What's the longest you've ever waited for a tow truck?

[Pacolovestacos]

I'm at 3 hours and counting.

 

[cjbcam]

I’ve never waited more than an hour. Hope you aren’t somewhere really cold.

 

[powellrj]

I think about an hour and a half. Stay safe.

 

[Albort]

2 hours... called back, turns out the tow truck driver basically said he was done with us but in fact he never showed up. we had to wait another hour for another tow truck.

 

[Pacolovestacos]

I’ve never waited more than an hour. Hope you aren’t somewhere really cold.

Chicago, tropical paradise here

 

[cjbcam]

Chicago, tropical paradise here

Well at least it’s not where I am! It’s a balmy -40 with the wind chill. Hope you get picked up soon.

 

[mjkacmom]

During a blizzard, waited hours before AAA said they couldn’t come (car was in the road by our house blocking tow trucks). Had to call the police and get the car towed and impounded. AAA refunded us the cost.

 

[Micca]

Probably haven't dealt with a tow truck more than 2 or 3 times in my life. I don't ever recall waiting for long--maybe 1/2 hour or so? Good luck!

 

[mom2rtk]

It was a bitter cold night and I'm sure tow trucks were in high demand. Not much you can do but wait and hope for the best.

I hope they didn't keep you waiting too much longer.

 

[gillep]

Stay warm and safe!

 

[tvguy]

About 3 hours. It was a break down, not a crash. I was monitoring their dispatch on the scanner. They broadcast my location as a pending tow, but starting sending drivers on break (4 of them) even though all the drivers offered to handle my call first. Highway patrol stopped and checked on me after about 2 1/2 hours after passing by me several times. He called it in. Per towing rules, if the Highway Patrol calls, they have 20 minutes to get a truck on scene. The dispatcher had a few choice words for me according to the tow truck driver when he arrived because I had called their office to check on my tow and let them know I knew they had passed my call over several times. After he unloaded the car at the repair shop his cell phone rang. The owner heard what had happened and the dispatcher had been fired because their policy is not to take breaks until all calls are handled.

 

[RangerPooh]

A few long waits over the years.

~1.5 hours when my car broke down on my way home from work. The AAA call center couldn't find the road that I was on, and was trying to communicate with the local tow truck company to find my location. Apparently the road went by 3 different names depending on the section (part of the forest), and AAA didn't have all of the map with the names listed. Thankfully my landmarks and knowledge of the roads helped the drive find me. Would have been even worse if I was not on the paved road but a dirt forest service road.

~1.5 hours when our transmission caught on fire on our drive home from WA to CA. Early January and cold weather was not kind to waiting on the side of the road.

~3 hours waiting for a flatbed tow truck to pick up our car and take it to its destination. It was a bad snow storm and when the truck did arrive it had difficulty making it up our hilly street. We had to carefully coast our car down to the end of our street to a flat spot to hook it up. Unfortunately while in the process the tow truck brakes broke free, lost traction, and slid into our car scraping it. On the plus side that side of the car needed repainting and finishing anyways, so it saved us money by them paying for it.

 

[Marchand63]

well considering my work car has funny lights about 15 minutes

 

[usnuzuloose]

Oh boy we were in the middle of know where and did not even know the exit.LOL. But the driver figured it out. It was about 30 minutes so not to bad.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I think I've only had to call a tow truck once and it was about an hour or so.

 

[xlxo]

2 hours.... driver got lost and could not do a U turn in heavy traffic.

I expect with the current winter conditions.... tow trucks are super popular.

 

[amberpi]

2 hours on the side of the interstate when rebar tore through both driver side run flat tires... I missed a friends wedding but made the reception

 

[Darcy03231]

About an hour.

 

[doxdogy]

About 3 hours. It was a break down, not a crash. I was monitoring their dispatch on the scanner. They broadcast my location as a pending tow, but starting sending drivers on break (4 of them) even though all the drivers offered to handle my call first. Highway patrol stopped and checked on me after about 2 1/2 hours after passing by me several times. He called it in. Per towing rules, if the Highway Patrol calls, they have 20 minutes to get a truck on scene. The dispatcher had a few choice words for me according to the tow truck driver when he arrived because I had called their office to check on my tow and let them know I knew they had passed my call over several times. After he unloaded the car at the repair shop his cell phone rang. The owner heard what had happened and the dispatcher had been fired because their policy is not to take breaks until all calls are handled.

This says differently. It seems the area commander sets the maximum response times. Considering the amount of traffic in certain areas, twenty minutes would almost impossible.

https://www.chp.ca.gov/programs-services/for-law-enforcement/rotation-tow-program

 

[tvguy]

This says differently. It seems the area commander sets the maximum response times. Considering the amount of traffic in certain areas, twenty minutes would almost impossible.

https://www.chp.ca.gov/programs-services/for-law-enforcement/rotation-tow-program

They have zones, so it is very easy to get a tow truck to a scene in 20 minutes. I spend 40 hours a week listening to this on the scanner. Freeways are handled differently during commute hours. We have a state funded FSP (Freeway Service Patrol) program. During commute hours it is the goal to get a tow truck to a scene in 5 minutes. There is a CHP officer who is on duty during the commute to oversea all the tow trucks. The goal of that program is to get the tow to you in 5 minutes if you have a crash, flat, run out of gas or have a mechanical issue. There are designated "safe" areas off the freeway they will immediately tow you to until you can make your own arrangements to get help. They WILL change a flat, and WILL give you a gallon of gas, or a jump start, all for free.