Any truck can break down, at any time. That's one rule of the road no one gets much say in or control over. And what happens after the incident can make or break your downtime or even your business as a whole.
Your choice of insurance policies and roadside assistance might either ease you back into the saddle or bury you in paperwork and steep bills -- in the worst cases a hostage situation with your own truck or the freight you're hauling.
Finding reliable roadside assistance in a time when predatory towing is all too common can be a challenge, but there are networks out there to help with that decision.
Roadside networks: A chance at reliable tow-company vetting
Many insurance companies now offer their own roadside assist networks. Yet, as as tow invoices climb higher and higher, some commercial lines might start to put limits on what they'll pay for a single towing event.
Owner-operators don't have time to vet towing companies when out on the road, especially at the time of a breakdown. That's where services such as Find Truck Service, among other independent networks and others, come in.
The Michelin Advantage program for small fleets and owner-operators comes recommended by one among recent-history Overdrive Truckers of the Month, and your factoring company, fuel-card provider and/or the fleet you're leased to may offer similar.
Find Truck Service has long used reviews on its platform to vet service providers, but in the online world, reviews simply don't cut it anymore. The company has 30,000 associated vendors nationwide, including shops like truck washes, mobile tire shops, reefer technicians, you name it.
To weed out bad apples, Find Truck Service has a team that vets its vendors. About twice a year, that team verifies that all of the information about a specific company -- address, services provided, hours, etc. -- are still accurate.
The long-running National Truck and Trailer Service breakdown directory relies on users and to vet listed shops in its newtork, with a three-strikes rule to removal, recognizing it truly takes work to determine whether removal is warranted.
NTTS always follows up any complaint about a repair location with a follow up with the shop to "get a better understanding of the situation. ... When we receive three merited complaints, the repair location is immediately and permanently removed from the directory.
So whether it's your insurer or a third-party service, having one or both in your corner make your odds of good service improve after the initial sting of making the service call wears away.
