Recent weather keeping tow trucks plenty busy

Tow truck companies have been out in full force this winter. With several big storms, and more snow than the area has seen in a few years, tow trucks are keeping busy around the clock.

Towing companies in Pocatello said it’s been like that pretty much all winter.

“This whole winter we’ve been really busy,” said Chris Willson, manager of Customs Towing and Recovery. “It’s probably been about 25 percent better this year than it has in the last probably 4 or 5 years.”

“It’s been crazy busy,” said Clayton Facer, tow truck driver at Denny’s Wrecker Service. “Been keeping us running pretty much 24 hours a day.”

While the average wait time on a normal winter day is around 30 minutes, wait times for Wednesday’s storm were a lot higher.

Willson said Custom Towing and Recovery was anywhere from one to four hours response time on Wednesday.

He said they got a lot of calls for a lot of different types of assistance.

“I imagine we probably done 20 or 30 calls yesterday of slide-offs, jump starts, lock outs,” Willson said. “You name it, we were there.”

The average cost for a tow for Denny’s Wrecker is around $68 and up. Willson said for Custom Towing it’s around $75 and up.

So business so far this winter for towing companies has been great.

Towing companies do recommend that if you’re stuck, don’t keep forcing yourself out. That can make it worse. If you’re really stuck, just call a local tow.

Both companies named some areas that are some of the most affected. The north end of Pocatello, between Pocatello and American Falls, McAmmon and Blackfoot are some areas trucks are often called to.