If you operate a commercial fleet of vehicles, you already know how vital business roadside assistance is. When a vehicle breaks down, the result can be costly delays, customer dissatisfaction, and safety risks for your drivers. Just imagine, for example, a delivery truck breaking down in the middle of a crucial route, disrupting the schedule and creating a domino effect of delays. That’s where fleet roadside assistance comes into play, offering a lifeline for commercial vehicles when they need it most.

In this blog, we’ll peer under the hood to take a closer inspection of just how important reliable roadside assistance can be for your business.

Understanding Fleet Roadside Service for Businesses

As you’re probably aware, roadside assistance is a service that’s designed to help drivers when their vehicle experiences a breakdown or other issues on the road. For businesses, especially those with commercial fleets, having reliable roadside assistance is invaluable, ensuring that any vehicle-related problems can be swiftly addressed. This both minimizes downtime and helps to maintain business continuity.

While there are plenty of options out there, Best Roadside Service is one of the most trusted names in the industry, known for offering a comprehensive and dependable fleet roadside solution that is tailored to meet the needs of both B2B businesses and individual customers.

Why Fleet Roadside Assistance is Crucial for Commercial Vehicles

Vehicle breakdowns can cause significant disruptions in business operations, leading to delayed deliveries, missed appointments, and compromised customer satisfaction. The financial impact of unexpected breakdowns is also considerable, with costs accumulating from towing, repairs, and potential lost revenue. Having a roadside assistance plan in place mitigates these expenses by providing timely and efficient services. Additionally, ensuring the safety and well-being of drivers is paramount. Roadside assistance offers the necessary support during emergencies, enhancing drivers’ confidence and overall job satisfaction.

Services Offered by Best Roadside Service

Best Roadside Service offers a comprehensive range of services to keep your commercial fleet running smoothly, including:

• Towing and Recovery Services: Quick and efficient towing services will transport your vehicle to a safe location or repair facility.
• Tire Replacement and Repair: Assistance with flat tires, including replacement and repair, ensures your vehicles are back on the road quickly.
• Battery Jump-Starts: Minimize downtime by receiving fast response for dead batteries.
• Fuel Delivery: Emergency fuel delivery if your vehicle runs out of gas.
• Lockout Services: Assist with vehicle lockouts to ensure your drivers can get back on the road without delay.
• Minor Mechanical Repairs: Avoid the need for towing with on-the-spot minor repairs to address immediate issues.
• Personal Assistance: Support for drivers in need of personal assistance during breakdowns.
• Flexible and Customizable Plans: Tailored assistance plans to meet the specific needs of your business.

Choosing the Best Business Roadside Assistance Provider

When choosing the best business roadside assistance provider, you need to consider a couple of key factors. Response time is the most important factor in minimizing downtime, while having an extensive coverage area that matches up with your operational routes is a close second. And since your fleet operates day and night, having 24/7 availability is another essential aspect. Additionally, evaluating the provider’s reputation and the quality of their customer service is important, as is comparing the costs and benefits of different plans to find the best value for your business.

Best Roadside Service, for instance, has a nationwide average response time of just 58 minutes, extensive coverage options, competitive pricing, and a reputation for quality customer service, all of which offer the benefit of reduced downtime, improved driver satisfaction, enhanced fleet management, and considerable cost savings.

5 Tips for Implementing a Fleet Roadside Solution for Your Business

1. Assess Fleet Needs: Evaluate your fleet’s specific needs to choose the right roadside assistance plan.
2. Budgeting: Allocate the budget for roadside assistance as a necessary operational expense.
3. Driver Training: Train drivers on how to use roadside assistance services effectively.
4. Regular Reviews: Periodically review and update your assistance plan to ensure it meets evolving needs.
5. Leverage Expertise: Utilize Best Roadside Service’s expertise and support to optimize your roadside assistance program.

Investing in a reliable roadside assistance program is crucial for maintaining the efficiency and safety of your commercial business fleet. Offering comprehensive, customizable plans that provide peace of mind and support for your business operations, Best Roadside Service ensures prompt assistance during vehicle breakdowns so you can minimize downtime, reduce costs, and enhance driver satisfaction.

Learn more about our commercial roadside assistance and get started with a free quote—we’ll match you with the right business roadside assistance for your fleet. And remember: when you call us, we’ll answer in under 30 seconds, and our technicians’ average ETA is under one hour!  

If you’re managing a commercial fleet of vehicles—no matter the size—you understand fully how important they are to your business. They’re out there on the open road, day and night, in good weather and bad, making sure that your people and the cargo they carry get safely from point A to point B. But what happens when one of these vital vehicles runs into an issue? A flat tire, say, or a dead battery, or even worse: a breakdown in the middle of nowhere? That’s where a reliable fleet roadside solution comes into play.

Fleet Roadside Assistance Is There When You Need It

Think of fleet roadside assistance as your fleet’s guardian angels, always on standby, ready to swoop in and save the day. These services are like a safety net for your vehicles, ensuring that help is just a call away, no matter where or when a breakdown occurs. It’s not just about fixing a flat tire–it’s about ensuring the safety of your drivers and the timely delivery of your cargo.

What’s in the Fleet Roadside Service Toolbox?

A robust fleet roadside solution is like a Swiss Army knife, packed with tools to tackle any situation. Here’s what you can expect:

24/7 Emergency Assistance: Because breakdowns don’t stick to a 9-to-5 schedule. Day or night, rain or shine, help is always available.

Towing Services: Sometimes, a repair on the spot just isn’t possible. That’s when a reliable tow to the nearest garage is worth its weight in gold.

On-Site Repairs: For those times when a minor hiccup threatens to derail your schedule, mobile mechanics can work their magic on the spot and get your vehicle back in action.

Fuel Delivery and Jump-Starts: Running out of gas or dealing with a dead battery can happen to the best of us. It’s a simple fix, but it can make all the difference.

Lockout Assistance: Locked out of your truck? It happens. But with roadside assistance, you’re not locked out of options.

Preventive Maintenance: Why wait for a breakdown? Regular check-ups can keep your fleet running smoothly and prevent issues before they start.

5 Benefits of Roadside Assistance for Your Fleet: Beyond Just Fixing a Flat

The perks of having roadside assistance for your fleet of vehicles go far beyond just fixing mechanical issues. Here’s a few under-the-radar benefits:

1. Less Downtime: Every minute your vehicle is stranded is a minute lost. Quick assistance means your operations keep running like a well-oiled machine.
2. Safety First: The safety of your drivers is priceless. Knowing help is on the way can turn a potentially hazardous situation into a mere bump in the road.
3. Money in Your Pocket: Fewer breakdowns and quicker fixes mean more savings. It’s simple math.
4. Peace of Mind: There’s something comforting about knowing you’re covered, no matter what the road throws your way.
5. Efficiency is Key: With fewer interruptions, your fleet can do what it was intended to do—keep moving!

Choosing the Best Fleet Roadside Solution

It’s important to remember that not all fleet roadside solutions are created equal. When picking your provider, you’ll want to consider their range of services, responsiveness, coverage area, and cost. And don’t forget to check out reviews and testimonials! After all, you want a guardian angel with a proven track record.

At Best Roadside Service, our commercial roadside assistance plans are catered to fleets of all types, offering fleet managers the peace of mind that their vehicles will be covered when out on the open road. For instance, we offer roadside assistance for:

• Light Duty Vehicles: Small two and four-door sedans such as the Ford Focus, MINI Cooper, Honda Accord, and Toyota Camry.
• Medium Duty Vehicle: This includes vehicles like the Ford F150, GMC Savana Passenger Van, Chevrolet Cargo Van, and various other transit vans.
• Heavy Duty: Covering Mercedes-Benz Sprinters, Dodge Ram Promasters, Box Trucks Hino, Mitsubishi, Freightliner), and all kinds of transport buses.

In addition to the duty type of your fleet of vehicles, Best Roadside Service also provides fleet roadside assistance for all different kinds of businesses, including:  

• Small Business Fleet Roadside Service Plans – Offering small business roadside assistance to ensure even the smallest of fleet vehicles is protected.
• Government & Municipal Roadside Service Plans — Government fleet roadside assistance solutions assure school buses, law enforcement vehicles, and other government-owned vehicles can be assisted if they hit a snag on the road.
• Rental Fleet Coverage Plans – With rental fleet coverage, you’ll have roadside assistance plans to protect corporate employees wherever or whenever they’re driving.

Put most simply, fleet roadside solutions are not just a luxury. They’re a necessity!

If you’d like to find out how Best Roadside Service can protect your commercial fleet of vehicles, reach out today for a free quote! 

How much diesel does a truck burn idling? The answer is simple: too much if you’re idling for too long. 

Routinely idling your diesel truck — letting its engine keep running when you have to take a short break in driving — is part of every diesel vehicle driver’s experience. You need to idle when you stop at traffic lights, when making quick deliveries, or when you just need to take a break from driving. Idling so you can keep your systems running and resume your journey without having to restart your engine is normal and expected.

Too much idling, however, can wreak havoc on your diesel-powered vehicle, cost you a lot of money, damage the environment, and present a nuisance for those around your rig. This article answers common idle diesel questions and offers suggestions for improvement. 

Does Idling Save on Diesel Fuel Costs?

While you might think that idling is more cost-effective because it saves fuel, this is a myth. 

So, how much fuel does idling use? The truth is that if you idle a diesel truck engine for more than 10 seconds, you’re actually using more fuel than if you just powered down and then restarted the engine. On average, a heavy-duty diesel truck wastes 1 gallon of fuel for every hour it idles. With diesel gas prices ranging from $4.50 to $5.25 per gallon nationwide in the last quarter of 2023, it’s easy to see how idling your vehicle could be burning up your money. 

If you idle your diesel truck for 40 hours a week, and you’re paying an average of $5 a gallon for diesel fuel, you’re spending about $200 a week idling your vehicle. That’s a lot of fuel and money to go nowhere. 

Is It Bad To Let A Diesel Engine Idle?

Along with wasting fuel, when you idle diesel trucks, you’re not doing your engines any favors. Just one hour of idling per day over the course of one year is the same as 64,000 miles in engine wear, according to the American Trucking Associations. 

Idling increases engine wear and tear and potentially causes damage to the engine’s components. It can lead to soot and carbon deposit buildup in the engine, and that will impact both engine performance and the overall longevity of your engine. Too much idling can also cause your engine to overheat and can potentially damage the engine’s cooling system.

In addition, idle diesel vehicles are bad for the environment. When you idle your diesel truck, you’re increasing the release of harmful emissions, and that adds more harmful pollutants into the atmosphere. In fact, carbon dioxide from truck idling is a significant contributor to the greenhouse effect and climate change.

Idling heavy-duty diesel vehicles also contributes to noise pollution. Idle diesel trucks emit noise at 85 decibels at a distance of 50 feet. Sixty decibels is considered a moderate noise level where normal conversations can be heard, and 80 decibels is considered “very loud.”  For a truck engine to drop to the acceptable level of 55-to-60 decibels for most residential areas, it would need to be 1600 feet away. Think about that next time you leave your diesel truck idling in a residential area. 

Strategies to Reduce Idling and Save Fuel

Not all diesel truck idling can be avoided. Drivers on long hauls need to run their engines to stay warm or cool in their trucks while resting. This is especially critical as drivers need to get adequate rest while on the road for safety reasons. Fortunately, there are idling reduction technologies and behavior changes truck owners and operators can adopt to reduce idling while saving fuel. 

Idling Reduction Technologies (IRTs)

With IRT devices, truckers can reduce long-duration idling of the main propulsion engine using one of the following EPA-approved technologies:

• Auxiliary Power Units and Generator Sets (APU/GS)
• Fuel Operated Heaters (FOH) aka Direct Fired Heaters (DFH)
•  Battery Air Conditioning Systems (BAC) (Battery operated heating and/or cooling system)
• Thermal Storage Systems (TSS)
•  Electrified Parking Spaces (EPS) / Truck Stop Electrification (TSE)

Behavioral Strategies and Financial Incentives

Additionally, truck fleet owners can adopt the following to incentivize drivers to reduce idling. 

• Offer education to operators regarding the problems caused by long-duration idling 
• Offer drivers financial incentives to reduce idling, increasing the incentive the more improvement is seen and/or when idling reduction goals are met

How Best Roadside Service Helps Keep Your Fleet On the Road

Too much idling is just one of the many issues that can cause problems for commercial truck operators. That’s why a top-notch and affordable commercial roadside assistance plan can save the day should any of your trucks break down. To learn more about how Best Roadside Service can keep your commercial trucks moving, contact us today.

Are you in need of reliable roadside assistance for your fleet of vehicles?

As a business owner, you understand the importance of ensuring your drivers are safe and that your vehicles are always on the move. However, with the plethora of commercial roadside assistance companies in the market, choosing the best one for your business can take time and effort. Don’t fret! In this article, we’ve got you covered with an in-depth analysis of five of the best commercial roadside assistance companies, so you can make an informed decision and keep your fleet moving forward with peace of mind.

Five Top Commercial Roadside Assistance Companies

1. Best Roadside Service 

When it comes to the best roadside assistance plans, it’s hard to beat the commercial fleet options offered by the “A+” rated  Best Roadside Service. Feilding over 5,000 calls daily, with an average response time of just 58 minutes, Best Roadside Services’ commercial roadside service plan covers everything from sedans to semi-trucks, providing coverage no matter who is operating the vehicle.

Service includes:

• Flat Tire Service
• Battery Jumpstart Assistance
• Lockout Service
• Free Fuel, Oil, Fluid, and Water Delivery
• Winching/Extrication (up to 15 feet from a regularly maintained roadway)

2. Western Truck Insurance 

If you’re in the market for commercial roadside assistance plans for your commercial fleet, Western Truck Insurance offers one of the most cost-effective options, with rates starting at under $500 per year. One of the standout benefits of their plan is the ability to tow both your tractor and trailer for up to 50 miles or 2 hours, in addition to offering light winching and extraction assistance, replacement key services, and even discounted hotel stays.

Furthermore, Western Truck Insurance also provides a generous $500 coupon that can be applied toward engine overhaul financing, truck financing, or lease buyout financing. This comprehensive package ensures you can keep your commercial fleet running smoothly and efficiently without breaking the bank.

3. Verizon Connect

Verizon Connect provides a comprehensive range of standard services that are typically offered with commercial roadside assistance plans. These include towing for both light and heavy-duty fleet vehicles covering up to 25 miles, jump-starting dead batteries, and other minor roadside repairs. However, what distinguishes Verizon Connect from its competitors is its innovative Reveal mobile app. This app enables vehicle operators and office staff to conveniently request roadside assistance with just a few clicks, setting it apart as a leader in the industry.

4. Paragon Motor Club

Paragon provides plans based on unique usage and coverage needs and offers options for commercial fleets of all sizes. Their fleet division plans are fully customizable, with specialized options including:

• Fleet Tracking
• Legal Defense Reimbursement
• Ambulance Assistance Reimbursement

5. Roadside Masters

Providing heavy-duty emergency roadside assistance for commercial vehicles, Roadside Masters specializes in offering nationwide coverage to trucks, buses, vans, and limousines. Membership includes tractor and trailer towing over a distance of up to 50 miles and entitles you to four trailer tire changes per year. Also, if one of your fleet vehicles needs a mechanic or cosmetic repair that costs between $8,000 – $60,000, Roadside Masters provides a $750 credit to help defray the costs a bit.

Stay Protected – Invest in Commercial Roadside Assistance

Ultimately, the best commercial roadside assistance plan for you will depend on your specific needs and budget. For example, if you frequently travel long distances, you may want to look for a plan with extensive coverage, including towing services and battery jump-starts, whereas if you mainly drive in urban areas, you may only need a plan that provides fuel delivery and lockout services.

Your budget should also play a significant role in determining the best plan for you. While some plans may offer a wide range of services and extensive coverage, they may also come with a higher price tag. At the end of the day, it’s vital to strike a balance between the services you need and what you can afford.

If you’d like to find out more details about the different plans offered by Best Roadside Service, don’t hesitate to reach out for a free quote today.