How to start a towing business
The work to target, the first truck, registration, insurance, the budget, pricing and where calls come from.
OWNER GUIDES
Straight answers
to the questions
owners ask.
Plain guides, with the numbers and the tools beside them.
Reviewed September 2026. General information, not legal, tax, insurance or financial advice.
Plan the start
Is a towing business profitable?
What decides whether a truck makes money: calls per month, revenue per call, the empty miles and fixed costs, with a worked example you can change.
Rollback, wrecker, wheel lift or rotator?
What each kind of tow truck does well, where it falls short, and which work it fits, with current asking prices.
How to price towing from your own costs
Cost per mile, hour and call, the empty miles, common rate structures, capped rates, and motor-club offers.
Do you need a CDL or USDOT number for a tow truck?
How the truck’s weight rating decides the commercial driver’s license, the USDOT number and the medical card, and where state rules come in.
Buying a used tow truck: a checklist
Paperwork, chassis and body checks, what to operate before you buy, and how to check the price.
Put the numbers to work.
The guides lean on free calculators that use only the figures you enter, and on current asking prices from TowValue’s market data.
All owner tools Used tow truck prices by type Associations, training and trade media