AAA is a good value for its members considering the cost of the alternatives.
But lets call it what it is, “Towing Insurance”. Also some franchises don’t own
their own their own wreckers with most contracting with local garages outside
of major cities so the service varies.
Here in Connecticut, as in many states, towing rates are regulated by the state
and I’m going to use CT as an example because I’m, familiar with the rates
here.
Basically, AAA membership pays for itself on the first tow. The basic plan
will cover for hookup and the first five miles (“Per Incident”) at no cost to
the member other than the annual membership fees. Here in CT, “State Rate”
(the maximum towing charges approved by the DMV) is $77 for hook up and first
mile, $4 each additional mile. A five mile tow can cost a non-member as much as
$93. If you break down on the side of the road and a police officer calls for a
rotation wrecker, odds are you’re paying “State Rate”. Plus, depending on
which AAA franchise you’re a member of, you’re covered for either 3 or 4 tows a
year, so if your driving something unreliable, your saving that much more. The
“Plus” or “RV” membership (the names differs from franchise to franchise)
covers for the first 100 miles (“Per Incident”).
Now, “Per Incident” is one of the many restrictions. They won’t allow you to
call for a wrecker, get towed to limit of you coverage plan and then drop and
open another call to be towed further. I’ve seen members try it and
occasionally some will get away with it, but most often, the call taker will
catch it and deny the second request.
Another restriction is, it only covers registered vehicles. A wrecker operator
can refuse to tow a vehicle if the member can’t provide a valid registration at
his request. He makes more money if he can bill it as a private request .
AAA doesn’t cover stupidity; a wrecker operator can refuse coverage if the
vehicle is someplace it obviously shouldn’t be (ie. mud lane, lower falls or
even an unplowed snow covered road). Technically, it’s up to the wrecker
operator’s discretion for anything not on a clear, paved road.
They don’t fix your car, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had members
expect me to repair their car on the side of the road. Anything more than a
jump-start, changing a flat tire with a member’s spare, a can of gas or
unlocking a door with a lock out tool, it gets towed. An affiliate can be
suspended, fined or loose his affiliation for doing anything else in a
non-authorized location.
Now lets look at it from the operator’s perspective, there is a reason a good
wrecker operator will look for reasons to refuse service under AAA. That
5-mile tow the non-AAA member can get charged $93 for; typically, AAA pays its
affiliate towing company $25 and only $8 for a light service call. With that
$25, the affiliate has to pay for fuel, equipment costs, insurance and the
driver. Most companies don’t make a profit from AAA towing; they make money on
the work the driver convinces the member to bring back to their own garage or
private requests. Since it’s common for operators to pay drivers commission
for after-hour calls, the driver makes more money as a private tow.
Another thing is paying customers come first. Even though AAA sets limits to
the amount of time an affiliate has to respond to a call, if it’s busy, Cash
customers get bumped to the top.
Another thing I would often try to convince members who have had an accident is
if their auto insurance covers towing, let it be billed as a private. Usually,
cars with collision are covered for towing. I would make more money billing
that to the insurance company at “State Rate” than AAA paid. Especially if it
appeared the vehicle was totaled. If I pulled up to an accident scene and I
had a choice between a fixable and totaled car, I’d grab the totaled one if the
owner had collision or it was the other driver’s fault.
Walt
In article <cg2dki$mau$1@bent.twistedbits.net>, jon@dakota-truck.net writes:
>
> Here is the web site of the group the NMA uses:
>
> http://www.driversshieldautoclub.com
>
> Normal cost is $69.95 but NMA members get it for $49.95. From
> what I have been able to determine, the main difference appears
> to be that the DriverShield program specifies a dollar amount
> per incident ($100) whereas AAA does it in miles (5 miles for
> standard, 100 miles for RV). I suspect that $100 is basically
> comparable to the 5 miles for the AAA program. Being out in
> the boonies, 5 miles is basically "next door"; you have to go
> 10-15 miles just to get to the nearest town. That's the main
> reason I decided to stick with the AAA/RV program; I should
> think a tow of 100 miles is going to cost a lot more than $100. :-)
> Also, with the AAA/RV program, I know both my tow vehicle and
> trailer are covered, and my motorcycle too. I'm not sure how
> DriverShield handles that stuff. Perhaps if DriverShield comes
> up with a competing program to the AAA/RV, I will give them another
> look see, but for now it seems like my requirements dictate that
> I stick with the AAA for now.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Sep 01 2004 - 00:53:41 EDT