24 hour towing in Elizabeth, NJ: the questions, answered the way dispatch would answer them

A person. Dispatch is staffed straight through the night, every night of the year, and (908) 666-3168 rings to the dispatcher who sends the truck. A big share of our Elizabeth calls arrive between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., from the port, the station lots, Jersey Gardens and the Spring Street stretch of Routes 1 & 9, and they are worked exactly like a lunchtime call.

The yard is in Linden, just past the Bayway line, which puts Peterstown, Bayway and Midtown about ten minutes out and Elizabethport a shade more. Elmora and North Elizabeth are farther from the yard, though a truck already working the city is frequently nearer than the yard. The window you hear comes from the nearest truck's real position rather than a guess.

A flat $149 booking fee for dispatch and hook-up, or $129 if you book it yourself online. Mileage to the shop or driveway you pick is quoted on the call before anything moves. A jump, a tire swap, a lockout or a fuel drop is one flat price each, and there is no after-hours, weekend, holiday or fuel charge; the number at 3 a.m. is the number at 3 p.m. The pricing page has the full breakdown.

Call with the entrance you parked near, roughly which row, and whether you are standing at the car or still inside the mall. Almost every closing-time call from The Mills turns out to be a flat battery, which means a jump start and a smaller figure than a tow. A battery that refuses the charge turns into a tow quoted by the driver already next to you.

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. Routes 1 & 9, I-278, Route 27, Route 82, North Avenue and every Elizabeth street are direct dispatch.

Only if that is what you ask for. It goes to your mechanic, your body shop, your dealer or your driveway, and we do not push you toward a yard that bills by the day plus a release fee. A car delivered straight to your destination never sees a storage charge from us.

No. Anyone in Elizabeth can call. If you do have a plan or towing coverage, you can still call us directly, pay the quoted figure and hand in our itemized receipt for reimbursement, which at 2 a.m. is usually quicker than waiting for the plan to locate a contractor.

Yes. Those ride on a flatbed with all four tires on the deck, strapped at the wheels, so nothing turns and nothing drags. Say what you drive when you call and the right truck is sent the first time.

Yes, and the Burg sends us that call more than any other. Skates or the wheel-lift walk the car sideways out of its space, and then it goes on the truck. Give dispatch the cross street and your side of the street so the driver enters from the open end of the block.

Usually. Tell dispatch which lot and which side of the tracks; most of the station lots are open to a tow truck at night or have an attendant who will admit one once you have called. If the gate is truly locked, the driver meets you at the entrance and works out the next step with you rather than leaving.

Yes. One or two passengers ride in the cab at no charge, at any hour. More than that and the dispatcher helps you sort a ride; we will not leave anyone standing on Spring Street.

Yes. Heavy-duty and medium-duty trucks roll from the same Linden yard for drayage tractors, chassis, box trucks and shuttle buses on McLester Street, North Avenue East and the terminal approaches. Fleet and port accounts get a direct line and a single monthly invoice.

Almost certainly. Our trucks cover Elizabeth through the night and the yard is ten minutes away, so a truck is usually already inside the city when the phone rings. Give the dispatcher a cross street, a lot or a ramp and you get the real arrival time of the nearest one.

Yes. Book online and the booking fee is $129 rather than $149. If you are stopped in a lane right now, calling (908) 666-3168 is faster; the online saving is for people who can safely spend a few minutes typing.

Yes. Flatbed drivers, wheel-lift drivers, owner-operators with their own trucks and roadside providers. Pay, hours and how to apply are on the driver jobs page.

Usually a jump start, which is one flat price and less than a tow. Tell dispatch which campus, Williamson Street or New Point Road, and which lot or deck. If the battery will not take a charge, the tow is quoted right there and you are not charged a second callout.

Yes, on a flatbed with a locking front-wheel chock and soft straps, never dragged. Sport bikes, cruisers and scooters, from a Bayway Avenue shoulder or a garage where the bike sat since October.

Do not turn the key again. Call, say the car was in water, and it goes on a flatbed, never on a wheel-lift; the driver checks the depth before backing in. The blocks closest to the Arthur Kill and the Elizabeth River are the ones that fill first when the tide and the rain line up.

Yes. Elizabeth to any neighboring town, Linden, Hillside, Union, Roselle, Roselle Park, Kenilworth or Newark, is an ordinary local tow: the $149 booking fee plus mileage. Longer runs, to the shore or over the Goethals, are quoted the same way with tolls included.

You hear the figure before he does anything beyond the call. The $149 booking fee stays as it was; if the car turns out not to roll or steer, the winch or dolly work is priced out loud on the spot and the go-ahead is yours to give.

No. Christmas at 3 a.m. is priced the same as a Tuesday at 3 p.m. There is no after-hours line, no weekend line and no holiday line on our receipt, and no fuel surcharge either.

A location the driver can find (a cross street, a lot name, an exit or ramp), what you drive, what happened, and where the car should go. That is the whole call, and the dispatcher will prompt you for anything missing.