Article overview: Roadside assistance companies don’t get to decide when drivers need help, and holiday travel makes that unpredictability especially challenging for customer support teams. But preparing for the holiday rush involves more than anticipating an increase in roadside assistance requests. Companies also need to account for the customer conversations those requests generate, especially when demand varies by channel and time of day. This blog looks at how companies can prepare their omnichannel roadside assistance support teams for the busy travel season without leaving staffing decisions to the last minute.
The Roadside Rush Doesn't End With the First Call
A flat tire doesn’t care that it’s Christmas Eve, and a dead battery certainly won’t wait until the holiday traffic clears. For roadside assistance companies, that’s business as usual. What makes the holidays different is the sheer number of people taking to the roads, many of them traveling far from home and counting on help being available if something goes wrong.
And we’re talking about a lot of drivers. According to ABC News, approximately 109.5 million Americans were expected to travel by car during the 2025 year-end holidays, a 2% increase from 2024. With that many people on the road, even a small percentage needing roadside assistance could leave customer support teams scrambling to keep up with incoming requests.
The challenge for omnichannel roadside assistance support teams is that demand doesn’t always follow a predictable schedule. A quiet morning can give way to a busy afternoon, and the demand for customer support can change considerably depending on where drivers are traveling and what problems they’re experiencing. For companies planning their holiday coverage, having enough people available matters just as much as knowing when and where they’ll be needed.
One Roadside Request Can Keep Support Busy
Not every roadside assistance request takes the same amount of work. Take a driver who needs a battery jump-start. Helping them arrange one is fairly straightforward, especially when the customer support agent has already confirmed the arrival time. But things can get a bit hairy when a tow truck runs late and the driver is left in the dark about what’s happening.
Customer support shouldn’t have to chase dispatch for answers every time roadside assistance runs late. Managers from both teams can agree on when to contact service providers for an update and which delays require escalation. They should also make sure agents can quickly flag urgent situations, particularly when a driver is stranded somewhere unsafe and needs immediate attention.
Those extra conversations can add up quickly during the holidays, making them an important consideration for call center capacity planning. To understand how much work they’re dealing with, customer support managers should check how many conversations each roadside assistance request generates and how long agents spend handling them. After all, a hundred roadside assistance requests won’t necessarily mean a hundred customer support conversations. Having those numbers can help managers plan staffing around the actual workload rather than relying on roadside assistance volume alone.
Holiday Roadside Demand Knows No Set Schedule
Holiday roadside assistance demand doesn’t increase at the same rate in every service area. A busy travel corridor can generate a sudden rush of requests and inquiries through phone and other customer support channels. For companies serving drivers nationwide, that extra workload can put pressure on omnichannel roadside assistance support teams even when other regions remain relatively quiet. Managers need to see which service areas are generating the most inquiries and which channels need additional coverage.
For more accurate call center capacity planning, customer support managers can review inquiry volumes by service area and support channel throughout the day. If their customer support software links conversations to roadside assistance requests, they can also see how long each channel stays busy during a regional surge. With that information, managers can decide when to bring in extra agents and how long they’ll need them.
Phone and chat support can experience very different inquiry volumes during the same hours of the day. Customer support managers need to account for those differences when building holiday schedules, especially if agents aren’t trained to handle both channels. Otherwise, a company could have enough people working overall and still leave customers waiting too long for help through one channel.
Overflow Support Has Its Limits Too
Extra customer support agents won’t be much help if they have to rely on the in-house customer support team to retrieve information about every roadside assistance request. Drivers could end up waiting for answers even with more agents available to assist them. Companies expanding their omnichannel roadside assistance support need to make sure overflow agents can access the customer information and service records required to handle inquiries without unnecessary delays.
Before arranging overflow call center services, companies should check whether additional agents can work with their existing customer support software and roadside assistance platform. They should also establish which customer records agents can access and what information they’re authorized to update. Giving overflow agents the permissions they need while protecting sensitive customer information is an important part of preparing the operation for additional staff.
Customer support managers should test those arrangements using realistic roadside assistance scenarios before the holiday rush begins. An agent might have access to the right platform but still struggle to locate an active request or document a conversation correctly. Testing these situations can reveal problems with system permissions or agent familiarity while there’s still time to address them before the holiday rush.
A Full Schedule Doesn't Mean Full Coverage
The holidays are a tough time to be short on customer support agents. Finding someone to cover an unexpected absence is hard enough on a regular workday. Try doing it on Christmas Eve or in the middle of a busy holiday weekend. Companies providing omnichannel roadside assistance support need backup agents they can count on when the holiday rush is in full swing.
That means looking closely at what a provider of overflow call center services can commit to during call center capacity planning. Some providers can reserve a certain number of backup agents for a company, while others offer additional staffing only when people are available. Customer support managers should clarify which arrangement they’re getting and how much notice the provider needs before those agents can begin working.
Even with backup agents lined up, someone needs to be available to request their help. Managers should establish who has the authority to activate extra coverage outside regular business hours and how to reach that person during the holidays. Otherwise, a company could have backup agents ready to work but no one available to approve bringing them in.
Some Calls Need More Than a Script
One of Peak Support’s roadside assistance agents once helped a customer whose car broke down on a highway late at night. After finding that every auto repair shop they checked was closed, the agent faced another problem: the customer couldn’t afford to have the car towed all the way home. Rather than leave the customer without another option, the agent suggested contacting a sibling who lived nearby for a ride. They also promised to call back if the call got disconnected. Sure enough, the call dropped, but the agent kept their word and called the customer back even though their workday had already ended.
A good support agent knows the procedures and follows them well. A great one knows what to do when those procedures only get them so far. They’re willing to think outside the box rather than leave a customer feeling like they’ve run out of options. It’s the kind of initiative worth looking for when choosing an outsourcing partner, especially in roadside assistance, where a customer’s immediate needs can change as the situation develops.
Customer support managers should look for that same judgment during quality reviews. The agent in this story recognized that getting the car repaired wasn’t possible and considered how the customer might get home instead. A quality review shouldn’t stop at whether an agent followed the right steps. Managers should also pay attention to what the agent did when those steps weren’t enough to help the customer. It’s worth recognizing that kind of initiative and helping other agents develop the confidence to do the same.
Roads Don't Take Holidays
Christmas and New Year’s Day might mean a break for most people, but roadside assistance companies don’t have that luxury. A breakdown can ruin someone’s holiday plans in an instant. Waiting for help only makes things worse when drivers have no idea what’s happening with their requests. Good customer support can make that experience easier by keeping drivers informed while assistance is on the way.
Peak Support can take some of that pressure off in-house customer support teams. Our omnichannel roadside assistance support services give companies additional capacity to handle incoming inquiries and keep drivers informed about their roadside assistance requests during busy travel periods. With more support available, in-house teams can focus on their responsibilities without having to manage every customer conversation themselves.
Get your roadside assistance support ready for the holiday rush with Peak Support.