Roadside assistance is more of a community service than a job. Yes, there are many commercial companies reaping heavy profits all over the globe by providing professional roadside help and assistance but there are many more organizations that do this for free and help state or national authorities keep the roads clear of broken down cars and stranded motorists. The US alone has over 15 different roadside assistance volunteer groups operating on funds and donations received from well wishers alone.
A volunteer assistance service usually calls all residents of an area to offer aid to any stranded motorist. Usually, they put up advertisements and banners locally searching for folks who are interested in pursuing a side passion of helping others. The job of such a volunteer is to jump start vehicles, bring fuel or oil to broken down cars, tow back damaged vehicles and so on. Obviously, those wishing to volunteer for such a position have to go through training but since there are plenty of these associations around, those willing enough should find a spot with a roadside crew.
Two Excellent Examples of Volunteer Roadside Assistance In the US
Take Mount Rainier Volunteers group for instance. Those who have been to the Mount Rainier National Park will be prompt to point out how the locals get involved in the experience. Volunteers in this group usually deal with anything and everything from rescuing lost tourists to helping out those with a broken vehicle. They recruit enthusiastic social workers online and directly. In fact, their site will have a page dedicated to those who wish to sign up for roadside assistance teams. Obviously, volunteers are not paid for this service and neither does the group charge anything from motorists who request their aid.
Similar in nature to the Mount Rainier Volunteers group is a less known organization called Chaveirim Volunteer Roadside Assistance. This volunteer group is situated towards the East coast of the United States and is solely operated by the Jewish community of the region. Their organization comes to the aid of anyone who phones them anywhere on the East Coast. The best part about this organization is that it is run through donations and funding from anyone. If you are interested in volunteering in a roadside assistance service but do not have anyone to support near your home then this is a decent organization to donate. In fact, the word Chaveirim means friends!
Is Europe Well Connected With Volunteer Roadside Assistance?
Europe too has got small assistance groups spread across the continent but the problem there is that the majority of the large players in this industry are spread across the continent. This makes it impossible for them to rely on volunteers alone and hence they tend to recruit paid employees to become roadside assistance engineers. This is why the majority of roadside volunteer assistance groups are located in the United States. Three perfect examples that now link up to cover a wider region in the US are the Central Nebraska Motorist Assist, Metro Area Motorist Assist Program and Nebraska Motor Assist Program. They take volunteers; train them in basic first aid, car repair, towing and other services after which they are given their own assist vehicles to help stranded travelers.
Simon Jackson enjoys writing tips for finding the cheapest roadside assistance (interesting to know is that the Danish term is Vejhjælp find de billigste priser) on the market. He currently works for one of the leading suppliers of this service – Falck.