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Best Roadside Service is an auto club with all calls answered in the US. Get the best service at the best price with Best Roadside Service, serving consumer and commercial needs in the US and Canada since 1985!

Effectively Maintain Your Commercial Fleet

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commercial fleet maintenance

If you own a business that relies on commercial vehicles keeping those vehicles on the road is the backbone of your business. With delivery trucks and company cars constantly grounded for repairs your employees will be unable to complete the necessary work to keep your company running smoothly. Properly maintaining commercial vehicles means your fleet works for you to make and keep your company successful.

While commercial fleet management is not a “one size fits all” solution, there are some basic steps that will help maintain all commercial fleets regardless fleet size. Relying on the steps below will have you well on your way to keeping your fleet at maximum productivity.

Preventative Maintenance

The cornerstone of properly maintaining any vehicle, including commercial fleet vehicles, is to make sure the vehicle receives regular preventative maintenance. Regular preventative maintenance including oil and other fluid changes, tire rotations, brake service, and tune ups help prevent larger issues from arising down the road. Taking care of commercial vehicles now, ensures they’ll last for their maximum lifetime and save you business money in the long-term.

To ensure your vehicles are receiving the proper and necessary preventative maintenance, it is important to keep accurate records for each vehicle. Utilizing fleet management software allows business owners and fleet managers to get automated notifications for scheduled maintenance based on vehicle usage. Following a manufacturer’s recommendation for a particular vehicle keeps that vehicle performing optimally and ensures you do not void any applicable warranties.

Proper preventative maintenance reduces the risk of breakdowns and expensive repairs. And improve the lifespan of your fleet.

Proactive Repairs

Even with proper preventative maintenance, breakdowns and accidents can take your fleet vehicles out of commission. Your business can bounce back more quickly after an accident or breakdown when you are proactive with repairs. Advances in technology to GPS tracking and management allow you to be notified of vehicle problems while they are minor. This allows you to prevent larger issues before they happen, and can alert you to problems before your drivers even notice there’s anything wrong.

Proactive repairs also mean less time in the shop and money saved on more expensive, time-consuming repairs. Additionally, for business that outsource repairs it will be easier to schedule proactive repairs with a reputable shop and your vehicles back on the road as quickly as possible.

Depend on Drivers

Your drivers are you first line of defense in properly maintaining commercial fleet vehicles. When a vehicle starts showing signs of impending issues or a breakdown, the driver is typically the first one to notice. Keep the lines of communication open with your drivers because they will be able to let you know when their vehicle is starting to pull in one direction or another and its time for an alignment, if the A/C isn’t working properly, or if the brakes are not performing the way they should.

Good business owners and fleet managers need to develop a system that designates when and where drivers are responsible for inspecting vehicles each day and provides a method for drivers to share any maintenance issues occurring on their vehicle. All employees, including drivers, should be well-trained on how these systems work.

Roadside Assistance Coverage

Even when a company has systems in place to properly maintain its fleet vehicles, breakdowns and accidents can happen. An important component of any fleet management plan is roadside assistance coverage. Commercial and fleet roadside service plans provide 24/7 coverage and rapid response times which help get your fleet vehicles to a repair shop and back on the road quickly. Bouncing back quickly after a breakdown or accident minimizes lost productivity, repair and downtime costs, and lost revenues.

Additionally, plans through companies like Best Roadside Service are customizable to make sure you’re meeting the specific needs of your employees and customers as well as your business. This allows you to more efficiently schedule preventative maintenance and proactive repairs while considering the individualized needs of your business and fleet.

Don’t wait for your vehicles to break down before you decide start thinking about fleet maintenance. Develop a fleet management plan before you need it, and use preventative maintenance, proactive repairs, dependable drivers, and roadside assistance service coverage to keep your commercial vehicles running and your business operating smoothly.

Top Ten Reasons to Choose Best Roadside Service

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We know that there are many roadside assistance companies out there to choose from, so we value and appreciate the customers who choose us. We also happen to think they’ve made the best decision. Here are just ten reasons why our customers chose Best Roadside Assistance and why you should too.

Top Ten Reasons to Choose Best Roadside Service

  1. American Owned, Canada Covered
    Best Roadside Service is an American Owned and Operated company with the goal of providing our customers with the best emergency roadside assistance plans at competitive prices. Our core values have always focused on offering the best customer service standards in the industry. But Americans are not the only ones who can benefit from our services! Canada is a great place to travel and a beautiful place to live, but with such cold weather, it’s critical to have good emergency roadside service. All of our services are available in Canada for the same low price of $65 a year for one vehicle, no matter who is driving.
  2. Free Gas
    Should your covered vehicle run out of gasoline, a technician will deliver three gallons of fuel right to your vehicle at no extra charge. We will get you back on the road in no time and at no fee!
  3. Vacation and travel discounts
    Our members enjoy exclusive discount programs and special rates for vacations, cruises, car and RV rentals, even theme park tickets such as Sea World, Busch Gardens and more! Our discount program gives you a range of options for booking a room for vacation or business. And our concierge service can help you get everything straight so you can sit back and enjoy your trip.
  4. 34 minute response time
    Your safety is our priority. Our state-of-the-art software allows us, with your permission, to find your location using your cell phone, and dispatch service providers while we’re on the phone with you. We can even send you a text message confirming the arrival time of your service provider. Our average response time is just 34 minutes.
  5. American-Owned and Operated Call Center with English, Spanish and French Speakers
    All emergency calls to our 24-hour call center are answered in the United States. You will never be transferred overseas and you will never get a voicemail. We have customer service representatives available at all times who speak English, Spanish and French, so you’re never alone as long as you have Best Roadside Service!
  6. Individual and Vehicle options
    Whether you want to cover a specific vehicle no matter who is driving it, or an individual, no matter what vehicle they are driving, we’ve got coverage for you. Individual and vehicle plans also cover motorcycles and scooters. Plans start at less than $6 a month with the option to add family members at a discounted rate!

  7. Personal and Commercial Options
    Whether you have a car that is used for business or an entire fleet of vehicles for your company employees, we have a plan that will meet your needs. We have been in the emergency roadside business a long time, and we know that when you have a fleet of vehicles, one of them is bound to break down. In fact, about 20% of typical fleets experience mechanical disablement every day. To keep your business running and your customers satisfied, you need to have your employees and drivers covered for any roadside issue they may experience. Our plans provide rescue and support for your employees and your business.
  8. Map Routing and Trip Planning with 24 Hour Directional Assistance
    Going on a trip? You can’t just depend on a cell phone that could die or a GPS that may lose service. Our trip planning and map routing services provide a customized route to wherever you want to go and however you want to get there. If you ever get lost along the way, just call our roadside assistance hotline and we will give you turn-by-turn directions, no matter what time of the day or night.
  9. Motorcycle Coverage
    Whether your bike is your main method of transportation, or just one of the vehicles you or your family use, we have a plan to fit your motorcycle roadside assistance needs. Motorcycle drivers receive six service calls per year along with all the benefits of a regular vehicle plan, starting at just $65/year.
  10. Join Now and Save $10 or $15
    By now we’re sure you’re convinced that Best Roadside Service is the best emergency roadside plan you can buy, but just in case you need one more reason – if you join on our website right now you can save $10 a year on the vehicle plan or $15 a year for the individual plan.

Sign up today and join our many happy customers who enjoyed safety and security on the road and in their vehicles every day with us!

 

Why Is It Important to Compare Commercial Roadside Assistance Plans?

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Even if you already know the importance of shopping around when it comes to making a purchase like commercial roadside assistance coverage, you might be tempted to cut corners by selecting the first company you come across, whether it’s online, in the phone book or via a phone call by a company who provides such a plan. They might offer an enticing price that seems likes a great deal, until you or one of your employees runs into trouble and needs assistance.

Without research and in depth comparison, choosing the wrong plan can be worse than choosing nothing it all. You think your company’s vehicles are covered should one become disabled, but when an emergency occurs, your employee can end up stranded – possibly hundreds of miles away from the office.

The story of two employees who were driving a company vehicle to a conference 300 miles away, highlights the risks of what can happen by making a hasty decision when it comes to roadside assistance coverage.

The women did the right thing by asking for the company’s emergency roadside assistance number before leaving on their trip, and left with few worries. They had to drive through a remote area in the Midwest, and it was in that desolate region that the vehicle suddenly sputtered and came to a halt.

The roadside assistance number was phoned immediately, but it took nearly a half an hour before a live person answered. The man on the phone was rather cold and impersonal, and didn’t seem to care that the women were stranded on the side of the highway in the middle of nowhere. The only towing company he was able to reach had one driver who was on another call and would not be able to assist for hours.

It was getting late, and there was no hotel, restaurant or any safe place they could get to. By the time they received assistance it was almost midnight, and they ended up riding back with the driver to the nearest town, 40 miles away. The driver insisted on payment as the company’s coverage only paid for up to ten miles for towing. He took the vehicle to a repair shop that wasn’t open on Sunday and the women ended up stranded in the town for two days. They missed their conference on Monday, making the nightmare trip a complete waste of time and money, not to mention being a rather harrowing experience.

Their story highlights the importance of comparing commercial roadside assistance plans and researching customer’s current and past experiences through an online search and reference checks. It’s imperative to inquire about response times, as well as to consider the attitude of the staff. Make several phone calls; are company representatives friendly and helpful? Call the emergency assistance number – how long do you have to wait on hold?

The time it takes to assure that you’ll be covered by the best commercial roadside assistance plan, is well worth the effort.  It will not only save you money over time, but can avoid a potentially risky situation for your employees should a company vehicle become disabled.

Roadside Assistance Plans are Worth the Money

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Last year a company we had worked with for quite some time decided to trim the budget and cut expenses, much further than they had the year before. While some of the expenses that were cut didn’t seem to hurt too much, there was one expense that was cut that ultimately cost them dearly, virtually wiping out the savings that should have been realized in 2011.

The company has a number of commercial vehicles that are used on a daily basis for deliveries as well as client appointments. In 2010, there was only one minor incident in which the company had to use their roadside assistance coverage; therefore, they decided to take a risk, cutting the plan in 2011.

Unfortunately, they did not have the same luck that year. In February, one of their employees experienced a flat tire while out making an important delivery. Their client had an urgent need for that delivery, and without it, they couldn’t deliver on their own promise to a new and important customer.

Without the proper tools to change the flat quickly, the driver had to call for help and it took three hours for him to get back on the road. They lost the client and his business, which had been a steady $20,000 per year profit to the company over the past few years.

Just a month later, another one of their company vehicles had a breakdown on the highway on the way at a location over 100 miles from the office. Without commercial roadside assistance coverage, the expense of towing had to be paid out of pocket, turning the bad experience for the employee into something worse.

Several sales people for the company frequently travel for business, and instead of their roadside assistance plan taking care of trip planning, maps and directions, an administrative assistant had to do the research. Her time cost the company more than the annual cost of coverage. In addition, the travel discounts the employees would have received were no longer in affect.

It didn’t take long for the business owner to realize that cutting the expense of their commercial roadside assistance plan was not the best idea. After just six months without it, he came to the conclusion that many of us already have. Protecting your vehicles and the employees who drive them is imperative for the success of the company, and a commercial roadside assistance plan is an invaluable resource.