TowingBossPro Blog — Tow Dispatch

Dealer and Body Shop Transports: Planning Non-Emergency Tows Around Emergency Calls

Dealer and body shop work has a rhythm emergency towing does not. A dealer needs three cars moved between lots this week. A body shop has two repaired vehicles to return and one coming in from the auction. None of it is urgent the way a car on the shoulder is, but all of it has deadlines, and these accounts notice when you miss them.

The trick is planning transports so they get done on time without leaving you short when the emergency calls come in.

Transports Are Planned Work

The police and municipal guide in Police and Municipal Tow Calls: Dispatch Habits That Keep the Account dealt with urgent calls that have to jump the line. Transports are the opposite. They can be booked days ahead, which means they belong on the dispatch board for a specific truck and day as soon as the account asks. TowingBossPro has a Transports category so these calls are easy to tell apart from emergency work.

Getting transports on the board early also helps the dealer or shop. You can tell them exactly which day the move happens.

Transports also tend to have more lead time on details. Ask the account for everything up front: which units, where each one is, where each one goes, who has the keys and any deadline. A transport booked with full details is one the driver can run without a single phone call.

Batching and Auto-Routing

Dealers and body shops often send moves in groups. Enter each one as a call under the account with year, make, model, color, plate and VIN, then put them on one truck for one day. Auto-routing can put that day's moves in a sensible order. Look over the result for time windows the map does not know about, like a dealer that only receives before noon.

When the same addresses come up week after week, save them as customers and locations. The call-taker can pick the dealer lot instead of typing the address, and the pin lands in the right place every time.

Leaving Room for Emergencies

The biggest mistake with transports is booking a truck so full that the first accident or breakdown of the day has nowhere to go. Decide how much of each truck's day you are willing to commit to planned work, and keep at least some capacity open for the calls you cannot predict.

When an emergency does take over a transport truck, move the transports later in the day or to tomorrow and text the account. A heads-up message keeps the relationship far better than a car that simply did not arrive.

Some companies set aside one truck as their transport truck on days with a heavy planned load, while the rest of the fleet handles calls as they come. Others mix transports into every truck's day. Either works. What matters is that the decision is made on purpose, by looking at the board, not by default.

Estimates for Bigger Moves

Long-distance moves, specialty vehicles and unusual requests often need a price first. Send an estimate the account or customer can approve online. Once approved, schedule the transport for the right truck and day. You never hold a truck for a move that is not confirmed.

Keep special instructions in the call notes so they reach the driver: low clearance, non-running, keys with the service manager, deliver to the back lot.

Estimates also protect you from misunderstandings. When the price, the pickup, the drop-off and any special handling are written down and approved before the truck rolls, there is nothing to argue about when the invoice goes out.

Proof of Delivery

Dealers and body shops care about the specific unit and its condition. Vehicle photos in the driver app at pickup and drop-off attach to the call, giving you proof of condition and placement. The arrival text lets the receiving location know the car is there so someone can come out with the keys or sign off.

When the account calls asking whether a unit was delivered, the office can open the call and see the completed status, photos and drop-off without calling the driver.

Billing the Account

Because transports sit under the account, invoices stay together. You can invoice each move or bill the account on whatever schedule you agree on, with card on file or online payments, and payment follow-ups for anything overdue. The next guide covers a skill that matters on every call, planned or not: giving honest ETAs.

See how transports fit with emergency dispatch on the tow dispatch software page.