The class people guess wrong
Medium duty is the gap that catches everyone out. A three quarter ton pickup with a service bed, a dually, a box truck, a sprinter van, an ambulance, a mid size RV. Too heavy for a light duty tow truck, nowhere near heavy enough to need a rotator.
Guess low and the wrecker that arrives cannot lift your vehicle, so you wait for the callout, wait for the arrival, and then wait all over again for the truck that can. Out toward Johnson City or Blanco, that second wait is most of an afternoon. Guess high and you have paid for equipment you never needed. Wimberley Towing keeps all three weight classes precisely so the first truck out is the right one.
What we tow in this class
- Work trucks and duallies. Service beds, welding rigs, and utility bodies, which are heavier than they look because of everything bolted to them.
- Box trucks and sprinter vans. The delivery fleet backbone, and almost always loaded when they break.
- Mid size RVs and travel trailers. Long, tall, and unhappy about being dragged. These go on a deck or get towed properly, not hooked and hoped.
- Ambulances, shuttles, and small buses. Awkward weight, awkward length, and usually carrying something that matters.
- Landscaping and trade rigs. Trucks with equipment still attached, which changes the weight and the loading.
Three questions that decide the truck
When you call (512) 375-1215, tell dispatch the make of the vehicle, whether it is loaded, and whether it has dual rear wheels. Those three answers are enough for us to know what to roll. If there is equipment attached, a lift gate, or a trailer still connected, mention that too.
Why the wrong truck costs you twice
A tow truck that cannot lift your vehicle still costs you the callout and still costs you the wait. On the corridors we run, the second wait is not fifteen minutes. This is the entire argument for calling a towing company that keeps light, medium, and heavy duty equipment rather than one that keeps a truck and hopes.
Commercial and fleet work
Most medium duty calls are commercial. A box truck down on I-35 is not an inconvenience, it is a day of deliveries. Shops, dealerships, and fleet managers can set up a corporate account with approved credit, which means the call is already arranged rather than negotiated at the roadside.
Above and below this class
If it is a semi, a loaded trailer, or a motorcoach, that is heavy duty towing, and our drivers are WreckMaster certified for it. If it is a car or a light truck and it simply will not start, it may not even be a tow. Try roadside assistance first, because plenty of these calls end with the driver driving away.
And if the vehicle has left the pavement, it is a winch job rather than a lift, which is off-road recovery. The full range is under towing services.
What medium duty work actually looks like
Most of it is commercial and most of it is time sensitive. A box truck down on I-35 through Kyle at seven in the morning is not an inconvenience, it is a day of deliveries that is not happening. A landscaping rig with a trailer still attached needs both moved, and the trailer changes the job. An ambulance or a shuttle is usually carrying something that cannot simply wait.
That is why the class matters so much. The failure mode is not that the wrong truck damages your vehicle, it is that the wrong truck cannot move it at all and the whole day goes.
Trailers, lift gates, and equipment
Tell dispatch if there is a trailer still connected, a lift gate on the back, or equipment mounted to the bed. All three change the weight, the length, and how the vehicle can be lifted. A trailer may need to come off first, and that is a job on its own that is much easier if we know about it before we arrive.
What it costs
Police authorized tows are charged at the county regulated rate, which is $272 starting in Hays County and $300 in Blanco County. Everything else is quoted by dispatch before a truck leaves the yard, and the number does not change when we get there. The real figures are on our towing rates page. Fleets running an account get agreed terms rather than a roadside negotiation.