You need to tow away a motor vehicle when the vehicle is stuck to a surface from where you find it impossible to drive on. Or there might be an accident or a mishap or a collision that disables the vehicle. It could also be a natural failure of the engine or the machine. Or it may be that the vehicle has been used for some illegal purpose or has violated a law that it is has to be impounded by the police. Whatever may be the cause, you need to get the vehicle across to a garage for repair or to an appropriate location. This task is achieved by a tow truck which is a heavy duty truck or a light duty truck.

You can use a mobile radio or a wireless telephone to requisition tow service. You can use a mobile phone to text a message. Tow service providers have begun using modern tracking devices such as the Global Positioning System (GPS). It is now easy to locate the tow truck or even the location of the incident. Tow service providers are able to locate the closest tow truck to the place of incidence in a map using the Automatic vehicle location (AVL) system. The location of all the tow trucks is displayed in the map. The vehicles that are towed can also be taken to the garage lot that some of these tow service providers have. They would charge a fee for this. Many commercial truck dealers and websites offer  used tow trucks for sale.

Highway authorities provide towing services when the need arises in major highways. There could be an accident or a break down on a major highway. Private businesses too provide towing services for a fee. Government departments such as the police, the transport authority and the public works department operate large fleet of vehicles. They may have their own tow trucks for use when their vehicles are stranded. Vehicles that the police want impounded may be towed by their tow trucks. Tow trucks are also owned by various private businesses who own large fleet of vehicles. They could be cab operators, transport operators or cargo movers. They will use their own tow trucks to tow their own vehicles when needed. You can summon tow trucks from private emergency road service operators.