Communications
In the early days of vehicle recovery, the driver of an automobile would have to contact his or her club or local garage in some way when it failed. Telephones were supplied for this purpose by some motoring organisations, and eventually the agencies responsible for the major roads networks would install them on some hard shoulders. Club patrols would also use the club's phone to check in for work, or wait at their depot for the calls to come in. In the fifties as mobile radios became more reliable, most clubs and some garages fitted them to their vehicles. This had a dramatic effect on ETAs as it was now often possible to divert a returning recovery vehicle before it got back.
To achieve the best use of their assets, all motoring organisations have invested heavily in Information Technology. Computer software is used to distribute work based on criteria such as nearest vehicle, right equipment (or spares) carried, and of course driver hours regulations. The vehicles are usually fitted with GPS tracking devices, which transmit the vehicle’s current location. Motoring organisation vehicles are also fitted with a Mobile Data Terminal, allowing job details to be sent direct to the driver.
Most recovery operators have also invested in IT. Most have job logging software and many have installed in-vehicle communication devices and GPS tracking devices. The distribution of work to the fleet is a very skilful job and the person doing it is often under intense strain. They are known as dispatchers in the USA and controllers in the UK. Because operators are expected to take calls 24 hours a day, some smaller ones pass their telephones to message services after hours.
Uniquely in the UK and Ireland the motoring organisations and the recovery operators have worked together to form a common standard for the communication of job details. The system is called Turbo Dispatch and was introduced in 1995. It uses a combination of Mobitex data radios and the Internet to communicate. Its main advantage is that it does away with the need for the information to be re-keyed into all the different computers in use and eliminates most of the delays associated with 'job taking'. If the information is put in correctly at the start, it will still be correct when the invoice is raised.
It was estimated at the European Tow Show in 2005 that 90% of all jobs dealt with by independent UK recovery operators are passed using the Turbo Dispatch system. The system allows a broken-down motorist to pass his details to the motoring organisation (usually by phone), but once they have entered his information into their computer, it can then be sent electronically to their agents. Apart from speed and accuracy, another advantage is that the message can have the casualty's Grid Coordinates built into it. This then allows the operator to rebroadcast it to the recovery vehicle, where the onboard Satellite Navigation System can guide the driver to the incident, even if he does not know the area. The same system is also used to tell the motoring organisation when the recovery vehicle is on scene, when it is clear and what the outcome was.
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