will return to an empty space, wondering if their car has been stolen.
Pakenham woman Megan Hettihewa had that exact experience when she walked back to her grey Honda after doing some shopping at Savers with her friend Isabella.
Getting her car back would cost a week’s wages from her casual retail job, the P-plater said.
“We read the road sign wrong, it’s a bit confusing and I just got my car towed. It really sucks, I’m just a uni student,” she said.
“It’s gonna definitely hurt the bank account, but we’ll learn our lesson, it happened to [Isabella] as well last week.”
Compared with other cities, Melbourne’s towing fees are high and unusually upfront.
In Sydney, the tow-away charge is $229 and the invoice will arrive in the mail. Towed cars in NSW are taken to another free parking space, rather than an impound yard.
Nationwide Towing trucks looking for illegally parked vehicles on Sydney Road.Credit: Chris Hopkins
In Collingwood, it’s a brisk business at the Nationwide lot as the trucks return with their bounty. The number plates are entered into a database, with photos of the illegal park taken as proof.
A fleet of trucks is devoted to this task each day and the contracts signed with VicRoads and local councils are worth millions of dollars.
There were 18,105 cars towed from clearways across Melbourne in 2023, according to the Department of Transport and Planning – up 782 from the year before.
The department said it did not profit from the fees paid and that the money covered towing and administration costs.
“The simplest way to avoid a penalty is to not park in clearway zones during restricted hours,” a spokesperson said.
“You’ll also help the thousands of motorists and public transport users on the roads where clearways are located to get to their destination more quickly and safely.”
Nationwide Towing, which is majority-owned by RACV, declined to comment.
It takes just a few minutes for the cars to be unloaded at the Cromwell Street impound yard before the trucks zoom away to find more loiterers. Dozens are brought in within the first half hour, yielding fines and fees of more than $10,000.
The Queen song Another One Bites The Dust can be heard over the impound’s radio.
Soon after, the Ubers start arriving. People turn up with bags of groceries, having been caught out while popping into the shops.
The frustration is clear in their slumped shoulders as they walk into the nondescript brick building to bail out their cars.
Some don’t know yet how much they’ll have to pay. Inside, the cashier’s window is covered in plastic security glass – a clear sign that people don’t take the news well.
If you don’t collect your car within five days, daily storage fees of $15.20 are added on top.
Connor Gill was doing some shopping in Fitzroy when he saw his car being towed away. He only moved to Melbourne a few days prior.
“I started running and said, ‘What are you doing?’ And he’s like, ‘Read the f---ing sign’.
“I’m lucky I came with some savings,” he said, making a fist with his hand, pursing his lips and growling a low “ugh”.
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