Tow trucks in Elizabeth, NJ: what drivers ask, with the dispatcher's answers

Flatbed if it is all-wheel or four-wheel drive, electric, hybrid, lowered, a luxury or exotic model, a motorcycle, or if it has been in a crash. Wheel-lift if it is a front-wheel-drive or rear-wheel-drive car that still rolls and steers and is going a short distance. Tell the dispatcher the make and model and she decides; when it is unclear, the flatbed comes.

A flat $149 booking fee by phone, $129 when you book online, for the truck reaching you and the hook-up, plus a per-mile rate to wherever you send the car, quoted on the call. The fee is the same whether the flatbed or the wheel-lift comes. A van, box truck or bus needs a bigger truck and gets its own quote. The pricing page has every line.

The yard is in Linden, about ten minutes from Bayway Circle on Routes 1 & 9, and a truck is usually already working the port, Jersey Gardens or Midtown when you call. The dispatcher quotes the arrival window from that truck's real position, not from a map.

Not here. One booking fee covers either truck. We would rather send the flatbed to a car that needs it than have you talk yourself into the cheaper-sounding truck and pay for a transfer case later.

No. On an all-wheel-drive car the free wheels still turn the center differential when they roll, and neutral does not disconnect it. It goes on a flatbed, with all four wheels off the road. That is the answer for every AWD car in Elmora and North Elizabeth, no matter how short the trip.

On a flatbed, with the car in its transport mode so the wheels roll onto the deck, strapped by the tires and never by the frame or the battery pan. The driver has done it before and knows where the tow eyes are. Say the model when you call so the right truck leaves the first time.

The driver carries wood blocks and ramp extensions to flatten the angle, and on a very low car he winches from further back to keep the nose clear. Say how low it sits and whether it has a lip. A lowered car is always a flatbed job.

Yes, on a flatbed with a front-wheel chock and soft tie-downs to the frame, never a sling and never on a wheel-lift. Sport bikes, cruisers and scooters, from a Kapkowski Road lot, a Peterstown garage or a Routes 1 & 9 shoulder, at the same booking fee plus miles.

A flatbed needs headroom it will not find on most Elizabeth decks, so the driver brings a wheel-lift or a set of dollies to move the car to the exit and loads it on the street. Say the deck and the level when you call so the truck is planned before it leaves. If the car just needs a jump, the jump comes first and costs one flat price.

Yes. A wheel-lift with skates under the wheels walks a boxed-in car sideways out of its space and then lifts it, and it is one of the most common jobs in Peterstown and Elizabethport. Say the cross street and which side of the street the car is on; the truck comes in by the side street.

On the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway the shoulder itself is served by the Turnpike Authority's authorized garages; book with us anyway, and once the authorized truck has the car off the highway we take it from the exit or the garage's lot to the shop or driveway you choose, at the same flat quoted price. Routes 1 & 9, I-278 on this side of the river, Route 27 and every Elizabeth street are direct dispatch at the flat fee.

No. The booking fee and the mileage rate are the same at 4 a.m. on a holiday as on a weekday afternoon, and the same truck is chosen for your car either way. Nights are staffed, not surcharged.

Filling in the pickup, the destination, the car and the time on the booking page saves the dispatcher's time on the phone, and the saving is passed to you: $129 instead of $149. If you are on a live road right now, call (908) 666-3168 instead; speed matters more than $20 on the viaduct.

Wherever you say: your mechanic on Morris Avenue, a body shop in Linden, a dealer in Union, your own driveway. We have no storage lot, so there is no storage fee and no release fee. If you do not have a shop, the driver will suggest one nearby, but you choose.

If your car is drivable or you have called your own tow before the rotation truck arrives, you can usually use your own. Ours is a flatbed that goes to the body shop you name, not to a yard that charges by the day. Call from the scene and tell the officer your truck is on the way.

Yes. Vans and box trucks ride a medium-duty truck; tractors, chassis and buses need a heavy-duty wrecker. Both come from the same Linden yard, minutes from the marine terminal and the refinery corridor. Fleet operators get a direct line and one invoice a month.

Yes, and it is what most no-start calls from Elizabeth's lots and driveways turn out to need. A jump is one flat price with no mileage. The truck that carries the jump pack is the same one that would tow you, so if the battery will not hold, the tow is added at the flat fee without a second callout.

The driver photographs the car before he touches it and after he unloads it, straps by the tires on the flatbed, checks the clearance and the bumper before a wheel-lift goes under, and the trucks are licensed and insured. Damage on a tow almost always comes from the wrong truck, which is why the truck is chosen on the phone.

Yes. One or two passengers ride in the cab at no charge, which is often the easiest way home from the Bayway Circle at midnight. Tell the dispatcher how many people are with you.

Every day. A tow that begins in Elizabeth and ends in a bordering town, or the reverse, is the booking fee plus a few miles. Roselle, Roselle Park and Kenilworth are the same. The shore, New York or another state is a long-distance run quoted on one flatbed with tolls included.

Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Apple Pay, Google Pay and cash, paid to the driver at any hour, all the same price. Fleet and commercial accounts are invoiced monthly on net terms.

Yes. Flatbed drivers, wheel-lift drivers, owner-operators with their own trucks and roadside providers. The openings and how to apply are on the driver jobs page.