After a year like no other, we’re gearing up for unprecedented demand for holiday season roadside assistance
Much of Australia might be poised to step into holiday mode, but roadside assistance providers are anticipating anything but a cruisy summer. With international holidays off the agenda and state borders finally open, Australians are getting back in the car by the droves. And that means high volumes of breakdowns. Here’s how Digicall Assist is getting ready to assist motorists at the roadside over summer.
Anticipating increased breakdowns
No one can accurately predict whether this summer we’ll see record numbers of vehicles needing roadside assistance. Calls for assistance tend to peak in January anyway, with more people on the road for holidays, often in unfamiliar areas, and then returning home en masse for the start of the work and school year.
However, this year we expect that trend to continue, with a higher-than-usual spike, as there are indications that there will be increased holiday makers on the road post-lockdown. For one, caravan and motorhome sales started surging in the middle of the year, and are still climbing, as Australians forego overseas trips and head off to explore their own backyard. With more caravans on the road, the number of inexperienced caravan drivers also increases, which can lead to breakdown issues, and traffic congestion.
Another indication pointing to higher-than-usual breakdown incidents, is that as cars come out of lockdown, they’re more likely to experience issues. This is because if a car has been sitting idle for months, or has only been used for short trips, such as to pick up groceries, chances are that its battery needs some TLC. Short trips don’t give a car enough time to recharge the battery following engine start and deplete the battery, rather than charging it sufficiently.
“Battery problems are always the number 1 reason people call for roadside assistance. We saw a spike in battery-related callouts in April and May, after cars started being used much less during the first lockdown”, says Luke Laurence, Digicall Assist’s National Provider Manager.
Cars overheating and running out of fuel are also near the top of the list for roadside assistance incidents for road-trippers.
24/7 capacity
Whether a spike in roadside assistance eventuates or not, the team at Digicall Assist is anticipating greater demand, and has been planning increased capacity over the holiday season.
Our 24/7 teams are prepped to support motorists every day and night, including Christmas Day and other public holidays. We’re increasing the numbers of customer service staff on the phone, to ensure motorists calling for help continue to receive exceptionally prompt support. We enable motorists to get help even more swiftly via our new enterprise-grade telephony system, which identifies a motorists’ location automatically after calling in. It also allows motorists to send a photo of their vehicle’s issue by SMS, while speaking to our operators. This means motorists get resolution to their issue faster – whether mobilised over the phone, or by a technician who attends at the roadside.
Digicall Assist has an extensive network of technicians across Australia, in all cities, town and covering all regional and remote areas. Even in the holiday season, Digicall Assist’s army of roadside providers are available 24/7 to keep motorists going.
Digicall Assist has increased capacity to meet the anticipated greater demand for roadside assistance this holiday season.
