35% rise in number of breakdown removals in third quarter

Tuesday 6 November 2018
During the third quarter, IM recovery operators carried out 17,588 breakdown removals, 35% more than in the same quarter in 2017. One cause of the rise was the hot weather. On hot days, during the daytime, Rijkswaterstaat aims to have all broken-down vehicles removed from the road. In particular in July, this led to an extremely high workload for IM recovery operators. Another cause of the rise was the stricter safety policy introduced by the Wegenwacht roadside assistance service. In the third quarter, the ANWB car owners club reported 5,826 broken-down vehicles to the LCM, for removal, 46% more than in the third quarter of 2017.

Niek Ardesch, Jan Ardesch and Bert Stoeten of Autax

Niek Ardesch, Jan Ardesch and Bert Stoeten of Autax, one of the fastest IM recovery operators in the last quarter (photograph: Henk Gaasbeek Fotografie))

The number of accidents in the third quarter fell slightly. 5,790 accidents were reported to the LCM, 6% fewer than in 2017. This downturn seems to mark an end to a period of five years in which accident numbers rose continuously. The moving annual total of the number of accidents through to the end of October amounted to 26,539, 2% lower than the maximum achieved in May of this year but still 30% higher than the lowest total in 2013.

The national network of recovery operators on trunk roads easily handled the workload. The average arrival time for all completed orders was 13:24 minutes. Taking account of delays as a result of congestion, the average arrival time amounted to 11:48 minutes. Both figures are practically identical to those achieved in the second quarter.

IM recovery operators with 100% performance

Recovery operator Districts Area (km) Recovery operations
SchoenmakerNH12378,3142
KeizerG3948,821
HauloNH11439,223
CollewijnG3532,253
JonkNH12728,885
HeiltjesNB33028,146
AutaxO7425,723
SprankenisNB33724,384
SpeerstraF1822,710
ASGGL25413,314
KrimpenerwaardZH17011,710
BoersmaF1011,111
KooijmanGL2583,414
 
Total367,6536
National total8.730,022.873
Share 100%4,2%2,3%

In 13 districts, the contracted recovery operator succeeded in achieving an arrival time within the contractual standard times of 20 minutes during the daytime and 25 minutes at night, for all recovery operations. One of the operators that stood out was Bergingsbedrijf Willem Keizer, responsible for the large G39 district in East Groningen. This operator has never previously appeared on this list. The other recovery operators with a perfect score were companies that have achieved this status on several occasions in the past, including Autax in Ommen.

Lammert Drenth van Bergingsbedrijf Willem Keizer

Lammert Drenth of Bergingsbedrijf Willem Keizer in action on the underlying road network (photograph: Ronny Wiekenkamp, 112 Regioflits)

As usual, the fastest recovery company in the country was Takel-, Berging- en Transportbedrijf A. Barendregt based in Rhoon. This IM operator achieved an average arrival time on the motorways around Rotterdam and Dordrecht of less than eight minutes, for a total of 1,623 recovery operations. The lowest average arrival time in a single district was achieved by Loonbedrijf 't Hart van de Krimpenerwaard in Lekkerkerk. During the past three quarters, this company completed ten recovery operations in district ZH170, with an average arrival time of just 5:28 minutes.

IM recovery operators with average arrival times below 10 minutes

Recovery operator Districts Area (km) Recovery operations
Barendregt*188,91.623
HooikammerO72, D54125,7277
DongenL36497,4376
BCFF1679,7103
SchoenmakerNH12378,3142
VlietNH13676,2406
EgeraatZ28768,6159
AmerongenGL24959,3128
GraafZH16357,7753
DriesprongL35356,149
HeiltjesNB330, GL26847,276
RensesNH11644,7129
QuartelZH163a33,2367
DeltaGL23932,755
CollewijnG3532,253
KuzeeZ28530,954
JonkNH12728,885
EijckNB30428,7132
AutaxO7425,723
SprankenisNB33724,384
SpeerstraF1822,710
ASGGL25413,314
PaijmansNB31412,826
KrimpenerwaardZH17011,710
BoersmaF1011,111
 
Total1.287,95.145
National total 8.730,022.873
Number of districts with ART below 10 minutes14,8%22,5%

*) Barendregt districts: ZH166, ZH167, ZH168, ZH173, ZH175 en ZH181

The tables only show those districts from which a complete quarterly report was issued in the last quarter. These are districts in which ten or more recovery operations were carried out, and districts for which the quarter just ended was the last in a series of quarters, the cumulative total for which amounts to the minimum of ten recovery operations required for drawing up a report. Average arrival times are reported following correction for delays due to traffic congestion. In determining the kilometres of road in each district, the two carriageways of roads with divided carriageways are counted as separate roads. No rights may be derived from the information in the tables.

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