Six rail lines, 13 tracks, one main street
Heavy Duty Towing in Griffith, IN
Semi, bus and box truck recovery in a town cut by railroads, with Cline Avenue ending at its southern edge.
- Dispatch answers 24/7
- Written invoice estimate before the work is billed
- Semis, buses, box trucks, RVs and heavy equipment
Rail Crossings, Cline Avenue and a Tight Town Grid
Heavy Duty Towing in Griffith starts with a town that is small on the map and busy underneath. Griffith sits in Lake County, Indiana, with 16,528 people at the 2020 census and about 7.77 square miles of land. We answer calls from drivers, fleet dispatchers and bus operators who are stuck on its streets or on the roads feeding it. Dispatch answers 24/7 at (219) 529-2610.
What makes Griffith different
Most towns in Northwest Indiana are known for a highway. Griffith is known for railroads. Broad Street, the main north-south road, once crossed what Wikipedia describes as six intersecting rail lines and 13 tracks at the south end of downtown, and the crossing was called the busiest in the country for a time. A stopped trailer on tracks is a different kind of emergency from a stopped trailer on a shoulder. If your unit is on or near a crossing, say so before anything else. Get everyone out and away from the tracks, call the railroad's emergency number posted on the crossing sign, and then call us.
The roads that bring trucks in
Cline Avenue, State Road 912, ends at its southern terminus at Ridge Road in Griffith, on the Highland line. From there it runs north through Gary, East Chicago and Hammond. The old US 30 alignment, now called Old US 30, Joliet Road and SR 330, also touches town, and Griffith once held the shortest state route in Indiana, SR 73, which was decommissioned on September 26, 1969. I-65, the Borman Expressway, the Indiana Toll Road, US 30 and US 41 are all short drives away. A truck that breaks down in Griffith is usually making a local delivery, cutting between Cline Avenue and US 30, or limping off a freeway with a problem.
Small-town streets, big-truck problems
Griffith is laid out as a grid of residential streets around a compact downtown. Box trucks, delivery vans and straight trucks get wedged at tight turns more often than tractor-trailers do. A rollover or a sunk axle on a side street can need an underlift, a second wrecker to stabilize the load, or a flatbed for cargo transfer. Tell the dispatcher the street names at the nearest cross streets, and whether the unit is blocking a driveway, a crossing or a lane.
What to have ready when you call
- Where you are: street names, the nearest cross street, and whether you are near the Broad Street tracks.
- What you are driving: tractor-trailer, box truck, bus, RV, dump truck or equipment hauler, with an approximate weight class.
- Loaded or empty, and if loaded, with what. Say if there is any hazmat placard.
- What happened: flat tires, no start, jackknife, rollover, stuck in soft ground, or a collision.
- Who is paying: you, your fleet, an insurer or a broker.
Airport and edge-of-town work
The Griffith-Merrillville Airport sits inside town limits, and Gary/Chicago International Airport is the nearest commercial field. Wide loads and equipment on lowboys near any airfield or industrial edge need a plan for where the recovery truck can stage, so tell us if your load is oversize or on a trailer with special deck heights.
Honest arrival estimates
We do not promise a set number of minutes. The dispatcher looks at where the nearest heavy wrecker is, what is blocking the road and what it takes to clear it, and gives you an honest arrival estimate on the call. If police are on scene for a blocked road or crossing, say so.
Call (219) 529-2610 or
.Griffith Facts for Drivers and Fleets
- Rail crossing history. Broad Street crossed six intersecting rail lines and 13 tracks at the south end of downtown, once known as the busiest railroad crossing in the country. The E.J. and E. Griffith Interlocking Tower is on the National Register of Historic Places.
- Cline Avenue ends here. State Road 912 (Cline Avenue) runs 11.69 miles from I-90 in Hammond to its southern end at Ridge Road in Griffith, on the Highland town line.
- Size and incorporation. Griffith was founded in 1854 and incorporated in 1904. It covers 7.77 square miles, all land, with a 2020 population of 16,528.
- Airport in town. The Griffith-Merrillville Airport lies inside town limits. The nearest commercial airport is Gary/Chicago International.
Griffith Questions
Can you recover a truck stuck near the Broad Street railroad crossing?
Yes, once the crossing is safe. If a unit is on or touching the tracks, get everyone clear and call the railroad's emergency number on the crossing sign first. Then call us at (219) 529-2610 with the street, the unit type and what is blocking it.
Do you handle box trucks and delivery trucks on Griffith side streets?
Yes. Straight trucks and box trucks are a large share of the calls on small-town grids. Give us the cross streets and tell us if the truck is loaded, stuck in soft ground or wedged against a curb or pole.
I broke down at the south end of Cline Avenue. Who do I call?
Call (219) 529-2610 with your direction of travel, the last cross street you passed and your unit type. The dispatcher gives you an honest arrival estimate on the call.
Do you answer at night in Griffith?
Dispatch answers 24/7. Arrival time depends on where the nearest heavy wrecker is, and you get the estimate on the call, not a promise before we know your location.
Free Estimates in Griffith, IN
Stuck in Griffith? Call (219) 529-2610 or request a written estimate.
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