What to have ready when you call a tow truck

A towing company needs six things from you: exactly where the vehicle is, what the vehicle is, what it is doing, where it needs to go, whether it still rolls and steers, and who is meeting the driver. Everything else is detail. If you have those six ready, the call takes about two minutes and the truck that shows up is the right one.

That last part matters more than people expect. Sending a truck that cannot load your vehicle means a second trip, a longer wait, and a bigger bill — so the questions on the phone are not busywork. They are how the job gets done once instead of twice.

1. Exactly where the vehicle is

“On the BA near Elm” is a start. It is not enough. The Broken Arrow Expressway runs a long way, and the two directions are separated by a barrier — a driver who ends up on the wrong side of it has to travel several miles to turn around.

The most reliable thing you can give us is a dropped pin. Open the map app on your phone, press and hold your location, and share it by text. It takes fifteen seconds and removes every guess.

If you cannot do that, work down this list:

• On a highway or turnpike: the road name, the direction you were traveling, and the nearest mile marker or exit number you passed. On the Creek Turnpike, the exit numbers are the fastest landmark. Add which side you are on — right shoulder, left shoulder, or median.
• On a city street: the nearest cross street, plus a business you can see. “Kenosha just east of 9th, in front of the tire shop” is perfect.
• In a parking lot: the name of the business, which side of the building, and any gate or barrier the truck has to get through.
• At home: the address, plus whether the vehicle is in the driveway, the garage, the street, or the back yard. These are genuinely different jobs.

2. What the vehicle is

Year, make and model. That tells us the weight, the drivetrain and the ground clearance, which between them decide whether the vehicle can be loaded normally or needs extra care.

Say so if any of these apply, because they change the approach:

• All-wheel drive or four-wheel drive — see towing an AWD or 4WD vehicle
• Electric or hybrid
• Lowered, or a factory-low front end
• A dually, a long-bed truck, or anything carrying a heavy load
• A classic or something you are particular about

3. What it is actually doing

Describe the symptom, not your diagnosis. “It makes one click and the dash goes dim” is far more useful than “I think the starter is out.” You may well be right, but the raw symptom lets us work out whether you need a tow at all.

Plenty of calls end with the customer driving away themselves. If a jump start or a spare tire solves it, that is cheaper for you and quicker for everybody — which is the whole point of working out whether you need roadside help or a tow before a truck is dispatched.

4. Where it needs to go

Have the destination settled before you call, because it is half the price. A tow to a shop four miles away and a tow to a dealership across the metro are not the same job.

If it is going to a repair shop, call the shop first. Ask whether they will take the vehicle, whether they are open when the truck will arrive, and where they want it left after hours. Shops turn vehicles away more often than people expect — there is more on this in moving a non-running vehicle to a repair shop.

If you genuinely do not know yet, say so. Home is usually the sensible default while you decide.

5. Whether it rolls, steers and shifts

This is the question most people have not thought about, and it is the one that decides how long the pickup takes.

• Does it roll? Flat tires, a seized brake, or a wheel knocked out of line after a collision all mean it will not simply pull onto a truck.
• Does it steer? A locked steering column, or steering damaged in a wreck, changes how the vehicle has to be handled.
• Will it come out of park? Automatic vehicles with a dead battery often will not shift out of park, because the shift interlock needs power.
• Is it accessible? Boxed in by other cars, nose-first in a garage, or parked on grass after rain — all worth mentioning.

None of these are problems. They are just things worth knowing before the truck leaves rather than after it arrives.

6. Who is meeting the driver

Tell us whether you will be with the vehicle, and give us the best number to reach you on. If you have already left, or you are arranging this for someone else, say so up front and tell us how the driver gets access to the keys.

If you will not be there, it is worth reading how to prepare a vehicle for a scheduled tow first — particularly the part about personal property, which is much harder to collect once the vehicle has moved.

If you are on a highway, say that first

Lead with it. A vehicle stopped on a shoulder, in a live lane, or anywhere on a turnpike is a different call from one sitting in a driveway, and it gets treated differently.

If you are still in a travel lane and the vehicle will not move, call 911 before you call a tow company. Getting traffic managed comes first. What to do when your vehicle breaks down covers the sequence in full, including where it is safest to wait.

What you should get back

A phone call runs both ways. Before you hang up, you should have:

• A price, or a clear explanation of what the price depends on
• What kind of truck is coming
• A realistic idea of the wait — and an honest one, even when it is not what you want to hear
• A number you can call back on

If a company will not give you a number before hooking up, that is worth paying attention to. How to choose a towing company goes through the rest of the questions worth asking.