Australia does not publish a standalone measure of the towing industry’s size, workload or capacity. Towing services are grouped with the broader road freight industry, making it difficult to isolate towing businesses using conventional industry statistics.
To produce a clearer picture, Underground Towing & Salvage combined vehicle registration, workforce, vehicle age, new sales and roadside-assistance data from authoritative Australian sources.
The resulting analysis examines vehicle numbers relative to the towing workforce, the age and replacement profile of tow truck drivers, recruitment and vacancy evidence, older-vehicle exposure, unresolved roadside incidents, fleet renewal and how Australia’s changing vehicle mix may affect recovery requirements.
Underground Towing & Salvage Original Analysis
- Australia has approximately 8,579 registered vehicles for every employed tow truck driver.
- An estimated 640 tow truck drivers are aged 55 or older, compared with approximately 666 under 35, a difference of only 26 drivers.
- Tow Truck Driver was not classified as being in shortage nationally or in any jurisdiction in 2025, although Victoria recorded a shortage in 2024.
- Australia does not publish an authoritative tow-truck-specific vacancy count or turnover rate.
- In a no-replacement sensitivity scenario involving the current 55+ cohort, registered vehicles per remaining driver would increase by approximately 32.6%.
- 49.3% of Australia’s registered vehicles were manufactured in 2014 or earlier.
- Australia’s older-vehicle population was approximately 9.1 times the size of total 2025 new-vehicle sales.
- RACV figures indicate approximately 173,000 Victorian callouts were not fixed on-site, while RACQ figures indicate approximately 66,323 Queensland motorists were not returned to the road by attending patrols.
- SUVs and light-commercial vehicles accounted for 83.3% of new vehicle sales, indicating a continuing shift towards larger vehicles with different recovery requirements.
- Tasmania stands out with the highest older-vehicle share, highest older-vehicle-to-driver ratio and lowest relative new-sales rate.
1. How Many Registered Vehicles Are There per Tow Truck Driver?
Australia had 22,305,347 registered vehicles as of 31 January 2025. This included passenger vehicles, motorcycles, light commercial vehicles, trucks and buses.
Jobs and Skills Australia estimates that 2,600 people are employed as tow truck drivers nationwide.
Underground Towing & Salvage Original Analysis
Underground Towing & Salvage divided the number of registered vehicles by the estimated number of tow truck drivers:
22,305,347 registered vehicles ÷ 2,600 tow truck drivers = approximately 8,579 vehicles per driver.
The state estimates were calculated by applying each state’s published share of tow truck driver employment to the national total of 2,600 drivers.
|
State |
Registered vehicles |
Estimated tow truck drivers |
Vehicles per driver |
|
New South Wales |
6,407,874 |
803 |
7,976 |
|
Victoria |
5,686,171 |
629 |
9,037 |
|
Queensland |
4,892,464 |
629 |
7,776 |
|
South Australia |
1,632,496 |
190 |
8,601 |
|
Western Australia |
2,621,126 |
260 |
10,081 |
|
Tasmania |
549,847 |
36 |
15,106 |
|
Northern Territory |
170,989 |
23 |
7,307 |
|
Australian Capital Territory |
344,380 |
29 |
12,041 |
|
Australia |
22,305,347 |
2,600 |
8,579 |
Tasmania recorded the highest estimated ratio, with approximately 15,106 registered vehicles per tow truck driver. This was around 76% above the national ratio of 8,579 vehicles per driver. The ACT followed with approximately 12,041 vehicles per driver, around 40% above the national figure.
The Northern Territory recorded the lowest ratio at approximately 7,307 vehicles per driver, followed by Queensland at 7,776. A lower ratio, however, does not necessarily mean drivers have better access to towing services. Large service areas and long travel distances can reduce practical coverage.
Put another way, Australia has approximately one employed tow truck driver for every 8,600 registered vehicles. In Tasmania, the equivalent ratio is approximately one driver for every 15,100 vehicles.
This does not mean an individual driver is responsible for servicing that number of vehicles. Instead, it shows the relative depth of the employed towing workforce compared with the size of the vehicle population.
That distinction matters operationally. When several incidents occur at the same time, practical capacity depends not only on how many drivers exist, but on where they are located, whether they are working, how far they must travel and whether their equipment is suitable for the recovery required. A jurisdiction can therefore have drivers in the workforce while still having relatively limited usable capacity for a particular incident.
These figures should be treated as a workforce-capacity indicator, not a measure of the number of tow trucks currently available. The employment data does not show how many drivers operate at any given time, whether they work full-time or what vehicles and recovery equipment they can access.
“A driver count doesn’t tell you how quickly the right truck can reach a job. In towing, availability depends on location, travel time and whether the operator has the right equipment for that particular recovery. That becomes especially important in areas where fewer operators are covering a larger number of vehicles.”
Joshua Harrison, Owner of Underground Towing & Salvage
2. How Many Older Vehicles Are There per Tow Truck Driver?
Vehicle age is another important indicator of potential towing and recovery demand.
To examine Australia’s older-vehicle exposure, Underground Towing & Salvage grouped the registered fleet by year of manufacture:
- 2014 or earlier: 10,998,039 vehicles
- 2015–2019: 5,691,940 vehicles
- 2020–2025: 5,605,425 vehicles
- Year not stated: 9,943 vehicles
Vehicles manufactured in 2014 or earlier were classified as aged 10 years or more. This conservative cut-off ensures every vehicle included had reached at least 10 years of age by January 2025.
Underground Towing & Salvage Original Analysis
Of Australia’s 22.3 million registered vehicles, 10,998,039 were manufactured in 2014 or earlier. This means 49.3% of the national fleet was at least 10 years old.
Dividing these vehicles by Australia’s estimated 2,600 tow truck drivers produces approximately 4,230 older vehicles per driver.
The state calculations combine BITRE’s vehicle age records with the state distribution of tow truck drivers published by Jobs and Skills Australia.
|
State |
Vehicles aged 10+ |
Share of fleet aged 10+ |
Older vehicles per tow truck driver |
|
New South Wales |
2,939,432 |
45.9% |
3,659 |
|
Victoria |
2,785,539 |
49.0% |
4,427 |
|
Queensland |
2,417,573 |
49.4% |
3,842 |
|
South Australia |
889,256 |
54.5% |
4,685 |
|
Western Australia |
1,406,757 |
53.7% |
5,411 |
|
Tasmania |
323,713 |
58.9% |
8,893 |
|
Northern Territory |
79,341 |
46.4% |
3,391 |
|
Australian Capital Territory |
156,428 |
45.4% |
5,470 |
|
Australia |
10,998,039 |
49.3% |
4,230 |
Tasmania had the highest older-vehicle share, with 58.9% of its registered fleet manufactured in 2014 or earlier. It also recorded the highest ratio, at approximately 8,893 older vehicles per tow truck driver.
The ACT had the lowest older-vehicle share at 45.4%, which was 13.5 percentage points below Tasmania. However, because the ACT also has a relatively small estimated towing workforce, it still recorded approximately 5,470 older vehicles per driver.
Registered Vehicles Aged 10+ per Tow Truck Driver, by State
Estimated state comparison based on vehicles manufactured in 2014 or earlier.
|
State |
Vehicles |
|
Tasmania |
8893 |
|
Australian Capital Territory |
5470 |
|
Western Australia |
5411 |
|
South Australia |
4685 |
|
Victoria |
4427 |
|
Queensland |
3842 |
|
New South Wales |
3659 |
|
Northern Territory |
3391 |
At approximately 8,893 older vehicles per tow truck driver, Tasmania’s ratio was more than twice the national figure of 4,230. This means Tasmania does not simply have an older-than-average fleet; it also has the strongest concentration of older vehicles relative to its estimated towing workforce.
The ACT illustrates why both measures matter. Its older-vehicle share was the lowest in Australia at 45.4%, yet its relatively small estimated towing workforce still produced approximately 5,470 older vehicles per driver, around 29% above the national ratio.
These figures indicate potential breakdown and recovery exposure, not actual breakdown frequency. They do not mean each tow truck driver is responsible for thousands of older vehicles, nor do they establish that an older vehicle will require towing.
What they show is where ageing-vehicle exposure is concentrated relative to estimated labour capacity. In jurisdictions where a larger older fleet is supported by a smaller towing workforce, breakdown demand does not need to rise dramatically before available recovery capacity becomes more important.
Vehicle age alone does not determine reliability. Maintenance history, kilometres travelled, vehicle condition, road environment and usage all influence whether a vehicle is likely to require assistance.
3. Is Australia’s Tow Truck Workforce Getting Older?
Australian tow truck drivers have a noticeably older workforce profile than Australian workers overall.
The median tow truck driver is 45 years old, compared with 40 years across all occupations. Tow truck drivers also work an average of 49 full-time hours per week, five hours more than the workforce-wide average.
Underground Towing & Salvage Original Analysis
More than half of Australian tow truck drivers are aged 45 or older. At 51.3%, this is 10.7 percentage points above the 40.6% recorded across all occupations.
Underground Towing & Salvage calculated these figures by combining the individual age bands published by Jobs and Skills Australia.
|
Workforce measure |
Tow truck drivers |
All occupations |
Difference |
|
Median age |
45 years |
40 years |
+5 years |
|
Aged 45+ |
51.3% |
40.6% |
+10.7 percentage points |
|
Aged 55+ |
24.6% |
20.2% |
+4.4 percentage points |
|
Under 35 |
25.6% |
37.0% |
-11.4 percentage points |
|
Average full-time hours |
49 hours |
44 hours |
+5 hours |
|
Full-time participation |
78% |
64% |
+14 percentage points |
|
Female participation |
2% |
49% |
-47 percentage points |
The difference is especially clear at the younger end of the workforce. Only 25.6% of tow truck drivers are under 35, compared with 37% of workers across all occupations. That is an 11.4 percentage-point gap, with the under-35 share of the towing workforce around 31% lower in relative terms.
At the same time, 51.3% of tow truck drivers are aged 45 or older, almost one-quarter are aged 55 or older, and full-time tow truck drivers work an average of 49 hours per week, compared with 44 hours across all occupations.
The workforce issue is therefore broader than tow truck drivers simply having a higher median age. The occupation combines an older workforce, a smaller proportion of younger workers and longer average full-time working hours.
Together, those figures suggest the industry currently relies relatively heavily on an older and highly utilised workforce rather than having a particularly deep younger labour pool behind it. That becomes important when considering how experienced operators will eventually be replaced, particularly in recovery work requiring practical loading, roadside and specialised-equipment experience.
The workforce is also highly male-dominated. Women represent just 2% of tow truck drivers, compared with 49% of workers nationally. Broader recruitment could therefore provide one opportunity to expand the industry’s future labour pool.
These figures do not prove that Australia’s towing workforce is becoming older over time because they do not provide a consistent historical trend. They show that the current workforce profile is older than the national workforce and may face increased replacement pressure in the years ahead.
4. Does Australia Have a Tow Truck Driver Shortage?
Australia’s older tow truck workforce does not automatically mean the occupation is currently experiencing a labour shortage.
What the recruitment-demand data shows
Jobs and Skills Australia’s 2025 Occupation Shortage List classified Tow Truck Driver as not in shortage nationally or in any state or territory. Its assessment considers employers’ ability to fill vacancies, the suitability of applicants and evidence gathered from employers and industry bodies.
The result was different in 2024, when Victoria was the only jurisdiction where Tow Truck Driver was classified as being in shortage. This indicates that recruitment pressure can emerge regionally and change between assessment periods.
The latest evidence therefore does not establish a current national or state-level shortage, although Victoria recorded recruitment pressure in the previous assessment.
What the vacancy data shows
Australia does not publish an authoritative tow-truck-specific vacancy count.
Jobs and Skills Australia’s Internet Vacancy Index reports vacancies at the broader Truck Drivers occupation level. This group includes tow truck drivers alongside general truck drivers, tanker drivers, furniture-removal drivers and other driving occupations. The data cannot show how many advertised positions are specifically for tow truck drivers.
A reliable tow-truck-specific vacancy total therefore cannot be reported.
What the turnover data shows
Australia also does not publish a tow-truck-specific turnover or job-mobility rate.
The closest publicly available occupational proxy is the broader Machinery Operators and Drivers group. In the year ending February 2026, 8.8% of workers in this group changed employer or business, compared with 7.2% across all occupations.
The broader occupational group’s job-mobility rate was therefore 1.6 percentage points above the national rate.
At the industry level, Transport, Postal and Warehousing recorded a 6.4% job-mobility rate, down from 7.5% in the previous year.
These figures provide context but cannot establish turnover among tow truck drivers specifically. Job mobility also does not capture every resignation, retirement or departure from an occupation.
Underground Towing & Salvage Workforce Assessment
|
Workforce indicator |
Finding |
What it means |
|
2025 shortage status |
No shortage nationally or by jurisdiction |
No evidence of a current national or state-level shortage |
|
2024 shortage status |
Victoria only |
Recruitment pressure can be regional and change over time |
|
Tow-truck-specific vacancy count |
Not available |
Broader Truck Drivers data cannot isolate towing vacancies |
|
Tow-truck-specific turnover rate |
Not available |
Available job-mobility figures are contextual proxies |
|
Tow truck drivers aged 55+ |
24.6% |
Nearly one-quarter of the workforce is in the older cohort |
|
Tow truck drivers under 35 |
25.6% |
The younger cohort is only slightly larger than the 55+ group |
|
Female participation |
2% |
Recruitment currently draws from a narrow part of the workforce |
|
Machinery Operators and Drivers mobility |
8.8% |
1.6 percentage points above the all-occupation rate |
|
All-occupation mobility |
7.2% |
National comparison |
What the age profile means in driver numbers
Australia has approximately 2,600 employed tow truck drivers. Of these, 24.6% are aged 55 or older and 25.6% are under 35.
Underground Towing & Salvage Original Analysis
Applying these percentages to the estimated workforce produces:
|
Workforce group |
Share of drivers |
Estimated drivers |
|
Aged 55+ |
24.6% |
640 |
|
Under 35 |
25.6% |
666 |
|
Difference |
1.0 percentage point |
26 |
For every 100 tow truck drivers under 35, approximately 96 are aged 55 or older.
The calculation is:
24.6% aged 55+ ÷ 25.6% under 35 × 100 = approximately 96
The younger cohort is therefore only around 26 drivers larger than the 55+ cohort.
Drivers under 35 are not necessarily recent recruits, and drivers aged 55+ are not necessarily preparing to retire. The comparison shows that there is little demographic separation between the occupation’s younger and older cohorts.
What insufficient workforce replacement could mean
Australia has 22,305,347 registered vehicles, including 10,998,039 manufactured in 2014 or earlier.
There are currently approximately:
- 8,579 registered vehicles per employed tow truck driver
- 4,230 older vehicles per employed tow truck driver
If the estimated 640 drivers aged 55+ eventually left the occupation without sufficient replacement, the workforce would fall from approximately 2,600 to 1,960 drivers.
|
Capacity measure |
Current estimate |
No-replacement scenario |
Change |
|
Employed tow truck drivers |
2,600 |
1,960 |
−24.6% |
|
Registered vehicles per driver |
8,579 |
11,378 |
+32.6% |
|
Older vehicles per driver |
4,230 |
5,610 |
+32.6% |
In this scenario, registered vehicles per remaining driver would rise by approximately 32.6%, from 8,579 to 11,378.
The scale of that increase is important. A 24.6% reduction in driver numbers would not produce a 24.6% increase in the vehicle-to-driver ratio. Because the same vehicle population would instead be divided among a substantially smaller workforce, the theoretical exposure per remaining driver would increase by almost one-third.
Operationally, a reduction in workforce depth could mean fewer operators available when incidents overlap, greater pressure on regional coverage and less flexibility when a recovery requires particular equipment or experience. It would not necessarily mean every remaining driver completes 32.6% more towing jobs, because actual demand and capacity depend on many other factors.
The scenario uses the underlying unrounded workforce estimates. It is a sensitivity analysis, not a forecast. It does not assume that every driver aged 55+ will leave simultaneously or that no new workers will enter towing.
The real workforce risk
The evidence therefore points to a potential workforce replacement risk, not a confirmed current shortage.
Jobs and Skills Australia’s latest assessment does not show recruitment difficulty at the level required for Tow Truck Driver to be classified as an occupation in shortage. However, Australia has an estimated 640 drivers aged 55 or older and approximately 666 under 35—a difference of only 26 drivers.
That narrow demographic gap matters because replacing an experienced towing operator is not necessarily a one-for-one recruitment exercise. Suitable candidates may need the correct licence, practical loading and recovery experience, and the ability to work safely around damaged vehicles, traffic and confined spaces. Heavy, low-clearance and complex recoveries can require experience beyond holding a truck licence.
The immediate issue is therefore not that Australia lacks tow truck drivers today. It is whether the industry can maintain enough appropriately trained and operationally capable drivers as its existing workforce ages.
Australia’s towing workforce does not have a confirmed current shortage. Its greater risk is whether enough appropriately trained drivers will enter, develop the necessary experience and remain in the occupation as older operators eventually leave.
5. How Many Roadside Incidents Could Not Be Resolved On-Site?
Roadside assistance providers resolve most incidents without requiring further vehicle recovery. However, their published figures indicate that tens of thousands of vehicles still require additional assistance each year.
RACV responded to more than 865,000 emergency roadside assistance callouts in Victoria during 2024–25. RACV states that eight out of ten issues are fixed on the spot.
RACQ responded to 736,924 calls for help during FY2025 and reported that its patrols helped 91% of motorists get back on the road.
Underground Towing & Salvage Original Analysis
Using 865,000 callouts as a conservative base and applying RACV’s 80% on-site repair rate produces an estimate of approximately 173,000 Victorian callouts not fixed at the scene.
Applying RACQ’s 91% return-to-road rate indicates that approximately 66,323 Queensland callouts were not returned to the road by attending patrols.
|
Organisation |
Roadside incidents |
Resolved by patrol |
Estimated unresolved incidents |
|
RACV |
865,000 |
80% |
173,000 |
|
RACQ |
736,924 |
91% |
66,323 |
The estimated RACV figure represents approximately 474 unresolved incidents per day, while the RACQ figure represents approximately 182 per day.
To put that scale into perspective, 474 incidents per day is equivalent to an average of roughly one unresolved RACV incident every three minutes across a full day. The RACQ estimate is equivalent to approximately one every eight minutes.
These incidents would not occur at regular intervals, and an unresolved roadside incident is not automatically a towing job. The comparison simply shows how a relatively small unresolved share can still translate into substantial numbers when applied across hundreds of thousands of annual roadside-assistance callouts.
When compared with each state’s registered vehicle fleet, the estimates equal:
- 30.4 unresolved RACV incidents per 1,000 registered Victorian vehicles
- 13.6 unresolved RACQ incidents per 1,000 registered Queensland vehicles
Registered vehicle totals were taken from BITRE’s January 2025 vehicle data.
The operational significance is that roadside-assistance networks can resolve the large majority of incidents at the scene while still leaving tens of thousands of vehicles requiring some form of further assistance. Even if only a portion ultimately requires commercial towing, transport or specialist recovery, the remaining volume is large enough to create meaningful downstream recovery demand.
A formal combined estimate has not been reported because the two organisations use different measures. RACV reports the proportion of issues fixed on the spot, while RACQ reports the proportion of motorists helped back onto the road. These outcomes may not be defined or recorded in exactly the same way.
Important Clarification
An unresolved roadside incident is not automatically a commercial towing job. Some vehicles may have been transported by the organisation’s own towing network, referred to a contractor or handled through another recovery arrangement.
These figures therefore indicate the potential scale of incidents requiring further assistance. They do not measure the number of towing jobs completed by Australia’s commercial towing industry.
6. How Quickly Is Australia Replacing Its Vehicle Fleet?
Australia recorded 1,209,808 new vehicle sales through VFACTS during 2025. New South Wales recorded the largest number, followed by Victoria and Queensland.
For comparison, Australia had 22,305,347 registered motor vehicles as of 31 January 2025. The national fleet had an average age of 11.54 years.
Underground Towing & Salvage Original Analysis
New vehicle sales during 2025 were equivalent to approximately 5.42% of Australia’s registered vehicle fleet.
This represents approximately 54 new vehicle sales for every 1,000 vehicles already registered.
The national indicator was calculated as follows:
1,209,808 new sales ÷ 22,305,347 registered vehicles × 100 = 5.42%
The same calculation was completed for every state and territory.
|
State |
Registered fleet |
2025 new sales |
Sales per 1,000 vehicles |
Average fleet age |
|
New South Wales |
6,407,874 |
367,947 |
57.4 |
10.74 years |
|
Victoria |
5,686,171 |
323,768 |
56.9 |
11.33 years |
|
Queensland |
4,892,464 |
259,903 |
53.1 |
11.76 years |
|
South Australia |
1,632,496 |
78,811 |
48.3 |
13.01 years |
|
Western Australia |
2,621,126 |
132,067 |
50.4 |
12.38 years |
|
Tasmania |
549,847 |
19,892 |
36.2 |
13.67 years |
|
Northern Territory |
170,989 |
10,503 |
61.4 |
10.71 years |
|
Australian Capital Territory |
344,380 |
16,917 |
49.1 |
10.66 years |
|
Australia |
22,305,347 |
1,209,808 |
54.2 |
11.54 years |
The Northern Territory recorded the highest relative sales rate, with 61.4 new vehicles sold per 1,000 registered vehicles. Its fleet was also among the youngest, averaging 10.71 years.
Tasmania recorded the lowest rate, at 36.2 sales per 1,000 registered vehicles, and had the oldest fleet, averaging 13.67 years. Its sales rate was approximately one-third below the national average.
South Australia and Western Australia also recorded below-average sales rates alongside older-than-average fleets. However, the pattern was not universal. The ACT had Australia’s youngest fleet despite recording only 49.1 sales per 1,000 registered vehicles during 2025.
How annual sales compare with the older fleet
Australia had 10,998,039 registered vehicles manufactured in 2014 or earlier, representing 49.3% of the national fleet.
Comparing this population with 2025 new-vehicle sales provides another indication of the scale of Australia’s fleet-renewal challenge.
The entire 2025 new-vehicle sales volume was equivalent to only 11% of the existing older-vehicle population:
1,209,808 new sales ÷ 10,998,039 older vehicles × 100 = 11.0%
Put another way:
10,998,039 older vehicles ÷ 1,209,808 new sales = 9.1
Australia’s older-vehicle population was approximately 9.1 times the size of one year’s new-vehicle sales.
|
Measure |
Australia |
|
Vehicles manufactured in 2014 or earlier |
10,998,039 |
|
New vehicles sold during 2025 |
1,209,808 |
|
New sales as a share of the older fleet |
11.0% |
|
Older fleet as a multiple of annual sales |
9.1× |
This is not an estimated replacement timeline. New vehicle sales do not necessarily remove older vehicles from the road, and more vehicles enter the 10+ age group each year.
A more intuitive way to understand the comparison is that for every one new vehicle sold during 2025, Australia already had approximately nine registered vehicles manufactured in 2014 or earlier.
That does not mean those nine vehicles must be replaced or that it would take 9.1 years to replace them. Instead, it demonstrates the size of the existing older-vehicle population relative to one year of new-vehicle activity.
Even another strong year of new-vehicle sales would therefore leave millions of older vehicles in circulation, particularly because some new purchases expand the total fleet or replace vehicles that are not yet ten years old.
How the older-fleet comparison differs by state
|
State |
Vehicles aged 10+ |
2025 new sales |
Older fleet as multiple of annual sales |
|
Tasmania |
323,713 |
19,892 |
16.3× |
|
South Australia |
889,256 |
78,811 |
11.3× |
|
Western Australia |
1,406,757 |
132,067 |
10.7× |
|
Queensland |
2,417,573 |
259,903 |
9.3× |
|
Australian Capital Territory |
156,428 |
16,917 |
9.2× |
|
Victoria |
2,785,539 |
323,768 |
8.6× |
|
New South Wales |
2,939,432 |
367,947 |
8.0× |
|
Northern Territory |
79,341 |
10,503 |
7.6× |
|
Australia |
10,998,039 |
1,209,808 |
9.1× |
Tasmania’s older-vehicle population was approximately 16.3 times its total 2025 new-vehicle sales, compared with 9.1 times nationally. Put another way, Tasmania had more than 16 registered vehicles aged ten years or older for every new vehicle sold during the year.
Tasmania therefore combines:
- Australia’s highest older-vehicle share: 58.9%
- The highest older-vehicle-to-driver ratio: 8,893
- The lowest new-sales rate: 36.2 per 1,000 registered vehicles
- The largest older-fleet-to-annual-sales multiple: 16.3
The significance is that Tasmania does not rank highly on just one isolated ageing measure. All four indicators point in the same direction: a greater proportion of its fleet is older, those older vehicles are concentrated against a comparatively small estimated towing workforce, and new vehicles are entering the fleet at a slower relative rate.
Tasmania therefore has Australia’s strongest combined older-fleet exposure across the measures examined in this report.
This does not establish that Tasmania has Australia’s highest breakdown rate. It identifies the state where older-vehicle exposure, slow relative fleet renewal and estimated towing workforce capacity are most heavily concentrated.
What the fleet-renewal data means
These figures provide a fleet-renewal indicator, not a direct vehicle replacement rate.
A new vehicle sale may replace an older vehicle, replace a relatively new vehicle, enter a business fleet or increase the total number of registered vehicles. Registrations can therefore continue growing while millions of older vehicles remain in use.
Australia’s 2025 sales volume was substantial, but it represented only 5.42% of the registered fleet and 11% of the existing older-vehicle population. Strong annual sales therefore do not quickly remove older vehicles from the recovery environment.
The practical consequence for towing and roadside services is that fleet modernisation and ageing-vehicle exposure can exist at the same time. Australia can sell more than one million new vehicles in a year while still retaining nearly 11 million vehicles manufactured in 2014 or earlier.
7. SUVs, Commercial Vehicles and EVs Are Changing Recovery Requirements
Australia’s new-vehicle market is shifting towards SUVs, light-commercial vehicles and electrified powertrains.
In 2025, SUVs accounted for 60.7% of new vehicle sales, followed by light-commercial vehicles at 22.6%. Traditional passenger vehicles represented only 13%, with sales falling 22.6% year on year to 157,484.
Electrified vehicles also represented a growing share of the market. Battery-electric vehicles accounted for 8.3% of sales, hybrids for 23.6% and plug-in hybrids for a further 4.2%.
BITRE’s registration data shows a different existing fleet. As of January 2025:
- Passenger vehicles represented 72.1% of registered vehicles.
- Light-commercial vehicles represented 18.9%.
- Battery and fuel-cell electric vehicles represented approximately 1.2%.
- Hybrid-electric vehicles represented approximately 3.2%.
Underground Towing & Salvage Original Analysis
Light-commercial vehicles represented 22.6% of new sales but only 18.9% of the existing fleet—a 3.7 percentage-point composition gap.
Battery-electric vehicles represented 8.3% of new sales but approximately 1.2% of registered vehicles—a gap of around 7.1 percentage points.
This indicates that commercial and electric vehicles are entering the market at a greater rate than their current presence in the registered fleet.
|
Vehicle category |
Share of registered fleet |
Share of new sales |
Composition gap |
|
Passenger vehicles |
72.1% |
13.0% |
Not directly comparable |
|
SUVs |
Not separately reported |
60.7% |
Not available |
|
Light-commercial vehicles |
18.9% |
22.6% |
+3.7 percentage points |
|
Battery-electric vehicles |
1.2%* |
8.3% |
Approximately +7.1 percentage points |
|
Hybrids |
3.2% |
23.6% |
Indicatively +20.4 percentage points |
*BITRE combines battery-electric and fuel-cell electric vehicles. Fuel-cell vehicles represent only a small part of that category.
The passenger-vehicle and SUV categories cannot be compared directly. BITRE classifies registrations according to vehicle construction and use, while VFACTS separates passenger cars and SUVs as sales segments. Many vehicles sold as SUVs are included within BITRE’s broader passenger-vehicle category.
The hybrid comparison should also be treated as indicative. BITRE’s registration category and FCAI’s separate hybrid and plug-in hybrid sales categories do not use an identical breakdown.
The clearest like-for-like comparison is light-commercial vehicles. Their share of new sales was 3.7 percentage points above their share of the registered fleet, suggesting that utes, vans and other commercial vehicles are becoming a larger part of Australia’s recovery environment.
The broader implication is that future towing capacity cannot be assessed by driver numbers alone. Vehicle compatibility is increasingly part of recovery capacity.
An operator may be available but still not be the appropriate recovery option if the vehicle involved exceeds the truck’s capacity, requires a different loading approach, has damaged wheels or battery components, or is located somewhere with restricted clearance or access.
This means two areas with the same number of towing operators may not have the same usable recovery capacity. What matters is whether the available operators have the equipment, training and vehicle capability required for the incident in front of them.
As SUVs, utes, commercial vehicles and electrified vehicles become a larger share of the vehicles entering Australia’s fleet, matching the recovery vehicle and operator to the job is likely to become increasingly important.
“Vehicle type matters when planning a recovery. Larger SUVs, dual-cab utes and commercial vehicles can be heavier and may require different loading angles, tie-down points or truck capacity. Electric vehicles also need to be transported in line with the manufacturer’s requirements, particularly if the battery or wheels have been damaged.
“Low-clearance vehicles create another challenge because the recovery truck, approach angle and available space all need to be considered. The right equipment has to be selected before the vehicle is moved—not after the operator arrives.”
Joshua Harrison, Owner of Underground Towing & Salvage
What Is Driving Towing Demand in Australia?
Towing demand is not created by one factor. It reflects the number and condition of vehicles on the road, how far they travel and the incidents that leave them unsafe or unable to continue.
Australia’s registered fleet grew across every state and territory between January 2024 and January 2025. Western Australia and Victoria recorded the strongest growth, at 3.65% and 3.05% respectively.
Older vehicles also remain a substantial part of the fleet. As the earlier analysis shows, almost half were manufactured in 2014 or earlier. Age alone does not cause a breakdown, but batteries, cooling systems, electrical components and driveline parts can become more vulnerable over time.
Road crashes create a separate need for accident recovery. Australia recorded 1,300 road deaths in 2024, while the latest nationally available data recorded 35,815 hospitalised road injuries in 2022. These figures do not measure towing jobs, but they demonstrate the continuing scale of serious road trauma.
Freight activity increases exposure among work utes, delivery vans, trucks and other commercial vehicles. Australia’s domestic freight task is projected to increase from 756 billion tonne-kilometres in 2020 to 964 billion by 2050. (https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure-transport-vehicles/transport-strategy-policy/freight-supply-chains/national-freight-data-hub/national-freight-and-supply-chain-strategy)
Caravan and regional travel create additional seasonal demand. Australians took approximately 15.2 million caravan and camping trips in 2024, generating 57.1 million visitor nights. Long-distance travel can leave motorists further from repair facilities when a vehicle or trailer fails.
The financial consequences of a collision are also increasing. Average Australian motor insurance claim costs rose by 42% between 2019 and 2024, reflecting higher repair costs and increasingly complex vehicle technology. Correct recovery procedures are therefore important for preventing further damage after an incident.
What the Data Means for Australian Drivers and Businesses
The strongest finding from this analysis is not that Australia currently has too few tow truck drivers. Jobs and Skills Australia does not classify the occupation as being in shortage nationally or in any jurisdiction in 2025.
The more important issue is usable recovery capacity.
Australia has approximately 8,579 registered vehicles for every employed tow truck driver, including around 4,230 vehicles manufactured in 2014 or earlier per driver. In Tasmania, both ratios are substantially higher.
At the same time, the towing workforce has limited demographic depth. An estimated 640 drivers are aged 55 or older, compared with approximately 666 under 35. The younger cohort is only around 26 drivers larger than the older cohort.
The sensitivity analysis shows why replacement matters. If the current 55+ cohort eventually left without sufficient replacement, the estimated workforce would decline by 24.6%, but registered vehicles per remaining driver would rise by approximately 32.6%, from 8,579 to 11,378.
That is not a forecast of what will happen. It demonstrates how quickly theoretical capacity can tighten when the same vehicle population is supported by fewer operators.
Australia’s vehicle fleet creates a parallel pressure. Nearly 11 million registered vehicles were manufactured in 2014 or earlier, equivalent to 49.3% of the fleet. That older-vehicle population was approximately 9.1 times the size of total 2025 new-vehicle sales.
In practical terms, Australia already had roughly nine vehicles aged ten years or more for every new vehicle sold during 2025. New-vehicle sales can remain strong while a very large older fleet continues operating on Australian roads.
Meanwhile, the vehicles entering the fleet are changing. SUVs and light-commercial vehicles represented 83.3% of 2025 new-vehicle sales, while electric and hybrid vehicles continue to increase their presence. These vehicles can create different requirements around weight, loading angles, tie-down points, damaged wheels, battery systems and transport procedures.
Australia’s future towing challenge therefore sits at the intersection of three pressures: a large and ageing vehicle population, an older towing workforce with a comparatively small younger cohort, and a vehicle mix that is becoming more specialised to recover.
That does not mean Australia necessarily needs a proportionate increase in tow truck numbers. The more important question is whether enough appropriately trained operators with suitable equipment are available in the places and at the times they are needed.
For motorists, fleets and businesses, towing availability should therefore not be judged simply by whether a truck can be dispatched. The relevant question is whether the operator can safely recover that particular vehicle from that particular location without causing further damage.
For the towing industry, the longer-term priority is similarly broader than recruitment alone. Maintaining recovery capacity will depend on replacing experienced operators, developing practical recovery skills and ensuring equipment keeps pace with the changing vehicle fleet.
Australia does not currently have a confirmed tow truck driver shortage. The data instead points to a longer-term capacity challenge: maintaining enough appropriately trained operators, with the right equipment and coverage, as both the towing workforce and the vehicles it recovers continue to change.
Methodology
This report combines vehicle registration, vehicle age, workforce, labour-market, roadside-assistance and new-vehicle sales data from Australian government agencies, motoring organisations and industry bodies.
The most recent available reference period was used for each dataset. Because the reporting periods differ, comparisons should be treated as indicators rather than measurements taken on a single date.
Tow truck driver employment and demographic figures are based substantially on 2021 Census data published by Jobs and Skills Australia. The 2025 Occupation Shortage List provides the latest shortage rating for Tow Truck Driver. The 2024 Victorian shortage finding was taken from Industry Skills Australia’s Transport and Logistics Industry 2025 Workforce Plan.
Vacancy data is limited to the broader Truck Drivers occupation because the Internet Vacancy Index does not isolate tow truck drivers. Job-mobility comparisons use the broader Machinery Operators and Drivers occupational group and Transport, Postal and Warehousing industry because no tow-truck-specific turnover or job-mobility series is published.
Calculations
- Vehicles per driver: registered vehicles divided by employed tow truck drivers
- State driver estimates: 2,600 national drivers multiplied by each state or territory’s published share of tow truck driver employment
- State vehicles per driver: registered vehicles divided by the underlying unrounded state driver estimate
- Vehicles aged 10+: registered vehicles manufactured in 2014 or earlier
- Older-vehicle share: vehicles manufactured in 2014 or earlier divided by the total registered fleet
- Older vehicles per driver: vehicles manufactured in 2014 or earlier divided by the estimated number of tow truck drivers
- Workforce age measures: relevant Jobs and Skills Australia age bands added together to calculate the shares aged 45+, aged 55+ and under 35
- Estimated drivers by age group: 2,600 employed tow truck drivers multiplied by the relevant age-group share
- Older-to-younger workforce ratio: share of drivers aged 55+ divided by the share under 35, multiplied by 100
- Estimated difference between age groups: estimated drivers under 35 minus estimated drivers aged 55+
- No-replacement workforce scenario: total employed drivers minus the estimated number aged 55+
- Scenario vehicles per driver: registered vehicles divided by the estimated remaining workforce
- Scenario older vehicles per driver: vehicles manufactured in 2014 or earlier divided by the estimated remaining workforce
- Scenario capacity change: scenario vehicles per driver divided by current vehicles per driver, minus one
- Unresolved roadside incidents: total roadside incidents multiplied by the proportion not fixed on-site or not returned to the road
- Unresolved incidents per day: estimated unresolved incidents divided by the number of days in the reporting period
- Unresolved incidents per 1,000 vehicles: estimated unresolved incidents divided by the relevant state’s registered fleet, multiplied by 1,000
- Fleet-renewal indicator: 2025 new-vehicle sales divided by January 2025 registrations
- Sales per 1,000 registered vehicles: 2025 new-vehicle sales divided by registrations, multiplied by 1,000
- New sales as a share of the older fleet: 2025 new-vehicle sales divided by vehicles manufactured in 2014 or earlier
- Older fleet as a multiple of annual sales: vehicles manufactured in 2014 or earlier divided by 2025 new-vehicle sales
- Composition gap: share of new sales minus the corresponding share of the registered fleet
- Job-mobility difference: Machinery Operators and Drivers job-mobility rate minus the all-occupation rate
Vehicles manufactured in 2014 or earlier were classified as aged ten years or more. This conservative threshold ensures every vehicle counted had reached at least ten years of age by January 2025.
RACV unresolved incidents refer to callouts not fixed on the spot. RACQ unresolved incidents refer to motorists not returned to the road by attending patrols. The results were calculated and reported separately because the two measures may not use identical definitions.
State driver estimates and workforce scenarios were calculated using underlying unrounded figures. Driver numbers and vehicle-to-driver ratios were then rounded to the nearest whole number. Percentages and rates were generally rounded to one decimal place, except where an additional decimal place materially improved clarity.
All derived figures were calculated by Underground Towing & Salvage from the cited primary datasets.
Limitations
This analysis combines datasets with different definitions, classifications and reporting periods. The following limitations should be considered when interpreting the findings:
- Tow truck driver employment and demographic figures are based substantially on 2021 Census data.
- Employment figures do not represent the number of licensed operators, active drivers or tow trucks available at a given time.
- State driver figures are estimates based on published employment shares rather than direct state headcounts.
- Vehicle-to-driver ratios are workforce-capacity indicators, not measures of actual towing availability or response times.
- Practical towing capacity also depends on location, operating hours, travel distance, equipment, vehicle type and operator experience.
- Vehicles manufactured in 2014 or earlier indicate older-vehicle exposure, not breakdown probability.
- Vehicle age alone does not account for maintenance, kilometres travelled, condition, usage or road environment.
- Age groups do not directly measure workforce entries, retirements or exits.
- Drivers under 35 should not be treated as new entrants, and drivers aged 55+ should not be treated as confirmed future retirements.
- The no-replacement calculation is a sensitivity scenario, not a workforce forecast.
- The scenario does not assume that all drivers aged 55+ will leave simultaneously or that no new workers will enter towing.
- No authoritative tow-truck-specific vacancy count, turnover rate or job-mobility rate is publicly available.
- Internet Vacancy Index data is published at the broader Truck Drivers occupation level and cannot isolate tow truck driver advertisements.
- Machinery Operators and Drivers and Transport, Postal and Warehousing figures are contextual proxies, not direct measures of the towing occupation.
- Job mobility measures workers changing employer or business; it does not capture every resignation, retirement or workforce exit.
- Occupation Shortage List ratings are point-in-time assessments and can change between years and jurisdictions.
- A “not in shortage” rating does not establish that every employer or region can recruit suitable drivers easily.
- RACV and RACQ use different roadside-resolution measures, so their unresolved-incident estimates should not be combined into a formal total.
- Unresolved roadside incidents are not confirmed commercial towing jobs. Vehicles may be transported internally, referred to contractors or handled through another recovery arrangement.
- New vehicle sales do not equal vehicle retirements or direct replacements.
- The older-fleet-to-sales multiple is not an estimated fleet-replacement timeline.
- New sales can increase the registered fleet while older vehicles remain in use.
- Passenger vehicles and SUVs cannot be compared directly because BITRE and VFACTS use different vehicle classifications.
- Electric and hybrid comparisons should be treated as indicative where registration and sales categories do not align exactly.
- State comparisons combine datasets with different reference periods and should be treated as exposure indicators.
- ANZSIC road-freight data includes towing alongside other transport activities and cannot isolate the towing industry.
Data Sources
This report uses publicly available data from Australian government agencies, motoring organisations and industry bodies. Underground Towing & Salvage used the following sources for its calculations and analysis:
- BITRE Road Vehicles Australia, January 2025
- BITRE Registered Vehicles by Type, State and Year of Manufacture
About Underground Towing & Salvage
Underground Towing & Salvage provides professional towing and vehicle recovery services across Canberra, Queanbeyan and Tasmania.
Led by Joshua Harrison, the team handles accident recovery, roadside breakdowns, interstate vehicle transport and complex towing jobs. Its specialised low-clearance truck can access underground car parks and confined areas that standard tow trucks may be unable to enter.