Wreckerrnen face end of rota deals
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• Recovery operators are locked in discussions with police chiefs in a desperate attempt to stop moves by police forces nationwide to abolish their rota call-out system for roadside breakdowns and award contracts direct to the RAC and AA.
The wreckermen fear that once organisations like the RAC and AA are awarded contracts they will vet the operators on the current police rotas and make up their own lists of approved operators, choosing the cheapest to boost their profits.
The Association of Vehicle Recovery Operators is talking to The Association of Chief Police Officers this week in the hopes that the police will drop their trials. Chris Nieman, national chairman of AVRO, says: "Out of commercial interest the police are screwing our trade into the ground. It will be a price war and AVRO is very concerned about the implications of this."
Pilot schemes have already been put into action. The North Yorkshire force has already awarded its work to the RAC (CM 26 Mar-1 April). Norfolk and Northampton police are both considering a trial.
The Kent force is running a trial with the AA. It has contracted AA staff to answer calls from emergency phones so that police resources can be redeployed or cut. The AA staff still have to allocate the wrecker work according to the established police list of wreckers.