Some Interesting Facts About TDOT's Roadside Assistance Program: Highway Incident Responders
You've probably seen them out & about. Many states have organized "roadside assistance programs" like this in their major metro areas.
If you ride the Tennessee highways and live in Chattanooga, Memphis, Knoxville, or Nashville, chances are you've encountered one or more of those lime yellow ambulance-looking trucks parked along the shoulder helping a stranded motorist, funneling traffic around an accident scene, or even single-handedly managing a major traffic incident -- as they are often the first to arrive on scene.
I'm here to sing the praises of the courageous men & women who ride the roadways providing aid to motorists. These uniformed operators are paid to deal with roadside incidents and accidents, while striving to keep everyone safe and restore traffic to normal conditions as soon as possible.
I, for one, am grateful.
Who Are They? Are They "Heroes" or "Helpers"?
In Tennessee, these highway responders fall under TDOT's umbrella of services called "highway incident management", which was established in 2000.
The incident responders program (which started first in Nashville and Knoxville) became known as "HELP" and drivers initially roamed the highways on weekdays from early morning to 8:00 p.m. In September 2001, service was expanded to include Chattanooga and Memphis and drivers worked seven days a week with longer hours. Source: TDOT
I'm not sure why the wording on their trucks says "Highway Incident Response Unit" while the wording in TDOT's documention merely refers to them as "HELP" (with no mention of Highway Incident Response Unit anywhere), but I happen to be fond of the HIRU acronym, and I think it's quite fitting that it's kind of "hero" sounding.
For the record, I know not one of them. And I've never had to utilize their services ...personally. (Though as a driver routinely caught in rush hour traffic, I'm certain that they've mangaged to get me to work and home quicker on several occasions thanks to their efforts at funneling traffic past disabled vehicles and such.)
The HELP trucks, which are designated emergency vehicles, are four-wheel drive and are equipped to quickly push, pull, or drag disabled vehicles from the travel lanes... The operators and patrolling supervisors are all certified as emergency medical "First Responders." Source: TDOT
It's A Dangerous Job
What initially peaked my interest in these roadside heroes was a report I heard on the local news. It said that an incredible number of HIRU responders in Tennessee are injured (or even killed) on the job each year.
I was channel surfing at the time, but I managed to quickly jot down some of the figures they mentioned...
From 1999 to June of 2005 there were 16 responders who were injured on the job in Nashville, 14 in Knoxville, 6 in Memphis, and 4 in Chattanooga.
Show Me The Numbers For Tennessee
I've always wondered things like...
Just how many trucks & paid responders are on the force?
- How many miles do the highway responders drive in a given day?
- How many "stops" do they make in a day, a year?
I found the answers to those questions (and more) in the 2004-2005 HELP Annual Operating Report:
Number of responders: 85 people
Number of trucks: 69
Miles patrolled: 198 (in Chattanooga, Memphis, Knoxville, Nashville metro areas combined)
Total "stops" recorded: 89,821 (37% are in Memphis, 31% in Nashville, 19% in Knoxville, and 13% in Chattanooga)
Miles driven per person: 28,676
Miles driven per shift: 232
Stops per person: 1,057
Stops per shift: 8.5
Reason for a stop: "help a disabled vehicle" (58%), "tag abandoned vehicle" (16%), "assist with accident" (12%), "all other combined reasons" (14%)
Services provided: "provide traffic control" (21%), "provide mechanical service" (11%), "tag abandoned vehicles" (11%), "change a tire" (9%), "all other services combined" (17%)
Motorists assisted: Tennessee residents (79%)
Discovery of incidents: "drove up on route" (73%)
Motorist satisfaction: 99.94% of 1,573 motorists who completed comment cards in '04-'05 said they received "excellent" service.
Hmmmm... very intersting.
And finally, "TDOT also considered, but decided against, charging motorists for services such as changing tires or providing fuel." The reason why is quite interesting. (See page 22.)
what a tremendous waste of taxpayer money!!! driving around all day waiting to find someone who ran out of gas or had a flat tire. I wish someone would invent a helpful tool to assist these stranded motorists- oh, they already have- a cell phone! plus missing out on the valuable lesson of remembering to fill up with gas before getting on the interstate or learning how to change a flat tire. Let's see- 8 stops per day in a $75,000 vehicle, $60,000 employees, driving 230 miles a day at 10 miles to the gallon at $3 gas. what a great use of our tax dollars!!!
Thank you so much for helping to get the word out about our unit. Your info very accurate. Most people are not aware of what all we are capable of doing. If you want to know anything else about our unit please ask. I'm not sure what area you reside in but we do have a ride-a-long program for people who are at lest 18 years old. I'm assigned to the Knoxville area and you are more that welcome in my truck anytime.
Thank you for helping us. We broke down in Arkansas while we were heading to Springfield, IL for the National High School Rodeo Finals. We had our truck fixed and were trying to get to a Dodge dealership in Memphis when we broke down again. Two, not just one, assistance roadside crew members stopped and offered help. The first crew member took my husband on to the dealership, got the part and returned and helped my husband fix our truck. I'm not so sure he wasn't an angel. I believe his name was Tom Livers or Livery. Thanks for everything. May God continue to bless all involved in this program.
James -
To answer your question, I phoned the TDOT office (741-2848) and asked for information about their HELP trucks.
They passed me through to the Communications Department. The lady on the phone was most helpful and offered the following information:
*They do not give out the phone number.
*If they gave out the number, they would simply be responding to lots of "little things" which would hamper their ability to take care of the "big things" (like accidents and traffic flow).
*They do not respond to personal service calls from individuals.
*They only respond to service calls from the Highway Patrol and/or the local Police Department.
*They are not like AAA, offering the type of roadside assistance that you may be most familiar with.
When I asked when I would be most likely to find a HELP truck on the road, she said: "They're out there all the time. As late as 11PM, you'll find them driving the major routes."
Before we hung up, she made sure that I realized that I could call the Highway Patrol or the local Police Department at ANY time, and they would be the ones to dispatch a HELP truck to come to my assistance.
So, in answer to your question, James... the HELP trucks are definitely a good thing to have available to us, but they're not available on a personal request basis.
...My thanks to TDOT for their helpfulness and candid replies. (And thanks to James for bringing up the question.)
All this info is nice but how do you call them when you need assistance?