Tow trucks in Bayonne, NJ: the questions, with the answers the dispatcher gives on the phone

Two things decide it: the car and the block. Anything all-wheel drive, electric, plug-in, lowered, expensive or bent rides the rollback. A front-wheel-drive car that still rolls and steers, headed a few blocks, rides the wheel-lift. On a cross street with no room for a deck, the wheel-lift goes in first regardless and brings the car to the avenue, where the rollback takes over if the drivetrain calls for it.

$149 to book by phone, which covers dispatch and the hook-up, or $129 through the online form. On top of that go the miles between the car and the shop or driveway you name, at a rate the dispatcher reads out before she sends anyone. The pricing page breaks down every line.

No. $149 by phone, $129 online, and it makes no difference which of the two comes. We price it that way so that nobody on either end of the phone is tempted to put an AWD car on the cheaper truck. Vans, box trucks, buses and tractors are the exception, since they need a wrecker and are quoted on their own.

Yes, and that describes most of the numbered streets. The wheel-lift backs into whatever gap exists ahead of or behind you, lifts one end and walks the car out to Broadway or the nearest avenue. From there a front-wheel-drive car keeps going on the same truck, and anything else is transferred to the rollback on the avenue, with no extra line on the bill for the walk.

Not even for three blocks. Two driven wheels turning while the other two hang means the transfer case spins with nothing pumping oil through it, and the damage starts fast. Every Subaru, Quattro, xDrive, 4MATIC, AWD Highlander and 4x4 pickup in Bayonne rides the rollback with all four wheels on the deck.

Yes, and only on the rollback. The driver puts the car in transport mode where the maker offers one, runs the straps through the wheels and keeps every wheel still. Teslas, Rivians, Ioniqs, Bolts, Leafs, Mach-Es, ID.4s and plug-in hybrids from the Bayonne Crossing chargers or a MOTBY garage are all handled the same way.

Not if the driver knows in advance. He flattens the deck angle, stacks wood under the approach and feeds the winch slowly so the front lip clears the edge. Mention it on the call so the blocks are on the truck when it leaves. A lowered car is never put on the wheel-lift.

From the Linden yard, about 25 minutes over the Turnpike Extension to Exit 14A, and we would rather say that than promise less. In practice a truck is often already on the Extension, in Jersey City or somewhere on the peninsula, and the dispatcher gives you a window from that truck's real position.

Not when it is the front wheels that are lifted, since on a front-wheel-drive car the rear wheels are not connected to the transmission at all. The driver confirms the drivetrain from the badge and the underside, sets the gear and the parking brake the way the maker specifies, and switches to the rollback the moment anything looks uncertain.

Yes, on the rollback. A front-wheel chock holds the bike upright and soft straps go over the bars and the frame, never a sling and never a wheel-lift. Sport bikes, cruisers, scooters and touring bikes from a Broadway curb or an uptown garage, booked at the ordinary fee plus miles.

Hardly ever. A battery that sat through a cruise is the single most common call from the port, and it is a jump start at one flat price with nothing for mileage. Only if the battery refuses to hold a charge does the tow get added, and by then the truck is already parked beside you in an open lot where the rollback loads on the spot.

A jump start first. Commuter lots produce cars that sat all day with something drawing on the battery, and most of those drive away once they have been started. If yours does not, the same truck loads it in the lot and a shop on Broadway or Avenue E is a few minutes away.

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. That covers the whole Hudson County Extension between Exit 14 and 14C. Route 440, JFK Boulevard, Broadway, the avenues and the numbered streets are ours to dispatch to directly.

If you call us first, the car goes where you say instead of where a rotation truck takes it. The driver photographs each panel for the adjuster before he moves anything, winches the car up the deck on whatever wheels still turn, and delivers it to your body shop. There is no storage yard, no release charge and no second tow to get it out.

Yes. A Sprinter, a box truck or a shuttle bus goes on the medium-duty wrecker's underlift, and a tractor or a full-size bus goes on the heavy truck. Tell the dispatcher the model or the weight so the right one is booked the first time. Fleets get an account and one invoice at month end.

No. The fee and the mileage rate do not change with the clock, the day of the week or the holiday calendar. Night drivers are on shift, not on call, so there is no premium to pass along.

Yes, one or two of you in the cab, free. That matters when the car is headed to a shop in Jersey City and the light rail does not go where you need. A bigger group can be sorted out with the dispatcher on the call.

Usually only partly, because a shared driveway between two-family houses is too narrow to tilt a deck in. The driver rings ahead so the neighbor can move their car, then winches yours down to the street in a straight line and loads it there. Any winch work is mentioned before it starts.

No. You call, you hear the price, you pay it. If a plan or a policy reimburses towing, keep the itemized receipt and send it in afterward. At 2 a.m. that is nearly always faster than waiting for a plan to find a contractor with the right truck.

Jersey City is a short local run: the booking fee plus a handful of miles. Newark and Elizabeth are across the bay, so the Extension miles are counted too. Staten Island over the Bayonne Bridge has the toll built into the quote. Any of them is read out before the truck moves.

Cash, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Apple Pay or Google Pay, whichever you have, at the same price. Businesses with several vehicles can open an account on net terms and settle monthly.

Yes. Rollback and wheel-lift drivers, owner-operators who bring their own truck, and roadside providers. The driver jobs page lists what is open, what it pays and how to apply.