What are the Reponse Times ~Old 2005 Topic~

[TowZone]

Topic Originally Created on Tow411 in September of 2005:

 

What are the response times in your ares for Motor Club Tows?

I heard last night that the average time to get a motor club tower to respond in my area is running 2 1/2 hours nearing 3 hours. Last year that was 1 hour, 10 years ago 30 minutes.

We are now finding members stranded on our roadways for several hours as they wait out assistance. We do what we can for them as far as getting them to a safer location and informing the club. The families are the one you have to feel for as they have come to expect a certain level of service and they have little concept of why that service is not being delivered in a timely manner. I suspect that rate the motor club pays to be the main factor and the few towers per area. Meaning club towers are being given runs outside their areas.

 

Elva said:

30-45 minutes in town (within a 10 mile radius)

45-60 for 10-30 miles out

60-90-120 for 30miles to ??

this is during the day with no adverse weather condition (rain, flooding, fog, etc)

 

dnhtowing siad:

we generally give 45 min to an hour eta.it also depends where its going and the time of day so the eta could be 90 min.

 

Anaron said:

Ron, about the same as your area. Have even heard of a few 4 to 5 hours. Due to the long eta's, law enforcement policy on breakdown assistance calls that request the Sheriff Dept to contact a motor club was to be told that the club had been contacted but due to the history of eta's, the Deputies could not stay with the breakdown until the wrecker arrived but would have someone drop by every couple hours or so and check on them. They normally stay with the people until the problem is resolved, not anymore if it is a motor club call.Ron Burnes

 

T and B Towing said:

30 to 45 mins within 20 miles radius and 45 to 90 mins over
20 miles outside of the radius. my longest is two hours.

 

Stevo said:

give a realistic eta depending on the time of day.
Traffic is the main factor. 10 am with 10 mile e/r can be 20 minutes. 5 pm same miles 1 hour. And thats local. On I95 going north at 3 pm no problem but getting back......double the time. Time of day = ETASteve
Choice Towing & Recovery
Fredericksburg,Va

 

twinbulls said:

I run 30 min to a hour mostly...

I have done a few aaa cash calls and the customer says aaa gave them a 3 hour eta.
On certain days Friday and Sat night aaa tells people no service in that area....
I like those calls $$$ the customer is so feed up with MC they just want to get home...

 

TowZone said:

Within this post I am just seeking Motor Club response times. Your's and what you have heard the response times of other motor club providers in the area. You know the ones where the customer says the Motor Club told them 2, 3 or 4 hours.

If you do not do Motor Clubs then you may hear this more often,

 

Mike said:

Around here they are pretty good @ 30 min or less. The AAA usually advises 45 min. This area is fortunate enough to have several good sized companies that have been in the game for quite some time.

 

Tom said:

We usually try to give an eta of 30 minutes or less, but it depends on the distance to the member. We service 3 counties with a lot of gravel roads. Went on a call last Tuesday, gave a 15 minute ETA (about three miles), member told me that AAA told her an hour tohour and half.

 

Bruce said:

I had a CCMC jump start the other day. The motel just happened to be about 3 miles from me. To play safe I said thirty minutes cuase you never know what can happen. Anyway got there in about 10 minutes. Had completed the jump and was finishing the paperwork when CCMC called the customer to tell them it would be about an hour. WTF. I swear they need some management. I have given up a long time ago trying to figure out MC's. I just do the best I can and double check the statement. I no longer worry about scores or the like. If I can make a dollor with them fine when it gets to where I can't I have to droip them or go out of buisness.....

 

Auto Rescue  said:

Up to 40 minutes in town (small town) in the winter time all eta's take a hit depending on weather and location with some calls being pushed ahead of others without regard to mc or cash status.

 

mooresbp  said:

It is an hour or less most of the time. Very rarely will they give us the call if eta is over an hour.

 

ExpressTowAaron said:

Depends on the club, basically you get serviced as fast as I get paid. 2 months to pay me and I have to submit it 3 times to get 75% of what i'm owed...well you might be waiting a bit. Geico who is 75% of my club work gets 15-45 average ETA (depends on area we cover 50+zips) never more than an hour though.

 

PGhrist said:

Don't want to here AAA complain about there ETA's in Austintown, Ohio. We tried to become a vendor and was snubbed a couple times. We service AAA members on The Ohio Turnpike, but we're not good enough for city calls. I here of people waiting over an hour and I just laugh. Anyone with connections with AAA please pass our info along.
Jeswald Auto Truck Service
6528 Mahoning Ave.
Austintown, Ohio 44515

 

EdsTowing  said:

Our average is under 30min, many times quicker...sometimes longer. I see many times where USAC, CCMC will call us to take po's and we don't from them. Many times they call an hour later asking the same thing. I know it's a long time before they go through their vendor list till they call the first time..
We prioritize calls when busy like storms. Police calls & interstate break downs first. The member with a flat or lock out in their driveway may wait an hour or so depending. AAA understands it and advises members in these situations.

I'm sure a large part of the extended eta's in this industry are directly related to payment amounts & procedures. You get what you pay for....

 

WheelLiftWarrior said:

Police calls 15 to 30 mins AAA and all other motorclub cash calls and shop calls 45mins to an hour we end up waiting longer for the member after we informed AAA 20 mins and the member says AAA told them an hour and a half other then that during season we might go to an hour and a half especially when all the snow birds are in town.

 

Diamond Towing said:

n joplin 20 min springfield 30min

 

John Marsee said:

30 minutes or less, unless were covered up! 90% 15 - 20 minutes but like someone said, after they have called a few others and cc you can tell by -05 instead of 01.

 

Checkerwrk2 said:

We try to always say 45 min when it's local, but when I know I have one of my guys free I usually say 15-30 min, but alot of the times we can even beat that! 🙂 I think it's crazy when I have to give a 90 min ETA and I am expecting them to freak out and they say wow really? I don't know how other people are but when I know they are going to have to wait 90 min I always call and tell them that I am getting someone to them as quickly as I can. I just hate the thought of people stranded on the side of the road. Which brings me to a new point. Unattended Tows... I will admit we do them because sometimes it's just easier, I don't know how some people are about them, but I haven't really ever had a problem with them.

 

Jerrys Road Service said:

99% of MY eta's are "within 30 min" standard answer we mostly beat that time.

 

annettemcd said:

We usually give an ETA of drive time plus ten minutes. Most of our calls are stand-alone jobs, not combined with other jobs. I try to give a generous ETA so that we will not lose points on our score card for being late. I tell the dispatcher that my official ETA is XXX, but my driver should be able to make it sooner depending on traffic and conditions. I also make sure that the dispatcher understands that my driver is leaving immediately and though my ETA is long, it is drive time and no one can get there in less than one hour more. If they say that someone else might get them a shorter ETA, I explain that it is not possible and anyone telling them otherwise is not honest.
I give the dispatcher our 800 number and ask them to give it to the customer. Then I always get a call-back number and try to call the customer myself. I tell the customer the actual ETA, the distance from our shop to them, and that my driver is on the way and will travel as fast as possible, and said that if they have any questions while they are waiting to call me and I will call the driver. I also verify information especially the location. I get the motor club out of the communication loop as soon as possible.
Once the customer knows the distance we have to drive to get to them, most of them are understanding. If they are at a point of safety, I tell them to sit down, have a cup of coffee, relax, and call me if they want a status report. If it is 100 miles to scene, the customer needs to be prepared to wait and if I establish a rapport with them, it goes smoother. It also avoids GOAs for service calls because if they are not willing to wait 1-2 hours for someone to change their tire or give them a jump start, I know it early or I get a call as soon as things change. (Remember that I can devote more phone time to each job because we rarely have more than six calls in a day, but each job can take one to eight hours.)

Rarely, usually with someone from an urban area, they do not understand why there is no one closer. They do not understand that even though our service area is 150 miles long, there are less than 3000 people living here and not enough work to have tow trucks available throughout the area. (Sometimes they cancel the call and then call a different motor club who then calls us for the same job, so they have to wait longer.) (Heck, in our service area, there are only four State Troopers and no police or sheriff.)

Oh, for the local secure military base, I give an ETA to the gate, but I do not guarantee how long it will take to get through security.

 

Myerstowing  said:

In Modesto CA we have an ETA of 30min on all calls but if a rotation comes in it is priority. All other areas and surrounding towns 45-60 min depending on how busy we are.

 

STARWM050346 said:

We can under normal conditions give a half hour to a hour but out of area one hour to two hours "over 30 miles" but we try to give a eta that we can at least meet if not try to bet by around 10 to 15 min.