Tow Truck

A tow truck, also called a wrecker or breakdown truck, is a commercial vehicle equipped to move disabled, illegally parked or impounded vehicles from one location to another, built in several distinct configurations suited to different recovery needs. Flatbed tow trucks carry a vehicle entirely off the ground on a hydraulically tilting rear platform, wheel-lift trucks raise one end of a vehicle on a pivoting cradle while its other wheels remain on the road, and boom-equipped trucks use a crane-like arm and winch for recovering vehicles from ditches, embankments or other difficult positions. Tow trucks are operated by private roadside-assistance and recovery companies, by vehicle dealerships and repair shops, and by police and municipal authorities for enforcing parking regulations and clearing roadways after collisions, making the type one of the most functionally essential categories of specialized commercial road vehicle.