From Cars To EVs And Heavy Trucks: How Towing Has Changed Over 25 Years
by East Coast Bays · SCOOPTowing might still look straightforward from the outside. A vehicle stops, a truck arrives and the vehicle gets taken somewhere else.
But the vehicles being recovered, and the equipment required to move them, have changed considerably over the past two decades.
For East Coast Bays Towing and Salvage, more than 25 years in the industry has meant seeing towing develop from conventional breakdown and accident work into a much broader service covering electric vehicles, heavy trucks, machinery, difficult terrain recovery and specialist transport.
Modern vehicles have changed the job
Cars themselves have become significantly more complex.
Electronic parking brakes, increasingly sophisticated transmissions and vehicles that rely heavily on electronic systems can all affect how a car behaves when it breaks down.
A vehicle that has lost electrical power may not simply roll onto a towing truck in the way motorists expect.
Electric vehicles add another layer.
Tesla, BYD and other EVs have manufacturer-specific transport requirements, while factors such as low ground clearance and locked or non-rolling wheels can require specialist loading equipment.
East Coast Bays Towing and Salvage has introduced specialist equipment for electric vehicle towing as EVs have become a larger part of the vehicles its operators encounter.
Towing is no longer limited to cars
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Modern towing businesses can also be called on for jobs that look very different from a roadside breakdown.
East Coast Bays Towing and Salvage transports diggers, excavators, forklifts, tractors and other construction or agricultural machinery throughout Auckland and beyond.
Some of these machines can simply be loaded and transported between worksites. Others may first need to be recovered because they have broken down, become bogged or cannot move under their own power.
That is where the line between towing, recovery and heavy haulage begins to become much more noticeable.
Heavy haulage involves transporting machinery, equipment and other large loads that require specialist transport rather than an ordinary vehicle tow.
For customers unfamiliar with the term, the simplest distinction is that heavy haulage is usually about moving the heavy equipment itself.
Heavy truck towing requires a different level of equipment
Cars and light commercial vehicles make up only part of the towing industry.
Heavy truck towing introduces considerably greater vehicle weights and different recovery requirements.
A large commercial vehicle that has broken down or become immobilised cannot necessarily be treated in the same way as a passenger car.
The towing equipment needs to be suitable for the vehicle involved, while its position, condition and load can all influence how the job is approached.
East Coast Bays Towing and Salvage provides heavy truck towing alongside its machinery transport and heavy haulage capabilities, allowing the company to assist with a wider range of commercial recovery work.
Recovery can happen well away from the road
Not every towing job begins neatly on the roadside.
Vehicles and machinery can become stuck on farms, beaches, construction sites, soft ground and difficult access tracks.
Those situations have helped make specialist winching an important part of the modern towing fleet.
A bogged tractor, ute or piece of machinery may need to be gradually pulled towards stable ground before normal transport can begin.
Beach recovery can present a different challenge again, particularly when loose sand makes it difficult for vehicles to regain traction.
East Coast Bays Towing and Salvage also operates specialist winching equipment and a winch tractor for recovery work where conventional towing may not be the most suitable option.
One job can require several different capabilities
Some of the more complicated towing jobs no longer fit neatly into a single service.
A damaged vehicle might have locked wheels and require dollies before it can be loaded.
A piece of machinery might need to be winched out of soft ground before being transported to another site.
A heavy truck may need recovery equipment before it can be towed.
An electric vehicle may be physically undamaged but unable to enter its normal transport mode.
For towing operators, that means carrying a broader range of equipment and assessing each job before deciding how the vehicle should be moved.
More than 25 years of change
East Coast Bays Towing and Salvage has been operating through more than 25 years of change in both Auckland and the vehicles travelling on its roads.
The family-owned company is based on Auckland's North Shore and provides breakdown towing, accident towing, vehicle recovery, heavy truck towing, machinery transport, heavy haulage, specialist winching, EV towing and dolly wheel towing.
While the basic purpose of towing has remained the same, getting a stranded vehicle from one place to another, the equipment and experience behind that process have become increasingly specialised.
For East Coast Bays Towing and Salvage, adapting to that change has meant building a fleet capable of handling far more than the traditional broken-down car.
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