Advice
Broken down in Scotland
The first few minutes matter more than the phone call. This is what to do before you ring anyone, written for the roads we actually work — the M8, the M74, the A73 and everything around Lanarkshire and Glasgow.
On a motorway or dual carriageway
Get off the road if you can. If an exit is close and the vehicle will still move, take it — a slip road or a service area is far safer than the hard shoulder.
If you cannot, put your hazard lights on and pull as far onto the hard shoulder as possible, wheels turned to the left. Then get out through the nearside doors, the ones away from traffic, and go up the bank behind the barrier. Do not stand beside the car, do not stand in front of it, and do not attempt a repair on the traffic side. Leave animals in the vehicle unless there is immediate danger.
If you cannot reach the hard shoulder at all and you are stuck in a live lane, keep your seatbelt on, hazards on, and ring the police. They will get warning signs put out through the control room before anyone approaches the vehicle. That call comes before ringing a recovery firm, including us.
On an ordinary road
Hazards on, and get the vehicle as far off the carriageway as you can manage. On a country road that means past the white line and onto the verge if it is firm enough. On a residential street you have more time — but if you are on a bend, near a junction or over a crest, where you stop matters more than how neatly you park.
A warning triangle goes 45 metres back on an ordinary road. Never use one on a motorway.
Winter
Most of our winter callouts are one of three things: a battery that will not turn over on the first properly cold morning, a car that has slid off a gritted road onto an ungritted verge, or someone who has run the tank low and then sat in a queue.
Before a long run in bad weather, Transport Scotland's advice is worth following — check brakes, lights, oil and screen wash, use a winter mix so the washer bottle does not freeze, and set off with more fuel than the journey needs. Keep something warm in the boot. If you break down on a rural road in January, the wait is the dangerous part, not the fault.
For live conditions before you travel, Traffic Scotland publish updates at traffic.gov.scot and run a customer care line on 0800 028 1414.
When you ring us
Five things make the call short and the price exact:
- Where you are. A postcode, a junction number, a marker post on the hard shoulder, or a what3words.
- What you are driving, and whether it is a car or a van — the base rate differs.
- What it is doing. Will not start, will not steer, warning light, accident damage.
- Whether the wheels turn and the steering is free. A vehicle that rolls loads faster.
- Where it needs to go. A garage, home, or ask us and we will suggest one.
You will get a price on that call rather than a callback, and the driver's name by text before we set off. Our rates are published if you would rather work it out yourself first.
What we will not do
We are a recovery operator, not a roadside repairer. We are not going to attempt a fix at the side of the M8 in the dark to save you a tow — that is how people get hurt. If the fault is genuinely a five-minute job somewhere safe, we will say so and tell you where to take it.
We also will not quote you one figure on the phone and a different one on arrival. What we agree is what you pay, unless you tell us something on arrival that changes the job.
Need recovering now?
Ring and tell us where you are. We will give you a price and an arrival window on the call.