24 hour towing in Bayonne, NJ: the questions, answered the way our dispatcher answers them

A live person, every night of the year and every holiday. (908) 666-3168 rings the desk that moves the trucks. Bayonne sends a lot of its calls after the last light rail train, from the cruise lot, the station lots, Broadway and the bridge approach, and every one of them is handled exactly like a call at noon.

From the yard, about 25 minutes over the Newark Bay Bridge to Exit 14A, and we would rather say that than invent something shorter. In practice the trucks are usually already out, working the Extension, Jersey City or Route 440, so the dispatcher quotes from wherever the nearest one is. Uptown and Bayonne Crossing tend to be quickest; Bergen Point is the longest run unless a truck is already on 440.

Calling costs $149 for dispatch and hook-up; booking online yourself costs $129. Before anyone is sent, the dispatcher tells you the miles to the shop or driveway you named. Jump, tire, lockout and fuel are each one flat charge, the hour and the day add nothing, and the pricing page lays it all out.

Yes, and it is one of the calls we get most from Bayonne. Give dispatch the lot, the row and the gate you entered by, and the port's security waves the truck through once you have phoned. A jump settles most of these for less than a tow; a battery that is truly gone means the car is loaded and taken where you say.

Yes, to the Route 440 approach ramps, West 1st Street and Kennedy Boulevard at the foot of the bridge, which are direct dispatch. The span is Port Authority ground; stop on it and their crews move you first, then we collect the car from wherever they set it down. Tell dispatch the direction and whether you are on a ramp or the deck.

On the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway the shoulder itself is served by the Turnpike Authority's authorized garages; book with us anyway, and once the authorized truck has the car off the highway we take it from the exit or the garage's lot to the shop or driveway you choose, at the same flat quoted price. Route 440, Kennedy Boulevard, Broadway and every numbered street get a direct dispatch with no middle step.

Wherever you tell us. Your mechanic on Broadway, a body shop in Jersey City, the dealer on Route 440, your own driveway on Avenue C. We do not steer cars to a lot that bills daily storage and a release fee, and there is no storage charge on a car that went straight to your destination.

No. Anyone in Bayonne can dial and pay what was quoted. Covered by a plan or your insurer? Call us anyway, keep the itemized receipt and file it; at 1 a.m. that is quicker than waiting for a plan to find someone who will drive down the peninsula.

Yes. They ride a flatbed, all four wheels off the road and strapped at the tires. Tell dispatch the make when you call so the low-angle setup comes along for anything that sits close to the ground.

Yes. The driver lifts the front with the wheel-lift or slides the car out on skates, then loads it once it is clear of the gap. Give East or West with the street number and the curb, and the truck comes in from the open end.

Do not start it. Tell dispatch the car took in water; it goes on a flatbed, not a wheel-lift, and the driver checks the depth before backing in. The west-side blocks nearest the bay and a couple of underpasses on Route 440 are the first to fill in a hard rain.

Yes, one or two riders, no charge. A bigger group is worked out with the dispatcher; nobody is left on Route 440 at night.

Yes. The medium and heavy-duty trucks live at the same Linden yard, and they take tankers, tractors, chassis, box trucks and buses at the Constable Hook terminals, on the peninsula and along Route 440. Fleets get a direct line and a single monthly invoice.

Almost always nearer than Linden. Through the night our trucks are on the Extension, in Jersey City and along Route 440, so a call from uptown, Broadway or the cruise port tends to find one close. Say the numbered street and the avenue, or the lot or the ramp, and the dispatcher gives you the nearest truck's actual time.

Yes. Book online and the booking fee is $129 instead of $149. Stopped on Kennedy Boulevard this minute? Then (908) 666-3168 is faster; the online saving is for people with a few minutes to type.

Yes, flatbed drivers, wheel-lift drivers, owner-operators with their own rigs and roadside providers. The driver jobs page has the pay, the open seats and the application.

Yes, on a flatbed fitted with a locking front-wheel chock and soft tie-downs; no sling. Sport bikes, cruisers and scooters, from a Route 440 shoulder, a garage off Avenue A or a driveway uptown after a winter under a cover.

Yes, at any hour. The 8th, 22nd, 34th and 45th Street stops and their lots are regular calls for us, mostly dead batteries and keys locked in the car after the last train from Hoboken. Name the station and which lot, and stay with the car until the driver rings.

Yes. Into Jersey City it is a local job, the $149 fee plus the miles, on one quote. Staten Island over the Bayonne Bridge, Newark or Elizabeth across the bay, the shore or another state are quoted the same way with tolls counted in.

No. One or two ride free. If there are more of you, say so and the dispatcher works it out; nobody is left standing at the curb.

He tells you the number before he does anything. The $149 stays put; a winch or dollies for a car that will not roll or steer is priced at the curb, and it is your call.

Yes. The hospital at 29th and Avenue E gives us a steady run of flat batteries at shift change, and once you have phoned, security lets the truck in. Say which lot or deck level, and whether you are with the car or still inside.