- Utility, enclosed cargo, landscape, dump and car-hauler trailers.
- Tell us the coupler size, the axle count and what is on the trailer.
- A trailer with a broken axle or bearing goes on a deck, not on its wheels.
- Loaded trailers are weighed by what they carry, so tell us the load.
- The price is confirmed on the phone before hookup.
Which trailers does trailer towing in East Cambie handle?
Work and utility trailers are the most common trailer calls we get in East Cambie. Landscapers and trades park them in Crestwood yards on Vanguard Road and Voyageur Way, and homeowners keep single-axle utility trailers beside the house for dump runs and moves. Camping trailers and fifth wheels are a different job with their own page on RV towing, and boats on their trailers are covered by boat towing.
| Trailer | Typical situation | What we need to know |
|---|---|---|
| Single-axle utility | Tow vehicle sold or not rated to pull it | Coupler size and whether lights work |
| Enclosed cargo | Moving a business or tools between sites | Height, length and what is inside |
| Landscape or dump | Loaded with soil, gravel or a mower | Load type and roughly how full |
| Car hauler | A car is on it and the truck has failed | Whether the car stays on; see car towing |
| Equipment trailer | Skid steer or mini excavator aboard | Machine model; see equipment towing |
When you call, tell us whether the trailer is still hitched to a vehicle, which way the tongue is pointing and whether there is room for our truck to line up with it. A trailer jammed against a fence with its tongue to the wall is a different job from one parked at the curb. If it is a loaded car hauler and the car can come off first, light duty towing may handle the car while we pull the empty trailer.
Trailer brakes, safety chains and BC weight limits
Trailer rules in BC are mostly about weight and brakes, and they shape how we tow. The province's commercial vehicle safety fact sheet on towing recreational vehicles says trailers need brakes on all wheels when the trailer and its load weigh more than 1,400 kg, and any trailer with brakes must have a breakaway device. It also says vehicles towed by a ball hitch must have safety chains or cables, and that every towed vehicle must have lights connected to the tow vehicle.
The same sheet says surge brakes may be used up to and including 2,800 kg, and above that the driver of the tow vehicle must be able to apply the trailer's brakes. That is why we ask whether your trailer has electric or surge brakes and what it weighs loaded. A heavy dump or equipment trailer may need medium duty towing rather than a pickup-size hitch.
- Cross the safety chains under the coupler before any trailer moves.
- Check the breakaway cable is attached and the battery is charged.
- Make sure the light plug matches, or tell us the plug type.
- Know the coupler size: 1 7/8, 2 or 2 5/16 inch.
Registration and insurance before a trailer is moved
A trailer on a public road needs to be registered and insured like any other vehicle. The province's page on licensing and insurance says a recreational vehicle or trailer must be registered and insured as you would any other vehicle, and points to an insurance broker for the details. If your trailer's plate or decal has lapsed, sort that out with your broker before we pull it on its own wheels.
When a trailer can't go on the road on its own wheels, because the plate has expired or the running gear is unsafe, we load it on a deck instead. That is often the case for a trailer that has sat in a Bargen side yard for years, or one bought as a project with no lights. Tell us its condition honestly and we will tell you which way it travels.
When a trailer breaks down on Cambie Road or No. 5 Road
Trailers fail in a few predictable ways: a wheel bearing seizes, a tire blows on a single-axle unit with no spare, the coupler cracks, or the tow vehicle quits with the trailer still attached. On Cambie Road or No. 5 Road the trailer often ends up in a curb lane, and getting it out of traffic is the first job. Hazards on, stay clear of the live lane, and call us with the direction of travel and the nearest cross street.
If the tow vehicle is the only problem, we can unhitch the trailer and pull it with our truck while the pickup goes on a flatbed through truck towing. If the trailer itself has the problem, a blown tire is sometimes fixed in place with a flat tire change if you have a spare, and a seized bearing means the trailer goes on a deck.
Load matters most on a breakdown. A landscape trailer full of soil can weigh far more than it looks, and a load that shifted when a tire failed may need to be secured before the trailer moves at all. We won't pull a trailer with a loose load on a public road; we will help you sort it first, then confirm the price before we hook up.
Trailer towing from Crestwood yards and townhouse lots
Crestwood is where most of our commercial trailer calls start. Yards along Voyageur Way and Crestwood Place store cargo and landscape trailers that move between job sites, and when a crew's truck is down, the trailer still needs to get to the site. Book it with the yard name, the gate and where the trailer is parked; our page on trailer towing in Crestwood covers the industrial pocket.
Townhouse complexes in California Pointe are tighter. A utility trailer tucked into a visitor stall or behind a unit may need to be hand-pulled to where our truck can hitch it, so tell us how much room there is. Everything we do in the area is on our East Cambie towing homepage, and you can send the details with a photo of the coupler.