Attn: Tow-truck drivers

[e-tek]

Hi Guys,
Trying to see how "full-of-poo" a freind of mine is....would you (or anyone) know (for real) about how much a tow-truck owner/operator makes in a year? Gross, Net, I don't care.
BTW - He says they make $200,000.00/yr......If that's the case, me and all my friends (and my wife and all her friends) want to know where we sign up!!

 

[boiler7904]

I don't know that you could clear anywhere near 200k as an independent o/o. Towing is a high overhead business to be in where you have to be working constantly to pay for fuel, insurance, and the truck itself. Even the little ones start at $60k and most guys replace them every couple of years just to have something that is reliable. I passed a tow truck yesterday that was sitting on the side of the road with 4 flat tires - 2 on the truck and both rear wheels of the car it was towing. Not exactly a good position to be in on the interstate in morning rush hour traffic.

Depends a lot on the size and capabilities of the truck and location as well as the experience and qualifications / certifications of the driver. Obviously, being in a big city full of bad drivers presents more opportunity to make more money than working out of a small town in the middle of nowhere.

If you ever watch the show Wrecked on the Speed channel you know that the owners of O'Hare Towing in Chicago aren't doing too bad.

Unfortunately, I think that there is a lot more money in asset recovery or repo work now with the state of our economy. One of the local companies here has all new 2007 and 2008 F550 trucks with every bell and whistle you could want. All they do is repo cars.

 

[Blkvoodoo]

I would guess regional location could possibly be a factor.

I was an operator in the early '90's in the midwest, made $8.50 an hour, plus commision after hours. the owner probably made enough to pay for a truck every year, maybe a little more. Thats PER truck on the road. Insurance is a KILLER, liability is incredable, and the hours **** !!! But I would do it again if I didn't have something resembiling a real life going on right now.

Snow storms are almost non-stop towing, but your time involved it about trilple per tow, if you are near a collage campus ( I was ) it is a plus, Towing enforcement is pretty standard there. We had "2 to 5" tows ( no parking 2am-5am ) to clear streets for sweepers and keep students from abandoning vehicles for whole semesters in busier parts of campus. Permited Parking lot Relocations ( Relo's ) were pretty hot too, and the occasional reposession.

Large Metro areas are pretty hot as well, but competition is stiff, and rarely is it fair. Getting on Police rotation ( city, County or State rotations) can be a curse, you get a lot of junk that you have to carry for 3-9 months before you can file on it ( that paper work takes another 3 months) so you are sitting on junk you can't use or move if the rightful owner never shows ( many times not )

Is it possible to clear 200k in the business ? sure, will you do it in the first 5 years? likely not, but ya never know.

 

[-olllllllo-]

couple years ago, i was driving for someone else up north in manitoba. the hookup was $45.00 + $1.25/km dollies were an extra $45.00 + $1.25/km, winching time was $20.00/15 minutes.
this was just a chev truck, nothin huge an fancy.

so, no, in smalltown canada, there isn't really money to be had. in the cities however, even at the same rates, you could do alright. now, if you spend 1/2 a mill on a rig that's capable of flipping rigs over and towing them out, yeah you'll make some money.
but you'd have to be pretty busy to pull 200k.

as a small operator you would need est. $64.00/hr 10 hrs/day 6 days/wk to make that.
actually possible in canada with $20.00 boosts in the winter, and $20.00 lockouts all the time, cuz those only take minutes, and off you go to another one. it's the hauling that actually cost you more money, so boosts, lockouts, and winching are gravy.


just my experience, for you to learn a wee bit from.

 

[NO1SMAD]

Hello good folks, you have hit a nerv with me now. I have been a tow operator for 30 plus years. It has come time for me to hang up my hooks take off my boots and get a full nights sleep. I will be 50 in two weeks and think with the times being what they are, its time. The industry is in a difficult period due to the econamy and the tax man wanting more all the time. And now more than ever citys and towns wanting "in on the action". Now after 30 years I dont now where they think its going to come from.

I have made great money over the years, but the toll it has taken on myself and family, I dont know I just think it hasent been worth it. I currently have just 5 employes and 7 truks, down from 50 employes and countless trucks.....oh but the headakes, I think my next job I will be an employer and employe of ONE you copy that ONE.

 

[jay50]

I don't know that you could clear anywhere near 200k as an independent o/o. Towing is a high overhead business to be in where you have to be working constantly to pay for fuel, insurance, and the truck itself. Even the little ones start at $60k and most guys replace them every couple of years just to have something that is reliable. I passed a tow truck yesterday that was sitting on the side of the road with 4 flat tires - 2 on the truck and both rear wheels of the car it was towing. Not exactly a good position to be in on the interstate in morning rush hour traffic.

Depends a lot on the size and capabilities of the truck and location as well as the experience and qualifications / certifications of the driver. Obviously, being in a big city full of bad drivers presents more opportunity to make more money than working out of a small town in the middle of nowhere.

If you ever watch the show Wrecked on the Speed channel you know that the owners of O'Hare Towing in Chicago aren't doing too bad.

Unfortunately, I think that there is a lot more money in asset recovery or repo work now with the state of our economy.

One of the local companies here has all new 2007 and 2008 F550 trucks with every bell and whistle you could want. All they do is repo cars

.

Do you think they got the bullet proof glass option on their trucks....

 

[ddawg16]

Net? No way....at least not legally.....and not with one truck.
Of the $200K, how much does he get to keep? Expenses are high.

Here in CA, when we do a DUI checkpoint we also check for drivers licenses....and if you don't have one or your license is suspended....we take the car for 30 days....a couple of months ago we did a checkpoint were we took 136 cars....ALL for 30 days....for the tow company the average income is about $1000 for towing and storage for those 30 days. The only problem is that about half the cars are POS....basically, the illegals go buy a $300 POS at the auction and drive it until they get caught...we take the car and they walk down to the next auto auction to repeat the process....and the tow company is stuck with the POS.

Yea...there is good money to be made....but like anything else, you need to get the full picture.

 

[Rte66Charlie]

Your friend is so full of "poo" that it is running out of his mouth! One truck, $200K? Net? No way. Gross? Doubtful.......

Too many variables enter into this - location, equipment, insurance, fuel, maintenance.....the list goes on and on. Like Boiler said, towing is an extremely high overhead business.

One truck? Good location? (larger metro area with low "tow to population" ratio) Smart operator? You may net $50K-$75K +/- And you'll bust your **** doing it.

 

[Jaguar Fan]

Net? No way....at least not legally.....and not with one truck.
Of the $200K, how much does he get to keep? Expenses are high.

Here in CA, when we do a DUI checkpoint we also check for drivers licenses....and if you don't have one or your license is suspended....we take the car for 30 days....a couple of months ago we did a checkpoint were we took 136 cars....ALL for 30 days....for the tow company the average income is about $1000 for towing and storage for those 30 days. The only problem is that about half the cars are POS....basically, the illegals go buy a $300 POS at the auction and drive it until they get caught...we take the car and they walk down to the next auto auction to repeat the process....and the tow company is stuck with the POS.

Yea...there is good money to be made....but like anything else, you need to get the full picture.

so, how come you let the illegals walk?

 

[55dude]

200k! thats a good one.

 

[Worsedog]

Yeah right,I smell some serious poo. I was an operator for better than 8 years. The company I worked for had 3 very nice rollbacks; one 8 ton standard wrecker; 2 45 ton heavy duty wreckers; 3 off-roads, one 10 ton, one 16 ton and one 45 ton. We had seven employees including the owner who worked his *** off with the rest of us. The last year I worked there which was about 3 years ago we grossed 850K. After paying all the bills his take was about 200K. It is an incredibly expensive business to be in. The motor clubs want you to have brand new trucks and Johnny Cleancut drivers yet the average motorclub(AAA, Allstate, etc) tow around here would pay around $30, lock outs and tire changes even less. The only reason we had the trucks we did is because we built/refurbished the big trucks ourselves and did all repairs and maintenance in house.

 

[e-tek]

Many thanks guys - I apprecaite the upfront info. Not only did I learn a lot about the Tow Industry, I confirmed my suspicions that the guys is - as Rte66 so eloquently put it - "so full of poo it's running out of his mouth".
I didn't think that was true, but I just had to check.

I'm sure most people know at least one of these guys....who has a story for everything and everything turns into a story. This guy's an A-1-pro-BS'r. He tells stories, some true, some exagerated, a few total BS, but often sprinkled with just enough to make you think twice....he's done everything or knows 5 people who have.
I don't know why people have to be like that...whatever they "gain" in one-upmanship, they lose in respect.

 

[Git]

Clearing 200k would take a miracle unless he's got a HUGE business going with lots of trucks. But I doubt it as an independent owner/operator. Here in AZ we have 3 flatbed trucks and we do light duty towing only, we clear about 80k each year but it's a lot of work.

Doug - no offense and welcome to the forum, but the last post was made over 9 years ago...

 

[pi_guy]

Doug - no offense and welcome to the forum, but the last post was made over 9 years ago...

You might notice he is pushing a towing company.....