[Jeff Higgins]

I have been on the Allstate roadside assistance program for about ten years. I've used it three or four times and have had great luck with it. No complaints at all.

A little story: About six or seven years ago my wife and I were on our Road King, riding over the North Cascades Highway (highway 20). Approaching the summit, the bike started cutting out. Turns out the then eight year old battery had had enough. We were out of cell phone coverage, so we couldn't call for help. We turned around, wound up coasting down the shoulder on the downhill parts, and managed to get it running a couple of times to limp it down in the small town of Newhalem. So, being a HOG member (Harley Owners' Group, a "PCA" for H-D owners) I called their Roadside Assistance, administered through Road America. The nice, barely English literate Cuban refugee somewhere in Florida (yes lady, "Washington" is a state, too...") assured me she would dispatch a tow truck post haste.

Five hours later, still no truck. Called back and was assured they were "working on it". So I called the Allstate number, and had a truck there in less than 45 minutes. The guy asked me if we were the folks on the Road America call - "you would have sat here all night; no one in the valley responds to those anymore. They don't reimburse enough to make it worth our while."

So, while driving down Highway 20 in the tow truck, we had to stop for gas. The guy running the gas station had a couple of tow trucks sitting there. He saw the bike on the flatbed, so he came out to chat me up a bit. He had gotten the Road America call as well, and told them he "was busy, and had no trucks available".

I don't know if this is regional or what, but it might pay to check with some local tow companies to see who they prefer to deal with. Allstate has gotten high marks from every one I've subequently asked. They pay the bill with no muss, no fuss, which means everything to the tow companies. Road America (at least around here, at that time), on the other hand, was squeezing them for all they were worth, refusing to pay their bill, but rather assigning their own scale to which they paid. The tow operators I asked about it said Road America's compensation would not even put gas in their tank to make the call. Every one of them were letting their contracts expire, and doing their best to be "busy" until they did expire.

So, it pays to make a few calls. See what the operators will and will not work with in your area.