The first question is always weight
For a car nobody asks. For anything commercial, the gross weight and the number of axles determine whether this is a medium duty truck, a heavy wrecker, or a rotator. Guessing low wastes a dispatch and costs you an hour, so get the real number off the door or the paperwork before you call.
Loaded changes everything
A trailer with freight on it may legally and physically need to be lightened before it can be recovered, which means a second truck and a place to put the load. That is not a company being difficult, it is weight ratings. Say loaded or empty in the first sentence.
Port and refinery access
A lot of the heavy work here happens inside facilities with their own gate procedures, escort requirements and safety briefings. An operator who works this corridor regularly already has the badge situation figured out. One who does not will be sitting at a gate while you burn the clock.
Downtime is the real cost
For a commercial vehicle the tow bill is almost never the expensive part. The expensive part is the truck not earning and the load not arriving. That is why heavy calls get triaged by how fast the unit can be back in service, not by how close the truck is.
- Weight and axle count decide the truck, so have both ready
- A loaded trailer may need to be offloaded before it can move
- Low clearance and weight limits rule out some routes entirely
- Yard and jobsite recoveries are a different job from a road breakdown
Questions people ask about heavy duty and equipment towing
Can you tow a bus or an RV?
Yes, with the right truck. Give the length and the weight, because RVs are heavier than they look and length limits some routes.
Do you do jobsite equipment moves?
Equipment transport and equipment recovery are related but separate jobs. Say whether it runs and drives.