Long Branch, NJ Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

The Public Safety Director maintains the official towing list used by the Police Department to summon wreckers for abandoned, wrecked, or impounded vehicles (§ 316-1). To get on that list, an operator must apply on Police Department forms disclosing the business's officers, each wrecker's year, make, serial and registration numbers, its garage address, a 24-hour phone line, and every operator's New Jersey license number (§ 316-2A). The application must carry proof of liability insurance of at least $250,000 per person, $500,000 per accident and $20,000 in property damage, with 30 days' notice to the City before the policy can be cancelled or materially changed (§ 316-2B).

Storage lots must hold at least 20 cars, use shielded lighting, and be enclosed by a security fence at least six feet high (§ 316-2E), and each wrecker needs a four-ton lift capacity plus specified rescue equipment such as tow bars, safety flares, and at least 50 feet of cable (§ 316-2F). The Director of Public Safety can disqualify an applicant for an indictable conviction, a crime of moral turpitude, or a drug offense (§ 316-2G), and by ordinance no new license may issue once six licenses are already outstanding (§ 316-2H).

and Saturday until noon, with a $100 surcharge for after-hours releases (§ 316-8I). Vehicle owners always keep the right to call their own preferred tower instead of the rotation list (§ 316-10).