TowingBossPro Blog — Tow Dispatch

Taking a Tow Call: The Intake Checklist Every Dispatcher Should Use

Most dispatch problems start in the first ninety seconds of the call. The location was vague, nobody asked where the car was going, the "small SUV" turned out to be a lifted three-quarter-ton pickup, or the customer's phone died and nobody got a second number. The driver finds out on scene, and now everybody is waiting.

A consistent intake checklist fixes most of that. It does not need to be long. It needs to be the same every time.

Start With Safety and Location

Before anything else, ask whether the caller is safe. Are they on a highway shoulder, in a travel lane, in a parking lot? If they are in danger, tell them to get somewhere safe and call 911 if needed. Then get the location, as precisely as possible: road name and nearest intersection, mile marker and direction, business name, which part of the parking lot.

That location becomes the pickup address on the call and the pin on the Waiting List map described in Reading the Dispatch Board by Truck: Who Is Busy, Who Is Free, Who Is Next and the guides before it. A vague pin wastes the driver's time and makes the map lie to the dispatcher.

Always Get the Drop-Off

Ask where the vehicle is going on every call. Home, a specific shop, the dealer, your yard. Every TowingBossPro call has a pickup and a drop-off address, both on the map and in the driver app with one-tap navigation. When the drop-off is captured at intake, the driver never has to call back to ask, and the dispatcher can see where that truck will end up, which matters for the next assignment.

If the customer does not know yet, note that and follow up by text before the driver hooks up.

Vehicle Details

Year, make, model and color are the minimum. Plate and VIN are worth getting when the caller has them, and they matter on impounds, dealer transports and anything involving a commercial account. These details go on the call and show in the driver app so the driver can pick out the right vehicle.

Ask about anything that changes the equipment: lowered, lifted, all-wheel drive, a trailer attached, a heavy load. These answers decide whether the call is light-duty or heavy-duty and which truck you send.

If the caller does not know the year or model, ask them to read it off the back of the car or the registration, or to text a photo. It takes thirty seconds and saves the driver from showing up with the wrong expectations.

Condition and Situation

Is the vehicle drivable? Does it roll, steer and brake? Are the keys there? Is it in a ditch, on its side, in a parking garage with low clearance? Does the customer need a tow at all, or is it a jump start, lockout, tire change or fuel delivery? Getting this right at intake lets you put the call in the right category: Light-Duty Tows, Heavy-Duty Tows, Roadside, Accident & Recovery, Impound & Storage or Transports.

Anything unusual goes in the call notes. The driver reads them on the way.

Contact and Payment

Get a callback number and a name, and ask whether texts are fine. A customer who can receive texts can get the on-the-way and arrival alerts and the live map of the driver, which saves your office a lot of follow-up calls. If the call belongs to a commercial account such as a motor club, body shop, dealer or police department, attach it to the account so the call and invoice stay together.

For retail customers, explain how payment works before the truck rolls. Many companies take a card on file or send an invoice to pay online. Whatever your policy is, say it the same way every time.

Also ask whether anyone will be with the vehicle. If the customer is leaving the car and getting a ride, note where the keys are and how the driver should get in. A locked car with the keys at the front desk of a hotel is a five-minute call if the driver knows, and a forty-minute call if he does not.

Make the Checklist the Default

Tape the checklist next to the phone until nobody needs it: safe, location, drop-off, vehicle, condition, contact, payment. It takes about two minutes on a normal call, and it saves far more than that on scene. The next guide goes deeper on one item that causes more trouble than any other: the two addresses on every tow.

For how this intake feeds the Waiting List, the board and the driver app, see the tow dispatch software overview.