Farther Pickups Get a Higher Hook-Up — Automatically
A pickup 15 miles out should not pay the same hook-up as one down the street. Zone-based pricing lets you draw distance rings around the yard and assign each ring its own hook-up fee. The AI matches the pickup and quotes that fee on the call.
What Zone-Based Pricing Is
Zone-based pricing is a hook-up fee tied to how far the pickup sits from your business location. You set the rings — for example $50 inside 10 miles and $100 at 15 — and Tow Deputy’s AI towing dispatcher checks which zone the caller is in. The hook-up is quoted automatically. It stacks with per-mile rates, surcharges, and after-hours fees from the Smart Pricing Engine. No mental math on a shoulder at 2 AM.
This is the same rule most shops already run on a whiteboard. The difference is the caller hears the right hook-up before they shop the next listing. According to TheKeyBot, 85% of emergency callers will not leave a voicemail. A callback “to check the zone” is a lost call. Operators on this site report an average local job around $150; a farther zone is how you stop eating deadhead on the ones that are not local.
Zones are part of live quoting on Starter at $99/mo and Growth at $199/mo. There is no free plan. Both include a 14-day free trial. For a longer walkthrough of how to design the rings, see how to set zone-based hook-up fees.
How It Works
- You mark your yard (business location) and draw distance zones around it. Each zone gets its own hook-up fee.
- A caller describes the pickup. Location Intelligence resolves the landmark, intersection, or address into a point.
- The engine measures that point from the yard and assigns the matching zone hook-up.
- The Smart Pricing Engine adds per-mile from headquarters, vehicle-class and luxury fees, issue premiums, and night or after-hours fees if those rules apply.
- The caller hears one total. If they book, that total rides with the job on SMS and the dashboard. You still enter it by hand in Towbook, Omadi, or whatever you dispatch out of.
Worked Example (Sample Zone Card)
The table is an example only. It is not Tow Deputy’s price list and it is not a recommended card. Use it to see how a zone hook-up and a per-mile rate stack.
Example: light-duty shop, 2:40 PM weekday (no night fee). Pickup is a sedan with keys, not an accident. Per-mile from the yard is $3.50. Three callers, three distances:
| Pickup vs. yard | Zone hook-up (example) | Mileage at $3.50/mi | Quoted hook-up + miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 miles (inner) | $50 inside 10 mi | $21.00 | $71.00 |
| 12 miles (outer) | $100 at 15 mi | $42.00 | $142.00 |
| 15 miles (outer ring) | $100 at 15 mi | $52.50 | $152.50 |
Same car, same daylight hour. The 6-mile caller is close to a cheap local hook-up. The 15-mile caller is not. If you quoted a flat $75 hook-up to both, you either overcharge the neighbor or you donate 45 minutes of deadhead on the far one. Zones are how you stop doing that on the phone.
Add a night surcharge and the outer job moves again. Example: $25 after 10:00 PM on the same 12-mile pickup → $142 + $25 = $167 before any luxury or ditch premium. The zone did not disappear; it stacked. That is the design: hook-up by ring, then the rest of the card.
If you run two trucks from one yard, you still have one set of rings. Closest-driver routing is a dispatch decision after the quote, described with Eric A.’s fleet on the driver app page. The zone math does not change because a different truck is free.
Settings You Control
- Yard locationThe business point the rings are measured from
- Zone distancesDraw your own rings — 5/10/15 miles or whatever you run
- Hook-up per zoneExample: $50 inside 10 miles, $100 at 15
- Per-mile stackStill charged on top of the zone hook-up if you use mileage
- Surcharge stackClass, luxury, issue, night, and after-hours still apply
- Dashboard editsChange a ring or a fee without rewriting a script
What It Does Not Do
Zones are distance from your yard, not city limits, not county lines, and not “inside the beltway because it feels downtown.” If your card is political — one price for the hospital contract, another for cash calls — that is a different rule, and you should not pretend a ring replaces it. Motor-club and account rates still need a person. The AI will not redraw a zone because the caller argues.
It also does not push the zone or the quote into Towbook or Omadi. Tow Deputy works alongside those systems via SMS and dashboard handoff; you enter the job manually. Native two-way sync is on the roadmap and is not built yet. And if Location Intelligence cannot pin the pickup, you do not get a magic zone — the caller gets a geo-location form so you are not assigning a $50 hook-up to a 20-mile interstate exit.
Related Features
- Smart Pricing Engine that stacks mileage and surcharges
- Caller location capture that feeds the zone match
- How to set zone-based hook-up fees
- AI towing receptionist that quotes on the first call
- All Tow Deputy features
Zone Pricing FAQs
What is zone-based pricing for towing?
Zone-based pricing is a hook-up fee that changes with distance from your yard. A pickup down the street pays one hook-up; a pickup 15 miles out pays another. Tow Deputy measures the pickup against the zones you draw and quotes that hook-up automatically, then stacks your per-mile rate and surcharges on top.
Does zone-based pricing replace my per-mile rate?
No. Zones set the hook-up. Per-mile from headquarters to pickup still applies if you use it, along with vehicle-class, luxury, issue, night, and after-hours fees from the Smart Pricing Engine. A 15-mile job is not “just the $100 hook-up.” It is that hook-up plus mileage and whatever add-ons you turned on.
How does the AI know which zone the caller is in?
Location Intelligence resolves the pickup — address, landmark, intersection, or exit — into a point. The engine measures that point from your business location and assigns the matching zone. If the location cannot be resolved, the caller gets a geo-location form by text so you are not guessing the zone on a highway shoulder.
Is zone-based hook-up quoting on the $99 Starter plan?
Yes. Zone-based hook-up fees are part of live quoting on Starter at $99/mo and Growth at $199/mo. Smart Deposits are Growth and above. There is no free plan. Starter and Growth include a 14-day free trial. Extra calls are $0.30 each or $30 per 100. See the pricing page for the full cards.
Can I change zone distances without rewriting a script?
Yes. You draw distance zones from your business location and assign each zone its own hook-up fee in the dashboard. No code. If you stretch the inner zone from 8 miles to 10, the next caller at 9 miles hears the inner-zone hook-up. That is the same “no code” rule as the rest of the rate card.
Quote the Right Hook-Up on the Next Far Pickup
Load your rings on a 14-day free trial, or call the demo and give it a 15-mile landmark.