AMA has 74 hour wait for roadside assistance for Calgary

The Alberta Motor Association (AMA) is seeing high wait times for service due to freezing temperatures and snowfall across the city Tuesday.

According to the website, there is a 74-hour wait time for full-service towing or winching and a 54-hour wait time for light service, including a battery boost, lockout, a flat tire, or fuel delivery. Lastly, there is a six-hour wait for a locksmith.

In addition, there is no service for battery boosting, but AMA says Lube City or select Approved Auto Repair Services (AARS) facilities have services available.

Chad Brinston, a manager of fleet performance with AMA, says they’re “in it.”

“We’re about seven times the amount of usual expected volume for this time of year, that’s in terms of our full service,” Brinston said.

“In terms of our light service capabilities, we’re about four times the amount in terms of call volume that we would typically see this time here.”

AMA sees 2,500 calls per day on average, and Brinston says Calgary is seeing around 1,000 calls on hold at this time.

He says the three-day waits are because the AMA is prioritizing people who are stranded on the road and have nowhere safe to go.

“If you’re at home and just require a simple booster, or a tire change, or something like that, that could potentially be up to a couple of days wait before we might be able to get to you,” Brinston said.

There are typical recommendations the AMA makes for the cold and snow, but it changes once the temperatures get to the freezing ones southern Alberta is experiencing.

“The most important thing is — once we sort of get below that minus seven mark — is making sure our block heaters are plugged in, making sure that we keep our fuel tanks up above the half mark,” Brinston said.

“Unfortunately, when temperatures seem to dip this cold, sometimes there’s not a whole lot that we can do in terms of trying to make sure that a vehicle is going to start outside of plugging it in.”

Despite the hold-up, AMA is still asking people to place a roadside assistance request online, or by calling at 1-800-222-4357

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Light snowfall is slowing down the City of Calgary snowplowing and sand operations, along with Tuesday’s extreme cold.

Chris McGeachy with the city’s mobility department says snowplows have shifted back to priority one in its snow plan.

This includes clearing roadways with over 20,000 vehicles per day, like Crowchild Trail and Macleod Trail.

The city says that once the snow clock ends, additional hands crews will be focused on some pedestrian buildings, such as pedestrian overpasses, sidewalks next to city-owned properties, and high-priority bus pads.

“Right now, crews are focused on plowing and applying material on those major roads,” McGeachy said. “With the extreme cold temperatures, the material we’re laying down is abrasive. So we’re putting on sanding chips to help improve traction.”

He wants to remind people to take plenty of time to prepare to get from point A to point B.

“Extreme cold does create challenges for us, and the best tool in our toolbox is just patience,” McGeachy said.

“Once the snow stops falling, that activates our snow clock, and then we work to complete those roads and move down our priority list.”

-With files from Mark Strashok and Tiffany Goodwein