If in the past dolly towing was the most common way to tow today flatbed towing has assumed the lead and for good reason.
With flatbed towing the entire towed vehicle, i.e. all of its wheels, sit on one uniform flat platform. With dolly towing two of the towed vehicle’s wheels remain on the road, revolving just as if it were driving along on its steam.
Flatbed towing is considered both safer and more efficient. This is true for all stages of the towing operation, it is easier to load and unload the towed vehicle, and handling the loaded tow truck is also simpler than with dolly towing.
The risk of damage to the towed vehicle is substantially lower with flatbed towing than with dolly towing.
Although flatbed towing has numerous advantages (as described above) dolly towing may still be the right choice when a light-duty, relatively simple tow job is concerned, especially if keeping costs low is fundamental since dolly towing rates tend to be slightly lower than flatbed towing rates (this is because dolly tow trucks are smaller and cheaper to operate).
Sometimes flatbed towing is the only option when towing vehicles with broken axles for instance. If the towed vehicle is delicate and/or especially valuable (a vintage car for instance) it is also a good idea to opt for flatbed towing.
