Work-anywhere towing assistance?

[solismaris]

Recently broke my wrist and couldn't drive. Luckily friends back home came out the 90 miles and We got truck and trailer home.

If I was far from home though? The convenience of calling a work-anywhere phone number for:
- Mechanical breakdown: repair or tow to suitable facility
- Personal injury: Get truck and trailer home somehow.

It can be insurance, or pay-for-service - either way. I just need that I can call it 24/7 anywhere in the USA and get reliably dispatched to locals
Does such a thing exist?

[Finally_Time]

What you want does exist.

Check out FMCA, Family Motor Coach Association. They now offer membership to all types of RV’s. Age of the vehicles or RV is not a consideration.

Included in their membership (at no extra charge) is FMCAAsist – “FMCAssist is emergency medical evacuation and repatriation coverage available to members worldwide as long as you are more than 75 miles from home. If you are a full-time RVer, you are always considered 75 miles from home. FMCAssist services are also available to members when traveling abroad. Some exclusions and limitation amounts pertain to these benefits.” Among the services provided are: Medical Evacuation and Repatriation, Return Home, Recreational Vehicle/RV Return (limited to trips in North America only), Return of Private Passenger Automobile (limited to trips in North America only, Pet Return

They also offer Roadside Assistance at a reasonable cost. It includes towing to the nearest qualified repair center, fuel delivery, lockout service, tire change, battery boost, tech assistance.

[solismaris]

Lots of suggestions to follow up on; thanks! Good Sam plans, Coach-Net, AAA. I'm ashamed that I asked and got lots of suggestions but have had no time to research them yet. But I will; I promise! And will post when I decide.

I think some of these plans have a 10 year age limit for the vehicle though. My truck and trailer are both well beyond that - but well maintained.

Lack of cell coverage doesn't bother me that much. That is pretty rare in the places I travel.

Peace of mind would be worth a lot to us - especially my wife. Breaking down in a car is one thing; a trailer is much different: far fewer places to repair, and fewer people who can drive it. We need this before she will agree to a long distance trip like MA to NM planned for next year

As to whether I can drive with a broken left wrist: It is way harder than you might think. And mixed answers about legality. I have even heard that if I am in an accident and they find out I had an arm in a cast I could be denied all coverage! Do I believe it? Not sure. And nobody will give me a straight answer. And it's not just the driving, which I can manage. It is all the other things associated with driving the trailer: hooking up the w.d. hitch, connecting hoses, cables, etc. Craning my neck to look while backing up, etc. Way harder than you might think. I can drive a bit, but trailering is out of the question for now.

[JRscooby]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
There is simply nothing wrong with driving one armed and or one eyed. For that matter you can be totally deaf.

Bell, many always get in head first to drive. By that I mean put head in seat, climb in, wiggle around until firmly between the cheeks, start engine.

[Cummins12V98]

There is simply nothing wrong with driving one armed and or one eyed. For that matter you can be totally deaf.

[MarkTwain]

mgirardo wrote:

solismaris wrote:
It can be insurance, or pay-for-service - either way. I just need that I can call it 24/7 anywhere in the USA and get reliably dispatched to locals
Does such a thing exist?

I'm pretty sure all the major Roadside Assistance Companies offer this service. We have AAA. I call the 800 number on my card (or I can use the App on my smartphone) and they find someone to tow my vehicle, repair flat, etc.. If I am not in my AAA Region, they will connect me to the AAA Region that I am in when I make the call. The only stipulation is I have to be with the vehicle. It covers any vehicle (even ones I don't own), as long as I am there with my card.

AAA will tow me anywhere I want to go. I can get 4, 100 mile tows for free per year with AAA Plus. If I need to go more than 100 miles, I pay a few bucks extra per mile.

Coachnet and Good Sam offer similar services, except they will tow the vehicle to the nearest service station/dealership. We had Coachnet for 1 year (came included with RV purchase). Since they wouldn't tow us where we wanted to go, the one time we tried to use them, we used AAA instead. We did not renew Coachnet.

Most Roadside Assistance companies have contracts with a lot of the same companies. The time we choose to use AAA over Coachnet, the tow truck driver told us that both contacted him to tow us.

-Michael

JUST BE SURE you what towns,cities,counties , areas AAA does not service.

[dedmiston]

Braces wrote:
LIABILITY

Nobody appreciates "brief and to the point" more than I do, but what does this mean?

[Braces]

LIABILITY

[Cummins12V98]

"Recently broke my wrist and couldn't drive."

I am honestly wondering why a person can't drive with one arm unless it's your right and you have a manual trans?

[mgirardo]

solismaris wrote:
It can be insurance, or pay-for-service - either way. I just need that I can call it 24/7 anywhere in the USA and get reliably dispatched to locals
Does such a thing exist?

I'm pretty sure all the major Roadside Assistance Companies offer this service. We have AAA. I call the 800 number on my card (or I can use the App on my smartphone) and they find someone to tow my vehicle, repair flat, etc.. If I am not in my AAA Region, they will connect me to the AAA Region that I am in when I make the call. The only stipulation is I have to be with the vehicle. It covers any vehicle (even ones I don't own), as long as I am there with my card.

AAA will tow me anywhere I want to go. I can get 4, 100 mile tows for free per year with AAA Plus. If I need to go more than 100 miles, I pay a few bucks extra per mile.

Coachnet and Good Sam offer similar services, except they will tow the vehicle to the nearest service station/dealership. We had Coachnet for 1 year (came included with RV purchase). Since they wouldn't tow us where we wanted to go, the one time we tried to use them, we used AAA instead. We did not renew Coachnet.

Most Roadside Assistance companies have contracts with a lot of the same companies. The time we choose to use AAA over Coachnet, the tow truck driver told us that both contacted him to tow us.

-Michael

[sayoung]

Let me add one important point about road side asst/emergency services & your cell phone. There are still lots of areas that have ZERO cell service no matter what provider you use. We have been in such a place with a blowout on the 5er but I can still change one but I'm 72 & see the day will be really tough !

[lenr]

My experience--yours may vary:
In the last 10 years I've had 4 incidents of needing road side service. In 3 cases the service company (different ones each time) could not find someone to come out. So, I'm not wasting any more money on road side service premiums. I'm getting equipped to change a truck or trailer tire and limp somewhere with a broken trailer spring. Those are the vast majority of problems likely to happen to us using only trailers, as long as we keep up on maintenance. A few years of premium savings will pay for even high priced tow service. I think I'll have to give up RVing when I can't take care of simple problems. We are only in a trailer so a motorized unit might have different feelings. Insurance is for rare events, but if it makes you feel better, pay the premiums. Each policy will vary so while one might get your trailer home, the next one might just go to a campground nearby, and some might get the people home while others won't.

[JRscooby]

gbopp wrote:

JRscooby wrote:
Find a non-emergency number for police or highway patrol. Ask what tow service they would use for emergency in that area?
Where you traveling alone?

That's a good start but, they will probably call the 'nearest available' tow service.
It's not always the best choice.

Or, because you did not call as a emergency, they give you name/number of nearest 1 or 2.

[valhalla360]

gbopp wrote:

JRscooby wrote:
Find a non-emergency number for police or highway patrol. Ask what tow service they would use for emergency in that area?
Where you traveling alone?

That's a good start but, they will probably call the 'nearest available' tow service.
It's not always the best choice.

What do you think the towing assistance services do?

[Mel_Stuplich]

Coach-Net does that: https://coach-net.com/