Home FleetWatch 2024 Helpline signboards on the N3 toll route: How to read them and...

Helpline signboards on the N3 toll route: How to read them and why they’re a lifesaver

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This N3TC Route Marker Board (used to illustrate this ‘tutorial) shows the four ‘board location’ quadrants and the Helpline number.
This N3TC Route Marker Board (used to illustrate this ‘tutorial) shows the four ‘board location’ quadrants and the Helpline number.

If you’ve ever had your truck or car break down on a highway at night, you’ll know how scary it can be, watching cars slow down as they approach, not knowing if you’re about to be helped, hassled or harmed! FleetWatch correspondent Paul Collings explains here how help can be quickly summoned on the N3.

The N3 toll route running from Gauteng to KwaZulu-Natal is South Africa’s busiest national road and also one of its best managed, thanks in part to the N3 Toll Concession (N3TC) 24/7 Helpline and motorised incident management crew. 

What many N3 travellers don’t know is that signboards are posted at regular intervals along the route displaying the Helpline phone number and the signboard’s location details. Knowing how to relay the details displayed on these boards to the N3TC Call Centre in an emergency situation could be a lifesaver for all N3 travellers.

According to the N3TC website: “The N3TC Helpline provides 24-hour assistance to road users travelling between Cedara (KZN) and Heidelberg (Gauteng). Road users can contact N3TC’s Helpline to report any problems on the N3 Toll Route and to obtain emergency assistance. N3TC will inform its Road Incident Management Services (RIMS) teams of any incidents along the Route and will dispatch help to road users in distress.”

The crux of this FleetWatch article/tutorial is: You have to let them know where you are!

What the numbers and letters on N3TC Helpline signs mean

FleetWatch has received numerous queries regarding the signboards on the N3 that say ‘HELP’ and display an N3TC phone number, along with “a bunch of seemingly random numbers and letters”. Well, these road signs are officially known as ‘Route Marker Boards’ and they’re positioned at 200-metre intervals in both directions on the N3 between Heidelberg and Cedara.

Bear in mind: It’s possible that not all Route Marker Boards display the N3TC Call Centre Helpline phone number, displaying only the location details of the signboard. To be safe, include the N3TC Helpline number (0800 63 43 57) in your phone contact list.

But let’s get to what the ‘mysterious’ numbers and letters on these boards mean (using the accompanying graphic to illustrate).

Each sign has four location information quadrants: 

  1. The top-left quadrant displays the name of the Route (the N3 in this case). 
  2. The top-right quadrant displays the ‘Section’ of the Route (in the pic it’s ‘Section 10’ which means everything to the Call Centre, if not to you).
  3. The bottom-left quadrant displays the ‘kilometre position’ on the Route Section (10.0km in the pic).
  4. The bottom-right quadrant indicates your direction of travel (in the pic that would be North, i.e. from KZN to Gauteng. If you were travelling from Gauteng to KZN, the direction of travel would be ‘South’ and the board would display an ‘S’).
“Help us help you!” is the message from N3TC to its customers, referring to travellers not only calling the Helpline in the event of an emergency, but also relaying the Route Marker Board information to the call centre agent swiftly and accurately.
“Help us help you!” is the message from N3TC to its customers, referring to travellers not only calling the Helpline in the event of an emergency, but also relaying the Route Marker Board information to the call centre agent swiftly and accurately.

Getting your N3TC Helpline ‘SOS’ call across clearly

To state the obvious, always travel with a phone loaded with sufficient airtime to make an emergency call lasting several minutes. In the event of an en-route emergency while travelling the N3 (be it an accident, vehicle breakdown, medical emergency or simply running out of fuel), obtain your location details from the nearest Route Marker Board (which should be less than 200 metres away from you).

Learn and memorise how to interpret the numbers and letters in each of the Route Marker Board’s four quadrants.

Call the N3TC Helpline and relay your position by quoting the numbers and letters displayed in the four quadrants on the Route Marker Board nearest you.

Your conversation with the Call Centre will go something like this (let’s assume you’re standing at the Route Marker Board in the pic):

You – “Hi, I need help. We’ve had an engine breakdown.”

Helpline – “Where are you?”

You – “On the N3, Section 10, at the 10.0 kilometre route marker board, travelling north.”

Helpline – “Thank you. An emergency support vehicle will arrive shortly to assist you.”

Your first and fastest line of help

It’s reassuring to know that N3TC Route Patrol vehicles constantly drive the Route and will arrive to assist you quicker than any other emergency services crew – usually in less than 10 minutes.

This FleetWatch ‘tutorial’ goes out to all users of the N3. Be proactive and memorise how to interpret Route Marker Board indicators. Place the N3TC Helpline number on your phone’s speed-dial setting. And, teach your family, friends and colleagues how to read the N3TC Helpline signs too. They may just save your life! Share this vital information with your fellow travellers just in case you are incapacitated en-route.

Happy and safe N3 travels! 

Call the N3TC Helpline on 0800 63 4357 or contact N3TC via Twitter: @N3Route.

Watch this videohttps://youtu.be/zVlriQBQHUU