TowingBossPro Blog — Impound & Storage

Vehicle Storage for Body Shops and Dealers: Holding Cars Between Moves

Not every car in your lot was impounded. Plenty are there because an account asked you to hold them: a wreck waiting for an adjuster, a car waiting for a body shop to have room, a dealer trade-in that needs a place to sit, a motor club tow that ended at your yard after hours. This storage is usually calmer than impound work, and with the right setup it is steady money.

Following Up on Storage Invoices Billed to Accounts was about getting account storage invoices paid. This article is about running the storage itself.

Each Account Gets Its Own Record

Body shops, dealers and motor clubs are commercial accounts in TowingBossPro, with their calls and invoices kept under the account. When a shop asks you to tow a wreck to your lot and hold it, the call is created under the shop's account with the drop-off at your storage lot.

From then on, anyone in your office can see which vehicles in the lot belong to which account. When the shop calls asking whether you still have "the blue Tahoe," the answer is a few clicks away.

That clarity matters most when vehicles from several accounts sit side by side. Two silver sedans, one held for a shop and one for a dealer, look identical in the dark. With plate, VIN and the account on each record, the right car goes to the right place.

Agree on a Rate and Put It on the Vehicle

Accounts often have their own storage arrangements: a negotiated daily rate, a few free days before storage starts, or storage billed to the insurance company instead of the shop. Whatever you agree to, write it down, then apply it when each vehicle enters storage.

Each stored vehicle has its own storage start date and daily storage rate, and the software counts the storage days and adds them to the invoice. Using the account's agreed rate on its vehicles keeps billing consistent without anyone recalculating.

If an account gets free days before storage starts, set the storage start date to match your agreement so the count begins when it should. Write a note explaining why, so nobody later thinks the date was entered wrong and changes it.

Keep the Vehicle Record Complete

Account vehicles still need the full record: year, make, model, color, plate and VIN, plus driver photos. Wrecked vehicles especially. When an adjuster or a shop asks about the condition of a car you have been holding for three weeks, photos from the pickup answer it.

Tags help you mark account vehicles by situation: waiting on adjuster, waiting on shop, ready to move. Keep the list short so it stays useful.

Moving Vehicles Out

When the account is ready, the vehicle usually leaves on one of your trucks. Create the call with the pickup at your storage lot and the drop-off at the shop or dealer. The dispatch board shows the move by truck and day, and the driver sees the vehicle details on the call.

Before the vehicle leaves, make sure its storage days are on the invoice. A car that leaves on your own truck is the easiest one to forget to bill for storage, because nobody is standing at the window asking for a total.

Billing and Follow-Up

Account storage invoices sit under the account along with the tow charges. Bill them promptly, use card on file where the account allows it and let payment follow-ups handle reminders. Reports show what each account owes and how much storage it generates over time.

Decide how often to bill storage on long holds. Some lots bill when the vehicle leaves. Others send an interim invoice every couple of weeks on account vehicles so a large balance does not build up out of sight. Either can work, as long as the account knows which you do and it matches your agreement.

Know Which Accounts Are Worth It

Some accounts send you storage that turns into quick, clean revenue. Others park cars in your lot for months and pay slowly. Look at your reports by account every few months. An account that ties up ten spaces and pays late may need different terms, or may not be worth keeping.

Holding vehicles for accounts can be some of the most reliable work a towing company has. See how account storage fits with impounds on the Impound & Storage Software page. Next: tags and custom fields for lot details.

Storage accounts also bring tows. A body shop that stores with you probably sends you its tow work too. Look at the whole account, not just the storage line, before making changes.