Question for AAA Towers

[TowZone]

Originally posted by Chip2830 March 2007:

 

how many of you guys that tow for AAA own a garage also to tow cars back to and do repairs and how many are just towing?

 

ReliableTowing said;

we are a full service repair facility.

we sell batteries to about 30% of our assigned jumpstarts, and about 15% of tire services come to our shop for new tires.

Yes we take the good with the bad

 

Chip2830 said:

I don't own a garage and it seems to me that most companies that tow for AAA own garages and I guess that's where they offset the low cost of towing for AAA by making it up on repairs as where if you are doing the same tow for AAA as a tow only company than there isnt anywhere to make up difference between cost of retail tow and there prices.I would love to have the household name of AAA but if I am doing there work at a loss with nowhere to make it up than I guess I will be without there name for now.I just really wanted to see what the ratio/percentage was.

 

Towinguy said:

I dont have a shop but can reccomend a couple if they dont know where they want to go.
WM010022

Gregg

 

timjohn said:

we have a repair shop in addition to the towing business. 3A has been good for the shop. It brings in work all year. We are going to be doing their mobile battery install program. That should boost that number a little bit.

I think 3A works for us in a couple different ways.

1. We are in a high membership area. Lots of calls in different directions. We do a lot of 3A calls on the way to regular commercial calls. Also, we will get calls coming and going from places we regularly tow for.

2. It helps keeps trucks moving and being seen. I don't know howmany times people have said to us, are you everywhere? They are recognizing the trucks and name more and more. This helps generate a lot of repeat business for non-3A customers. Word of mouth from 3A member friends.

3. Like previously stated, brings in work to the shop.

4. 3A gives you recognition. It the towing community, 3A has a dirty image. However, in the public's eye, it is the one thing that certifies a "great tower" We know that isn't necessarilly true, but any positive light or image we can bring to ourselves is good.

3A should not be your primary source of calls or income. It should be a secondary source. I think companies that make 3A too much a part of their income and business, have large hurdles to climb to stay afloat.

I am not sure if that really answers questions you have or not. I tend to ramble. Feel free to email any other questions.

 

 

[TowTegrity]

I guess things are different across the country but in Pennsylvania and from my stand point AAA is great. Pittsburgh is a troubled area for AAA and motor clubs in general due to how our highways are designed. AAA accounts for about 35% of my roadside business. AAA members account for close to 40% of my repair shop business. The towing and repair together makes decent money and the battery sales also have good margins. I turn 15-20 accidents that I'm called to for AAA private and bill the insurance companies instead of AAA.  I service a few thousand members a month for AAA and they have always treated me well. I do have some of the best survey scores around so they typically don't ask questions and take care of me. AAA is big on surveys so as long as you keep the numbers good they will typically go above and beyond. As far as pay goes I do well because of their bonus program. The thing I love about AAA is they go above and beyond. They give out awards, gift cards, trips and bonuses which isn't something anyone can complain about. I can also say I've personally watched AAA bail out towing companies who were in gambling debt and one guy that got divorced and almost lost everything. I'm not supportive of some of the things they do and I can only speak for AAA here but overall they are the only motor club that actually cares about their providers. Allstate dug themselves a huge hole around me and most providers require credit cards to service their customers. Agero use to be great but has turned into a nightmare. I see Agero loosing large contracts because of their recent actions around us. NSD has low volume around us and the same goes for the other small motor clubs. I will say Geico is good to work for around here too but overall AAA works best for myself and my business. I feel that AAA is great when you have a healthy mix of everything. I have local, state and a turnpike contract with all of it together it works well.

[BlackAutoload]

"I turn 15-20 accidents that I'm called to for AAA private and bill the insurance companies instead of AAA"

 

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR , I know this happens everywhere(including mine), but it doesn't make it right. 

It makes my blood boil.

 

[Louwo]

I feel this could cause big legal trouble billing insurance companies once you accepted your contract tow from AAA.... I don't like to double dip a scary situation.

[Builder 2]

1 hour ago, Louwo said:

I feel this could cause big legal trouble billing insurance companies once you accepted your contract tow from AAA.... I don't like to double dip a scary situation.

I would reread it, doesn't sound like double dipping to me if he billed insurance instead of aaa. In fact it would pay better considering recovery rates, only thing is it screws the regular rotation guy.

 

[TowTegrity]

I’m absolutely not double billing. I cancel the AAA call and only bill insurance. I don’t know about other AAA clubs but here they don’t cover clean up and certain extra services. I also don’t like going to a classic member and telling them they owe money when they have full coverage. I mean there’s tons of reasons I don’t like billing accidents under AAA. I always worry about damage claims and such because I’ve seen it happen to other people. 

[Ed Johnson]

In most areas, AAA pays for a basic tow from point A to point B; they may cover a little for a winch out, but not much. In our area, AAA does not pay for dollies no matter the condition of the car. If you want to do a professional job including debris cleanup, removal of spilled liquids (such as oil) and the extra work that many accidents call for, it is wise to bill the entire job to the insurance company. It becomes even wiser when you have considerable standby time.

 

A recent car insurance commercial has a man saying "After my accident, I actually called my insurance company before I called the police", a little dumb to leave cars sitting on the road, but whatever. If however, a customer decides that he wants me to wait on towing his car until he has filed a report with his insurance company, you are talking about sitting on the side of the road for 30-45 minutes. The insurance companies do not care for one moment that a waste of time costs the tow company. People think their insurance company cares about them; bull. The insurance company wants an immediate report before the customer can think about what happened and they want the car towed to their preferred shop (the guy who charges them less).

 

As for me, I will do the necessary hookup and the cleanup required. Once those items are done and the waiting has begun, I keep track of the wasted time I am sitting and charge for that time based on my normal hourly fee. Motor clubs do not pay for waiting time but insurance companies do. We should be paid for what we do.