Rigid trucks
Light, medium and heavy rigids — tippers, pantechs, tautliners and refrigerated bodies. Most rigid tows are straightforward boom-and-underlift work.
Commercial truck recovery
Truck towing for fleets that cannot sit still
Rigids, semis, B-doubles and road trains. Quoted before dispatch, with a 45-minute metro target and traffic management carried on the truck.
24/7 dispatch · six depots across South East QLD · we quote before we roll
A truck off the road is a delivery not made, a driver on the clock and a customer being told something they do not want to hear. Delta Heavy Towing exists to shorten that window. We tow commercial trucks across Brisbane and South East Queensland for fleets, logistics operators and owner-drivers, and we match the unit to the vehicle before anything leaves the depot.
Our fleet runs heavy-duty rotators for complex recoveries, low loaders and tilt trays where the driveline should not be involved, and boom trucks with underlift for the everyday work. Every vehicle is GPS-tracked, fully insured and on a scheduled maintenance program — which is why our ETAs tend to hold.
For operators with regular towing requirements we run account pricing and consolidated monthly invoicing, so your admin team is not reconciling a dozen one-off invoices at the end of the month.
What we handle
Trucks we tow
Configuration changes the method. Tell us what you run and we will tell you how it gets moved.
Semi-trailers
Prime mover and single trailer combinations. Depending on what failed and where it is going, we either tow the whole combination or decouple and move them separately.
B-doubles
Two-trailer sets need deliberate handling. Our operators know the articulation points, brake systems and coupling arrangements well enough to make the right call on site.
Road trains
Multi-trailer combinations, common on Queensland highways. Recovery usually means decoupling and moving the prime mover and each trailer in turn.
Specialist vehicles
Concrete agitators, garbage trucks, fuel tankers, livestock carriers and car carriers. An agitator with set concrete in the drum weighs a great deal more than an empty one, and we plan for the real weight.
Refrigerated units
We tow reefer rigids and trailers, and where the fridge unit still runs we keep it running in transit so temperature-sensitive freight is not the second problem of the day.
How it runs
The breakdowns we get called to most
Six scenarios cover the overwhelming majority of callouts. Each has a method we have run many times.
- Engine failure
The most common call by a wide margin. Turbo, injectors, head gasket or overheating. We connect, disconnect the driveline if needed, and tow to your nominated repairer.
- Gearbox & driveline
If the truck cannot go into neutral, we perform a driveline disconnect on site — removing the tailshaft so the rear wheels turn freely. Our operators carry the tools and the knowledge for most common makes.
- Brake system faults
Air system failures, compressor faults and actuator problems. A truck with failed brakes cannot be driven, and towing one means managing all the braking from the tow truck.
- Electrical faults
Alternator, wiring or ECU problems. Modern electronic engine management means faults that would not have stopped a truck twenty years ago will stop one today.
- Tyre failures
A steer blowout ends the trip immediately. A drive tyre may let the truck limp somewhere safe, but often the carcass has already taken out a mudguard or brake line on the way.
- Accident damage
Collisions and single-vehicle incidents, with the coordination that comes attached — police, insurers and sometimes TMR incident response. We handle that side of it too.
Truck down? Start the clock on the fix.
Give us the location, the configuration and the destination. We will quote it on the call and assign the closest available unit.
Detail that matters
Pricing and response, without the vagueness
Two things operators ask about before anything else, so here they are in plain terms.
Pricing. Every truck tow is quoted before dispatch, based on truck type, weight, distance from the nearest depot to you, distance from pickup to destination, and time of day. That quote covers the callout, the tow and the delivery. Nothing gets added afterwards. If we arrive and the job is materially different from what was described, we stop and discuss it with you before any additional cost is incurred — not after.
Response. Our target inside metro Brisbane is 45 minutes. Regional work takes longer and we tell you how much longer when you call, based on where the nearest available truck actually is. Motorway breakdowns are prioritised because of the safety and traffic implications, and our trucks carry their own traffic management equipment — we can set up a lane closure without waiting on a separate traffic control company to arrive first.
- Heavy-duty rotator units for complex and confined recoveries
- Low loaders and tilt trays where the driveline must stay out of it
- GPS-tracked fleet so dispatch quotes real ETAs, not averages
- Holding yards at several depots if your repairer is closed
Straight answers
Questions operators ask
Can you tow a truck with the engine running?
If the engine runs but the truck cannot be driven — a gearbox fault, say — we can often tow with it running so you keep power steering and air brakes. If the engine will not run at all, we do a driveline disconnect and manage braking from the tow truck.
What information do you need when I call?
Your location as a GPS pin or a clear landmark, the truck make, model and configuration, approximate weight, what went wrong, and where you want it taken. That is enough for us to assign the right unit and quote it on the spot.
Do you tow refrigerated trucks?
Yes, rigids and trailers both. If the fridge unit is still running we keep it running during transport wherever possible, so the freight is not spoiling while the truck is being recovered.
Can you store my truck if the repairer is closed?
We have holding yards at several depot locations. Your truck can sit securely with us until the repairer can receive it, which is usually simpler than leaving it on a verge overnight.
Do you offer account pricing for fleets?
Yes. Operators with regular towing requirements get account pricing and consolidated monthly invoicing rather than a separate invoice per job.
Related services
Also worth a look
Heavy Duty Towing
Our core work. Units rated above 23 tonnes GVM for semi-trailers, B-doubles, rigids and road trains.
Explore Heavy Duty Towing
Prime Movers & Trailers
Short-term, long-term and one-way prime mover hire with experienced operators, plus trailer recovery and transport.
Explore Prime Movers & Trailers
Heavy Vehicle Recovery
Accident recovery, rollover uprighting, off-road extraction and flood recovery, with the rotator other operators do not have.
Explore Heavy Vehicle RecoveryReading
Guides from the yard
The Complete Guide to Towing Services in Brisbane
Brisbane's towing market serves a city of 2.5 million people with trucks, buses, and commercial vehicles running through an extensive road network in…
Read the article
Heavy Tow Truck Fleet: Inside Delta Heavy Towing's Equipment
We get asked about our trucks regularly. Fleet managers want to know if we can handle their largest vehicle. Construction companies want to know if w…
Read the article
Emergency Heavy Towing: What Happens When Your Truck Breaks Down at 2AM
Emergency heavy towing is what stands between a stranded driver and a resolved crisis. The phone rings at 2am. It's your driver. The truck has stoppe…
Read the article