Stop somewhere you can be seen and not hit
When your car starts losing power on the Goulburn Valley Highway or the Midland Highway, the first instinct is to coast as far as you can. That instinct is right. The further you can get off the bitumen the safer you are while you wait. Aim for a sealed shoulder, a rest area, a service road, or a paddock gateway. If you have to stop on the highway itself, get as far left as the gravel will let you and turn the wheels away from traffic.
The Goulburn Valley Highway between Shepparton and Numurkah, the Murray Valley Highway through to Cobram and Yarrawonga, and the Midland Highway out to Tatura and Bendigo all run long, fast stretches with limited shoulder in places. If you are anywhere near a sweeping bend or a crest, keep rolling until you are past it. A car parked behind a blind crest is the most dangerous place to be on a country road.
Hazard lights on, then get out on the safe side
Hazard lights stay on from the moment you suspect something is wrong, not the moment you stop. Drivers behind you need every second you can give them. If it is night, leave your headlights on too. If you carry a reflective warning triangle, place it about 50 metres back along the shoulder so traffic gets a second cue.
Now get out on the passenger side, away from the traffic lane. If you have passengers, the same rule applies. Walk well clear of the car and stand behind the guard rail or up the embankment. Never stand between your car and oncoming traffic. A vehicle being shunted from behind has nowhere to go and people standing in the gap have been seriously hurt this way more than once on the Hume corridor.
Work out where you actually are
When you call for a tow the first useful thing you can give us is your exact location. Open your phone maps and read out either the GPS coordinates or the nearest road and kilometre marker. Most regional highways through the Goulburn Valley are signed every kilometre with a small white kilometre post. If you can name the last town you passed and roughly how long ago, that is enough for us to find you.
If there is no signal, climb the embankment and try again. The Midland Highway between Shepparton and Bendigo, and stretches of the Murray Valley Highway near Nathalia and Picola, have known black spots. A few metres of elevation often makes the difference. If you still cannot get a call out, flag down a passing car and ask them to phone for help from the next town.
Call a real local operator, not a 1300 number
There is a big difference between calling a national franchise and calling a Shepparton based operator. National lines route your job to whichever contractor wins the dispatch, which can mean a one hour wait for someone who is already an hour out. A local operator like SS Towing answers the phone themselves and tells you straight away whether they can be there in 20 minutes or 60.
On the call have ready your location, your vehicle make and model, whether the car will roll or is locked up, whether you are blocking a lane, and where you want the car taken. If you do not have a destination in mind yet, ask the operator for their recommendation. Sam can drop your car at any local repairer, your home, or hold it safely in the Shepparton yard until you decide.
Stay with the vehicle, but not in the traffic lane
Wait somewhere safe and visible while the truck makes its way to you. If it is hot, get into the shade. If it is cold and raining, get back into the car only if you are well off the road. Keep your phone charged and visible so the operator can ring you back if they cannot find you.
If conditions change while you wait, ring back. A storm rolling in, a flat phone battery, the kids needing the toilet, a tow ball that you suddenly remembered you have at home, anything that affects the job. We would rather know early than rock up and find out at the kerb.
What happens when the truck arrives
A flatbed tow looks more involved than a standard wheel lift because the deck has to be lowered, the car has to be winched on, and everything has to be properly secured. Stand back and let the operator work. A flatbed is the right call for almost every modern car because it lifts all four wheels off the road and keeps the drivetrain out of the equation. That matters especially for an all wheel drive, a low front splitter, or any electric vehicle.
You can usually ride in the truck cab back to the destination. Australian road rules limit passenger numbers and child seat arrangements, so the operator will let you know on the spot. If you cannot ride along, we can drop you at a friend or family member en route to the workshop.
Choosing a reliable towing company before you ever need one
The best time to think about who you would call in a breakdown is right now, while everything is working. Save a local 24 hour operator into your phone. Look for an ABN registered business, a flatbed truck rather than a wheel lift only setup, and Google reviews that talk about response time and honesty rather than just price.
Owner operated outfits like SS Towing have an edge in regional Victoria because the person who quotes the job is the person driving the truck. That keeps pricing honest and ETAs realistic. Cheap is not always cheap. A budget operator who shows up two hours late and lifts your low slung car on a wheel lift can cost you more in damage than a fair priced flatbed in the first place.
If you regularly drive the Shepparton corridors
If you commute the Goulburn Valley Highway between Shepparton and Melbourne, or the Murray Valley Highway between Cobram and Yarrawonga, keep a simple kit in the boot. A torch, a bottle of water, a fluoro vest, a power bank for your phone, basic jumper leads, and a paper note of your home address and any roadside assist membership. Phones die, batteries flatten in the cold, and apps stop working when the signal drops. A paper backup never fails.
For specific scenarios that come up regularly in this area, see our pages on emergency towing in Shepparton, breakdown assistance across the Goulburn Valley, and 24 hour towing in Shepparton for after dark and weekend cover.