Top 12 Tow Truck Driver Skills to Put on Your Resume
In a crowded hiring market, tow truck drivers who land interviews don’t just drive well—they show specific, job-ready skills that prove they can handle chaos, care for customers, and keep the scene safe. The list below spotlights twelve core abilities employers look for, so your resume doesn’t get lost in the pile.
Tow Truck Driver Skills
- GPS Navigation
- Wrecker Operation
- Flatbed Handling
- Incident Management
- Roadside Assistance
- Winching Techniques
- Vehicle Diagnostics
- Safety Compliance
- Customer Service
- Traffic Management
- Mechanical Aptitude
- Hazardous Materials
1. GPS Navigation
GPS navigation uses satellites and map data to guide you to a vehicle or drop site with speed and precision, even when conditions turn messy.
Why It's Important
It shrinks response times, trims fuel waste, and gets you to the right shoulder, lot, or lane without guesswork—critical when minutes matter.
How to Improve GPS Navigation Skills
Use commercial-aware routing that accounts for weight, low bridges, and restrictions when available.
Keep maps current; update devices and apps regularly and download offline maps for dead zones.
Layer traffic and weather to dodge closures, storms, and gridlock before you’re trapped in it.
Go hands-free with voice commands and dashboard mounts to keep eyes on the road.
Know local grids: common landmarks, mile markers, service roads, tow-away zones, and preferred staging spots.
Share precise locations (coordinates, cross streets, pinned points) with dispatch and customers to reduce back-and-forth.
How to Display GPS Navigation Skills on Your Resume
2. Wrecker Operation
Wrecker operation covers safe use of wheel-lifts and booms to remove, recover, and relocate disabled, damaged, or illegally parked vehicles.
Why It's Important
It clears hazards fast, protects vehicles from additional damage, and keeps traffic moving—safely, cleanly, lawfully.
How to Improve Wrecker Operation Skills
Train and certify through reputable towing and recovery programs; refresh annually.
Inspect daily—hydraulics, lights, wire rope, attachments, safety gear—before the first call and after the last.
Choose the right method: wheel-lift vs. boom vs. flatbed based on drivetrain, damage, clearance, and manufacturer guidance.
Use a spotter in tight, high-risk scenes; agree on hand signals and blind-spot checks.
Mind capacity limits: understand working load limits, angles, and how they change effective capacity.
Follow local rules for licensing, impounds, storage notices, and receipts; comply with Move Over laws.
How to Display Wrecker Operation Skills on Your Resume
3. Flatbed Handling
Flatbed handling means loading, securing, and transporting vehicles on a carrier deck without wheels contacting the road.
Why It's Important
It protects all-wheel-drive, low-clearance, luxury, and electric vehicles, and reduces risk of drivetrain and body damage.
How to Improve Flatbed Handling Skills
Pre-trip checks on deck, winch, hydraulics, tie-down points, and bed controls.
Load angle control: use tilt, ramps, or cribbing for low bumpers and splitters.
Four-point tie-down with rated straps or chains; avoid suspension bind; use soft straps on alloy wheels.
Balance and distribution: keep center of gravity forward of the axle and within axle weight limits.
Secure accessories (loose parts, toppled wheels) and chock as needed.
Follow OEM guidance for EV tow modes, transport points, and 12V support.
How to Display Flatbed Handling Skills on Your Resume
4. Incident Management
Incident management is the art of stabilizing scenes—crashes, breakdowns, hazards—while protecting people, property, and traffic flow.
Why It's Important
Swift, organized action cuts secondary crashes, shortens closures, and keeps everyone—drivers, responders, customers—out of danger.
How to Improve Incident Management Skills
Complete TIM training (Traffic Incident Management) and refresh regularly.
Establish safe zones with proper cone taper, advance warning, and vehicle positioning at an angle for shielding.
Tight comms with dispatch, law enforcement, and other responders; share clear arrival and departure updates.
Use checklists for size-up, stabilization, recovery steps, and scene clearance.
Document the job with photos, timestamps, and unit numbers; capture damage and final position.
After-action reviews to pinpoint delays, near-misses, and better practices.
How to Display Incident Management Skills on Your Resume
5. Roadside Assistance
Roadside assistance covers jump-starts, tire changes, fuel delivery, lockouts, and quick tows that get motorists back on track.
Why It's Important
It’s often the first face a stranded driver sees. Quick help, done safely, turns a bad day around and keeps lanes clear.
How to Improve Roadside Assistance Skills
Standardize triage: verify location, vehicle, symptoms, and safety risks before rolling.
Give accurate ETAs and send updates; underpromise, overdeliver.
Follow safe procedures for modern vehicles—12V access on hybrids/EVs, torque specs on lugs, air pressure checks.
Protect the scene with PPE, cones, and lighting patterns that warn, not blind.
Carry the right tools (slim jims, wedges, pump tools, jump packs, plug kits) and keep them inspected.
Capture customer notes and photos for clear invoices and fewer disputes.
How to Display Roadside Assistance Skills on Your Resume
6. Winching Techniques
Winching techniques govern how you rig, anchor, and pull a vehicle with control—no surprises, no snapbacks.
Why It's Important
Good rigging prevents injuries, equipment failures, and vehicle damage when the terrain or situation fights back.
How to Improve Winching Techniques Skills
Assess before action: load, terrain, angle, ground conditions, and path of travel.
Rig correctly with rated shackles, tree-savers, soft slings, and attachment points designed for recovery.
Use snatch blocks to change direction or build mechanical advantage; respect working load limits.
Protect the line: use dampers, avoid sharp edges, keep wraps neat, and never straddle the cable.
Operate at a distance with remotes and keep bystanders out of the danger zone.
Inspect often: kinks, birdcaging, corrosion, and heat damage signal replacement time.
Practice controlled pulls in training environments—build muscle memory before the real thing.
How to Display Winching Techniques Skills on Your Resume
7. Vehicle Diagnostics
Vehicle diagnostics means using tools and know-how to identify faults—fast—so you can decide: fix now, tow now, or both.
Why It's Important
Accurate triage saves time, builds trust, and helps avoid unnecessary tows or missed problems.
How to Improve Vehicle Diagnostics Skills
Use OBD-II tools to read codes, freeze-frame data, and live values; don’t just clear codes—explain the cause.
Master basics: battery/charging tests, fuse checks, loose cables, fluid levels, and obvious mechanical issues.
Understand modern systems—CAN bus behavior, immobilizers, key fobs, and EV tow modes.
Communicate clearly in plain language; translate tech findings into practical next steps for the customer.
Keep learning with periodic refreshers on new models and common failure patterns.
How to Display Vehicle Diagnostics Skills on Your Resume
8. Safety Compliance
Safety compliance ties together regulations, company policies, and common-sense practices that keep operations legal and people alive.
Why It's Important
It prevents injuries, fines, downtime, and reputational damage—while protecting customers’ property and the traveling public.
How to Improve Safety Compliance Skills
Know the rules: local and state towing requirements, storage/impound procedures, Move Over laws, and applicable DOT/FMCSA standards.
Daily inspections on vehicles and equipment; fix defects before service.
Wear proper PPE: high-visibility vest (Class 2/3), gloves, eye protection, and appropriate footwear.
Use correct signage, triangles, cones, and lighting patterns; avoid dazzling approaching drivers.
Maintain records for maintenance, training, incidents, and if applicable, drug/alcohol and hours-of-service programs.
Report near-misses and refine procedures after every serious event.
How to Display Safety Compliance Skills on Your Resume
9. Customer Service
Customer service is the human side of towing—communicating well, arriving when you say, and treating people with respect under stress.
Why It's Important
It earns repeat business, steady reviews, and calmer scenes. Word travels, good or bad.
How to Improve Customer Service Skills
Set expectations early—ETA, scope, pricing, and any requirements like keys or documents.
Use plain language; avoid jargon and keep updates flowing if plans change.
Show empathy and patience; this might be the worst moment of their week.
Professional presence: clean truck, clean uniform, calm demeanor.
Document and share photos, signatures, and receipts digitally to reduce disputes.
Ask for feedback and fold it into training and coaching.
How to Display Customer Service Skills on Your Resume
10. Traffic Management
Traffic management is coordinating vehicle movement around an incident so recovery can happen without new crashes.
Why It's Important
Good traffic control protects responders and road users, restores normal flow faster, and lowers secondary incidents.
How to Improve Traffic Management Skills
Apply TIM principles: proper advance warning, taper length, and buffer space matched to speed and conditions.
Position units for shielding at an angle with wheels turned away from the work zone.
Coordinate with law enforcement and DOT on lane closures, arrow boards, and detours.
Clear quickly—prioritize rapid removal of vehicles and debris when safe and lawful.
Choose sensible lighting that alerts without blinding; adjust patterns as traffic volumes change.
How to Display Traffic Management Skills on Your Resume
11. Mechanical Aptitude
Mechanical aptitude is the instinct and knowledge to diagnose, repair small issues, and operate equipment without fumbling.
Why It's Important
It speeds problem-solving, prevents equipment abuse, and keeps you rolling when minor faults pop up at the worst time.
How to Improve Mechanical Aptitude Skills
Get hands-on: practice basic service—belts, hoses, fluids, fuses, bulbs, and battery checks.
Learn systems: hydraulics, PTOs, winches, electrical (12V), and trailer connections.
Read manuals for trucks, bodies, and add-ons; highlight maintenance intervals and troubleshooting trees.
Simulate scenarios in the yard—hose failures, hydraulic quirks, soft-ground recoveries.
Ask the veterans—tips, tricks, and the “don’t ever do this” stories you won’t find in a book.
How to Display Mechanical Aptitude Skills on Your Resume
12. Hazardous Materials
Hazardous materials include substances that threaten people or the environment. Tow operators may encounter them after crashes, spills, or when moving vehicles carrying regulated loads.
Why It's Important
Knowing what you’re dealing with—and what not to touch—prevents injuries, contamination, and costly mistakes.
How to Improve Hazardous Materials Skills
Get HAZMAT training appropriate to your duties; know when a certified hazmat carrier is required.
Identify quickly using placards, labels, and vehicle documentation; assume unknown fluids are hazardous.
Carry spill kits—absorbents, neutralizers, drain covers—and know how to deploy them.
Follow EV-specific guidance for damaged high-voltage batteries; isolate, monitor, and coordinate with authorities.
Maintain equipment and the truck’s containment capabilities; document incidents and notifications.
How to Display Hazardous Materials Skills on Your Resume
