Busiest quarter ever

Saturday 28 October 2017 (update 6 december 2017)
The number of recovery operations on IM roads once again reached a record high in the third quarter of 2017. IM recovery operators were called out 19,520 times in the quarter, an average of 212 recoveries a day. This figure is 4% higher than the highpoint reached in the last quarter, and 9% higher than the total for the third quarter in 2016. The increased workload had no influence on the performance of the IM network. Arrival times remained practically unchanged as compared with the excellent performance achieved in the previous quarter. The average arrival time for all recoveries was 13:12 minutes (11:34 minutes following correction for delays due to congestion).

Willem van Geest of Jan van de Graaf Jr in action dealing with an accident on the A16 motorway on 27 October 2017 (photograph: Rogier Bos)

The IM district ZH163 in Rotterdam deserves a special mention. In this district, recovery company Jan van de Graaf jr. succeeded for the third successive quarter in completing more than 95% of its recoveries in an arrival time of less than twenty minutes during the day and twenty-five minutes at night. The ZH163 district includes the north-eastern section of the Rotterdam orbital: the A20 between the Kleinpolderplein and Terbregseplein intersections, and the A16 motorway between Terbregseplein and the Ridderster intersections. Since mid-2016, ZH163 has been the busiest district in the country, a dubious honour previously held by district NH135, the Amsterdam Zuidoost district. Since the reconstruction of the A1 motorway, the number of recoveries in that particular district has fallen considerably.

IM recovery operators with 100% performance

A 100% performance score was achieved in the third quarter in 28 districts, the highest figure since 2014. The performance by the Van Eijck Group in district NB323 around Oss stood out in particular. Van Eijck took over this district from Houterman in mid-August, and came out of the starting blocks at full capacity. The arrival times achieved by Van Eijck have for some time been unremarkable, but have steadily improved over the past four quarters, in all districts served by the company.

Daan Witjes, process manager at the Van Eijck Group

An average arrival time of below 10 minutes was achieved in 26 districts. The areas in question represent 11% of the total national IM road network, and in the third quarter generated 20% of all recovery operations carried out. These figures are comparable to those achieved in the previous quarter. The districts in question are served by 20 different recovery operators.

IM recovery operators with average arrival time below 10 minutes

*) districts Barendregt: ZH166, ZH167, ZH168, ZH173, ZH175, ZH177, ZH180, ZH181

These tables only show districts for which a complete quarterly report was issued, in the last quarter. These are districts in which ten or more recoveries were carried out, and districts for which the last quarter was the final in a series of quarters in which the minimum of ten recoveries necessary for preparing a report was exceeded. Average arrival times are reported following correction for delays due to traffic congestion. In determining the number of kilometres of road in each district, the two carriageways of roads with divided carriageways are counted as separate roads. No rights may be derived from the information in the tables.