Towing Contract Proposal Template: A Bid You Can Copy and Send This Week

What a towing proposal actually is (and why a one page email loses)

A towing proposal is a written offer that says: here is what I will do, here is what it costs, here is when I will show up, and here is what happens if something goes wrong. That is it. It is a document, not a text message.

Think of it like this. Imagine you want a kid to mow your lawn every Saturday. You could just say "hey, mow my lawn, I'll pay you." Or you could write down: Saturdays at 9am, front and back, $40, you bring your own gas, if it rains we push to Sunday. The second one is a proposal. It stops arguments before they start.

A one page email loses for three boring but real reasons.

The good news: you do not need a designer or a lawyer. You need about 90 minutes and the template in this article. I have watched small operators win parking lot contracts from national brands purely because they sent the only document that answered every question on page one.

One more thing before we go deeper. Words matter here. "Scope of service" just means the list of jobs you agree to do. "Rate card" just means the price list. "Net 30" means they pay you within 30 days of the invoice. I will define everything like that as we go, so nothing feels like a foreign language.

The cover page and the opening paragraph that keeps them reading

Your cover page has one job: make the reader feel like you already understand their problem. Not your company history. Not your fleet size. Their problem.

Here is the structure of a strong cover page:

That validity line matters more than people think. It protects you from a manager digging up your old pricing two years later and demanding it.

Now the opening paragraph. Most operators write "We are a family owned towing company serving the area since 2009 with a commitment to excellence." Nobody finishes that sentence. Delete it.

Instead, open with their world. Something like:

"Dear [MANAGER NAME], [PROPERTY NAME] has 214 parking spaces and a strict overnight no parking rule in the east lot. Right now, when a vehicle needs to move, it takes a phone call, a wait, and a guessing game on price. This proposal removes the guessing game. You get one number to call, a written rate for every job, and a commitment that a truck arrives within [RESPONSE TIME] minutes for non emergency calls."

Notice what that does. It shows you looked at their property. It names their pain. It promises a specific fix. A property manager reads that and thinks "this person actually walked my lot."

If you have never walked their lot, go walk it first. Fifteen minutes. Count the spaces. Note the gate code situation. Look for the dumpster area where cars always get left. Mention it. That single detail is worth more than a page of credentials.

Scope of service: exactly what you will and will not do

This is the section that saves you from the 11pm phone call about a job you never agreed to do. Write it tight.

The trick is to use two lists. One list says what is included. The other list says what is not, and what happens if they need it anyway.

Here is how that reads in a real proposal:

Included in this agreement:

Not included in this agreement (quoted separately):

That second list is not you being difficult. It is you being professional. Every experienced operator has a story about the "quick job" that turned into a two truck recovery on a Sunday. Write it down now so it becomes a rate instead of a fight.

One line I always recommend adding, near the end of this section: "Any service not listed above will be quoted in writing before work begins." That one sentence has saved more relationships than any handshake.

If you serve body shops, your scope language shifts. They care about after hours pickup, keys handling, and whether you can store a car with a damaged door without making it worse. Our guide on a [body shop dispatch platform](/the-dispatch/body-shop-dispatch-platform) goes deeper on that specific world, and the same scope logic applies.

The rate card block, laid out so they can approve line by line

Here is the thing about rates. A manager cannot approve "market rates." They can approve $95. So build a table. Give them rows. Let them check boxes next to numbers.

I learned this the hard way. Years ago I sent a proposal to a 300 unit apartment complex with the line "call for pricing." The manager told me later she never called because her regional director required three written bids with dollar amounts. I lost that contract to a company with worse trucks and better paperwork.

Put your rate card on its own page. Here is what it should look like.

Two notes on this table. First, the "no call, no vehicle found" line is not greedy. You drove a truck to a location and the car was gone. That is a real cost. Most property managers accept it without blinking because it is obviously fair. Second, if you want a sense of what your local market will actually bear, our piece on [how to price towing services](/the-dispatch/how-to-price-towing-services) walks through the math.

If you are dispatching through a platform, the rate card you load is the rate card your network sees. On TowMarX you set your own card, and operators who only receive jobs from other companies' networks pay nothing to be there. Your pricing stays yours.

The response time commitment you can actually hold

Every proposal asks for a response time. Most operators promise 15 minutes to look good. Then they miss it twice in the first month and the relationship is dead.

Promise a number you can hold on your worst Tuesday. Not your best day. Your worst.

Here is a sane way to build it. Track your last 30 non emergency calls. Look at the actual arrival times. Take the number that 8 out of 10 calls beat. That is your promise. If 8 out of 10 came in under 45 minutes, promise 45 minutes and mention it is typical.

Then split it by tier. A tier table beats a single number every time.

Two protective paragraphs belong right under that table.

"Response times are measured from the time [COMPANY NAME] confirms the dispatch by text or phone. Weather events, road closures, and concurrent emergency calls may extend arrival times. In those cases [COMPANY NAME] will notify [PROPERTY NAME] within 15 minutes of accepting the call."

That weather line is not an excuse. It is reality. We are on the road with the same ice everyone else is. Say it up front and nobody feels tricked.

One more thing. If you use SMS based dispatch, the clock start is clean because the confirmation is timestamped in the text thread. TowMarX works this way by design: drivers need no app, they just get a text and tap a link. That timestamp is your friend if a manager ever questions whether you were late. For a wider look at landing this kind of account in the first place, see [how to get a towing contract](/the-dispatch/how-to-get-a-towing-contract).

Insurance, licensing, and the paperwork to attach

This is the section most operators skip, and it is the section most likely to get your proposal tossed. A property management company often has its own insurer asking questions. If your packet is missing a certificate of insurance, they cannot sign you.

Attach four things. Every time.

Two quick things people get wrong. First, your COI limits should match what the property actually carries in its own policy. If their vendor requirement is $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate, do not send a $500,000 policy and hope nobody reads it. Second, check the coverage dates before you send. An expired certificate is worse than no certificate because it looks careless.

If you want a plain language explanation of what general liability actually covers for a small service business, the FTC's small business guidance hub is a decent starting point: https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/small-businesses.

Terms that protect you: billing, after hours, storage, cancellation

This section is boring and it is the difference between getting paid in 30 days and getting paid in never. Write it in short numbered paragraphs. No lawyer speak.

Billing cycle. Invoices go out on the 1st and the 15th of each month. Each invoice lists every job with date, time, location, vehicle, and the rate applied. Photos attached.

Net 30. Payment is due within 30 days of the invoice date. After 30 days, a 1.5 percent monthly late fee applies. Say the number out loud because "a late fee may apply" means nothing to an accounting system.

After hours rates. Defined as 6pm to 7am Monday through Friday, all day Saturday and Sunday, and the following holidays: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. After hours work bills at the after hours rate on the card. No surprise multipliers beyond that.

Storage and gate fees. Storage starts the day the vehicle arrives and bills per calendar day. Gate or lot access fees apply when a driver must be let in after hours or when a code fails and the manager must be called. This is a real cost and managers understand it because they have paid gate repair bills before.

Cancellation. A dispatch is billable once the truck is en route. If [PROPERTY NAME] cancels before the truck rolls, no charge. This is the fair version and it holds up.

Term and termination. Either side may end this agreement with 30 days written notice. Work in progress gets finished and billed. Simple.

Independent contractor. Your company is an independent contractor, not an employee of [PROPERTY NAME]. This line matters if there is ever a dispute over who is responsible for what.

One more line I like to add, near the end: "This agreement does not create an exclusive arrangement. [PROPERTY NAME] may use other vendors and [COMPANY NAME] may serve other clients." That sounds like you are giving something away. What it actually does is make managers comfortable signing, because nobody wants to lock themselves into one vendor for a year.

The full copy and paste template, section by section

Here it is. Adapt the brackets. Keep the numbers honest. If a number is not true, change it. The whole point is that every sentence is one you can stand behind on a bad day.

SECTION 1. COVER

Towing and Recovery Service Proposal

Prepared for: [PROPERTY NAME], Attn: [MANAGER NAME], [ADDRESS]

Prepared by: [COMPANY NAME], [PHONE], [EMAIL], [LICENSE OR USDOT NUMBER]

Proposal number: [YEAR]-[NUMBER]. Date: [DATE]. Valid for 30 days.

SECTION 2. OPENING PARAGRAPH

Dear [MANAGER NAME],

[PROPERTY NAME] has [NUMBER] parking spaces, a [NUMBER] unit building, and a strict no parking policy in [SPECIFIC AREA]. Right now, moving a vehicle means a phone call, a wait, and a price that is different every time. This proposal removes the guesswork. You get one number to call, a written rate for every job, and an arrival commitment of [X] minutes for non emergency calls. Everything below is what we do, what we charge, and what we need from you.

SECTION 3. SCOPE OF SERVICE

Included: private property towing at the request of [PROPERTY NAME] management or designated agent, standard vehicles up to 1 ton, business hours, jump starts, lockouts, tire changes on site, photo documentation of every vehicle before it moves, written confirmation within 60 minutes, storage at [ADDRESS] for up to [NUMBER] days.

Not included: heavy duty recovery, vehicles over 1 ton, accident scene cleanup, spill containment, off road winch outs, after hours work (billed at the after hours rate below), abandoned vehicle filings, lien paperwork, title work.

Any service not listed above will be quoted in writing before work begins.

SECTION 4. RATE CARD

Copy the table from earlier in this article. Fill in every [RATE].

SECTION 5. RESPONSE TIMES

Emergency, blocking a fire lane or unsafe: [X] minutes. Standard daytime: [X] minutes. After hours non emergency: [X] minutes. Scheduled removal of a provided vehicle list: same day if the list arrives by [TIME].

Response times are measured from the moment [COMPANY NAME] confirms the dispatch by text or phone. Weather events, road closures, and concurrent emergency calls may extend arrival. In those cases we notify [PROPERTY NAME] within 15 minutes of accepting the call.

SECTION 6. INSURANCE AND PAPERWORK

Attached: Certificate of Insurance, W-9, operating authority, business license. [COMPANY NAME] carries general liability of [AMOUNT] per occurrence and [AMOUNT] aggregate, and auto liability of [AMOUNT]. Certificates will be updated automatically at renewal.

SECTION 7. TERMS

Billing twice monthly, on the 1st and 15th. Net 30 with 1.5 percent monthly late fee. After hours defined as 6pm to 7am weekdays, all weekend, and six listed holidays. Storage billed per calendar day from arrival. Gate or lot access fee applies after hours or when a code fails. A dispatch is billable once the truck is en route. Either party may terminate with 30 days written notice. [COMPANY NAME] is an independent contractor. This is a non exclusive agreement.

SECTION 8. SIGNATURES

[PROPERTY NAME] by: ____________________ Date: __________

[COMPANY NAME] by: ____________________ Date: __________

SECTION 9. ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I have read Sections 3 through 7 and agree to the scope, rates, response times, and terms above.

Signed: ____________________ Title: ____________________ Date: __________

That acknowledgment page is the quiet hero of the whole document. It stops "I did not know storage was billed per day" before it happens.

How to send it, and the follow up that actually works

If this is your first commercial bid, the Small Business Administration's contracting guide is a reasonable primer on how buyers read proposals. Most of it is written for federal work, but the habits transfer.

Sending is not the finish line. Following up is where the contract actually gets signed.

Send it as a PDF, not a Word document. PDFs look the same on every screen and cannot be accidentally edited by a tenant services coordinator with a red pen. Name the file like this: [COMPANY NAME] Towing Proposal [PROPERTY NAME] [MONTH YEAR]. Not "proposal final v3."

In the email, keep it to five lines. Who you are, what is attached, what you want them to do, by when, and one line saying you will follow up on a specific day.

Then follow up on that exact day. Here is a schedule that works.

Two small moves that win more contracts than any discount. First, attach a one page summary of the rate card as a separate PDF called "Rate Card Quick Reference." Managers keep that one in their desk drawer. Second, keep a copy of every proposal you send in a folder and check back in three months. Property managers change jobs. Contracts do not get cancelled, they just get forgotten. A friendly check in email three months later has closed more deals for me than any clever pitch.

For dealership accounts specifically, the follow up looks different because the service manager is the buyer, not a property manager. Our [dealership towing contract](/the-dispatch/dealership-towing-contract) piece covers that version of the sale end to end.

If you want a free structure to test your dispatch flow before you promise response times, the TowMarX team publishes a Motor Club Starter Kit at https://towmarx.com/starter-kit. The plan structure is worth knowing: Free covers 5 jobs a month, Starter is $19 a month for one network, Pro is $39 for up to three, and Business is $79 for unlimited networks. Paid plans add $3 per job, and operators who only receive jobs from networks pay nothing at all.