Ever locked your keys in your car, had a flat or run out of gas? Who you gonna call?
If you’re in metro Denver, there’s a decent chance you’ll run across Maggie Rice and her company, Road Runner Road Service. Her roadside-assistance company was recently awarded its seventh national award (in eight years) by the towing-industry magazine Towman for being in the top 1 percent in the country for customer service.
She will receive her award, an “Ace” belt buckle, next week during the industry’s national convention in Baltimore.
“I got into this work because I really thought I could help people,” she said recently while unpacking in her new house in southwest Denver. She bought the property because the yard covers nearly a full acre, for her four Russian wolfhounds that she raises and trains.
“For years, I felt like I was helping people, but it’s getting harder, with the liabilities and higher gas costs,” she said.
Rice, 60, is well-respected.
“Molly (Rice’s radio handle) works in a very difficult industry and has managed to make it work for many years because of her commitment to her customers,” said Bill Weihrouch, owner of Skyline Recovery and himself the winner of numerous Ace belt buckles. “ Molly always goes the extra distance for her customers.”
Road Runner does not tow cars but handles “light road assistance,” such as helping with flats, lockouts and empty gas tanks.
Most of Rice’s work comes from road clubs such as AAA and others.
The greatest number of calls are for keys locked inside a car. Second is for flat tires and third for jump- starts on dead batteries. Children locked or abandoned in cars take priority over everything and are taken care of for free.
“It’s a service industry,” she says.
Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost
