DAFaid celebrates 50 years of roadside assistance

Roadside assistance service DAFaid is celebrating its 50th birthday at the end of the month. Launched in August 1974, DAFaid was a pioneering roadside assistance scheme for the transport sector - and has since grown to become the industry's leading roadside support programme for truck operators. Today, DAFaid is a 24/7/365 support service performing roadside repairs and recoveries for truck operators of all types.

DAFaid is delivered through the DAF Dealer network; the UK truck industry's largest dealer network comprising 129 locations, over 500 dedicated roadside technicians and supported by more than 1500 IRTEC-accredited workshop technicians. DAFaid was devised in the UK specifically for UK DAF operators, and as an extension of DAF's Europe-wide International Truck Service (ITS) roadside support programme which became operational in 1973. DAFaid was also groundbreaking in that it 'secured a guarantee of payment' for roadside repairs.

Weekly calls to DAFaid's call centre in Hanwell, London, for the remainder of 1974 totalled just 133 - at a time when 1185 DAF vehicles were registered in the UK. Three years later, 1977 year-end registrations had risen to 4142, with DAFaid taking a total of 1283 calls.

By contrast, DAFaid today handles around 100,000 jobs every year, dealing with a range of incidents relating to trucks, including non-DAF marques, trailers, buses and even agricultural equipment. Average call pick-up at the service's call centre in Walsall, which has been operated by the RAC since 1992, is just eight seconds - with average travel time to jobs in around 50 minutes, and over 80% of jobs completed at the roadside. Average time from initial call to being back up and running is 110 minutes, the service reckons.

For many, DAFaid is described as an emergency service, with countless stories of DAF technicians going the extra mile to ensure vehicles are returned to the road.