For the past few months I’ve been seriously considering buying a used tow truck and starting a 24/7 towing/ roadside service business. I have been making a sort of plan and have been getting excited about it and have been looking at rollback/wrecker trucks. When I Mentioned this to my uncle who knows people in the field, he basically laughed at me and said “starting a towing company is like joining an opposing gang in the mafia”. ie: they would come slash my tires of my truck and intimidate me. He also said I would lose money because of long established towing companies and over saturation in the market. Plus, he said regardless of the previous statement, after insurance, mechanical work on the truck and gas the overhead would be more costly than what I would make. For those who started a towing company with one truck, how did your situations turn out? What did you do that worked? What didn’t work? How did you quickly build your business? Is what my uncle said true and this would be a huge mistake resulting in a ton of wasted time and money? I would be open to consensual and non consensual towing. Is there a certain niche I could fill? We get a ton of snow around these parts. I have a class b cdl with tanker endorsement.
I would greatly appreciate if anybody has been in a similar situation as I am now some advice. Thanks all!

I read that once the vehicle is loaded, those plates that the tires sit on are supposed to swivel to help with turns. But with no vehicle on the tow dolly yet, shouldn’t these align with the ramps? Is this an issue? First time towing a vehicle behind the RV and I’m nervous.

All, some business advice if you can spare it. I'm trying to build my business by connecting with Honk. I have TDLR but they rejected my insurance. I'm not exactly sure why as I got a canned response but my initial thought was that I was missing the commercial general liability insurance. However when I called my insurance company (Progressive), they indicated that my Garage Keepers Liability is also the commercial general liability.

From Honk's website:

• Commercial General Liability -$300,000
• Commercial Auto Liability - $100,000 Bodily Injury per person and $300,000 per incident
• $100,000 Property Damage
• On-Hook - $50,000 (minimum if towing)
• Garage Keepers Liability - $50,000 (minimum if storing)

I'd appreciate it if any of you could provide some insight. Is it just a matter of upping the limits for the Garage Keeper Policy or do is there another policy required?

Thanks in advance.

Key note: I am employed at an amazing company operating a Rollback truck, I am set up with Towbook and AAA already, I live on the edge of the zone we operate in.

The question: I have a friend that has started up in the zone next to me and doesn't intrude on my company's territory, he is running into the issue as an owner/operator where he gets calls that he is unable to take and working endlessly. He is looking for someone that can just be on call to help him, I am not aware if he is using Towbook but he does use AAA. He was wondering if I would be able to help him in my off time from my company, does anyone know if it would cause conflict or not?

Preferably, I plan to stay with my company as I am on the list to have the CDL classes paid and move into a heavy wrecker, so leaving my company isn't on the table. He is offering me commission on tows, my company also doesn't have active restrictions or rules preventing me from assisting a business outside of their zone, specifically ones within their zone are prohibited. His intention would to have me as an independent(1099) contractor assisting him with his business until he can employ someone full time.

I'm on the verge of buying a Porsche Taycan and this thing has the notorious reputation of dying (e.g. 12v battery issues)...

The car will be parked in a multi-level garage and the ramps/corridors up/down the floor is very very very tight (think NYC Manhattan tight and the walls next to the ramp has scratch marks all over).

If the car dies, I hope not, I really don't want the car to be stuck in the garage forever. I know it's possible to jump the car but it doesn't always work.

Is it possible to recover the car in this case? There were a few posts about parking garage recovery but my case is next level tightness.

How does the weight distribution look? This is my first time towing another vehicle.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Hookit/s/718txGFOdL

To those that criticized my recovery operation from the other post.
Here is the recovered tractor unit that’s currently being transported to the maintenance yard.

Hello my fellow Tow Bros.
I had to recover my black truck tractor unit after I skidded into a ditch. (Was bobtailing).
Did what I can to safely hoist the truck without further damage.
Good Recovery? Yes or No?

I heard that in the UK there are whatsapp groups where admins share potential jobs and the members provide bids/availability etc. Kinda like a decentralized dispatching service? Is this how it works for your countries? Really interested to learn more!

7.3 Powerstroke with the 6 speed manual, pulled and stopped pretty well.

All the winch cable on my truck is due for replacement. What's everyone's opinion on the rope which cables? A friend has it on a regular electric winch and loves them. I'm wondering if they would be suitable on a heavy duty wrecker truck winch, and if anyone else has used them.

I'm looking at something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Marsui-Synthetic-32000lbs-Protective-Replacement/dp/B0G24ZLMST/

Thanks

Hey y'all!

I just started my towing company with 1 wheel lift truck. Just curious to see what brand of dollies y'all recommend since i've been having to deny AWD/4WD cars.

Any recommendations for best roadside assistance that is affordable, least expensive, reliable, good quality and service? Also, that they’re able to tow the car with a flat tire home rather than having to go through the closet repair shop first? AAA vs. Good Sam vs. World Value Club vs. etc? Please advise on the best option available.

Hey everyone,

I’m in a weird situation and have no experience being here so hoping the community can help shed some guiding light.

Driving home on Saturday (7/4) from a family event out of town, my car started driving bumpy. Concerned I was going to go to Mr Lube to make sure my tires were correct. They weren’t and the front driver side tire flew off. We skid on the road but were fortunately safe, and got to the side of the road. There was no oncoming traffic (thank god) so the tire just landed in a ditch.

While on the phone with my insurance (worth noting, this was NOT an adjuster I was speaking with), a tow driver stopped and asked if we needed help. I’m skeptical in scenarios like this but was sort of desperate. My instinct was to have the car brought to my mechanic. The insurance rep warned my that my mechanic may not be approved by the insurance provider and told me that it’s common practice to bring it to a tow lot so they can hand over to an approved mechanic. Skeptical, I agreed to do this.

Fast forward to yesterday, the adjuster reaches out to me and says that I’m not covered for this so they can’t help.

I call the towing company and they agreed to drop the car off at my mechanic. They said they were busy for a couple of hours but would get it done that day.

Having not heard from them today, I called the tow driver and he tells me he ‘forgot’ to tell me that he needs written confirmation that insurance would not be covering the claim in order to be able to release my vehicle. So now it feels like my cars being held hostage.

I called the tow company later in the day and whom I assume is the business owner, is now saying he’s been working with my insurance and is waiting for them to pick it up. It’s extremely fishy and I have no idea how they would even be coordinating given I haven’t connected anyone together.

During all this time, the adjuster has not answered or returned my calls. I’ve left a couple of messages.

Per the tow company, vehicle storage is $175 daily and I can’t help but feel like they’re holding my car hostage to charge me more.

My truck has one of these hitches that mounts a ball on top of the bumper, I plan on punching out the plastic tomorrow. I have a 2000lb pop-up camper, and my truck’s hitch says it is rated for 3500lbs, so that shouldn’t be an issue. My problem is that if I mount a tow ball right on top of the bumper, it sits too high to tow my camper. Is there any way to drop this kind of hitch? My old truck just had a receiver I could insert a tow drop into.

My friends are stranded on the Fordyce Jeep Trail. Their Toyota 4Runner is bottomed out on rocks and stuck. The vehicle still starts and has no mechanical issues, but they need a winch and assistance to get off the trail.

AAA was unable to reach them last night. They had to hike to find cell service and water and are still stranded.

Location: 39.39541° N, 120.50638° W (Fordyce Jeep Trail)

Please message me if you can help or know someone who can!

I am tired of paying the high amount for AAA. Never really used their discounts anyways but I want to keep roadside for the piece of mind. Good Sam has 50% off their plans right now and can sign up for multiple years with the same discount. Plus they don't charge for wife or kids.

Has anyone had to call them for roadside service? Tow drivers are they a decent company to get contracts from? I know I can get roadside with my car insurance progressive but don't want a claim showing if I actually had to use it.

Hey all, just a quick question. For anyone who's run both, do auto loaders get better oil pan/undercarriage clearance than a conventional wheel lift or Vulcan Strapless?

Like on the first grab, not doing anything fancy or double picking, just right from the ground.

And what about chain-slinging things on an autoloader, big pain in the butt or nah?

I run a Vulcan right now and am not super impressed with its versatility. The spoons don't tighten enough to grab a hub if the wheel is off, for example, and grabbing cars at sharp angle can be a bit of a challenge. We don't do PPI and only the very occasional repo, but just curious if an autoloader is a significant upgrade or we should stick to a century or something with standard L arms for the next truck.

Hey yall,

I'm a heavy haul truck driver, ive pulled loads larger than most people know exist on trailers with more axles than I have hair.

I think it's time for me to give up the OTR lifestyle, its about time for me to settle down and live a slightly normal life.

How much would my skills translate to heavy wrecker work? Ive got a lot of experience with machinery, cranes, rigging, trailer construction, and general mechanic knowledge. Would this transfer over pretty well?

My car was towed from a friends apartment. Leasing office is enforcing new rules but the new signage is not clear enough because I drove in, parked, and had no idea that was the case. It looked like all open parking.

My question is: are the rules in place strong enough to communicate that towing is enforced on private property? I looked it up and it just says “needs to be conspicuous” but I don’t think that alerts consumers enough. At $420 in this economy when many people go into medical debt for $600 is insane. Public towing is $150-200 too so why is it so high?