Towman 2025 (the American Towman Exposition in Baltimore) made one thing crystal clear: PPI towing is getting more professional, more measured, and more competitive.
Below are the three themes that kept coming up—and the practical “so what” for a PPI operator that wants to win the next 24 months.
1) Property Managers are raising the bar
PPI used to be “we tow cars.” Now it’s “we keep the lot clean, reduce complaints, and make enforcement predictable.” Property managers are under pressure from residents, owners, and online reviews. That pressure shows up as higher expectations:
- More frequent patrols (not “when we can,” but “always”)
- Cleaner outcomes (fewer repeat violators, fewer headaches)\
- Better documentation (timestamped proof, consistent standards, faster dispute resolution)
The direction of travel is obvious: properties are moving toward tighter enforcement and better systems, because parking problems create real operational pain. One industry write-up cited data showing automated parking solutions can reduce incidents materially year-over-year (about 31% in one dataset). And property-management trade coverage continues to emphasize that enforcement consistency is what prevents rules becoming “suggestions.”
How Parkva helps you deliver the “premium” property-manager experience
- Patrol consistency at scale: Parkva’s mobile LPR is designed to scan 100+ vehicles per minute—so “more patrols” becomes feasible without adding headcount.
- Proof built-in: time/location context and enforcement evidence are part of the workflow, which reduces back-and-forth with managers and residents.
- Operational reporting: “Here’s what we covered, when, and what we found” becomes a standard deliverable, not a manual chore.
Practical example: A PM complains “your crews aren’t showing up.” With a proof-of-patrol report, the conversation changes from opinion to facts.
2) Technology (especially LPR) is becoming the competitive moat in PPI
The economics are brutal for manual enforcement: walking lots doesn’t scale, it’s inconsistent, and it’s hard to manage across multiple properties.
That’s why the conversations at Towman increasingly sound like this:
- “How many properties can one truck cover per shift?”
- “How quickly can we find real violations?”
- “How do we enforce across mixed permit types and digital systems?”
LPR is the obvious lever because it converts patrol capacity from “feet and flashlights” into “drive, scan, verify, dispatch.”
Parkva’s angle here is simple: more coverage per truck
- Parkva positions Patrol as scanning 100+ vehicles per minute and catching permits across multiple formats.
- A Parkva customer story claims a shift from ~50 minutes walking a lot to ~10 minutes scanning it, alongside a reported uplift in tow volume and properties covered.
Whether your exact results match that or not, the strategic point stands: the tower who can deliver higher patrol frequency with better proof wins the PM relationship.
3) Repo demand is rising fast—and towers are paying attention
Repo isn’t replacing PPI, but it’s becoming a bigger part of the opportunity set—especially for operators who already run disciplined patrol routes and can add “hotlist scanning” to the day.
The macro drivers are not subtle:
- Auto delinquencies and defaults have been rising again, and serious delinquency has been a recurring theme in Fed-level tracking.
- A 2025 Consumer Federation of America report (citing Cox Automotive estimates) says repossessions were at the highest level since 2009 and jumped an estimated 43% from 2022 to 2024.
- Experian’s research put total auto debt around $1.53T and average auto-loan debt at $24,297 in 2024—a backdrop that tends to increase collections pressure when consumers get squeezed.
What Parkva can do in a repo-adjacent world
Even without changing your core PPI motion, LPR-based scanning is a natural “second bite at the apple”:
- Run hotlists during normal patrol routes
- Capture plate reads efficiently and consistently
- Turn more windshield time into recoveries without turning your ops upside down
Final Thoughts: The Towers Who Win Are the Ones Who Modernize Now
Towman 2025 made the direction of the industry unmistakable: property managers want more from their enforcement partners, trucks must operate with real technology behind them, and repo demand is climbing fast. The operators who adapt will own the next decade of PPI—and the ones who don’t will get squeezed out by competitors who can deliver higher patrol frequency, better data, and more predictable outcomes.
Parkva was built for this moment.
If you want to patrol more lots in less time, provide a premium property-manager experience, and position your fleet to participate in the growing repo market without disrupting your core operations, we can help.
If you’re ready to see how much more efficient your PPI operation can be, reach out to us. A 10-minute walkthrough of Parkva is usually enough for towers to realize how much capacity they’re leaving on the table.
