Breaking down on the side of the road is bad, and predatory towing makes that situation even worse—and more expensive. But for every predatory business looking to take advantage of your misfortune, we'd like to think there are several more honest wreckers just looking to get your equipment off the road and into a shop for repairs.
The question is how do you sort the good from the bad? And do it quickly? (After all, what driver wants to loiter on the side of the highway in this day and age of distracted drivers?)
A new geolocated platform called Tow4Tech aims to answer this question by creating a network of trusted towing vendors and connecting fleets and owner-operators in need to the ones in their area. Think of it like an Angie's List or Uber for medium- and heavy-duty trucks in need of tow.
Along with receiving an accelerated time to tow from a vetted wrecker, fleets also pay through the platform, making invoicing more transparent and easy. Tow4Tech does charge a service fee for the convenience of matchmaking to "elite" towing providers.
When asked what qualifies a vendor as "elite," the company confirmed that customer reviews and safety records are taken into account.
"The towing companies are vetted—not only by us but the fleets have final say on [what] providers do work for them," Craig Schneider, founder and CEO of Tow4Tech, told Fleet Maintenance.
This model allows the roadside service providers to "keep 100% of their fees," the company noted. The platform also serves as the towing company's dispatcher, with the added benefit of access to data analytics.
"By connecting fleet managers directly with top-tier tow operators, we're creating a marketplace that is a win-win for both industries," Schneider said. "Our platform not only streamlines operations but also empowers service providers to maximize their earnings and efficiency.”
Schneider founded Tow4Tech in May 2023 after spending 30 years in the financial industry as a fixed-income salesman and business development officer. Ziv Gillat, CTO and co-founder, joined him in July 2023. After spending months researching the towing industry, Schneider confirmed no service like Tow4Tech existed.
He and Gillat then set out to develop a platform to help fleets streamline their relations with roadside service providers.
"We bring forward automation to a market that has long relied on inefficient workflow,” Gillat explained.
How it works
Once the downed driver calls into office for assistance, the fleet manager can start the process. The first thing to do is identify who in the area can help. The system uses geolocation to automatically find the nearest qualified, or "elite", Tow4Tech contractor, and the dispatch function notifies them of the breakdown.
Additional information given to the vendor includes a detailed job request sent to their phone or computer, as well as the breakdown’s exact location, vehicle details, and service requirements.
Throughout the process, Tow4Tech also provides real-time updates and notifications to fleet managers, including when a service request has been accepted, a vendor has been assigned, and when the operator is en route to the vehicle’s location. By doing so, Tow4Tech eliminates the inefficiencies and high costs of call center operations for towing providers and fleets, the company explained.
Read more: Seven ways to protect your trucks from predatory towing
Additionally, the platform includes a built-in payment system for invoicing, allowing roadside operators to create and send invoices through the platform and receive payments via Stripe Inc., a third-party payment processor.
The premise sounds great and appears to save fleets time and money while providing peace of mind. It also makes it easier for emergency roadside providers to find work and incentivizes them to work honestly and safely. The question will be if the company can sign up enough towing companies to scale the service and truly create the responsive network they have envisioned.
Once Tow4Tech has more experience in the field, we will provide insights from both the fleet and towing sides. With any luck, we will be able to prove there are more good wreckers than bad out there.
