ThePewterPalace Our Love Affair with Avions

We see many, many recurring posts (especially by newbies to RVing) on RV Facebook groups asking opinions on roadside assistance.

Having a reputable and dependable company to help you if you break down towing your trailer or driving your motorhome is essential!

In this article we will also offer our recommendations for what safety equipment and supplies you should ALWAYS have with you! This goes for short weekend RV trips to full timing and every trip inbetween!

Yes. We have personal experience, and yes, we were left stranded years ago by AAA RVPlus in our Class A.  We dropped them immediately after a decade of paying them. BTW- we are not affiliated with any roadside assistance vendor or products in any way, and we do not derive any perks, compensation or favors from these companies.

Plain and simple, we subscribe to an annual membership with CoachNet. Below I will go into:

1. reasons why AND

2.our multple, first hand experience using them while traveling in different states. 

3. And finally we will also offer some real world tips we have learned about using roadie assistance.

Above photos on INTERSTATE 17 south of Flagstaff, AZ near Camp Verde, AZ. Minimal shoulder, high truck traffic & speed corridor, and just 2 months after last breakdown of the truck in Idaho. NOTE cone positions for safety. Trailer was towed and backed in right into our already reserved campsite at our campground.

HERE IS OUR REASONS WHY:

1. This is a company whose sole function is to provide roadside assistance to RVs and Truckers.
2. The cover class A and towables. Different plans for each. The plan for MHs also has add on list windshield protection, etc.
3. When we did our research on what long-time, full-time RVers we trust use? CoachNet came in hands down the fav with tried and true real experience reviews.
4. Our own vehicle & Trailer insurance agent at FCIS told us to NEVER depend on your insurance certificate companies’ roadside assistance  that is automatically tacked into your annual policies. It is not a priority for them and should be relied on only as a ‘last resort’ as she put it. SHE recommended CoachNet.
5. They will handle both our travel trailer AND our truck if either, or both need assistance.
6. They can handle calls in all lower 48 states. We have needed to use them in 3 states (ID, NM and MO)
7. Coach-Net roadside assistance also provides coverage in both Canada and Mexico, though the way assistance is administered differs from their standard U.S. and Canadian service. [1]
   • United States & Canada: Provides standard “sign and drive” coverage with a vast network of service providers.
   • Mexico: Coverage is available, but it is provided on a reimbursement basis only. You must get prior approval from Coach-Net, and reimbursement is limited to $1,000 per occurrence.

FOR INFORMATION ABOUT COACHNET VISIT HERE!

OUR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SAFETY/BREAKDOWN EQUIPMENT YOU NEED TO CARRY AT ALL TIMES!

• Safety (bright orange or yellow with reflective tape) vests for EACH adult
• Orange safety cones for side of road warning to oncoming motorists. We found these collapsible ones that work great, are light weight and packable
• Flares and a lighter or matches!
• Flash lights
• Rags
• Small first aid kit
• Jumper cables
• Duct tape
• Rechargeable battery pack for cell phones
• non- perishable energy bars
• Containers of drinking water, more if in the south west and warm climates
• tire changing equipment and a spare tire for truck and trailer
• preferably an air compressor like a VIAair portable compressor
• Space blanket
• Bug spray

VERY IMPORTANT!!!

OUR TIPS FOR USING COACHNET OR EVEN ANY OTHER ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM:

1. know where you are BROKEN DOWN relative to landmarks, highway marker mile post signs and exits. Having an old fashioned atlas can help when cell phone is spotty or not possible. Especially if you are in areas you do not know, you may recognize the name of the last town you drove through and the highway you are on if your GPS is not functioning. Sometimes “old school” can help!
2. Keep your cell phones (at least one of you) charging when driving. GPS sucks a lot of juice and you are going to need your cell phones to communicate with services perhaps over several hours. Close out all non essential apps, etc. to save battery life.
3. We have specifically found that WE ARE BETTER OFF to use Google to find local (to our breakdown location) towing services.
   • WE CALL THEM to see if they have the capabilities to flat bed tow our 4WD truck and to retrieve our travel trailer and let them know the WEIGHT of BOTH the truck and trailer up front. NOT all companies have our weight capacity or flat bed towing.
   • We ask them what their lead time would be to our relative location AND if they are experienced towing travel trailers AND if they would be able to tow our trailer and us to a nearby campground.
   • Lastly we ask them if they have a relationship with COACH NET already, or if they are willing to work with them. 99% of the times so far we have had the tow companies know of or have worked with COACH NET.
4. WE USE GOOGLE to find the brand car dealership repair shop WE WANT TO USE.
   • ALL roadside assistance programs are set up to tow you only to the “closest certified repair shop”. That could be a small mom’n pop shop who may have 1 mechanic and limited access to speedy delivery of parts.
   • This is why we always will opt to spend our own funds to pay the mileage overage charge to a dealership we have found and vetted via google reviews.
5. THEN WE CALL COACH NET and let them know where we are (they can tap the GPS coordinates via your cell phone too!) and
   • WE TELL THEM where & what garage we want to be towed to AND then we tell them which tow service(s) we have been in contact with and give the COACH NET operator the tow company contact info.
   • This, we have found GREATLY SPEEDS UP OUR TOW RECOVERY TIME! If you do not do these three steps above, the Roadside assist operators have to go through their lists, find a garage, find a tow company who will agree to their reimbursement rate for the tow. You are not their only client in need of help!
   • In essence you are making the operators job far easier, they appreciate it and take it from there to contact the tow company and negotiate a rate and the details of the tow (which in all but 1 of our instances we had to have the truck towed one place and our travel trailer towed to either the nearest campground that had a space for us last minute, or in the case of when we were in AZ our reserved campground was only about 10 miles from our breakdown. We gladly paid out of pocket for the extra distance and they backed our trailer right into our campsite for us!
6. We have found that the COACH NET operators have been excellent in doing follow ups with us during the whole process. The only thing we do not like is that THEY have to call us….We are not given a phone # to call them other than the general 800#. However, they are great in calling e.g when the tow company is enroute to us, calling again once the tow should have been commencing to ask us if all is going ok and the tow company has arrived. Then we will get a call back either later that day or the next day to from them to be sure that everything went as planned and for us to give any feedback.

So we hope in the end you NEVER, EVER have to use roadside assistance- but the statistics show at someday, somewhere you will. We hope this article helps!

Safe travels!

Kevin, Luise & Nutmeg on the Skyline Drive, VA