Have any of you biztards ever owned/worked/operated a vehicle towing company.
I own a automotive collision repair shop and am thinking about purchasing a used rollback truck to pickup the light tows that we are constantly subcontracting to our tow guys. I have done some quick math and realized if we finance one of these rigs we will more than cover our monthly payment if we can bill for the tows instead of referring them out to our current tow guys.
- Any input on this as an additional income stream? Seems like a natural addition.
- Any input on insurance issues?
- Any input on brands to beware/maintenance issues, etc?
>>1457585
You'll have to pay someone to drive it. Would it be cheaper than outsourcing?
Wreck towing here is about $200, what are you paying your contractors?
>>1457585
Why not? Cut out the middle man.
>>1457590
$150-200 is about the average cost here too.
Couple other components;
- We are opening a second location, rollback may be nice with load-leveling between the two shops.
- We have contracts /w insurance carriers to pickup customers vehicles from same central location every time. We wouldn't we running all over town looking for addresses. We would pickup from the same lot that we visit everyday anyways. This would constitute 80% of our billable tows.
- I doubt that I would hire an internal dedicated driver, myself and a couple others could drive it. We also could move them faster than waiting in queue for a tow driver.
>>1457601
Do it then, seems like a foolproof plan, and a natural extension of your line of business.
Being able to move the workload is very practical, just remember there might be some rules and regulations about insurance when moving other people's cars around
>>1457601
Sounds pretty solid then.