While the average rate increase is around 4.5 %, year-on-year costs rose by almost 17 %. They consider the losses increasingly unsustainable.
At the fiscal close of the first quarter of 2023, roadside assistance renegotiated the prices of its services with insurers, assistance platforms and motoring clubs. The National Roadside Assistance Alliance states that the divergence in the rate increases offered by these intermediaries sometimes exceeds 500 %. The survival of tow-truck companies is under threat given the lack of stability and the relationship between operating costs and commercial margins, which they consider entirely unreasonable.
The Alliance's spokesperson, Xavier Martí, has said that these intermediary companies, as well as the assistance companies his organisation represents, have an obligation not to undermine road safety. "Entities that are not prepared to raise their prices should rethink their position, or they will end up being forced out of the market itself," he explained.
The organisation insists that, under these conditions, it is not possible to offer a quality service that guarantees users' safety, to begin with. And it warns of rising tension in a sector that is already very burnt out.
Extreme situations: RACE and Línea Directa
The reality, the Alliance insists, is that the escalating price of fuel, rising wages and social security contributions, as well as other inputs – such as the increased cost of tow trucks themselves and their components – mean that assistance companies' rates must be brought into line with the cost of the service. In this respect, there have been negotiations in which the rate increase has been "frankly insufficient, if not "close to zero or even a reduction over the year as a whole", they complain.
As examples of the latter, they cite companies such as RACE and Línea Directa, which they have asked to reconsider their position if they do not want to jeopardise their supplier network. This is already happening in regions such as the Basque Country.
Owing to the recovery in mobility, since 2022 and so far in 2023, tow-truck services are increasingly in demand. Operators are also being sought. But this activity does not translate into greater profitability, hence the negative rates. Just consider this figure: Easter 2023 closed with losses of 24 % compared with the 2022 season.
The National Roadside Assistance Alliance is made up of the following regional and national associations and business organisations: ABEAC (Balearic Islands), ABEAC (Basque Country), ASCA (Catalonia), AMEAC (Madrid), ASCALEAC, (Castile and León), ASEDA (Andalusia), ASEGA (Galicia), AGRUAXA (Salamanca), ASEXTEAC (Extremadura), GRUPO CARTER (National), CEPAS (National), FEGRUAL (National Federation) AGREGA-GRÚAS and REAC (National Group).