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Two requests that a tow truck driver might make before they will tow your work van

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Towing a large work van can be slightly more complicated than towing a smaller van or a car. Because of this, if your work van breaks down and you contact a tow truck driver, there are some requests that they might make before they will agree to use their truck to tow your van. Below are some examples of the requests they might make in this situation.

They may ask you to remove the heavy load you were storing in the back of the van

If your van is filled with heavy goods (for example, if you're a construction contractor and you carry a lot of weighty building materials and power tools, or if you're a professional cleaner and you keep large commercial floor polishers, hoovers and carpet cleaning extraction machines in your van), then the driver of the tow truck might ask you to remove these items from the van before they tow it. If they do this, you may need to organise a separate form of transportation for these goods.

The reason the driver might ask you to do this is if they suspect that the combined weight of your large van and the items inside of it might overload their tow truck's trailer. However inconvenient this might be for you, it is important to understand just how critical it is for them to be cautious about this matter. If for example, their trailer were to crack under the excess weight of your van and its contents, not only could your vehicle potentially fall off this trailer, but the truck driver might end up crashing and destroying their own tow truck.

They may ask you to take the ladders off your roof rack and put them inside your van

The tow truck driver might also ask you to remove any ladders you have been stowing on your van's roof rack and put them in the back of your van instead. They will most likely only make this request if, after examining the roof rack, they find it to be in poor condition. The reason for this is as follows: if the rack itself is rusted or has any other visible signs of damage, it is possible that the ladders on it could go flying off the rack whilst the van is up on the tow truck's trailer.

If one of them falls off and lands on the road to the rear of the tow truck, the motorist driving behind the truck might either drive over the ladder (in which case it would end up being broken) or swerve to avoid running over it, crash and get badly hurt. Because of this, it would be much safer to put your ladders inside your van before getting the vehicle towed.


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