tow truck driving down empty road

Keep your fleet up and running with the Geotab Roadside Add-In

Published on August 15, 2022 in Marketplace by Christine Beaton |  3 minute read


Use comprehensive fleet roadside assistance to make sure your fleet stays up and running, even after a vehicle breakdown or collision.

Roadside assistance might not be top-of-mind for most fleet managers, but why not? Chances are, your fleet isn’t experiencing roadside events on a very regular basis if you keep up with regular maintenance and monitor the health of your fleet vehicles closely.

 

However, according to Agero, they help find services for about 115 million vehicle incidents yearly in Canada and the United States combined, which averages out to about one in every two drivers. These events end up costing drivers a lot of time – about 30 million workdays are lost yearly to drivers who experience a vehicle breakdown. Roadside assistance helps streamline the needs of drivers and businesses post-breakdown and enables them to get back on the road in as little time as possible.

What is roadside assistance?

Despite there being millions of drivers on the road across North America, few people know how to change a flat tire or jumpstart a battery, let alone assess a mechanical failure. For many fleets, vehicles are just too large or have too much cargo for one driver to handle doing any kind of roadside work. It is also highly recommended that, if a driver experiences a roadside emergency on a highway or other busy street, they don’t exit the vehicle. In 2020, 17% of pedestrian deaths in the United States happened on interstates and major highways.

 

With a roadside assistance service, drivers are able to request help from a mechanic or towing service after experiencing a vehicle breakdown. Most roadside assistance personnel will also be able to provide flares or other high-visibility tools to help ensure that anyone in or around the car is able to stay safe during the roadside event.

 

Roadside assistance doesn’t just literally mean “side of the road” either. Whether a vehicle breaks down on the side of the highway, in a parking lot, at a driver’s home or outside of your business, roadside assistance will be able to come and help.

The benefits of roadside assistance

There are many benefits to fleet roadside assistance for your vehicles. With approximately $9 million USD lost yearly by drivers and businesses after experiencing a breakdown on the road, investing in a comprehensive fleet roadside assistance program can be extremely valuable to your business.

  • Set it and forget it: Putting money into a roadside assistance plan monthly or quarterly can help ensure that those services are there when you need them the most. Waiting until your drivers are in a vulnerable situation to decide how to handle a roadside event only serves to waste time and money. By being proactive and investing in preventative measures, you are putting your drivers first and saving resources in the long run.
  • Immediate expertise: Drivers can’t do it all. After putting in long hours on the road, filling out paperwork and making deliveries, they can’t also be expected to handle a mechanical failure. Fleet roadside assistance ensures that an experienced mechanic or towing company can help guide your driver through the appropriate next steps. This also frees up time for fleet managers that drivers would most likely be on a call with after experiencing a vehicle breakdown.
  • Vehicular breakdown data: Collecting data and logging times for vehicle breakdowns helps inform your fleet and give you better insight into how and why these breakdowns are happening. It can help fleet managers plan for preventive maintenance to keep fleets healthier and on the road longer.

What does roadside assistance cover?

Although the services vary, most popular fleet roadside assistance services include:

  • Towing: Normally your roadside assistance provider will offer towing services to a nearby mechanic within a certain distance of where the vehicle breakdown occurred.
  • Jump-starting a battery: Service providers will jump start a battery that has died.
  • Replacing a flat tire: If your vehicle has a spare, roadside assistance providers will be able to swap a flat tire. Be sure to check that your fleet vehicles are covered under flat tire services as sometimes providers won’t be able to service motorcycles or larger vehicles.
  • Lockout or locksmith services: If a driver locks their keys in the car, roadside assistance will be able to provide lockout services using a long-reach tool or a pump wedge. If those methods don’t work, they will be able to call a locksmith to provide further assistance.
  • Delivering fuel: If a vehicle unexpectedly runs out of fuel, a sufficient amount to get it to a gas station will be provided.
  • Winching: Depending on how accessible the vehicle is and how many service vehicles need to help, roadside assistance can often help dislodge a vehicle that has gotten stuck through winching.

Travel stress-free with Geotab and Agero

No matter how far your fleets are traveling, Geotab wants to make sure that they have the right resources to tackle any roadblock. Available with all ProPlus rate plan variations, the new Geotab Roadside Add-In with Agero – a leading provider of driver safety services – gives drivers fast and easy access to help when they need it most. 

 

Drivers can request help either through the Roadside Assistance Add-In in MyGeotab or in their Geotab Drive mobile app. By answering a few service-related questions within the Add-In, drivers can help dispatch the correct provider vehicle with the required equipment to help increase vehicle uptime and improve fleet productivity. They can then stay informed on the current status of their request with near real-time updates on service vehicle location, estimated arrival time and optional SMS alerts.

Give drivers the tools they need to succeed

Ensure that your fleets get to where they need to go. By offering your drivers roadside assistance services, you’re providing them with the tools they need to get back on the road after experiencing a breakdown.

 

Visit the Geotab Marketplace to learn more about our new roadside assistance solution.


 


If you liked this post, let us know!


Disclaimer

Geotab's blog posts are intended to provide information and encourage discussion on topics of interest to the telematics community at large. Geotab is not providing technical, professional or legal advice through these blog posts. While every effort has been made to ensure the information in this blog post is timely and accurate, errors and omissions may occur, and the information presented here may become out-of-date with the passage of time.

Get industry tips and insights

Sign up for monthly news and tips from our award-winning fleet management blog. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Republish this article for free

Other posts you might like

Construction worker looking over at something

Routes to riches – Geotab Routing and Optimization drives operational efficiency and cost management

Geotab's Routing and Optimization software blends economic intelligence with operational strategy, reshaping fleet management for improved cost and resource efficiency.

February 15, 2024

Red heavy trucks driving on two lane freeway

Telematics Transforming Commercial Trucking Insurance

The integration of Electronic Logging Devices (ELD) into the commercial trucking insurance sector represents a major shift towards a more data-driven and efficient approach to insurance management.

January 17, 2024

No idling sign on

A complete guide to fleet idling: Understand, detect and stop true idling

Idling increases fuel consumption, CO2 emissions, and maintenance costs. Learn how to control it to lower your fuel spend and make your fleet more sustainable.

December 15, 2023

Geotab Connect Banner

Meet the Geotab Connect 2024 Marketplace innovators

Find out what’s in store in the Marketplace Exhibit Hall at this year’s Geotab Connect.

December 5, 2023