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| From Bridgestone. While national fleet agreements for big fleets have traditionally included emergency road service, smaller fleets have had to fend for themselves. Recognizing that road hazards affect big and small fleets alike, Bridgestone is introducing “National Preferred.” This new emergency road service program makes upfront pricing, cashless transactions and sophisticated computer record keeping available even to the smallest fleets. We asked Dave Kolasinsky, manager of truck tire marketing, to explain National Preferred for us. |
| Why
did you create National Preferred? Dave Kolasinsky, manager, commercial tire marketing: “For some time, we’ve been trying to find a way to provide quality emergency road service to smaller fleets. Finally, technology has advanced to the point where that’s possible.” |
| Is
emergency road service that big a problem? “It certainly is. Regardless of the size of your fleet, if you travel far from home, you need a way to deal with tire-related breakdowns. “Prices on tires and service can vary widely around the country, putting drivers and dispatchers in the position of having to hunt for the best deal—in the middle of the night—in an unfamiliar location. “Then, drivers may have to negotiate prices along the side of the road. That can mean high emergency road service costs, credit and money hassles—in addition to the downtime and delayed shipments.” |
| What
were the obstacles in the past? “Record keeping, credit and dispatching all had to be made quick, flexible and reliable for the system to work. By collaborating with Transplatinum Service Corporation, we believe we’ve developed a system that addresses all those issues. “National Preferred is designed for fleets that don’t have accounts with Bridgestone. Once a fleet qualifies for credit, the transactions become cashless, a huge benefit for any fleet, but normally only available to the large ones.” |
| How
is price determined? “With National Preferred, prices are published in advance, stable and competitive. You’re not dependent on the negotiating skills of a driver or dispatcher, and if you know how many road service calls you’re likely to need each year, you can be much more accurate in your budgeting.” |
| How
do National Preferred transactions work? “In the past, smaller fleets either had to have drivers carry cash or company credit cards, both of which can be lost or stolen. Or, they might have to rely on wiring money to stranded drivers—or on asking drivers to use personal credit cards. “Besides the risk of loss or theft, there can be long delays getting the truck back on the road—and it’s a record-keeping nightmare. “Imagine drivers having to find service providers, negotiate prices, wait for cash to be wired, and then have to bring all the records back to the fleet office for processing. “With National Preferred, you simply have an authorized Bridgestone dealer do the work. No haggling, no roadside payments. And the paperwork comes directly to you for payment.” |
| Who
does the dispatching? “We kept that flexible. You can do it yourself, or we can do it for you. Because many fleets prefer to handle dispatch themselves, or prefer their own outside dispatch service, the program allows this. “And, we also provide ways for you to find an authorized Bridgestone dealer or truckstop quickly and easily.” |
| How
does that work? “Again, flexibility is the key. We have glovebox-size directories that drivers can keep in the truck. We also have a computerized directory on diskette that your dispatchers can use. And, for the ultimate in convenience, we have our dealer/truckstop directory on the Internet. “The Internet version even provides locator mapping.” |
| Locator
mapping? “When dispatchers go to our Internet site, www.trucktires.com, they can enter the approximate location of the truck. The locator system will provide the names and phone numbers of service providers nearby, along with maps and directions.” |
| But
what if we don’t have Internet access? “That’s easy, too. Just use our toll-free service hotline, and we’ll find the nearest provider for you.” |
| Who
actually does the service? “All of our National Preferred service providers are authorized Bridgestone dealers and truckstops, located throughout the U.S.A. and Canada. Right now, we have one of the largest and most reliable networks of 24-hour service providers in the business.” |
| Is
the paperwork complicated? “Not at all. When you apply for National Preferred, we’ll make note of your tire requirements, and those will be available to the dealer at time of dispatch. “After completing the service, the dealer will send the paperwork to us, and we will see that Transplatinum sends you the appropriate invoice. All you have to do is review it and send payment to Transplatinum.” |
| What
if we’re eligible for tax exemptions? “No problem. We’re set up to take care of those too, for both the U.S.A. and Canada.” |
| How
can we enroll in National Preferred? “Contact your dealer or Bridgestone representative, or call 1-800-543-7522, extension 3946. We’ve also included a business reply card you can use to ask for more information.” |
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