Hercules, CA.

Hercules is a town of 26,041 in Contra Costa County, and breakdowns here happen on county roads and in yards more often than on an interstate. That changes the job: there is usually somewhere safe to work, and the drive out to you is the part that takes the time.

Hercules is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. Situated along the coast of San Pablo Bay, it is located in the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area, approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of Berkeley. As of the 2020 census, its population was 26,016, according to the United States Census Bureau. The site of Hercules was first developed in 1881 as a manufacturing facility of the California Powder Works for the production of its patented dynamite formulation, Hercules powder. In 1882, the Hercules Powder Company was incorporated and assumed responsibility for the Hercules site. It was one of several explosive manufacturers that were active along the Pinole shoreline in the late 19th to the mid-20th century. The small company town that grew up near the facility subsequently became known as "Hercules", and was incorporated at the end of 1900. Starting in the 1970s, Hercules was heavily redeveloped as suburban bedroom community that lies along the I-80 corridor in Western Contra Costa County. It has a very ethnically diverse population.

The trucks that cover Hercules also run Pinole, Rodeo, Tara Hills, and Crockett, out to about 5 miles at Rollingwood. So a call from the edge of Contra Costa County reaches the same people as one from the middle of town, and you are not handed off to a different dispatcher because of a county line.