Long Distance Towing: From a Driveway in Nassau to a Driveway Anywhere, on One Flatbed

A local tow is quoted by the mile and sent right away. A long distance tow is quoted by the trip and scheduled, because the truck and the driver are committed for most of a day, sometimes more. The vehicle rides the same flatbed, strapped at four wheels, that would carry it across town, and it does not change trucks, sit in a terminal, or share a trailer with eight other cars the way it would with a car-carrier service. One driver picks it up, drives it, and hands it over.

Where we go is wherever the two addresses are. Into the city for a car going to a specialist or a buyer. Out to the east end for a car going to a summer house. North for a student's car that died near campus. Across state lines for an auction purchase or a relocation. The office tells you honestly whether a destination is one we can schedule and what day works.

This page covers who uses long distance towing, how a trip is quoted, what to arrange at both ends, how the vehicle is handled over distance, auction and private sale pickups, collector cars, and the towns the trucks leave from. For local towing, start at the towing page.

The two addresses are the main thing. Exact addresses, not towns, because the difference between one side of a county and the other is real miles. From the addresses the office works out the route and the time, and from the vehicle it works out the truck and the loading.

Does the vehicle roll and steer? A car that rolls and steers winches onto the deck in minutes. A car with locked wheels or a seized steering column needs skates and more time at both ends. Say which.

What is at each end? A residence with a driveway, a business with hours, an auction with a release window and a gate pass, a storage facility with access rules. Each changes how the pickup and the drop-off are scheduled.

Who meets the truck? You, a seller, a shop, a campus security office. The driver needs to know who hands over the keys and who signs at the other end.

When? Long distance is scheduled, not immediate. The office tells you what day works and whether the trip is a morning pickup with an afternoon delivery or a longer plan.

Give all of that on the first call and the number is right the first time. The cost section on the towing page covers how towing is priced in general.

Four-point wheel strapping holds the car by its tires, so the suspension works normally over bumps and nothing pulls on the body. The driver checks the straps after the first miles, because straps settle, and again at fuel stops. In rain or snow the deck is slick and the driver loads and unloads more slowly; in winter the car arrives with road salt on it, which is unavoidable on an open deck, and you may want it washed when it gets home. The car's interior stays closed and the keys stay with the driver. If the trip cannot be done in one day, the office tells you where the vehicle will be overnight before the trip is scheduled, and you can say no to any plan you do not like. On arrival the driver unloads, places the car, hands over the keys, and you check it over against the pickup photographs. The flatbed towing page covers how a car is loaded and strapped in detail.

A classic or a show car is the vehicle most likely to be damaged by an ordinary tow and the one where the owner is least forgiving of a mark. The method is simple and the driver follows it every time.

Soft loops over the tires, ratcheted to the deck rails, so the straps never touch paint, chrome, or rubber trim. No hooks on the frame unless the car has a factory tie-down point and the owner agrees. The winch does the moving if the car does not run or has no brakes; nobody pushes a car that cannot stop. Long ramps and boards for a low car so the nose clears the deck. A car with a known weak point, a fiberglass body, a lowered stance, a loose trim piece, gets a word with the owner before the straps go on. And every side is photographed before loading and after unloading so the condition is recorded.

One honest note. Macarthur's flatbeds are open decks. A car on an open deck over distance sees rain, road grit, and in winter, salt. For a show car with fresh paint, that may matter; some owners prefer to schedule around weather, and the office will tell you what the forecast looks like for the day. The special vehicles section on the towing page covers classics and lowered cars in more detail.

A long distance trip starts or ends in one of our towns. On the south shore and the Queens line that is Valley Stream, Lynbrook, Elmont, Franklin Square, Hempstead, Rockville Centre, Oceanside, Baldwin, Freeport, Long Beach, Cedarhurst, Lawrence, Hewlett, and in Queens, Laurelton, Rosedale, Springfield Gardens, St. Albans, Queens Village, Jamaica, and Far Rockaway.

In central and eastern Nassau, Garden City, Mineola, New Hyde Park, Westbury, East Meadow, Levittown, Hicksville, Plainview, Bethpage, Farmingdale, Merrick, Bellmore, Wantagh, Seaford, and Massapequa, and on the north shore, Great Neck, Manhasset, Port Washington, Roslyn, Glen Cove, Syosset, Jericho, and Oyster Bay, plus the Suffolk border towns of Amityville, Melville, Dix Hills, and Huntington. The full list is on the locations page.