Need a tow? What towing costs in New Bedford, MA

New Bedford Towing quotes every tow a vehicle owner asks us for as one total before the truck leaves, and that is the first thing to know about towing cost in New Bedford: there are two kinds of tow, and the state sets a maximum price for only one of them. We do towing across New Bedford and the SouthCoast around the clock, and the number you hear on the call is the number on the invoice.

An owner-requested tow, sometimes called a consensual tow, is the one you arrange yourself: the car will not start on Rockdale Avenue, or you were rear-ended on Route 18 and want it at a shop in Dartmouth. You call, we quote, a truck rolls.

An involuntary tow is the other kind: a police officer orders a car off the road after a crash, a landlord has one removed from a private lot, or the city declares a snow emergency and tows the ban streets clear, at full cost to the owner plus storage. In the citywide ban of January 18, 2026, 170 vehicles were towed overnight.

Which one the state regulates

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities sets maximum rates for involuntary tows in 220 CMR 272.00, and it says plainly that it does not regulate towing requested by a vehicle owner. So a page quoting 'the Massachusetts towing rate' describes what a company may charge after a police-ordered or trespass tow, not what your own tow should cost.

One wrinkle: if an officer calls a truck at your request and the car goes anywhere other than the tow company's own garage, the caps do not apply. That is your tow, and priced like one.

For your own tow, the price is whatever you agree to before the truck moves. The rest of this page is about making sure the total you hear is the total you pay.

Below are the maximum charges for a police-ordered or trespass tow of a passenger vehicle, motorcycle or scooter under 220 CMR 272.03, effective December 13, 2023, plus the storage cap set by statute. They are ceilings, not prices, and they do not apply to a tow you request yourself.

Base tow, passenger vehicle

$132 for a tow of up to five miles, regardless of day of week or time of day, including one hour of service or waiting time - 220 CMR 272.03

Mileage

$4.40 per mile for each mile over five - 220 CMR 272.03

Extra waiting or service time

$51 per half hour beyond the first hour - 220 CMR 272.03

Additional labor

$46 per man-hour or any fraction of one, with a one-hour minimum - 220 CMR 272.03

Commercial vehicles

$132 for up to five miles and $6.60 per mile over five, figured on the round trip from the carrier's garage - 220 CMR 272.04

Storage after an involuntary tow

$35 per 24-hour period in a lighted outdoor lot fenced at least six feet high; half that at any other outdoor lot - M.G.L. c.159B §6B

Two more lines can appear on a regulated bill. Under 220 CMR 272.05 a company may add a voluntary fuel surcharge in any month when New England diesel averages more than $3.196 a gallon, using a factor the DPU posts monthly. Extraordinary services such as a crane are capped at actual cost.

Your rights when a car is towed from private property

A trespass tow is governed by M.G.L. c.266 §120D. Only the person in lawful control of the property may order the removal, and only after you were forbidden to park there, directly or by a posted notice. Before the car moves, that person must notify the police with the registration number, the addresses involved and the towing company - in New Bedford, on a police form titled "Auto Towed Away on Private Property", filed before the vehicle is towed.

If you get there while the tow is still under way, the car may be released for half the fee usually charged. If the remover did not comply with the section in full, it must release the vehicle without any charge for removal or storage, and the fee itself is capped at the figures above.

With no state schedule to point at, an owner-requested tow is priced on what the job takes. This is what New Bedford Towing weighs when we quote a total.

Distance and route

The biggest single factor. A hook-up in the South End going to a shop on Acushnet Avenue is a short run; Downtown to a dealer in Fall River is about 14 miles on I-195; a transport to Boston is a different job. Route matters too: until the summer of 2027 the ramp from I-195 westbound to Route 18 southbound is closed, and the swing bridge to Fairhaven opens daily for the fishing fleet.

Time of day

Where the truck is and what is on the board shape the arrival window, which we tell you on the call. Whatever the hour, the quote is a total, so an after-hours emergency tow at 3 a.m. is priced the same way as one at noon: you hear the number, then you decide.

Vehicle type and drivetrain

A front-wheel-drive sedan can ride a wheel-lift with its drive wheels in the air. An all-wheel-drive vehicle usually cannot: Subaru's manual says never to tow an AWD model with either axle on the ground, and Tesla calls a flatbed the recommended method because the tires must never be able to spin. AAA puts motorcycles and low-riding cars on the flatbed too, so flatbed towing and long-distance transport are quoted as a different truck doing different work.

• Recovery before the tow. A car in a snowbank or off the shoulder of Route 140 has to come back to solid ground before it can be loaded. That is winch-out recovery work - winch line, snatch block, recovery straps - and it is its own line on the quote.
• Where it goes, and whether the shop is open. A shop closed for the night means the car waits in its lot, if allowed, or is held until morning. Tell us the destination.
• Tolls and waiting time. A toll road on the route goes in the quote, and so does foreseeable time at the scene - waiting for police to release a vehicle, for keys, for a gate - so it is in the number, not added later.
• When a roadside fix is the better call. Sometimes the answer is not a tow: jump starts, tire changes, fuel delivery and lockouts are separate jobs with their own quotes, and for a dead battery or a flat with a good spare, one may be all you need.

A towing quote is only useful if it is complete. This is what one should contain, and what separates a company you can hold to its number from one you cannot.

The total, before dispatch

Ask for the total to complete the job before the truck rolls - not an hourly rate, not a figure that starts with 'from'. A total means the company has asked about distance, vehicle and destination, and will stand behind the number when the driver arrives.

Itemized

• Hook-up - the base charge for loading and moving the vehicle
• Mileage - what the base covers and what each mile beyond it costs
• Recovery time - any winching before the tow, as its own line
• Storage - if the car will be held, the daily rate and the release hours
• Anything else - tolls, waiting time, a second truck - named before the truck moves

The same name three times

The name you were given on the phone should be the name on the truck and on the invoice. When those do not match, you are often dealing with a dispatch service that sold your call to whoever was nearest. Ask who is coming.

How you can pay

Massachusetts does not currently require a tow company to accept credit or debit cards or to display the hours when a stored car can be released. A bill that would require both, S.2779, was referred to Senate Ways and Means on December 8, 2025, and as of that date was pending, not law. So ask how the company takes payment and, if the car will be stored, when you can get it back.

Distance is the one factor you can estimate yourself. From the center of New Bedford, Fairhaven is about 2 miles by car over the swing bridge on US 6, Dartmouth about 4, Mattapoisett about 7, Acushnet about 8, Westport about 11, Fall River and Marion each about 14 on I-195, and Wareham about 17. A tow inside that circle is a local job; a run to Boston or out of state is priced on the full distance the truck covers, tolls named. Either way, you hear the total first.