Thoughts on starting a Towing Company

Good luck. I've spent a few years in that industry and there's not much profit in light duty towing. Motor clubs will put a lot of wear and tear on your truck and pay less than operating expenses. AAA for example, which is one of the better roadside clubs, pays $24 a tow, $1.75 a mile in route after 3 miles and $2.75 a mile loaded, again, after three miles. You could easily work an hour for $40. That was in the Little Rock (Arkansas) market at least. I'm sure there's some fluctuation across the country but not by enough to make a difference. I don't know the requirements where you live but it's highly unlikely you'll get on police rotation in a town of any size as a one man operation. In some of the smaller towns around Little Rock, there were a few one man operations on the police and sheriff rotations for which you might get 1 or 2 calls for a week and your 1 call that week might be an abandoned car you never see a dime on. In LR, you had to have a minimum of 6 light duty trucks, 1 medium, 1 heavy and a land line in your office that was manned 24/7 to even be considered.

I know this post comes across as very pessimistic. I'm not saying it isn't possible by any means. The last outfit I worked for started with 1 rollback and a pickup and tilt trailer and after 6 years, now has a fleet of light duty trucks, 2 heavys and a Landoll trailer for moving equipment but he's the exception to the rule and it was hard work and stress every hour of those 6 years. Just know what you're up against. Lots of people say you can't make it in trucking and a lot of people don't but some people do. Don't go in blind thinking it's going to be easy.

 

Repos. I hear repos in the area Are big money. I was considering getting a tow myself

 

I was also going to suggest hiring on with someone and learning the repo work. Not much money in towing anymore. Another race to the bottom industry

 

You aren't the only one who thinks that. That industry is no different. It's a race to the bottom too. Everyone that can buy some kind of tow truck will try it and some even without. A tow truck is just a tool for repos, it is far from all you need to get into that line of work. Doing repos is way more than just towing cars, way more. I could write a book.

 

I'll give you guys a homework assignment if you want to see what it's like and you'll only have just a little time invested and possibly some bumps and bruises and even dog bites.

Go find a house on a poorly lit road somewhere. Make sure the driveway is at least a 1/4 mile long and the house is barely visible from the road. You are doing this one at night too, no moonlight either. You need to park a little ways away from the driveway and then walk up to this house just to have a look around taking note of what and who is there. Stay up there a good 5 minutes or so,don't get caught,then walk back to the road to your car. Now keep in mind you don't know if there are dogs out on the property, you have no idea if they have any motion detection devices outside or cameras for that matter so be careful. Tomorrow come back and let us know how it made you feel and if you'd still like to do repos.

 

By a big wrecker, get contracts with Swift and Fedx, start looking for a beach house for retirement.

 

I also was involved in towing and a bit of repo work, which I used to do in the winter when laid off from construction.
I did not enjoy the repo stuff at all - life is too short to get shot trying to take back a car/boat/RV/ etc. in my mind. The fellow I worked for thrived on it though, he liked the rush. To each his own I guess, but not for me.
I did enjoy the heavy towing quite a bit though, recovery work is quite a science, and best learned on the job under the guidance of an experienced mentor.

 

Bam! Spoken just like you took the words right out of my mouth. I'm going back to selling used cars. Forget about trucking and waiting for the money to be sent sometimes 30+ days later.
Broker's, and corporate trucking driving down competition from owner operator's.