If anyone is hurt or the vehicle is sitting in a live traffic lane, call 911 first.
Lehi has grown faster than almost anywhere in Utah, and its towing profile reflects that in two ways. The roads are busier than they were built to be, with the I-15 grade at the Point of the Mountain and the SR-92 interchange carrying commuter volume in both directions through the day. And the vehicles are new: a high share of all-wheel-drive crossovers, hybrids and fully electric cars, most of which want a flatbed rather than a wheel lift. Those two facts between them account for most of what we get called about here, and both of them are worth knowing before you make the call.
I-15 climbs over the ridge between Salt Lake County and Utah County, and the stretch through Lehi sits at the south end of that grade. A climb under load is where marginal cooling systems and tired transmissions tend to give up, which is why a disproportionate number of calls from this stretch are overheating and transmission temperature rather than flat tires.
The grade also affects where you can safely stop. Shoulders vary in width along the climb and construction has moved barriers around repeatedly as the corridor has been widened. If you are stopped on the mainline there, the answer is the same as on any interstate: 911 first, then move away from the vehicle on the side away from traffic, then arrange the tow.
If the problem is temperature rather than a hard failure, there is a useful middle option. Getting off at an exit and letting the vehicle cool before deciding anything turns a freeway-shoulder situation into a parking-lot situation, which is safer, cheaper and easier to reach. It is worth mentioning if that is what is happening.
The SR-92 interchange and the office corridor around it put a lot of vehicles into large parking structures and surface lots, and a lot of construction into the roads between them. Both matter for a tow. Parking structures have posted clearance heights that a conventional truck cannot always get under, which means low-clearance equipment and not every operator has it.
Active construction changes access in a way that maps do not keep up with. A lot entrance that existed last month may be closed, a frontage road may be one-way for the season, and the practical route to your vehicle may not be the one the navigation suggests. If you know the entrance that is actually open, say so, because it saves more time than any other detail you can give.
For vehicles in a structure, the two questions that decide the equipment are the posted clearance and which level the vehicle is on. For surface lots it is simpler: the cross streets, the business name, and whether the vehicle is in a stall or blocking a lane.
In a city built mostly in the last twenty-five years, the vehicle mix is newer than average and weighted toward all-wheel drive, hybrid and electric. That reverses the usual order of questions. Normally a dispatcher wants to know what is wrong; here the first thing that matters is what the vehicle is, because it decides what can legally and safely be sent.
All-wheel-drive vehicles generally need a flatbed, as towing them with two wheels on the ground can damage the drivetrain. Several electric models should not be towed with the wheels turning in any configuration, and some have specific manufacturer instructions about where recovery points are and whether the vehicle can be winched. An operator who works on these regularly will ask; it saves an argument at the roadside.
The other newer-vehicle issue is the one that is not a tow at all. A twelve-volt battery failure in a hybrid or an electric car will leave the vehicle completely dead in a way that looks catastrophic and is frequently solved on site. Describing what the dash did, or did not do, when you pressed the button is worth more than it sounds.
If the temperature is climbing but the engine is still running normally, reaching an exit and shutting it off in a parking lot is usually better than stopping on the shoulder of a grade, both for safety and for how easily you can be reached. If it is making noise, losing power, or steam is coming from under the hood, stop, get clear of the vehicle, and treat a live lane or narrow shoulder as a 911 call first.
It depends on the posted clearance height, which is the first thing to check and tell us. Many conventional tow trucks cannot fit under structure clearances, so this is low-clearance work and not every operator is set up for it. Give the posted height, the level the vehicle is on, and which entrance is actually open, since construction around the corridor closes entrances without much notice.
An electric vehicle that must be moved should generally go on a flatbed, and some models should not be towed with the wheels turning in any configuration. Before that, though, it is worth describing exactly what happened, because a dead twelve-volt battery in an EV presents as a total failure and is often solvable on the spot without moving the car at all.
Get behind a barrier and away from traffic. Then send the vehicle, the drivetrain and the location, and we will match you with an operator.
Get Matched With a Tow OperatorLocation, drivetrain and whether it rolls. That is most of what a dispatcher needs.
