Tow truck questions from Edison, NJ, with the answers our dispatcher gives on the phone

Your car decides it. The rollback, with its tilting deck, takes anything all-wheel drive, electric, plug-in, lowered, expensive or crashed. The wheel-lift takes a front-wheel-drive car that still rolls and steers on a short hop inside Edison. Say make, model and year and the dispatcher picks before she prices.

A flat $149 to book by phone, covering dispatch and hook-up, or $129 through the booking page, then a per-mile rate to the address you pick, told to you before anything is sent. Either car truck, same fee. The pricing page lists each line.

No. Whichever truck shows up, you book it for $149 by phone or $129 online, since the choice of truck belongs to the car and not to the bill. Separate quotes apply only to vans, box trucks and heavier vehicles that need a wrecker.

No, not even for a mile. Two wheels lifted and two turning means the center differential and the transfer case spin with no oil pressure, and that damage shows up as a repair bill far larger than the tow. Every AWD Subaru, Audi, BMW xDrive, Mercedes 4MATIC, Toyota, Honda and 4x4 pickup in Edison rides the rollback.

Yes, rollback only. The driver puts the car in transport mode where the maker provides one, straps at the wheels rather than the frame, and nothing rolls. Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, Ioniq, Bolt, Leaf, Mach-E, ID.4 and every plug-in hybrid are handled the same way.

Not if you tell us. The driver flattens the deck angle, extends the approach with blocks or ramps and winches slowly so the nose clears the lip. Say the car is lowered on the call and the truck leaves Linden with the blocks aboard. A lowered car never rides the wheel-lift.

The yard is in Linden, about twenty minutes from the center of Edison by Route 1 or the Parkway, with Menlo Park and the Oak Tree side a little nearer and Raritan Center a little further. A truck is often already working the township. The dispatcher quotes a window from where the nearest suitable truck actually is.

No, as long as the front wheels are the pair lifted. On a front-wheel-drive car the rear wheels turn on their own bearings and touch nothing in the gearbox. The driver checks the drivetrain, sets the shifter the way the manual says and releases the parking brake; if anything is uncertain, he calls for the rollback.

Yes, and only on the rollback. The bike stands in a front-wheel chock with soft straps over the bars and the frame, never in a sling and never on a yoke. Sport bikes, cruisers, scooters and tourers, from a Route 27 shoulder or a Clara Barton garage, for the usual booking fee plus miles.

In the open lots, yes, with either truck. Under the covered decks the clearance stops a rollback, so the wheel-lift or a set of dollies fetches the car to the exit and the loading happens outside. Give the entrance and the level and the plan is set before the truck leaves.

Probably not. A car that sat through a workday at the station is nearly always a flat battery, and a jump is one flat price with no miles. Should the battery refuse the charge, the tow is added on the spot with the truck already there, on whichever truck your drivetrain requires.

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. The same applies to the Parkway by Metropark. Route 1, Route 27, I-287, Route 440 and every Edison street are a direct dispatch.

Call us before the rotation truck gets there and you decide where the car goes. The rollback winches it up on whatever wheels still turn, the driver shoots every side for the adjuster, and the car lands at the body shop you name, not an impound lot with a daily rate.

Yes. Sprinters, step vans, box trucks and shuttle buses go on the medium wrecker with the underlift; tractors, trailers and coaches go on the heavy wrecker. Say the model or the weight and the right one is booked, and fleets settle monthly on one invoice.

No. The booking fee and the per-mile rate do not change with the clock or the calendar, holidays included. The dispatcher and the drivers are on shift at night, so there is nobody to call in and nothing to charge for.

Yes. A passenger or two can ride in the cab free of charge, which helps when the car is going to Metuchen or New Brunswick and you have no ride home. More than two? Say so and the dispatcher works it out.

The deck needs a couple of car lengths of clear ground behind the vehicle, so on a short or sloped driveway the driver usually keeps the truck in the street and winches the car down to it. He calls ahead so a second car can be moved, and any winch work is priced before he starts.

No. Anyone can call and pay the figure quoted. If a plan or an insurance policy covers towing, pay us, keep the itemized receipt and file it afterward; at two in the morning on Route 1 that beats waiting for the plan to find a contractor with the right truck.

A local job: $149 to book ($129 online) plus a handful of miles, priced on the call. Piscataway, Highland Park, East Brunswick, Sayreville and South Plainfield work the same way. Anything to the shore, the city or out of state is a long-distance run on one rollback with tolls in the quote.

Yes. Book a window, leave the key with the front desk or a lockbox and tell the dispatcher the make, model and destination. The driver photographs the car before it is loaded and after it is dropped, and the receipt goes to your email. The hotel lots along Route 1 are open-air, so either truck loads on the spot.

The badge and the rear axle to confirm the drivetrain, the ground clearance against the deck angle, the shifter and the parking brake as the maker specifies, then a photo of every panel. Straps go at the wheels, never around a control arm or under a battery pack. Then the winch takes up slack slowly and the car goes on straight.

Cash or card at the curb, at any hour, for the same price: Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover, Apple Pay and Google Pay. Fleets settle on net terms with a monthly invoice.

Yes. We are looking for rollback and wheel-lift drivers, owner-operators with their own trucks and roadside providers; the driver jobs page has the openings, the pay and the application.