A breakdown doesn’t just stop the truck. It stops the load, the gate appointment, the next turn, and the driver’s clock.
On a drayage run between a Terminal Island berth and a Carson warehouse, one dead truck can back up a whole day of moves. On the Vincent Thomas Bridge or in a terminal queue lane, it stops other people’s days too — and there is nowhere to push it aside.
Emergency roadside assistance is the call you make when the truck won’t move or shouldn’t move. We send a mobile diesel mechanic to wherever the truck is — the shoulder of the 710, a surface truck route in Wilmington, a customer’s dock in Carson, or a secured container yard — to diagnose the failure and repair it on the spot whenever that’s possible. When it isn’t, we’ll tell you plainly so you can line up a tow instead of losing more hours.
Dispatch answers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including nights, weekends, and holidays.
What our Emergency Roadside Assistance covers
- Air leaks — ruptured air lines, blown gladhand seals, leaking fittings, and brake chamber problems that keep the brakes from releasing
- No-start and hard-start calls — dead batteries, failed starters, corroded cables, bad grounds, and fuel supply problems
- Tire blowouts and flats on steer, drive, and trailer positions (see mobile tire service)
- Engine derates and check-engine lights — code reads with diagnostic software and a clear answer on whether the truck is safe to drive
- DPF, DEF, and aftertreatment faults, including parked regens when the system allows one
- Overheating — broken belts, blown coolant hoses, fan clutch failures, and low coolant
- Electrical failures — lights out, blown fuses, damaged pigtails and trailer cords
- Brakes dragging, locked up, or out of adjustment
- Fuel filter and water separator changes when fuel restriction is starving the engine
- Jump starts, fuel delivery, and lockouts (see jump start & fuel delivery)
- Temporary repairs that make a truck safe to drive to a shop, when a full repair isn’t possible on site
What can't be done on the roadside
A mobile service truck carries a lot, but it isn’t a shop. These jobs almost always need a building, a lift, or heavy equipment:
- Internal engine failures — spun bearings, dropped valves, broken cranks, or anything that means an in-frame or out-of-frame rebuild
- Transmission removal and clutch replacement on most trucks
- Major frame damage or collision repair
- Jobs that need the truck lifted for hours, like a complete rear-end replacement
- Repairs waiting on a dealer-only part that isn’t in stock locally
If the call sounds like one of these, we’ll say so on the phone. Sending a mechanic out to confirm what everyone already suspects wastes your time and money.
Fix it on site or tow it?
Tow bills for a loaded tractor-trailer add up fast, and a tow also means the truck waits in a shop queue. If the problem is an air line, a tire, a battery, a sensor, a belt, a hose, or a fuel filter, fixing it where the truck sits is almost always the faster and cheaper call.
A tow makes more sense when the engine has internal damage, when the truck is stopped somewhere the mechanic can’t work safely, or when the repair would take longer on the shoulder than a tow plus a shop visit. Sometimes the right answer is in between: a temporary repair that makes the truck safe to drive to a shop under its own power.
What to tell dispatch when you call
The more dispatch knows up front, the better the odds the mechanic shows up with the right parts and tools on the first trip.
- Exact location: highway, direction of travel, and nearest mile marker or exit — or the truck stop or yard name
- Whether the truck is on the shoulder, in a lot, or blocking a lane
- Truck year, make, model, and engine if you know it
- What happened right before it failed, plus any warning lights, codes, sounds, or smells
- Loaded or empty, and whether you’re hauling hazmat or a temperature-controlled load
- A callback number for the driver on scene
Truck makes & engines we work on
- Freightliner
- Peterbilt
- Kenworth
- Volvo
- Mack
- International
- Western Star
Class 6 through Class 8 trucks, including engines from Cummins, Detroit Diesel, PACCAR, Volvo, Mack, Navistar, and Caterpillar.
Emergency Roadside Assistance around the harbor & the South Bay
Emergency calls come from a few kinds of places: the shoulders of the 710 and the 110, the surface truck routes through Wilmington where a stopped truck blocks everything behind it, the terminal gate queues on Terminal Island and at the Long Beach piers, and SR-47 and the bridges, where there is effectively no shoulder at all and the first job is getting the truck somewhere safer.
Freeways
Service areas
Emergency Roadside Assistance FAQ
Are you really available 24 hours a day?
Yes. Dispatch is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year — nights, weekends, and holidays included.
How long will it take for a mechanic to reach me?
It depends on where the truck is, the time of day, and traffic — harbor congestion and a backed-up 710 can change drive times quickly. Dispatch gives you an estimated arrival time when you call.
Can you get to me inside a secured yard or customs lot?
Yes, as long as the facility lets a service truck in. Have the gate, guard shack, or yard contact ready when you call so the mechanic isn’t stuck waiting at the entrance.
What does emergency roadside service cost?
Cost depends on the repair, parts, travel distance, and time of day. Describe the problem and your location when you call and ask for pricing up front.
Should I call you or my company’s breakdown line first?
If your carrier or lease program has a breakdown process, follow it — many fleets approve a local mobile mechanic. If you’re an owner-operator, or your company tells you to find local help, call us directly.
What if the truck can’t be fixed on the roadside?
We’ll tell you straight. Sometimes a temporary repair gets the truck safely to a shop under its own power; sometimes a tow is the right answer. Either way you won’t be left guessing.