Motor vehicles that are broken down have to be towed away. The vehicle may be involved in a collision or may have broken down. This has to be transported to a repair garage or to another location. The vehicle that tows away these broken down vehicles is known as tow truck. The tow truck is also used to recover vehicles stuck on a surface which is not fit for driving. Sometimes vehicles are towed away as part of being impounded for legal reasons. Tow trucks are also called as recovery truck, a breakdown truck or a wrecker.

Tow services can be requested over wireless telephone or mobile radio. A text message can also be sent through the mobile phones. Tow trucks have also begun incorporating latest technology such as the GPS (Global Positioning System). Locating either a tow truck or a broken down vehicle has become easy. The Automatic vehicle location (AVL) system is used to locate the tow truck closest to the location of the vehicle that need to be towed. This is made possible from a map which displays the location of all tow trucks. Tow service providers may also have the capability to store the vehicles in their storage lot. They may charge a fee. There are many dealers and websites that announce tow truck 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.