DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Allen Haia is an emergency roadside assistance driver for AAA Hawaii who responds to distress calls from AAA members having car trouble. On Wednesday, Haia used some muscle to remove a flat tire from Dave Garst's Volvo and replace it with a spare. Garst said he had gotten out of a seminar at the University of Hawaii and found his car tire was flat.

Roadside Sir Galahad

AAA Hawaii lead driver
Allen Haia rides to the aid
of motorists in distress

Allen Haia Title: Lead driver Job: Provides emergency roadside assistance to AAA Hawaii members and co-supervises the organization's dozen or so other assistance drivers

Every day is an adventure for Allen Haia, who never knows what kind of situation he'll have to confront as an emergency roadside assistance driver for AAA Hawaii. But that's why he loves the job, and it shows. In fact, Haia is so friendly and helpful that you'd think he might have been a tour guide at one time, which, in fact, he was before joining AAA eight years ago. "I was a tour guide for Roberts Hawaii," he said on Wednesday. "I used to give tours. It used to be a blast over there, too." In his current job, Haia both helps AAA members who are having car trouble and is one of three "lead" drivers who supervise the organization's other dozen or so roadside assistants. A graduate of Kailua High School, Haia, 36, is married to the former Cheyanne Ikeda, with whom he has two teenage daughters. They live in Enchanted Lake.

Question: So what does an emergency roadside assistance driver do?

Answer: It's like a service provider, but for me, my position is like a lead driver.

Q: What's a lead driver?

A: I have about nine or 10 employees under me, and there are two other leads also, so there are like three leads.

Q: But you go out on the road, too?

A: Yeah, we go out on the road, but we do a few other things also. Being the lead, we have to make sure everything is running smoothly and our area is up to par.

Q: Your job is broken into geographical areas?

A: Yes.

Q: What's your region?

A: We cover from Kalihi, going around, and we come up to about Makapuu Point, by the lighthouse, and going up toward the Pali, so that's our whole area. Then contractors cover other areas.

Q: AAA contracts out some of the areas?

A: Yes. But, of course, the area we have is the most busy area. The AAA fleet covers that area, and contract stations cover the outside. And, of course, if the contract stations fall behind, we run into their area to help them out.

Q: How many AAA Hawaii members are there?

A: We're close to 100,000 members now. We're growing. When I first started it was only about 80,000.

Q: How long have you been an emergency roadside assistance driver for AAA Hawaii?

A: Eight years.

Q: On average, how many emergencies do AAA Hawaii members call in every day?

A: Just for our fleet (of 15 trucks), we would probably run anywhere from about 80 calls in a two-shift period; that's like 16 hours.

Q: What kind of vehicle do you drive? Is it like a tow truck?

A: Yep, they're tow trucks. We have Fords and Chevys.

Q: What kind of supplies do you carry with you?

A: Oh goodness, we carry a lot of things. Lock-out tools ...

Q: Lock-out tools?

A: Yeah, like for when people lock themselves out of their cars. We help them get back into their vehicles, damage free.

Q: What else?

A: Then we also have booster packs, to jump-start vehicles; jacks, for tire changes; usually all the other things that are equipped on a tow truck, like winches to bring out cars that go over sides of the road and down hills.

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Miles Suder, left, was all smiles on Wednesday after Allen Haia, a roadside emergency assistance driver for AAA Hawaii, helped him jump-start his car at the Tesoro gas station on the corner of King Street and Kalakaua Avenue.

A: Actually for us, for AAA, we all have just our eight-hour shifts. So we just come in and work those eight hours. If it's busy, we stay over, but usually the second shift covers.

Q: Is there ever a time when nobody's on shift?

A: We run from 5:45 in the morning to 11 o'clock at night. And for us, our fleet, AAA, we shut down, but our contractors continue the 24-hour service and they come into our area, but it's usually very slow at that time, you know.

Q: What's your shift?

A: I run different shifts. I always try to be with the day crew and the night crew, so I have three days when I'm on day shift and two days on night shift.

Q: How does that work on your body clock?

A: Because of the way my days off are scheduled, it's actually OK.

Q: What kind of background were they looking for when they hired you?

A: Actually, I was kind of lucky because I didn't have any experience in driving a tow truck, but I had a CDL license ...

Q: What's that?

A: A commercial drivers' license. And that kind of helps because they understand that I went through a lot of defensive driving classes and such. So that was a plus for me when I came for the interview.

Q: Do you have to know mechanical skills?

A: I guess basic knowledge, like if a battery's dead. Just basic mechanical knowledge. And at first you drive with a lead driver who teaches you stuff and then there's books, and trainers come in from the mainland to teach us. But No. 1 is customer service.

Q: Which would be defined as what?

A: We try to make sure that we totally satisfy the customers, because a lot of them are stressed out. When we get there, they feel at ease now. So we just try to empathize with them. Sometimes they end up smiling. It's like, "Hey, your car's broken, but it's OK." So it's good when we can do that.

Q: What's the most common roadside emergency you respond to?

A: I think the most common would be a dead battery.

Q: What's one of the most unusual emergencies that you've done?

A: A lot of times those turn out to be extractions, where you have to pull cars out of things. Sometimes they'll slam into houses, or they slide down hills. It can be scary, but it's exciting. You have to take your time and be very careful. Most of the time when you're responding to those kinds of calls, you can take about 20 minutes just to figure out the best and safest way to recover the car.

Q: Is it dangerous sometimes to be trying to help someone on the side of the freeway?

A: Yes it is. That's why, with AAA, it's a priority that we make sure everything is about safety. We have safety straps, safety chains, but our main thing is our safety vests, and that's what helps us out on the freeways, because there's a lot of close calls. That's why they have us leave our trucks behind us, as a barrier, in case somebody might run into it. Of course it's out of the way, but it's can still be a hazard, and we try to get our members off the highway, like over the barriers. And a lot of times, if it's real bad, we'll call for another truck and police assistance, and the police will help. That's the safest, best way.

Q: Is every day an adventure for you?

A: Yes. It is. That's why I love this job. It's always something different. And you get to meet different people too. It's always rewarding here.