My husband and I are the over-kill kings on most things we do, if a 5000lb axle is plenty big then a 10,000lb is for us. Why should Roadside Assistance be any different?
Back in the day when we were just starting out with our 1997/98 26 foot Nomad bunk model fifth wheel, we didn’t worry about roadside assistance. To be completely honest, I don’t even think it was part of our thought process. We had insurance on our tow rig and at the time it was all that was required.
We took our little Nomad on our honeymoon up the coast of California to Port Angeles, WA and the pot holes were just as bad back then as they are now. On our way home we skirted into Nevada through Reno to stay at a campground between Reno and Carson City. As we were pulling in to the campground we went over a speed bump, immediately hearing an awful sound from the rear of the trailer. I sat in the passenger seat as Andy jumped out to investigate. I just knew the last four days of our honeymoon was ruined. He came trotting back with the grey water tank and a piece of angle iron in his hands. He tossed them in the back of the truck and said “Well we aren’t staying here tonight we need to head back to Reno”. We boondocked overnight in the parking lot of the RV repair shop to be repaired first thing the next morning. Granted, it isn’t a roadside assistance example but it lends to how we are. If we were back at the ranch, one of us would have welded the angle iron that holds the grey tank back into place.
These days we have a Phaeton 40ih, we plan on going full time in the spring of 2021. We are still capable of doing our own repairs but big diesel rigs require big tools and we just aren’t going to haul those types of tools all across the country. And if or maybe better said, when we have a flat/blowout we will need a tire brought to us, as we aren’t going to carry a big rig tire around the country either.
To circle back to the over-kill kings, we have roadside assistance from here to Sunday. From AAA, Coach-Net, Good Sam Roadside Assistance and our RV insurance. All with different coverages at different price points.
Is RV Roadside Assistance Worth The Money? The short answer is Absolutely. The long answer is; for the last seven years I have been a long haul truck driver. With relatively new equipment, I have had three trucks with the oldest being a 2012, the other two trucks were brand new. That being said, I have needed roadside assistance eight times to be towed. on two of those occasions were recovery tow’s from accidents that required two massive wreckers. the cost of each of those incidence was nearly $10,000.00 each. Then there has been at least 30 roadside assistance calls for various mechanical help, ranging from an air leak, blown tires, busted radiator hose, to a seagull through the windshield. The cost ranging from $700.00 to $1500.00.
Another aspect of roadside assistance you don’t hear much of and doesn’t have a quantifiable dollar value, is driver safety. My truck routes consist of the 13 western states and 2 western Canadian Provence. The longest I waited on the side of the road for help to arrive was 5 hours. The faster you can get off the shoulder of the highway, the safer it is for you and others.
If you do the math you will probably agree that roadside assistance is Absolutely worth the money. Hopefully though you won’t be over-kill kings like Andy and I. Try to save a buck or two so you can travel more and adventure more. Good Sam is having a 50% off sale on all their plans. Below you can find a link and I do hope you find something that works for you and your family.
Enjoy the Ride
Bell
