01What changes in Melbourne
Transport Victoria says accident tow trucks are assigned through an allocation centre in the Melbourne region, with depot boundaries inside the controlled area. Its current map guidance says the allocation centre assigns vehicles under four tonnes, while heavier vehicles use specialist services. Transport Victoria also says a crash-scene driver must explain destination choice, provide the official information and authority-to-tow documents, and must not solicit repair work at the scene.
Those rules create strong campaign boundaries: owner-requested breakdown and trade towing can use a normal quote or dispatch flow, while controlled-area crash intent should provide official allocation guidance rather than capture the lead as if any operator may attend. Werribee, Craigieburn, Dandenong and Ringwood can sit in different depot and route contexts, so suburb targeting is not proof of an accident allocation entitlement. The form should identify vehicle mass, underground or roadside access, wheel condition and whether traffic is obstructed.
A customer can nominate a destination under the applicable process; storage, secondary transport and repair are not to be bundled without clear consent. Response times should be live dispatch estimates, not a citywide promise.
