24 hour towing in Plainfield, NJ: the questions, answered the way our dispatcher answers them

Yes, a live dispatcher, every night including holidays. (908) 666-3168 rings the same desk that assigns the trucks. Plenty of Plainfield calls arrive after the last train, from the station lots, downtown and Route 22, and each is handled exactly as a midday call would be.

From a standing start at the yard, about 25 minutes west on Route 22 or Route 28, and we would rather tell you that than invent a smaller number. Most nights a truck is already out on Route 22 or I-78, so the estimate comes from that truck. The East End and the north side are usually quickest; the West End takes longest unless a truck is near I-287.

By phone the booking fee is $149 for dispatch and hook-up; booked online it is $129. The dispatcher states the miles to your chosen shop or driveway before sending anyone. Jumps, tire changes, lockouts and fuel runs are each one flat price, and the time of night adds nothing; the pricing page has the rest.

No. Our receipt has no late-hour line, no Sunday line and no holiday line. A tow at 2 a.m. on New Year's Day is priced exactly like one at 2 p.m. on a Wednesday.

Yes, any hour. Tell dispatch which side of the tracks and which row, then stay with the car. Most of these are tired batteries, and a jump sorts them out for far less than a tow.

Yes. The downtown station lots and the streets around them are a regular call for us. Name the lot and the row and keep your phone on so the driver can reach you.

Usually, yes. The truck sets up at the curb or partway in and winches the car down the driveway onto the deck. If the driveway is very steep or tight, the driver says so on arrival and uses dollies to bring it out without scraping.

Yes, and always on a flatbed so no wheel turns on the road. Mention the make and drivetrain when you call and the right truck is sent the first time.

Yes. Route 22 is a state highway, so we dispatch to the shoulder directly in either direction. Tell us eastbound or westbound and the nearest store or cross street, and name the Plainfield shop it should go to.

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.

Call and say which block or lot, and wait near the car. A lockout is one flat price, and the driver opens the door with non-marring tools without touching the glass.

No. Water in the engine can turn a tow into a rebuild. Get out, get to high ground, and call; we winch it clear first and it rides to a shop on the flatbed.

No membership of any kind. You pay per job at the drop-off, and the itemized receipt can be submitted to a roadside plan or insurer for reimbursement if you have one.

Wherever you tell us: your mechanic, a dealer, a body shop, your driveway. We do not steer cars to a storage lot, and there is no daily meter on a car delivered where you asked.

Yes, one or two passengers ride along at no charge. If more people are with you, mention it and dispatch works out a plan so no one is left on the curb.

At the drop-off, by Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover, Apple Pay, Google Pay or cash. Fleets can pay on net terms with one monthly invoice.

Yes, and the dispatcher suggests it whenever a battery sounds like the problem. A jump is one flat price. If it will not hold a charge, the tow is priced right there with no second trip.

Yes. Medium and heavy-duty trucks work out of the same Linden yard as the flatbeds, and they handle box trucks, buses, tractors and work vans. Heavy jobs get their own quote on the call.

Yes. Long-distance runs to Pennsylvania, New York or farther are quoted as one figure with tolls and the return included. Within Union and Middlesex counties it is simply the booking fee plus miles.

He gives you the added figure before he touches anything. The $149 does not change; a winch or dollies for a car that cannot roll is priced at the scene, and you decide whether to go ahead.

Yes. Tell dispatch which lot and which entrance, and whether you are at the car or still inside. Batteries that die after a long shift are the usual call, and a jump is our first try.

Yes. North Plainfield across the Green Brook, Scotch Plains and Fanwood to the east, South Plainfield, Piscataway, Edison, Dunellen and Green Brook all get the same desk and the same flat booking fee. See the service area.