What towing actually costs in Evansville, with the figures drawn from the county's own towing contract, posted local rates, and the national 2026 surveys.
Call (812) 402-0614Upfront pricing · No obligation · Local Vanderburgh County driver
Six boxes, about thirty seconds. You pick when to be called back, and that is when the phone rings.
Or call (812) 402-0614The flat charge Vanderburgh County allows its contractor for towing an automobile, pickup, SUV or van at the county's request, with storage at $12.00 per day and recovery at $50.00 per hour. A negotiated floor, not a private rate, but the only published local price list.
Vanderburgh County towing and storage agreement, 2018-2020 term
The same agreement lets the county call another wrecker if the contractor's equipment is not at the scene within twenty minutes of being contacted, and forbids any charge for a dry run.
INDOT's Lloyd4U program across the expressway's 14.3 miles, with Burkhardt, Cross Pointe and Red Bank due by the end of 2026. Work-zone closures are why a Lloyd tow can take longer than the same tow did in 2023.
Every range below is what companies working in Evansville publish for that job, gathered from the numbered price pages under the table. It spans what several of them show, so the figures move with the specifics of the property and with who does the work. Nothing here is a quote, and no business has set a price on this page. A real number comes from whoever looks at the job.
| The job | Range seen | Billed as | What moves it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local tow inside Evansville, wheel-lift, up to about ten miles | $60–$200123 | flat | A local operator posts a starting figure at the bottom of the band; the 2026 surveys fill in the top. Ask for hook plus miles as one number. |
| Hook-up fee before mileage, wheel-lift or flatbed | $50–$125245 | flat | Wheel-lift hooks sit low in the band, flatbeds high. Some operators fold the first several miles into the hook. |
| Per-mile rate after the hook, flatbed | $4–$7346 | per mile | The county's own out-of-county rate is far lower because it is a volume contract. Private flatbed miles land in this band; wheel-lift miles run a dollar or two under it. |
| Service call: jump start, lockout, spare mounted, fuel brought | $50–$15067 | per visit | The county contract prices a jump at the scene at the bottom of this band. You pay for the service done, not the tow that was dispatched. |
| Winch-out or recovery from a ditch, water or mud, before the tow | $50–$250246 | per visit | Billed by time on the line; the county contract prices recovery hourly for the same reason. A car in a flooded underpass can run past the band. |
| Night, weekend or holiday surcharge, added to the base | $25–$100345 | added | Some operators bill a percentage of the base instead. Either way it belongs in the quote before the truck leaves. |
Prices each of these companies publishes on its own site, read on the date shown in each listing. A published price can change without notice, so treat a number here as what was posted rather than what you will be told today.
An Evansville tow bill has four ingredients. A hook charge for sending the truck and attaching the car. Mileage, metered from the pickup to the drop. The truck itself, because carrying a whole car on a flatbed costs more than carrying half of it on a wheel-lift. And the circumstances: a winch line into a ditch, a two-in-the-morning call, or a crash scene that has to be swept before traffic can move.
Vanderburgh County publishes the fee schedule it allows for tows it orders itself, through Central Dispatch or a deputy. It sets a flat charge for a car, pickup or SUV, a lower one for motorcycles and heavy vehicles, an hourly rate for recovery work, a per-mile figure for tows that leave the county, a per-day storage charge, a fixed fee for a jump start at the scene, and it forbids any charge for a dry run or a refused service. It also requires the contractor at the scene within twenty minutes. Those numbers are low, because the county negotiates volume, and they apply only to county-ordered tows. But they are the best local anchor for what the work costs at the floor, and a private quote many times higher deserves a question.
No schedule governs a private tow. Local operators publish a starting figure for a basic job, and the 2026 national surveys agree on the structure: a fixed hook, then mileage that runs cheaper on a wheel-lift and dearer on a flatbed. Comparing hooks in isolation is the classic mistake. A bargain hook attached to steep mileage ends up costing more on a run to Newburgh or over the bridges to Henderson than a slightly dearer hook with fair miles. Get both figures, then get the total to the actual address. That total is the number that should be spoken before the truck leaves the yard.
A flatbed carries the car with nothing on the pavement. That is the only safe way to move an all-wheel-drive car, an electric car, anything low, a motorcycle, or a car with a wrecked wheel. Hauling an all-wheel-drive car on a wheel-lift for a mile can ruin its transfer case, and a cheap tow becomes a four-figure repair. A driver who suggests a wheel-lift for one of those should be told no.
A jump, a lockout, a spare swapped on, or a can of fuel is a service call rather than a tow, and it is priced accordingly. The county contract's own figure for a jump at the scene is a small fraction of its tow charge, and private service calls track the same ratio. When a car clicks in the heat or the cold, the sensible order is jump first, hook only if the battery is beyond saving or the starter has died. You pay for what was done, not for what was dispatched.
A car in the ditch beside Highway 41, drowned in an underpass after Pigeon Creek jumps its banks, or spun off the I-69 shoulder is a recovery before it is a tow. Recovery is charged by time on the line, which is why the county contract prices it by the hour. A shallow ditch is minutes; a car on its side is not. Expect the driver to look, then quote, before the cable is attached.
After-hours calls cost more everywhere in the trade, as a flat add-on or a percentage of the base. The Lloyd adds its own tax until the Lloyd4U work is finished: barrier walls and pinched shoulders at Burkhardt, Cross Pointe and Red Bank sometimes force a truck to approach from the next crossover, and a crash closure pulls every truck in the county onto the expressway. Both the surcharge and the wait should be stated before the truck moves.
On a deputy-ordered tow the county agreement's fee schedule is the ceiling, and police-ordered tows go to the department's designated lot on its posted terms. Storage accrues daily. Indiana law makes the tow company run a national title search within three business days and notify you within three more, so the storage clock is deliberately short. That is why the anchors above matter and why the smart move is to reach the lot fast with the title or registration and photo ID and ask for the bill line by line.
Hook, mileage to the address, which truck, and any surcharge, spoken as a single total. Where recovery is involved, an on-arrival estimate before the winch line is attached. That is the bar this site holds a driver to, and the reason the table exists.
Get a truck that is already working Vanderburgh County, the hook and the miles priced before anything is attached, and the car delivered where you said. On the Lloyd or I-69, stay belted in with the hazards on until the truck with the light bar is parked behind you.
Call (812) 402-0614Upfront pricing · No obligation · Local Vanderburgh County driver