OK Tire Stores Inc. has contracted Emergency Road Services Corp. (ERS) of Ontario to provide 24-hour emergency roadside assistance in Canada and the U.S. for the firm's commercial trucking customers.
ERS, a bilingual emergency roadside assistance provider, will help OK Tire customers whose vehicles have broken down locate the dealer closest to them. ERS claims to have more than 16,000 service provides in its network, more than half of which are in the U.S.
“We value our commercial trucking customers and we want them to feel protected if they should break down,” said Larry Hardy, national manager truck and specialty tires for OK Tire, which supports more than 100 franchised commercial locations across Canada. “Partnering with ERS is the best way we can get them back on the road as quickly and cost effectively as possible.”
Ottawa-based ERS was founded in 2006 as Emergency Road Services of Canada Inc. to provide round-the-clock emergency roadside services to Canada's trucking industry. The company expanded its service reach into the U.S. in 2008 and changed its name last year to Emergency Road Services Corp. to reflect the change.
Canadian truckers who experience problems in the U.S. are guaranteed their contracted price for products they might have to purchase on the road, said Mr. Hardy, who called the ERS contract a “value-added proposition” for OK Tire's franchised dealers.