Broken down on I-35 near Laredo

I-35 starts in downtown Laredo and runs north past the Border Patrol checkpoint toward Encinal and Cotulla. If you are stopped anywhere along it, here is how to stay safe and get a truck to you fast.

Call (956) 654-3451 Give us the mile marker and your direction

First, get safe

If the car still moves, get off the highway. The next exit or the frontage road beats the shoulder every time.
If it will not move, get as far right as you can and turn on your hazard lights.
Think about the trucks. This stretch carries thousands of trucks a day out of the Laredo ports. If you are on a narrow shoulder, stay buckled in, or get out on the side away from traffic and stand well back behind the guardrail.
Then call. Tell us where you are and what happened.

Tell us exactly where you are

On an interstate, a mile marker or exit number gets help to you faster than any street name. The small green mile markers on I-35 count up from the south end at Hidalgo Street in downtown Laredo, and the exit numbers follow the same miles.

Exit 4A: FM 1472, Mines Road.
Exits 8A and 8B: Loop 20 and US-59, the World Trade Bridge side and the Bob Bullock Loop side.
Mile marker 29: the Border Patrol checkpoint.
Exit 38: Encinal.
Exits 65 to 69: Cotulla.

Also say northbound or southbound. The same mile marker on the wrong side of the median can cost a long U-turn.

Near the checkpoint

The Border Patrol checkpoint at mile marker 29 is a federal inspection station. If you break down in the checkpoint lanes or the line leading into them, do what the agents direct. They control who can pull in and where a tow truck can reach you.

Texas law that protects you on the shoulder

Move Over or Slow Down. Drivers passing a stopped tow truck, police car, ambulance, or TxDOT truck with lights on must move out of that lane or slow to 20 mph below the limit. Details at TxDOT.
Steer It, Clear It. After a minor crash on a freeway in a metro area, if nobody is hurt and the cars can be driven, Texas law says move them off the main lanes to the frontage road or the nearest cross street before you trade information (Transportation Code 550.022). If anyone is hurt, call 911 first.

Before a long drive north, check construction and closures at drivetexas.org.

How far north we go

Laredo and the stretch of I-35 just north of town are the everyday area. Farther up, toward Encinal and Cotulla, call anyway. You get a straight yes or no plus a quote on the same call, and if a provider out of Cotulla is genuinely closer, we say so.

You always get the price before a truck rolls. Tell us where you are and what happened, and the quote comes back on the same call. There is no charge to ask.

Or send a message

Common questions

What mile marker is the Border Patrol checkpoint?

Mile marker 29, north of Laredo.

Can you tow me all the way to San Antonio?

Yes. That is a long distance tow, quoted by the mile before the truck rolls. See the long distance towing page for how it works.

I am in a rental car. Should I call you?

Call the rental company's roadside number first. Most rental agreements require it, and using an outside tow can leave you paying for it.

I do not know where I am. What do I say?

The last exit sign you passed and your direction are enough. Or drop a pin from your phone's map and read us the location.