Stranded. You need help.
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Who do you turn to?
INITIAL COST, we are told, should not be the main consideration when purchasing a new vehicle. However, this could be just a rumour put about by the vehicle manufacturers, who would dearly wish to extract themselves from the discount war which they perpetuate, despite making heavy trading losses year after year.
It does, however, make economic sense to look at the whole-life costs and the varying degrees of back-up services that are provided by different manufacturers before deciding on the financial transaction.
Breakdowns are something which most operators hope won't happen but recognise that sooner or later inevitably will, no matter how good their preventive maintenance is. Then their concern is to get the vehicle on its way again as quickly as possible.
Bedford's Roadcall is a roadside breakdown and emergency service that operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Just recently it has been extended to include the whole of the Bedford commercial vehicle range from the light and medium vans and pickups to the heaviest of the TMs.
The service is provided free of charge for vehicles less than 12 months old, up to a limit of £200 per incident. Providing the operator has at least one new vehicle or one on order, other Bedford vehicles in his fleet can be included in the scheme free, but he must pay the recovery costs.
Freefone 4455, or just asking for Freefone Bedford Roadcall, puts the driver in contact with a permanently manned controller able to contact the most convenient of any one of 500 dealers or 700 authorised recovery agents to deal with the incident. The control room holds information on rental, transshipment and warehousing and is able to pass on messages to the owner, customer or to the port or ferry as required.
Accident damage is charged back to the operator's account or that of the insurance company. While the 12 months' free cover includes the cost of replacement windscreen it does not extend to a vehicle which has run out of fuel or suffered either tyre or battery failures.
From the time of receiving the call, it takes only 11 minutes on average for the controller to ensure help is on its way.
Des Freefone Dafaid works just as well on the continent as it does in the UK for the British operator, and some might say better because it takes longer to get billed for the repair.
Having made contact, the Daf controller will ask the driver for some basic details on the vehicle. Knowing the delivery date for example gives a more positive identification of the vehicle's age than the registration number and it will assist the nearest main dealer to produce the required part straight away. You don't know the delivery date? Daf thought of this: the information is retained in a key ring supplied with every new vehicle.
Unless the operator has an account with his local Daf dealer he will most probably be asked for a cash payment.
Cover is not restricted only to Daf vehicles. Providing there is at least one new or secondhand Daf vehicle in the fleet his other vehicles can be covered by the same arrangements.
Daf Busaid works along the same lines but where a coach cannot be repaired immediately the operator can be compensated with the hire of a replacement vehicle. If a back-up vehicle is not available the scheme will contribute towards overnight accommodation for passengers.
In the UK Dafaid handles around 5,000 call outs every year but the faults are usually of a minor nature such as slipping fan belt or heating hoses which only emphasises the importance of regular preventive maintenance.
ERF operates its Freeway emergency breakdown service. Registered users of the system are guaranteed credit worthiness so that there is no problem with the repair bill. The distressed vehicle's driver obtains help by calling Freeway Freefone. This links him into the ERF national network of approaching 50 dealers, distributors and repairers.
Ford's emergency repair scheme is open to anyone who operates at least one Ford commercial vehicle. This system makes use of the AA's nationwide telephone service, backed up by a charge card. The cost of membership to the scheme is £5 per year plus £2 per charge card up to 50 cards, after which any extra are provided free of charge. Recovery and emergency repairs of Ford or non-Ford commercials covered by the scheme are carried out by a network of 132 specialist dealers.
Iveco (UK)'s service is called Aidline, which like similar schemes is operated by one of the organisations set up to provide back up to the manufacturers dealer network. lveco uses National Breakdown Commercial Recovery Services based at Bradford which, when contacted on Freefone 5070 by a driver of a vehicle registered in the scheme, takes responsibility for arranging emergency roadside assistance through the nearest lveco dealer.
Membership of Aidline is provided free by lveco for the first year of a vehicle's life and for the first 6,000 miles breakdown costs are covered if the fault falls within the terms of the vehicle warranty. After the first year participation in the scheme has to be paid for at between £2 and £5 per vehicle, dependent on the number of vehicles registered.
Leyland Trucks' Co-Driver Service is a total operator support package, which includes a Freefone roadside/emergency telephone service as well as a computerised vehicle/fleet costing service incorporating full truck contract maintenance and planning advice. Linkline arranges help for Leyland operators through a network of 120 Leyland franchise points.
Truck Rescue on Freefone 5001 is available to all MAN-VW truck and bus models operating on the British mainland through the MAN dealer network and certain authorised dealers.
On completion of the appropriate form provided with each new vehicle, membership starts on the date of first registration. All new vehicles are entitled to free roadside assistance and recovery to the nearest authorised workshop. Any minor parts used up to a value of £10 are provided free of charge but costs of this are initially paid by Truck Rescue up to a credit limit of £200 and reinvoiced to the member in full.
Used vehicles can also join the scheme but rates vary according to age. Assistance is usually provided within the hour. Mercedes-Benz (UK} offers breakdown cover at home and abroad. Within the UK its service is operated by National Breakdown Recovery Club in Bradford on Freefone 5500. On making contact, the driver is asked for the name of the Mercedes dealer who either supplied or services the vehicle. This information is needed to obtain an order number or payment guarantee for the repairing dealer who invoices the customer's local dealer, avoiding a demand for immediate payment from the driver.
Virtually all 73 Mercedes-Benz dealers offer a 24-hour service and it is policy to keep repairs within the franchised network where there is a uniformity of rates. International breakdowns are dealt with by the nearest Mercedes-Benz dealer who is able to organise credit facilities in a similar way so that payment can be made at the vehicle's home base.
Renault UK, which markets vans up to 3.5 tonnes, has just launched a mechanical breakdown insurance scheme underwritten by Lloyd's.
Technical cover includes all major components with no limit on repair costs up to the full purchase price and in the event of a breakdown the cover includes a replacement vehicle contribution of up to £15 per day for five days, recovery costs up to £100 for any one claim and up to £50 towards the cost of overnight accommodation.
Karrier Motors, responsible for all Dodge models and Renault vehicles above 3.5 tonnes, was in the final process of devising its own recovery scheme at the time of going to press.
Lifeline, the name of Scania's service, was established more than six years ago. By calling Freefone 5009 the driver is able to call upon the expertise of Scania-trained personnel for assistance. The service will also arrange other tasks ranging from changing the ferry booking to telling the driver's wife not to wait up for him.
Information gained from Lifeline is used by Scania (GB) to identify problem areas which may arise in its vehicles.
Set up in 1980, "Sabre",
Seddon Atkinson's free membership breakdown service, averages about 40 calls a month. Ninety per cent of the calls are attended by distributor service points while the remainder are handled by authorised agents but more frequently windscreen and tyre services.
A geographical distribution pattern for breakdowns shows that demand for assistance on Freefone 5230 is greatest from long distance hauliers which comes as no surprise as they are the most likely to be furthest from known service points when trouble strikes.
Volvo's action was claimed to be the first commercial vehicle manufacturer-backed roadside service for truck and coach operators in Britain when introduced in 1974, through a service network of 28 distributors and dealers. The one no-charge Freefone telephone number made the drivers' own list of service points obsolete providing help from the nearest service point and making available other assistance facilities.
Today the scheme has grown and now services Volvo users from 48 service Points.