---
title: Book a Tow and Run the Tow Board
description: Create a towing order with a pickup and drop-off, assign a driver, and follow the Tow Board through arrival, delivery note and invoice.
---
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2. [Work Intake (Requests & Service Orders)](https://support.metafleet.ai/work-intake-requests-service-orders?hsLang=en)
3. [Creating Service Orders](https://support.metafleet.ai/work-intake-requests-service-orders?hsLang=en#creating-service-orders)
# Book a Tow and Run the Tow Board
## Create a towing order, see it on the dispatch side, and follow the driver from pickup to drop-off to invoice.
**For:** Dispatchers and drivers · **Permission:** Dispatcher access · **Time:** ~5 minutes
### Quick summary
1. Press **⌘K** and choose **New Towing Order**.
2. Pick the company, the vehicle, the pickup and drop-off addresses, and describe the problem.
3. Click **Create Towing Order**, then assign a technician.
4. The driver works the **Tow Board**: **I'm On My Way**, **Arrived at pickup**, then arrive at each destination.
5. Send the invoice from the order's **Invoice** tab.
### Before you start
- The company and the vehicle must already exist. You can add either from the form (**+ Create a new company**, **+ Create a new vehicle**).
- You need a pickup address and at least one drop-off address.
- In this article, the **driver** is the technician you assign with **Assign technician**.
- Booking a tow needs dispatcher access. A driver only needs to be assigned. Stopping a tow early needs permission to cancel service orders, and sending the invoice needs invoice permission.
### Open the towing form
Press **⌘K** in the top bar and type **tow**. Choose **New Towing Order** (*Dispatch a tow*). The entry shows only when towing is turned on for your account. The **New Towing Order** page opens. A progress counter next to **Create Towing Order** shows how many sections are done, out of 5.
### Fill in the order
1. **Company:** search by name and select it. The order number appears at the top of the page as soon as you do.
2. **Vehicle:** pick one of the company's vehicles, or click **+ Create a new vehicle**.
3. **Route:** click **Set the pickup address** and type an address, then pick it from the list. Do the same for **Set the drop-off address**. Click **+ Add destination** for more stops. You can also click the map to place a stop.
4. **Tow Request:** the **Service Area** fills in from the pickup. Describe the problem in **Description**.
5. **Time of the service:** choose **Now** (breakdown or roadside, the tow starts today), **Scheduled** (book the exact date and time) or **Unscheduled** (add it now, pick the date and time later). With **Scheduled**, pick the date and time, and the button reads **Book Towing**. With **Unscheduled**, it reads **Add without a date**.
6. Optional: **Tow Type**, **Is the vehicle drivable?**, **Priority**, **Where are the keys?**, a PO or reference number, and notes.
> **Create Towing Order** stays grayed out until all 5 sections are complete. The steps below follow a **Now** tow.
Click **Create Towing Order** (or **Book Towing** / **Add without a date**, depending on the time you chose). The towing service order opens with its own order number and a **Tow Board** tab next to **Details**.
### Assign a driver
1. On the **Details** tab, click **Assign technician**.
2. Select the driver in the **Assign Technician** window and click **Confirm**.
The order status changes to **Assigned**, and the tow shows on the driver's job list in the mobile app. Until a technician is assigned, the Tow Board is read-only: nothing can be navigated or marked as reached.
### What dispatch sees
Open the **Tow Board** tab on the order. It shows the route with **0 of 1 destinations reached**, a photo box at the pickup, an **I'm on my way** button until the driver has left, the **Navigate** and **Arrived** buttons for each stop, and the **Delivery note**. The tab replaces the Repair Board that repair orders have.
The **Details** tab holds the same route, the vehicle problem under **What's wrong**, and the towing details. A dispatcher can edit the delivery note.
### Run the tow as the driver
Drivers use the MetaFleet mobile app. A tow opens on a short page with the vehicle, the pickup and each destination.
1. **I'm On My Way:** tap it when the truck leaves for the pickup. It marks the departure. **Navigate** only opens the map, so tap it too if the driver wants directions. If the truck is already at the vehicle, tap **Already here? Arrived at pickup** instead.
2. **Add a photo:** optional at the pickup. Photograph the vehicle on the truck.
3. **Arrived at pickup:** tap it when the truck is at the vehicle.
4. **Next stop:** tap **Navigate** for directions to the drop-off, then **Arrived at destination 1**. On the last stop it reads **Arrived at destination N — finish**, where N is that stop's number.
5. **Delivery note:** write one note for the whole tow at the end, for example "Dropped at the north gate, keys left with the yard foreman". Dispatch can edit it later.
**On the web:** dispatchers and admins can work the same steps from the **Tow Board** tab of the order: **I'm on my way**, **Navigate** and **Arrived** for each stop, and the **Delivery note**.
### Invoice the tow
Open the order's **Invoice** tab. A tow shows one **Towing** section for its charges.
- While the tow is still running, **End work & invoice** sits in the order header, next to **Cancel Service Order**, on every tab. It ends the tow early, releases the driver and keeps the call-out billable. You only see it with permission to cancel service orders.
- When **Dispatcher approval is required before work can be completed** is on (**Settings › Workflow › Approvals & Alerts**, **Service Order Settings** card; see [Understanding the Approval Gates](https://support.metafleet.ai/understanding-the-approval-gates?hsLang=en)), a finished tow waits for a dispatcher. The **Tow Board** shows **Waiting for approval and release...**. Dispatchers who can approve repairs also see **Make changes** and **Mark Work Complete**. The **Invoice** tab shows **Make changes** and **Finalize Approval**. **Make changes** sends the tow back to the driver with an optional note about what needs to change. Approving moves the tow on to the invoice.
- Once every destination is reached, and the approval is done if your shop uses it, the button is **Send Invoice**. After you send it, it reads **Resend**.
- The vehicle needs a VIN, make and model before the invoice can be sent.
### Check and correct the time on a tow
Dispatchers can see how long the driver spent on a tow. Each arrival the driver taps closes the running clock record and opens the next leg's, so every leg is timed on its own. Customers never see this time.
1. Open the order's **Invoice** tab. **Time on this tow** lists **Drive to pickup**, **Pickup → destination 1** (includes loading), **Drive back** and **Total on the clock**.
2. To fix a time, click **Correct hours**. Type the right time on any line, or only the total. Every line scales in proportion, and **Drive back** stays equal to **Drive to pickup**.
3. Give a reason and save. Corrected lines show a **Corrected** tag.
The **Details** tab shows the total with **Correct total**, which does the same thing. The **Tow Board** has no per-stop time correction. You need the technician time edit permission to see these buttons.
### Book a tow from a repair order
If a vehicle on a repair order has to go to the shop, start the tow from the repair itself.
1. Open the repair order. The dispatcher assigned to it sees **Arrange tow** above the order details, until the invoice is being finalized.
2. Click **Arrange tow**. The **New Towing Order** page opens with the customer, vehicle and pickup already filled in. A banner reads **Towing for repair** with the repair number. Click **Open the repair** to go back to it.
3. Add the drop-off and finish the form as described above.
A repair can have one tow. Once it has one, **Arrange tow** is replaced by a link on the repair: **Tow draft** (**continue →**) while the form is unfinished, or **Tow booked**, **Tow unscheduled · not booked yet** or the tow's order number (**Open →**) after that.
A technician assigned to the repair sees **Vehicle beyond repair? Request a tow** instead. They add the reason and tap **Send request**. The button is replaced by **Tow requested — dispatch has been alerted.** Dispatch then arranges the tow. The technician keeps working the repair as directed until dispatch confirms.
### Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Create Towing Order** is grayed out | One of the 5 sections is still incomplete | Check **Company**, **Vehicle**, **Route** and **Description**. If the description is typed but the counter doesn't move, click outside the box. |
| **Navigate** and **Arrived** are disabled | No technician is assigned | Click **Assign technician** on the **Details** tab. |
| **Send Invoice** is disabled | The vehicle is missing a VIN, make or model | Complete the vehicle record, then try again. |
| The tow doesn't show on the driver's job list | The order is assigned to a different technician, or none | Check the technician on the **Details** tab and reassign if needed. |
### FAQs
**Where do photos go?**
The app shows one optional photo box, at the pickup. The on-screen text says these photos stay with the pickup.
**Who writes the delivery note?**
The driver writes it at the end, as one note for the whole tow. A dispatcher can edit it.
**What if the tow can't finish?**
Click **End work & invoice** in the order header. You need permission to cancel service orders. The call-out stays billable.
### Related articles
- [Create a Service Order](https://support.metafleet.ai/create-a-service-order?hsLang=en)
- [Understand the Service Order Lifecycle](https://support.metafleet.ai/the-service-order-lifecycle?hsLang=en)
- [Manage a Service Order](https://support.metafleet.ai/manage-a-service-order?hsLang=en)
- [Stop Work and Invoice Early](https://support.metafleet.ai/stop-work-and-invoice-early?hsLang=en)
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