Your van has broken down mid-delivery. Here's what to do in the next 15 minutes
A step-by-step for owner-drivers and couriers when the van dies with a customer's goods on board: safety, the customer, the goods, recovery, and how Swiftline handles it with Recoverer.
A breakdown with a delivery on board is two problems at once: a dead vehicle and a customer who was promised a time. The order you deal with them matters. This is the sequence we use and train partner drivers on.
Minute 0 to 2: get safe
- Hazards on, coast to the hard shoulder or the first safe spot. On a motorway, get everyone out and behind the barrier, well away from the vehicle.
- Hi-vis on. Call 999 only if you're in a live lane or anyone is hurt.
- Don't attempt a repair on a hard shoulder. Nothing is worth it.
Minute 2 to 5: book the recovery before you do anything else
The longest part of any breakdown is waiting for a truck, so start that clock first. With Recoverer you enter the postcode, pick the vehicle type, see a fixed price, pay by card, and the nearest recovery driver is dispatched. You get their name, a live map and an ETA, the same as a Swiftline customer tracking a delivery.
No membership, no renewal, the same price at 3am as 3pm. For a courier who does 30,000 miles a year in a used van, pay-as-you-go recovery usually costs less than a breakdown policy and you never argue about a call-out limit.
Minute 5 to 10: the customer
Call, don't text. Tell them exactly what's happened, that the goods are safe with you, and what happens next. For a Swiftline job, that call comes from dispatch, not the driver: the driver hands the job back in the app with the reason, dispatch sees it instantly and either sends the nearest van to collect the consignment from the broken-down vehicle, or re-plans the delivery with the customer.
Minute 10 to 15: the goods
- Never leave the goods in an unattended van on a hard shoulder or in a lay-by. If recovery will take an hour, the goods travel with you in the recovery truck, or a second van collects them.
- Photograph the load as it is now, with the time. If anything was damaged in the breakdown (sudden stop, a shifted load), you'll need it for the insurance claim.
- Pathology and pharmacy consignments have time limits. Tell dispatch the collection time so they can judge whether the sample is still viable.
What a recovery actually costs you
The recovery fee is the small part. The real cost is the missed delivery, the customer you don't keep, and a day's lost earnings while the van is off the road. That's why we'd rather a partner driver book recovery immediately than spend 40 minutes trying to bump-start a van with a dead alternator.
| What you do | Typical outcome |
|---|---|
| Try to fix it yourself for 45 min, then call | Customer delivery fails. Recovery arrives 90 min later. Day gone. |
| Book recovery at minute 2, call dispatch at minute 5 | Second van collects the goods within the hour. Delivery lands late but lands. Van at the garage by lunchtime. |
Prices quoted are our published rates at the time of writing, with no VAT added. Enter your postcodes for a fixed price today.