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

They are. The yard that the whole network runs out of is inside the Linden city limits, and every truck begins and ends its shift there. What we do not have is a front desk you can visit or a lot where cars are held; the trucks come to you. For a Linden address that adds up to the quickest arrival we can offer anyone.

That depends on the car, not on you. All-wheel and four-wheel drive, electric, hybrid, lowered, luxury, motorcycles and anything crashed go on the flatbed. A front-drive or rear-drive car that still rolls and steers, headed a short way, can go on the wheel-lift. Give the dispatcher the make and the model and she makes the call, and any doubt sends the flatbed.

Two numbers. The booking fee is $149 by phone or $129 online and pays for the truck reaching you and loading the car; the mileage from your car to your destination is the second, and the dispatcher tells you both before anything moves. Either kind of truck costs the same fee. Commercial vehicles are a bigger truck and a separate quote. Every line is on the pricing page.

Less time than anywhere else we serve, because there is no other town to cross. The dispatcher can see where each truck is, whether on Routes 1 & 9, downtown or at Tremley Point, and gives you a window from that. What she will not do is promise minutes she cannot see.

No. Both trucks come for the same booking fee. Charging extra for the flatbed would tempt people into the wrong truck, and a transfer case costs far more than any difference we could name.

No, and neutral does not help. The two wheels left on the ground still spin the center differential on an all-wheel-drive car, so even a run of six blocks to a garage on St. Georges Avenue does harm. It rides the flatbed, every time.

Flatbed only. The car goes into its transport mode so the wheels turn freely, rolls up the deck, and is strapped down by the tires; nothing lifts under the battery. The driver knows where the tow eyes hide on the common models. Name the car when you call and the correct truck leaves at once.

Yes, if you tell us. The driver brings wood blocks and ramp extensions to flatten the deck's angle, and on a very low car he pulls from further back so the lip clears the ramp. Say how low it sits when you call; a lowered car is a flatbed job from the first word.

Yes, on the flatbed, with a chock for the front wheel and soft straps to the frame. Never a sling, never a wheel-lift. Sport bikes, cruisers and scooters from a Sunnyside garage, an Edgar Road lot or a Stiles Street shoulder, at the booking fee plus miles.

Probably not. The evening no-start at the station is nearly always a battery, and a jump start has its own flat price with no miles on top. The truck carrying the jump pack is a tow truck, so if the charge does not take, the car is loaded at the booking fee and there is no second trip to pay for.

Yes. The driver slides skates under the wheels, uses the wheel-lift to walk the car sideways out of the gap, and hooks it once it is clear. The blocks between Wood Avenue and the tracks generate that job every week. Give the cross street and which side the car is on, and the truck enters from 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. Every Linden street, from Routes 1 & 9 to Tremley Point Road, is ours to reach directly at the flat fee.

There is not. Three in the morning on a holiday costs what two on a Tuesday afternoon costs, fee and miles alike, and your car gets the same truck at either hour. We staff the night rather than charge for it.

Because you have done the dispatcher's typing. The booking page asks for the pickup, the destination, the car and the time, and when you fill it in the fee is $129 rather than $149. If you are sitting in a live lane on Routes 1 & 9, skip the form and call (908) 666-3168; the $20 is not worth the wait.

Anywhere you like: a mechanic on St. Georges Avenue, a body shop on Edgar Road, a dealer in Rahway, your own driveway. We keep no lot, so a storage fee or a release fee is impossible. Have no shop in mind? The driver can suggest one near you, and the choice stays yours.

Usually not, if your car can be driven or your own truck is already on its way when the rotation truck shows up. Our flatbed takes the car to whichever body shop you pick, rather than to a yard that bills by the day. Call from the scene, then let the officer know your truck is minutes out.

Yes. Box trucks and vans go behind a medium-duty truck, while tractors, chassis, tankers and buses need the heavy wrecker. Both are garaged in Linden, a few blocks from the refinery fence and the terminal gates. Fleets get a direct number and a single monthly bill.

Considerably, and it is what most no-start calls from Linden's lots and driveways really need. The jump is one flat price with nothing for mileage. Should the battery refuse the charge, the tow follows on the same truck at the booking fee.

The whole process is built to avoid that. Photos before the driver touches the car and after it comes off the truck, straps over the tires on the flatbed, a look at the bumper and the ground clearance before a wheel-lift goes under, and licensed, insured trucks. Most tow damage is the wrong truck's doing, which is why the dispatcher picks the truck on the phone.

Yes. The cab takes one or two passengers at no charge, which at midnight on Edgar Road is often the simplest ride home. Let the dispatcher know how many are with you.

Daily. Any tow between Linden and a town on its line, whichever direction, is the booking fee plus a few miles, and Cranford, Carteret and Winfield count the same way. Further destinations, the shore, New York or another state, are quoted as one long-distance job on a single flatbed with tolls included.

Yes, and because the trucks are garaged here a Linden driver starts and finishes close to home. We take on flatbed drivers, wheel-lift drivers, owner-operators with their own trucks and roadside providers; the openings are on the driver jobs page.