How towing mileage is calculated (and how to keep it honest)
2026-04-02 · 7 minute read
Mileage is where cheap towing gets expensive. The honest unit is loaded miles from pickup to the drop you chose. Zone maps, round-trip billing, and 'from our yard' math are how a $50 hookup turns into a $400 invoice.
Loaded miles, not a sightseeing loop
You should pay for the path the car actually travels on the truck. If you are going from a downtown garage to a shop eight miles away, that is about eight loaded miles — not the wrecker's empty drive from a yard across the county and back. Empty miles are the company's cost of doing business, which is why a hookup fee exists.
Use a real pair of points
Each of our city pages lists two or three local pairs — airport to downtown, stadium to a known district — with typical mile counts. Use those as a sanity check. If a dispatcher quotes 40 miles for a job that maps to 11, ask which route they are using. Construction and closed ramps can add miles; a 'minimum zone' should not.
Intercity hauls
Once you leave the metro, the same rule holds: one hookup, then loaded miles. Compare that to a motor-club 'free 5 miles then $8 a mile' plan, which is often worse after the first town line. If we do not cover the destination city, we will say so instead of handing the car to an unknown second operator with a second hookup.