TowingBossPro Blog — Tow Dispatch

Dispatching Roadside Calls: Jump Starts, Lockouts, Tire Changes, Fuel and Winch-Outs

Roadside calls are the short ones. A dead battery in a parking lot, keys locked in a car at the gym, a flat on the shoulder, a car out of gas a mile from the station, a car slid just off the road. Most take a fraction of the time of a tow. That makes them easy to underestimate, and easy to dispatch badly.

Handled well, roadside work fills the gaps between tows and keeps customers loyal. Handled poorly, it ties up flatbeds and makes tow customers wait.

Roadside Is Its Own Category

The heavy versus light guide in Heavy-Duty vs. Light-Duty: Sending the Right Wrecker the First Time showed why the category on the call matters. Roadside calls get their own category in TowingBossPro: jump start, lockout, tire change, fuel delivery and winch-out all fall under Roadside. When they sit on the Waiting List map with that label, the dispatcher can see quickly how many quick calls are open and where.

That distinction lets you treat them differently. A roadside call can often be handled by any truck with the right tools, and sometimes by a service vehicle rather than a tow truck.

Ask Enough to Know It Is Really Roadside

Plenty of calls that start as roadside turn into tows. A jump start on a battery that is dead because the alternator failed. A tire change where the spare is flat too. A lockout where the keys are inside and the car will not start anyway. Ask a few questions to catch these: has the car been having trouble? Is there a usable spare and a lug key? Is it a modern key fob or a key that might be locked in the ignition?

For winch-outs, ask how far off the road the car is, whether it is on its side and whether anyone is hurt. A car a few feet into soft dirt is a winch-out. A car down an embankment is an Accident & Recovery call.

Fuel delivery calls deserve one more question: what kind of fuel? Diesel versus gasoline is a costly mix-up, and the customer is usually the only one who knows for sure. Put it in the call notes so the driver sees it before filling a can.

Fill the Gaps With Roadside Work

Because roadside calls are quick, they fit well between tows. When a driver is heading to a drop-off, look at the map for roadside calls near that drop-off. A lockout three blocks from the body shop can be handled right after the car comes off the deck. Assign it to the same driver and truck so it shows next in their app.

The driver app shows the call in order, with the location, vehicle details and notes, and one-tap navigation. The driver taps on-the-way, the customer gets a text, and the job gets done.

Don't Let Roadside Block a Tow

The risk is a flatbed spending its morning on jump starts while tow customers wait. If you have a service truck or a light-duty unit, route roadside work there first. If every truck is a tow truck, set a rule about how many roadside calls can stack in front of a waiting tow.

Rush hours and storms bring a lot of roadside work all at once. On those days, prioritize safety: a car out of gas in a travel lane goes first, a lockout in a parking lot can wait a little longer.

Price and Bill Roadside Simply

Roadside calls are small tickets, so billing friction hurts. Invoice from the completed call, and collect with a card on file or an online payment link. For commercial accounts like motor clubs or property managers, the call and invoice stay under the account so you can bill them together.

Sales tax rules on services vary by state and city, so set up your tax settings to match local requirements.

Many companies also use roadside calls as the first test of a new customer relationship with a property manager or small business. A fast lockout at an office park can lead to the impound and transport work later. Treat the small calls like they matter, because they often do.

Small Calls, Big Loyalty

A fast lockout or jump start costs you little and is often the first time a customer uses your company. The automatic on-the-way text and a live map of the driver make a small service feel professional. When that customer needs a real tow later, they call you. The next guide covers the calls that come when the office is closed: after-hours dispatch.

See how Roadside calls fit with tows on the TowingBossPro tow dispatch software page.