PennDOT Road Patrols Get an Insurance Company Sponsorship
By Tony Romeo
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- Those lime green Penndot tow trucks that patrol area highways are getting a makeover -- along with a sponsorship, thanks to a recently enacted law.
State officials unveiled the new look for the service trucks today.
State Farm, the insurance company, already has a deal to sponsor emergency assistance trucks on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. But Brad Mallory, executive deputy secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Transporation, says it was only a recently enacted law allowing for public-private partnerships ("P3s") that allowed Penndot to make a similar deal for the highways it operates.
"We, however, have been over the years both governed by -– not inappropriately, I might add -– and restricted by very strict government procurement laws," Mallory said today. "This P3 legislation gives us a mechanism by which we may legally accept sponsorships."
So, those green Penndot trucks will be painted over with red-and-white State Farm logos, and the company will pay $425,000 per year for the privilege -- about ten percent of the cost of the roving safety patrol program.
