In this blog entry, our professional Chicago heavy duty towing and Chicago light duty towing service team will detail the main difference between the applications of light duty towing and heavy duty towing.

What exactly is light duty towing?

Light duty towing involves vehicles that weigh less than 10,000 pounds. These vehicles usually include sedans, pickup trucks, and motorcycles or motorbikes. With light duty towing, vehicles are loaded onto flatbed trucks and secured before the tow truck begins to drive. Light duty tow trucks are used for short distance towing and small vehicles. Light duty tow trucks are much smaller (and lighter of course) than heavy duty tow trucks, making them more suited to drive in small spaces or along tight or sharp turns. Light duty towing is usually a bit less expensive than heavy duty towing service.

What exactly is heavy duty towing?

Heavy duty tow trucks are, simply, tow trucks for heavier vehicles. In order to drive and operate a heavy duty tow truck, technicians need special equipment and training. Not every driver can operate a heavy duty tow truck. Heavy duty tow trucks are meant for use with larger vehicles like buses, semi-trucks, trucks, and construction equipment. Heavy duty tow trucks can carry higher than 26,000 pounds of weight. Heavier carrying capacity means that these trucks have a harder time driving in small spaces or along sharp turns, and heavy duty towing service usually costs a bit more.