Broken Down in New Jersey: A Driver's Guide to Roadside Assistance

Do

✓ Keep your phone charged and answer calls from unknown numbers while you wait.

✓ Have your key, your ID and the registration handy so the job is not held up.

✓ Tell the dispatcher about every warning light you see, even the ones that seem unrelated.

✓ Ask what happens if the fix does not work, so you know the next step before the truck arrives.

✓ Keep the receipt; many memberships and insurance policies reimburse a call made outside their network.

✓ Keep a basic winter kit in the car: a warm layer, a phone charger, water and a flashlight.

Don't

✗ Do not stand between your car and traffic, or at the back of the car on a highway shoulder.

✗ Do not keep cranking a car that will not start; you drain the battery and can damage the starter.

✗ Do not open a hot radiator cap or touch the cooling system after the engine overheats.

✗ Do not accept help from a truck you did not call without asking who sent it and what it will cost.

✗ Do not walk along a highway to find a gas station or an exit.

✗ Do not drive on a tire that is flat, even slowly, for more than the distance needed to get off the road.

Roadside service or a tow?

If the problem is power, air, fuel, a locked door or a car stuck off the road, a roadside technician can usually get you going: roadside assistance covers jump starts, spare-tire changes, lockouts, fuel and winch outs. If you see steam, smell burning, hear grinding, or the car was in a crash, skip the roadside fix and ask for a tow; the emergency towing guide walks through that call.

Battery or fuel?

A battery problem shows up the moment you turn the key: dim lights, a click, a slow crank. A fuel problem shows up while driving: the engine stumbles and quits, then cranks normally but will not catch. If the gauge was low, say so.

Change the tire or tow to a tire shop?

If you have an usable spare and only one tire is damaged, a spare-tire change gets you to a shop. No spare, a flat spare, two damaged tires or a bent rim mean a tow; the flat tire change guide explains how to tell.

Lockout tech or a locksmith?

If the keys are inside and the door simply needs opening, it is a lockout. If the key is lost, broken or the fob needs programming, it is a locksmith or dealer job, and the car can be towed there if that makes more sense.

The Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway

Roadside work and towing on the shoulder of the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway is handled by the Turnpike Authority's authorized garages. Call us anyway: the dispatcher tells you how to reach them, and once the car is off the highway at the exit or in the garage's lot, our truck takes it to the shop or driveway you choose. Every other road, including Routes 1 & 9, Route 22, I-78 and I-287, is a direct dispatch from Linden.

The Move Over law

New Jersey requires drivers to slow down and move over, when they safely can, for emergency vehicles and tow trucks with their lights on. It protects the technician at your car, but traffic does not always comply, so stay off the travel side of the vehicle.

Seasons change the calls

In our part of the state, dead batteries spike on the first cold mornings, flats and bent rims follow the late-winter pothole weeks, heat takes out batteries and cooling systems in midsummer, and fall brings wet leaves and deer on the suburban roads. Checking your battery before winter and your tire pressure monthly heads off the most common calls.

Check the road before you continue

NJ 511 reports incidents, closures and conditions on state roads. After a breakdown, a quick look can steer you around the backup or the weather that caused it.