TowingBossPro Blog — Roadside Assistance

Fuel Delivery Calls: Running Out-of-Gas Service Without Losing Money

Out-of-gas calls feel like easy money. Pour in a couple of gallons, watch the car start, move on. But fuel delivery has a few traps: the wrong fuel, a car that was not actually out of gas, and a ticket where the cost of the fuel itself gets forgotten on the invoice. Handle those, and fuel calls become reliable little earners.

Confirm the Fuel Type Every Time

Tire Change Calls: What to Ask, What to Bring and When It Becomes a Tow covered tire changes, where the spare is the key question. For fuel delivery, the key question is what goes in the tank.

Gas or diesel? It sounds obvious, but some customers do not know, and putting gasoline in a diesel engine can turn a small call into a very expensive problem. Ask, then confirm with the vehicle details on the call: year, make and model tell the driver a lot. Put the fuel type in the driver notes in plain words so it is the first thing they see.

Was It Really Out of Gas?

Some cars that "ran out of gas" did not. The fuel gauge was reading low and the car stalled for some other reason. Ask how the car died. Did it sputter and slowly lose power as the gauge hit empty? That is classic out of gas. Did it shut off suddenly with a quarter tank showing? That is something else.

Note it, and warn the customer it may need a tow if fuel does not fix it. Take the drop-off address while you have them, so the call is ready to become a tow without starting over.

Ask, too, whether the customer already tried something. Someone who poured a gallon from a neighbor's can and still cannot start the car is giving you useful information. Diesel vehicles that run dry can sometimes need more than fuel to restart, so note diesel calls clearly and make sure the driver knows what to expect.

Know Your Local Rules on Carrying Fuel

Carrying and dispensing fuel comes with rules about containers, quantities and where you can pour. Those rules vary by area and sometimes by the type of road. Check your local requirements and set a company policy for how much fuel a driver carries and in what containers, then stick to it.

The software will not tell you what is legal. It will help you keep the process consistent once you decide.

Put the Fuel on the Invoice

The most common way fuel calls lose money is simple: the service fee goes on the invoice and the fuel itself does not. Decide how you bill fuel, either as its own line or included in the service, and do it the same way every time. Invoicing in TowingBossPro handles sales tax, and fuel may be taxed differently from service in your area, so check what applies to you.

The customer can pay online from their phone or the customer app, or you can charge a card on file. Collect before the driver leaves. A customer whose car just started is ready to drive away and stop thinking about you.

Fuel Calls on Highways

Many out-of-gas calls happen on highways, because that is where people misjudge the distance to the next station. That makes location intake critical: direction of travel, exit or mile marker, which side of the road. Two-way texting for a location pin helps, and the live map in the customer app lets the stranded driver see your truck coming instead of watching traffic.

The one-tap on-the-way and arrival texts from the driver app reach the customer automatically, so your dispatcher is not fielding where-are-you calls.

Highway fuel calls are also where the customer's location shifts the most, because people coast as far as they can before stopping. The pin they send may be a mile past the exit they mentioned. Trust the pin over the description, and put both in the notes so the driver can sort it out on approach.

Repeat Customers and Fleets

Fleets run vehicles out of fuel more often than you might think, especially when different drivers share a vehicle. If a local business calls you for fuel more than once, set it up as a commercial account so calls and invoices stay under the account. It makes month-end simple and it makes you their first call.

The next article covers winch-outs, the roadside call with the most variables. For the whole roadside workflow in one place, start at the roadside assistance software overview.