National City, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

Chapter 11.56 (Tow Truck Regulations) of the National City Municipal Code is short and works through council policy rather than a licensing fee schedule. Section 11.56.010 defines a tow car or tow truck as a motor vehicle altered or designed and equipped for, and exclusively used in the business of towing vehicles by means of a crane, tow bar, tow line or dolly, or otherwise exclusively used to render assistance to other vehicles.

Section 11.56.020 states the purpose: prescribing the basic regulations for tow trucks in police emergency situations involving motor vehicles that are illegally parked, apparently abandoned or involved in an accident, or that obstruct traffic because of mechanical failure. The council says it wants a fair and impartial means of selecting private operators and efficient policing operations for clearing those vehicles from public streets.

Section 11.56.030 is the operative rule. The City Council adopts policies by resolution for selecting and designating the services that can do emergency police towing when the police department calls for one. Every operator not selected and designated under those policies is prohibited from removing vehicles in those situations from public streets. The exception is owner choice: the owner of the involved vehicle can designate any towing service. The police department must strictly adhere to the council policies and any administrative regulations that carry them out, and the section holds the department harmless if a called service performs outside the policy. The department does not investigate negligence complaints unless deviations are repeated and frequently recurring, but complaints from designated services and complaints about service quality are deemed sufficient cause to cancel any contract or operating agreement.

Chapter 11.56 itself prints no rate schedule, insurance minimum or permit fee. Abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicles on private or public property run through the separate hearing procedure in Chapter 11.48 before the city council.