The Portland Towing & Roadside Blog
Most towing calls in Portland come from a short list of situations, and almost all of them are cheaper and less stressful when you know what happens next before it happens to you.
These posts cover the ones that come up most often here: the parking rules that get cars towed year round, plow spoil and snowbanks, batteries that give up on the coldest morning of the year, lockouts, overheating in summer traffic, highway breakdowns, and the decisions that get made in the ten minutes after a collision. Two new posts go up each week.
September 8, 2026
Your Car Won't Shift Out of Park: What Portland Drivers Can Check Before Calling for a Flatbed
A shifter frozen in P is almost never a wrecked transmission. It is usually an electrical latch, a loaded parking pawl, or a flat battery — and the checks take minutes. Here is the order to try them in, and the point where it becomes a tow.
September 1, 2026
Blocked Driveways and Private-Lot Tows in Portland: Who Can Tow, What It Costs, and How to Get the Car Back
A car across your driveway and a car missing from a private lot are the same problem seen from two sides. Portland's tow-operator ordinance and Maine statute decide who can call the truck, what the bill can be, and what the yard is allowed to keep.
August 28, 2026
Flat Tire, No Spare in the Trunk: What Portland Drivers Can Actually Do
Nearly a third of new cars ship without a spare tire, and most owners find out on the shoulder. The kit in the trunk fixes fewer flats than you'd hope.
August 26, 2026
Portland Tows Cars in July Too: The Street Maintenance Rules Nobody Reads
Everyone knows about the snow ban. Far fewer people know about the overnight restriction that runs eight months of the year, the daytime sweeps, or the ten-day rule.
August 26, 2026
Your Temperature Gauge Just Climbed: Stop, or Push On to the Exit?
Almost every overheating repair bill is decided in the four minutes after the needle moves. Nearly everyone spends those minutes hoping it will settle down.
August 26, 2026
Why AWD and Electric Vehicles Cost More to Tow in Maine
Half the cars in a Portland parking lot in February are all-wheel drive, and a growing share are electric. Both change what a tow costs and which truck has to show up.
August 26, 2026
Stuck in a Snowbank on the Peninsula? What a Winch-Out Actually Involves
The first ninety seconds decide whether this is a five-minute recovery or a body shop estimate. Almost everyone spends them doing the one thing that makes it worse.
August 26, 2026
Cold Mornings and Dead Batteries: Why Portland Cars Fail in January
A battery that started the car fine in October is the same battery that will not turn it over at 6 AM in January. Nothing broke overnight. The margin just ran out.
August 26, 2026
Locked Out of Your Car in Portland: What Happens on a Lockout Call
It takes a trained operator a few minutes and the right tools. It takes a coat hanger about the same few minutes to cost you a door skin, a weather seal and a side airbag sensor.
August 26, 2026
Breakdown on I-295 or the Maine Turnpike: What to Do Before the Truck Arrives
The car is the least dangerous thing in this situation. Standing next to it on the shoulder is the most dangerous, and most people get that backwards.
August 26, 2026
After a Collision in Portland: Who Decides Where Your Car Gets Towed
In the ten minutes after a crash nobody is thinking about storage rates. That is exactly when the decision that sets them gets made, usually by default.