How to tow a wheelchair van: flatbed only, what to tell the tow company, and roadside plans that cover it

A wheelchair van that will not drive goes on a flatbed truck or a trailer, with all four wheels off the road. Tell the tow company that before it dispatches a truck, so a flatbed arrives for your lowered-floor van and not a wheel-lift truck. The breakdown response plan covers the first minutes at the roadside and getting riders onto a rescue vehicle. This page picks up when the van itself has to move. After a crash, the reports and claims are in the accident guide.

Why a wheelchair van goes on a flatbed

The floor that lets a wheelchair rider sit upright is the problem. A lowered-floor conversion brings the cabin floor closer to the road, and BraunAbility covers the floor extension with custom-molded ground effect panels. BraunAbility says its vans generally have 4 to 6 inches of ground clearance, depending on the vehicle, the conversion, the ground, and tire pressure. Its Toyota Sienna side-entry van lists 5 inches at the lowest point, unloaded. AMS Vans gives three to four inches for side-entry conversions and seven to eight for rear-entry. On BraunAbility’s rear-entry models, only the back portion of the floor is lowered.

BraunAbility’s towing guidance describes three options and prefers the first:

1. Flatbed truck or trailer. The van is carried, not pulled. BraunAbility calls this the preferred method. A trailer needs its own brakes, and this is the only method that lets the tow vehicle back up without unloading.
2. Tow dolly. The front wheels ride on the dolly and the rear wheels stay on the road. Dolly brakes are recommended, and the tow vehicle must never back up with the van on it.
3. Flat towing. All four wheels on the road behind another vehicle. BraunAbility says none of its converted vans can be flat towed without major changes to the front frame members, transmission cooling, lighting, and braking systems, and those changes probably cannot be moved to another vehicle.

For a tow company’s truck, that means a flatbed. A full-size lift van with a stock-height floor can follow the towing section of its chassis owner’s manual. Ask for a flatbed anyway when the lift is damaged or will not stow.

What to tell the tow company when you call

The call decides which truck shows up, so be specific:

• “I need a flatbed, not a wheel lift or a dolly.”
• What the van is. Say “lowered-floor wheelchair minivan, side entry” (or rear entry), the make and model, and its ground clearance from the conversion spec sheet.
• Its state. Whether it rolls, steers, and shifts into neutral, whether the ramp or lift is stowed, and whether the van is stuck in its lowered kneel position.
• The exact location. Cross streets or a highway mile marker, the side of the road you are on, and whether police are on scene.
• The destination. The mobility dealer or the chassis dealer, with its address and hours, so the van is not dropped at the tow yard by default.

Keep the names of two flatbed operators who have loaded a lowered van before for each area you serve, with their after-hours numbers, in the van and at dispatch.

Before the van is loaded

Get the riders out first. Nobody rides in a van that is being winched onto a truck. The breakdown plan covers moving wheelchair riders to the rescue vehicle. Then get the van ready:

1. Stow the ramp or lift. Without power, use the maker’s manual method. FMVSS No. 404 requires the lift’s operating procedures, backup operation included, to be permanently posted beside its controls. The ramp troubleshooting guide covers stowing a ramp by hand.
2. Raise a van stuck kneeled. A kneeled van sits even lower. The same ramp guide covers the kneel override switch.
3. Clear the floor. Pick up loose tie-down straps, belts, and any mobility aids left behind, so nothing shifts around on the way.
4. Photograph the van on all four sides and along the rocker panels. Pictures taken before loading separate crash damage from anything that happens on the truck.
5. Hand over the key and note the odometer. Write down the operator’s name, the truck number, and where the van is going.

Loading a low van without damaging it

On a lowered-floor van, the floor pan and the ground effect panels that hide it sit close to the pavement, and they are what a steep bed angle catches. Watch the loading and ask for these:

• A level spot to load. A crowned road or a sloped shoulder steepens the angle onto the bed.
• A low loading angle. Ask whether the truck regularly carries low vehicles and how it loads them.
• Hook points from the manual. Ask where the winch and tie-downs will attach. Point the operator to the tow and tie-down points the owner’s manual names, and keep hooks off the lowered floor structure, the ramp, and the lift.

Stop the loading if you hear scraping. A dented floor pan or a cracked panel turns a breakdown into a body repair.

Where to send the van

Send it where the problem can be fixed. Damage to the floor, ramp, lift, or door structure goes to a mobility dealer that services your conversion, and the collision repair guide explains why the converter’s dealer should see the van even for chassis work.

Ford’s roadside program, for example, tows to Ford dealers. Its 2026 warranty guide for the Transit covers towing to the nearest Ford dealership, or to the selling dealership if it is within 35 miles of the breakdown, for five years or 60,000 miles from the warranty start date. It also includes a winch-out within 100 feet of a paved or county-maintained road, with no recoveries. That suits an engine or transmission failure, while the conversion’s parts belong with a mobility dealer.

Mileage runs that clock out fast. As an example, a van driven 50,000 miles a year leaves the 60,000-mile window in about 14 months. After that, Ford can still arrange a tow and charge your card.

Who pays for the tow?

After a crash someone else caused, the tow goes on that driver’s insurer. Otherwise it comes from your own towing coverage, a roadside program, or your pocket.

• Your business auto policy. The standard form’s towing coverage pays up to your declarations limit, only when a covered auto of the private passenger type is disabled, and only for labor done where it broke down. Ask your agent how your vans are classified and whether they have towing coverage.
• The at-fault driver’s insurer, after a crash. Towing and storage belong in your property damage claim. California’s fair claims rules require reasonable towing and storage charges to be paid when needed to keep the vehicle from further loss, with notice before storage payments stop. On third party claims under the auto liability coverage the rule names, payment can be prorated by fault. Move the van out of the tow yard promptly, because storage runs by the day. The loss of use guide covers what you can claim for the days the van is off the road.
• A roadside program. A chassis maker’s program like Ford’s pays for covered tows to its own dealers during its coverage period.

If the van came off the road after a crash, the collision repair guide covers choosing the shop and getting it back in service.

Moving the day’s trips off the towed van

The tow is one job. The trips that van was supposed to run are another. In HealthRide, dispatch moves each remaining trip from the towed van to another driver by dragging it on the dispatch board. Because wheelchair, stretcher, and oxygen needs are matched, a wheelchair rider never lands on a van without a wheelchair space.