Tow truck on Routes 1 & 9 in Linden, NJ: Edgar Road, the big-box lots, Linden Plaza and the airport

If the engine still turns, roll into the next lot or side street and call from there; the price is the same and nobody lays a ramp in traffic. If it will not, hazards on, out the passenger side, and over the curb.

The divider means the truck cannot cross to you. Say northbound or southbound and the last signal or store you passed, and the driver comes in on the correct side the first time.

Wide lots where the flatbed backs right up to the car, which is where the all-wheel-drive SUVs and the hybrids go. A car that clicked after two hours of shopping is a battery first: one flat price, no miles, and the tow is added at the flat fee only if the jump fails.

Say the store you parked nearest and what you drive.

Cars left at the airport fence for a weekend flight that will not start on Sunday night, and dealer transfers along the corridor on weekday mornings. A flatbed for the imports and the electric cars, a wheel-lift for the trade-ins that roll, and a scheduled slot for anything that can wait.

Dealers and rental desks along Edgar Road that call regularly get an account and a monthly invoice.

The lights at Stiles Street, Wood Avenue and the plaza entrances collect fender-benders at every rush hour. A car that has been hit goes on a flatbed regardless of what it was before, winched up, strapped, photographed for the adjuster and taken to the body shop you name rather than a storage yard.

Tell the officer your own truck is coming from a few minutes away.