How Do Tow Truck Companies Work

A tow truck company is a simple concept.  The main purpose of a tow truck company is to move disabled vehicles at the request of their owners or the owner/administrator of a property.  In urban area or apartment complexes tow truck companies operate to control illegal parking by owners who don't follow posted regulations or parking rules.  In these cases areas in question have limited space for parking and they reserve the right to allow people to park only if they pay for a space or allow people to park in spaces at certain times.  If either of these rules are violated it is the right of the owner to have the vehicles towed off the premises.  In these cases the owner has contracted in advance with a towing company to service their lots.  The property owner will provide signs to patrons as to how to retain their vehicles once they have been towed.

Towing yards are fortified prisons for vehicles.  The yards are usually gated with bob wire surrounding the property deterring vehicles owners from jumping the fence to get their car back.  The yards also employ automatic fences and state of the art video surveillance to guard against intruders.  At night, guard dogs are release to further deter prowlers from stepping foot on the yards premises. Getting your car back from these yards entails paying a fee.  These fees can be fairly expensive and usually range from the low $50 dollar range to upwards $100 to $200 dollars.  It also depends on the amount of days the tow truck company has your vehicle on their premises.  Most yards charge a storage fee per day.  This could be another $20 to $50 dollars per day.  After a while the fee can become very expensive.  If the car is never retrieved a lien is put on the vehicle by the tow company at the Department Of Motor Vehicles.  If the lien is not paid off the tow company will file with the local courts for ownership of the vehicle.  Once ownership is obtained the cars are either auctioned off or scrapped for spare parts.

Emergency Services is another way that tow truck companies work.  If you vehicle is disabled on the highway and you don't have a means to remove it or you are just to disoriented to solve the towing issue emergency services will have the car towed for you.  Owners of towing companies contract with operations like AAA and police organizations to tow disabled vehicles off the highway.  Triple A is an organization that participants pay a yearly access fee to be able to have access to emergency vehicle services.  In times of need this organization is very helpful.

City Parking - In big cities the parking authority division employ a number of tow trucks to enforce parking laws enacted within city limits.  These may be as simple as not paying a toll or parking ticket and parking in a no parking zone.  Parking authority will choose to tow your vehicle in exchange for the right to make you pay your tickets in order to get your vehicle back.  If the violation is not paid the vehicle towed will be sold at auction.