Tow truck at Rahway River Park, NJ: the loop road, the pool lots, the river and the streets that flood

The loop is shaded, it freezes before the avenue does, and the first cold snap puts a car or two on the grass. A winch-out is quoted before the truck moves; if the car drives away afterward, that quote is the bill and there is no tow.

If it does not, the flatbed is already there and the tow to your shop is added at the flat fee.

After a heavy rain the low blocks near the river take water, and a car that stalled in it goes on a flatbed with the engine left alone. The driver checks the depth before he backs the deck in and winches the car up rather than driving it. A drowned engine is the expensive outcome the flatbed is there to prevent.

Lights left on, a door not quite shut, a battery that was tired anyway. A jump is one flat price with no mileage, and the lot is wide enough for a flatbed to back straight up if the car has to leave. Keys locked in a hot car by the pool are a lockout at one price with damage-free tools.

The park sits against Clark, and the shops on Central Avenue and Westfield Avenue on the Clark side are as close as the ones in Rahway. A tow across the line is the booking fee plus a mile or two.

St. Georges Avenue runs from the park straight to our yard, which makes this one of the quickest parts of Rahway to reach.