Towing & Transport

Southwest Towing & Recovery

24-Hour Dispatch:

(740) 974-9361

“We’ve Got Pull – We’ll Get You Hooked”

We offer light & medium duty towing services, including motorcycle towing. We can provide local towing or long distance transport. No matter if your vehicle has broken down alongside the road or you were involved in a motor vehicle crash/accident, we’re here to assist you with your towing needs.

The rates for towing services can vary, depending on many various factors such as:

  • Type of vehicle needing to be towed (including driveline type: FWD, RWD, AWD/4×4)
  • Reason for disablement (broken wheel bearing; flat without a spare)
  • Location of vehicle (disablement location)
  • Tow to destination (destination location)
  • Number of passengers (how many will ride in our tow truck)
  • Additional/special equipment needed for tow (dollies/skates/drive shaft)
  • Loaded mileage: Local tow vs “Going out of area” -or- Long haul transport

Out towing division handles all local towing services, while our transport division handles all “long-haul” operations.

When selecting a tow company to provide services for your vehicle, it’s important to select a professional and well trained company, because towing your vehicle isn’t just about getting it from “Point A to Point B”, it’s about ensuring that one of your most important pieces of property is transported in a safe and secure manner. Not all tows cost the same and there’s many reasons for that, from the location and distance of the tow to the type of vehicle it is. A careless towing company may “cut corners” to get the job done and “save” you a buck, but that increases your risk of damage to your vehicle. The old adage of “You get what you pay for” does ring true and we offer this rebuttal: “Great towing isn’t cheap & Cheap towing isn’t great”. If you value your vehicle and want it towed by a professional, then give us a call! We’re considered a “Premier Provider” for towing, recovery & roadside assistance services!

Think about this: How many times have you been driving around town in traffic and noticed a rollback tow truck that was loaded with a vehicle on it’s bed……Did you notice if the vehicle was secured onto the bed with only a single chain in the rear (most likely on the drivers side rear) or did it have two chains that were crossed to form an “X” that secured the vehicle to the bed of the truck? If the vehicle was only secured with a single chain or strap, then the vehicle was NOT properly secured on the bed of the truck and could have come off! This is just one example of how “some” tow companies “cut corners” and this is not only an unsafe practice, but it’s also against the law! When a vehicle is on the bed of a rollback, it must be secured to the bed by means of, at least, four (4) points of securement and that doesn’t include the winch line that was used to load/unload the vehicle. This is to ensure that there is no forward/rearward or lateral movement of the vehicle while it is loaded on the bed of the truck and being towed.

Our company policy follows the law and we utilize, at least, a 4-point tie down system when towing vehicles on a rollback bed. This helps to ensure that a vehicle can’t bounce around and fall off the bed of the tow truck, even in the event of a traffic accident involving the loaded tow truck, the vehicle that was being towed would remain securely attached to the bed of the rollback tow truck.

 

Here’s yet another example of how some unprofessional/cheaper towers may cut corners: When a vehicle is being towed by means of a wheel-lift type of tow, being that the vehicle that is being towed has one set of wheels that are lifted off the ground and the other set of wheels are rolling on the ground, the vehicle that is being towed all too often has only the 4-way hazard flasher lights activated. This isn’t safe or legal! When a vehicle is towed via a wheel-lift, the vehicle should have a set of magnetic tow lights places on it to allow motorists that are behind it in traffic to see the stop/turn/marker signals of the tow truck and alert to the stopping/turning intentions of the tow truck. Additionally, it is also a requirement to place “safety chains/straps” to connect the tow truck to the vehicle being towed. This is to ensure that in the event of an accidental detachment of the vehicle being towed by the tow truck, that the vehicle would stay in-line with traffic and behind the tow truck and not veer off into opposing traffic. And lastly, there’s yet another thing that some towers and that many “repo” companies do to cut corners and that is failing to properly secure the wheels of a vehicle that is being towed into the “wheel-lift” by means of a strap that is meant to prevent the towed vehicle from becoming accidentally detached and falling off the back of the tow truck.

With all of these unsafe acts and all too many corners that many towers cut, it’s all a matter of what’s the odds that they’ll get your vehicle towed without CAUSING damages to your vehicle! Is it really worth saving a buck or two, when weighing the odds of damaging your vehicle? When selecting a towing company, be sure to select one that employees professional, trained and industry certified towing operators! There IS a difference between a tow truck driver and a tow truck operator! That difference is: Professionalism, Training & Certification! Tow operators have undergone extensive industry training & certifications to ensure that they have the knowledge, skills and ability to tow your vehicle or recovery it from the muddy/snowy ditch, all while not causing additional damages to your vehicle and doing so in a safe and effective manner. Please remember that “saving a few bucks” can be a signal to the level and quality of service & safety a tow company offers, while the saying goes, “You get what you pay for”…so why chance it? Call us for professional services that are preformed by our trained & certified tow operators!

Now, for a word regarding “Good Samaritans” who may stop and offer to help you. While their intentions are well placed, their knowledge, skill and ability to do the job SHOULD be in question! The “know how” that goes into towing a vehicle, unlocking a vehicle or even changing a flat tire is far beyond that of what most people would think it is. Did you know that you CAN/WILL damage a vehicle transmission if the vehicle isn’t towed properly; or how about: if a vehicle has a flat tire and it isn’t properly jacked up that the vehicle may fall off the jack! Or even that is someone offers to try to unlock your vehicle, when you have accidentally locked your keys inside, might cause extensive and costly damage to your paint, door weather seal, glass and lock mechanisms, resulting in your locks not working, your door being belt, your door may leak when it rains and your paint may rust if scraped away. These are all factors that our towing operators and roadside assistance technicians are trained to handle.

Doubt what we say is true? Here’s a select few YouTube video clips that demonstrate unsafe and unprofessional towing companies and even some “good samaritans” that offered to assist. Ask yourself the question: Would I want my vehicle towed by one of these careless companies?

We can assist with light & medium duty towing, including motorcycle towing. If your vehicle quit running along the roadside or you were involved in a traffic crash, we are here to help!

 

Our towing & recovery operators, as well as our roadside assistance technicians have undergone extensive training & certification that is specific to our industry and other additional training & certification that will allow our operators & technicians to have the knowledge, skills and training necessary to perform safe, efficient and damage free services to your vehicle. Our operators & technicians have undergone the industry training thru WreckMaster and the Towing & Recovery Association of America (TRAA).  So, when you see the WreckMaster logo displayed on our trucks and the patch on our operators uniforms, you can rest assured that it is a seal of quality training & certification, coupled with the experience necessary to provide the most effective service to you.

Our facility also is an active member of the industry associations, such as:

  • Association of Professional Towers – Ohio (APTO)
  • Towing & Recovery Association of Ohio (TRAO)
  • Towing & Recovery Association of America (TRAA)

Additionally, we also maintain subscriptions to the top industry publications, to help ensure that we keep up on the latest news and information within our industry, as well as to help our operators access to these mechanisms of continued learning and education.

CPCN 156479-T

The lives of Tow Operators & Roadside Assistance workers depends on YOU! The only thing that protects them while working along side the roadway is a thin white line of the roadway and the hope that you will SEE them!…PLEASE SLOW DOWN & MOVE OVER, our lives depend on it!