QLD towing rules
Queensland towing fees and storage
You run trucks in Queensland. The tow, the scene work and the first days of storage are one standard tow with one maximum, and that maximum is written in fee units, so the dollar figure changes every 1 July.
Regulator: Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads. Tow Truck Act 2023 (Qld). Tow Truck Regulation 2024 (Qld), Schedule 2. Figures last checked .
How much can a tow truck charge for an accident tow in QLD?
In Queensland the maximum charge for towing a light vehicle from an accident is $447.90 including GST, in a regulated area. Distance beyond 50 km adds $8.90 per kilometre. These are maximums set under the Tow Truck Act 2023 (Qld).
Maximums apply to crash towing in the regulated areas. More than an hour at the scene can lawfully cost more, so TowConnect warns at this figure; it does not stop you.
| Accident tow, light vehicle the tow plus up to an hour of work at the scene | $447.90 |
|---|---|
| Distance beyond 50 km in a regulated area | $8.90 per km |
- Source: Tow Truck Regulation 2024 (Qld) Sch 2 Pt 1, at the fee unit value applying from 1 July 2026.
- Last checked .
- Queensland TMR, tow truck licensing scheme
- This table may be reused with credit to TowConnect, under CC BY 4.0.
TowConnect warns you before you save a job priced above the cap, and offers the capped figure in one tap.
How much can you charge to store a vehicle in QLD?
Queensland sets no capped daily storage rate for crash towing. The first 72 hours are free on a standard tow. The daily rate you intend to charge has to be given to the vehicle owner in writing at least 2 days before it starts, and a release fee cannot be charged once towing and storage are paid.
- Source: Tow Truck Regulation 2024 (Qld) Sch 2 Pt 1, at the fee unit value applying from 1 July 2026.
- Last checked .
- Queensland TMR, tow truck licensing scheme
The 72 free hours are a setting on the yard, so accrual starts on the right day without anyone remembering. The written notice is generated on your letterhead, and the worklist shows every vehicle still waiting for one.
The QLD caps and records.
Towing a light vehicle from an accident in Queensland is capped at $447.90 including GST in a regulated area, and that figure covers the tow plus up to an hour of work at the scene. Distance is charged on top beyond 50 km, at $8.90 a kilometre. No daily storage rate is capped here: the first 72 hours are free on a standard tow, and the rate you intend to charge must reach the owner in writing at least two days before it starts. These figures come from Tow Truck Regulation 2024 (Qld) Sch 2, applying from , and were last checked . In a regulated area the towing authority must name the destination its signer nominates before it is signed. Alongside the money, a QLD operator keeps five kinds of record for this work, each of them listed on this page. Regulator: Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads.
What records must a QLD tow operator keep?
Queensland prescribes what each record must contain, not a register form, and each is kept for two years. Record every regulated tow within 24 hours, make a found-property inventory within 24 hours of arrival at the yard, record every charge, and keep a copy of every towing authority. The towing record, inventory and charge records may be paper or electronic.
- A towing record for every regulated tow, made within 24 hours of its details being known
- A written inventory of found property, made within 24 hours of the vehicle reaching the holding yard
- A record of every charge, made within 24 hours of charging it
- The material behind a towing charge beyond the standard tow, kept for two years
- A copy of every towing authority given
TowConnect does not yet produce these records the way Queensland lists them. The four approved register forms it generates are the NSW ones.
- Source: Tow Truck Regulation 2024 (Qld) ss 24, 25, 48, 66, 80 and 81, and the Tow Truck Act 2023 (Qld) s 11.
- Last checked .
- Tow Truck Regulation 2024 (Qld), Tow Truck Act 2023 (Qld), Queensland TMR, accreditation holders and the towing authority book
How TowConnect meets the law.
| QLD requires | TowConnect |
|---|---|
| The towing authority is on TMR's approved form, and it names the destination before it is signed. | TowConnect The towing authority is TMR's paper book, and it stays paper. TowConnect records its number and destination against the job, beside the scene sheet, so the two agree. |
| The first 72 hours of storage are free on a standard tow. | TowConnect Grace hours are a setting on the yard, so accrual starts on the right day without anyone remembering. |
| Give written notice of the daily rate at least two days before it applies. | TowConnect The notice of stored vehicle is generated per jurisdiction on your letterhead, and the worklist shows every vehicle still without one. |
| No release fee once towing and storage are paid. | TowConnect Release fees are one-off charges with triggers, so a Queensland yard simply does not carry one. |
QLD, specifically
Why is the Queensland maximum written in fee units?
Queensland writes its maximums in fee units and revalues the unit each year, so the dollar figure moves on 1 July without the regulation changing a word. TowConnect stores the converted dollars against the year they applied, which is why a job from last July still reconciles against last July's unit.
One product, each state's rules.
NSW
New South Wales
Dollar caps on accident towing and storage, and five records Fair Trading wants kept.
VIC
Victoria
Gazetted maximums inside the controlled area, and the allocation centre that decides who attends.
WA
Western Australia
Capped crash tow and storage in Perth and Peel, with penalties for charging above.
General information, not legal advice. Figures shown are the ones the app uses, with the instrument and the date they came from.