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ÖAMTC ANNUAL REPORT 2015
Austria
Annual Report 2015 | ÖAMTC
ÖAMTC | Annual Report 2015
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Contents | Annual Report 2015 | ÖAMTC
08Preface
09 Breakdown Assistance
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Assistance Booklet
25
Air Rescue Service
31Infrastructure
33 Service Station
25
17
Facts and Figures
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41
Preface | Annual Report 2015 | ÖAMTC
ÖAMTC | Annual Report 2015 | Preface
Dear Members, Business Partners, and Friends of the ÖAMTC,
Since July 2015 we now have over two million members relying on our emergency assistance
services and the cover we provide. And while we’re very proud of this show of confidence, we
also see it as a mandate to continue being a reliable partner and helper in the future, too.
The past financial year has paved the way for the grand anniversary year 2016. Indeed, it is now
120 years since ÖAMTC staff first began providing exceptional services, assisting Club members in
emergency situations and advising them on all mobility-related matters. The following pages are
therefore devoted to the success stories of our breakdown assistance, air rescue service, Assistance
Booklet, and our technical service and assistance centres. Those are the four mainstays on which the
ÖAMTC has made history in Austria since 1896.
But this year we also want to look ahead; after all, the issue of mobility is subject to constant change. Technical progress,
changes in society and political outline conditions all go to shape the environment in which we operate. Our pledge to you is
that, in the years ahead, we will continue to do our very utmost to assist you with your personal mobility.
As always you will also find all the key data, facts and figures from our Club’s activities over the past year. Page 41 of the
Report features a compact summary.
All that remains is for us to wish you happy reading and lots of interesting insights!
KR Dkfm. Werner Kraus
ÖAMTC President
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DI Oliver Schmerold
ÖAMTC CEO
Breakdown assistance | Annual Report 2015 | ÖAMTC
ÖAMTC | Annual Report 2015 | Breakdown assistance
A common motto links the past and the future of the ÖAMTC’s breakdown assistance
service, and its legendary Yellow Angels: keeping people mobile and assisting them in
emergency situations. And of course, in 2016, the means with which that service is
provided to people have changed enormously in the 120 years the Club has been
around. Where spanners and contact spray were once essential parts of the toolkit,
21st century patrolmen have now also become highly specialised computer technicians.
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Assistance over time
But apart from the name ‘Yellow Angels’ (a popular reference to the distinctive
patrol cars and a grateful acknowledgement of the services they provided)
and the unconditional promise to offer help and assistance, there is very little
similarity today between those first hesitant attempts made in the 1950s and
the assistance now provided in the second decade of the 21st century. As the
Club’s 120th anniversary nears in 2016, the ÖAMTC and its patrolmen are
gearing themselves up for the challenges posed by a changing technical and
social environment. And let’s just set the record straight: there is simply no
truth whatsoever in the rumour often circulated that the Club is now no longer
able to provide roadside assistance because of the faults in the electronics
systems of modern cars and the unsolvable mysteries they pose.
Of course, maintaining this unique form of emergency assistance requires
enormous expertise and a huge commitment. Unlike other service providers,
the ÖAMTC still relies on technical competence right there by the roadside. For
this each of our patrolmen needs high-tech tools, high training qualifications,
and a wealth of data supplied directly at the scene, i.e. wherever he is needed
in order to put the breakdown right.
For this system to work, the ÖAMTC needs a vast amount of data and
information on the electronic systems that are now built in to cars by
manufacturers. But of course less and less of that data is made freely
available by car manufacturers as a matter of course. That’s why the Club has
set up comprehensive information systems based on the on-site experiences
of its individual patrolmen.
Traditional aids are still important, of course. In many cases it’s still a matter
of getting a car started again simply because the battery is flat or of repairing
a puncture. And often it’s a question of unlocking a vehicle simply because
the keys are locked away inside.
The Yellow Angels now have breakdown assistance laptops on board to deal
with the growing number of electronic faults. They connect the laptops to the
vehicle to read off error codes and then put the errors rights, i.e. reset the
computerised control units. The Club member is then able to continue their
journey. Being equipped with cutting-edge technology ensures that the ÖAMTC
is able to put right 80% of breakdowns, there and then, at the roadside.
MOBILE BREAKDOWN ASSISTANCE
How breakdown assistance emerged
The fishmonger was duly assisted, and his motorcycle was soon up and
running again. Thus the ÖAMTC had provided its first breakdown assistance.
Millions and millions of others would follow. In 1955, the year the Austrian
State Treaty was signed and the year Austria declared her neutrality, Technical
Services and breakdown assistance went into operation in the federal
provinces too. By July 1958 the now legendary Steyr-Puch 500 patrol cars
were out and about. Subsequent milestones include the introduction of
24-hour breakdown assistance throughout Austria, the nationwide emergency
number 120 (without area code), and the comprehensive emergency service
with the promise of ‘100% mobility’, which the ÖAMTC today delivers to its
two million and more members.
The Club’s members expect, rightly so, that the ÖAMTC’s breakdown assistance
service is always there, by their side, as quickly as possible, wherever they
are. And also that, more often than not, it is able there and then to help them
continue their journey without further measures or repairs needed.
That, in a nutshell, is the idea in all its simplicity. But the first time the ÖAMTC’s
breakdown assistance service was dispatched in Vienna using sidecar motor
cycles on 18 October 1954, even the most daring visionaries could not have
imagined that the service would have such a future. The invention of breakdown
assistance was in itself innovative enough. Its creator, Club technician Gerhard
Seidel, first began after the Second World War by giving good tips and advice
in the Club magazine. At the request of Club members he would now and again
agree to take a look at a member’s vehicle parked in the side road running
alongside the Club’s headquarters on Vienna’s Schubertring. This soon gave rise
to the need to lease an inspection bay in Vienna’s 5th district so this type of
work could be carried out more conveniently.
Did you know that…
… in 2015 the Club had more than 2 million members for the first time in
its history?
… emergency assistance can also be summoned using the ÖAMTC app, with
GPS locating and real-time tracking by the Club member?
… ÖAMTC patrolmen are able to get vehicles up and running again in more than
80% of cases?
… Club members are eligible to use one of 350 ÖAMTC Clubmobil courtesy cars
nationwide for up to four days, free of charge?
The first ever instance of breakdown assistance in Austria occurred here on a
summer’s day in the early 1950s and it has since become the stuff of legend.
A fishmonger who had been transporting his wares in the sidecar of an old
motorcycle turned up on foot at the inspection pit. His motorcycle had broken
down and the goods – quite a valuable consignment in those days – were
threatening to rot in the sweltering summer heat. And so Gerhard Seidel,
together with another member of staff, set off in his own car to assist.
… a separate Corporate Membership is available for businesses?
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100% mobility
Some Yellow Angels work partly on the roads and partly at the Technical Help
Desk, where they link up online with the systems operated by car manufacturers
and search for solutions, passing on valuable tips and tricks to their colleagues at the roadside. What’s more the ÖAMTC and its partner clubs abroad
keep extensive documentation packages that provide access to a wealth of
shared experience – a constant process of learning and perfecting aimed at
keeping abreast of innovations in the car industry. It means that even trickier
cases can now be solved, cases where in the past it may not have been possible to provide immediate assistance.
ÖAMTC will continue to make sure it is able to communicate directly with
members and that it is not excluded to the member’s detriment, for example
whenever a vehicle exchanges data directly with the manufacturer’s server.
The Club will give members the opportunity to transmit data from their
vehicles to the ÖAMTC voluntarily, data which patrolmen can then use to
assist motorists at the roadside more quickly and more often.
No other ÖAMTC service is as closely associated with the Club as breakdown
assistance. In fact, the ÖAMTC is synonymous with breakdown assistance.
And breakdown assistance is synonymous with the ÖAMTC. And to make sure
that remains true for the next 120 years too, the ÖAMTC has been timely in
setting the right course for the information age. And while the conditions and
the circumstances may change, the promise of 100% mobility will not.
But in each and every case the ÖAMTC will keep its members mobile. In
eight out of ten cases the ÖAMTC is now able to help at the roadside, and
it will continue to do so in the future. And in those cases where that really is
impossible, there is always the towing service. And even then the ÖAMTC
continues to look after its members, with a Clubmobil courtesy car for
example or by helping members to continue their journey by other means.
In other words, keeping members mobile is always the priority; it’s how the
ÖAMTC fulfils its core promise of ‘100% mobility’.
But remedying electronic faults remains a challenge for the future. On the one
hand the ÖAMTC has to secure its access to the data, as that is the basis on
which it is able to help. On the other, it must also ensure that its members’
cars only provide manufacturers with the data which members are happy
to divulge. This is done mostly on an international basis. Together with its
partner clubs the ÖAMTC acts as a representative and enforces these consumer rights within the European Union.
The Club Card
Member IDs were around even in
1896, although they were of course made of
paper and all the entries had to be made by hand. The Club Card has been
available in its practical laminated credit card format since 1981. It allows Club
Card holders to avail themselves not only of the ÖAMTC’s breakdown assistance
Indeed, the ÖAMTC’s sole interest lies in enabling members to remain
mobile. The Club has no interest in carrying out repairs and towing a car to
a garage. This would not bring the ÖAMTC any sort of financial advantage;
the Club is after all solely on the side of its members. So in future the
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services, but also a multitude of other services exclusive to members. Plus it
offers great savings with more than 160,000 Preferred Partners worldwide.
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Die gelbe Flotte
Mobile breakdown assistance
668,202
Stationary breakdown assistance
672,711
Towing assignments
214,564
Technicians, patrolmen and towing staff
Total, emergency vehicles 15
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1,252
527
Assistance Booklet | Annual Report 2015 | ÖAMTC
ÖAMTC | Annual Report 2015 | Assistance Booklet
The ÖAMTC Assistance Booklet has evolved tremendously over the past 56 years. During
that time the scope of services provided has increased more than ten-fold, and today
just under 70% of all ÖAMTC members are also Assistance Booklet holders.
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How it all began
More and more services
The international assistance booklet was launched at the start of the 1959
holiday season in response to the growing urge for travel among many Austrians
during the post-war period and to assist Austrian motorists in emergencies
at a time when foreign exchange controls were in place. By all accounts it
was a sparse booklet: it did not yet comprise any domestic services, any
spare parts procurement, and certainly no free repatriation by ambulance jet
of accident victims or of the critically ill. It was valid throughout central and
western Europe and contained letters of recommendation from the ÖAMTC
designed to guarantee assistance from affiliated clubs.
In the years that followed, the range of services provided under the
Assistance Booklet was continually expanded: 1962 saw the introduction of
the towing service abroad and 1965 the launch of the first domestic service,
i.e. pilotage. If a motorist became unable to drive his own car due to illness or
injury, an ÖAMTC driver would bring the vehicle back safely on his behalf. It’s a
service that’s still frequently used to this day, if for example a motorist breaks
their hand on a skiing holiday and is unable to drive as a result.
The AT Super-Assistance Booklet was introduced in 1969, offering an
assistance package for the whole family, valid both in Austria and
abroad. By then, legal aid and health cover abroad were an integral part of the
Assistance Booklet. Six years later, injured persons could be repatriated on
board a Lear Jet equipped as an airborne intensive care unit. Since then the
ambulance jet regularly repatriates some 90 patients a year, mainly from
Spain, Greece, Turkey and Egypt.
Already then the most important part of the Assistance Booklet was the letter
of credit. It meant that bills issued by hospitals, doctors and/or garages could
be settled without foreign currency. In 1959, the 20,000 or so international
assistance booklet holders were therefore able to pay a garage in Italy for
example with a letter of credit rather than cash; the garage would then
present the letter of credit to the Italian Touring Club, which would in turn
reclaim the money directly from the ÖAMTC.
These early adopters of the Assistance Booklet also had access to two other
services, i.e. the assumption of the customs risk in the event of vehicle loss
and vehicle recovery. Thus 60% of the recovery costs for a vehicle that had
become unusable abroad could be refunded by the ÖAMTC.
Calls for assistance received
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20 years after the launch
By 1979 the AT Super-Assistance Booklet was already providing 22 different
services, including breakdown assistance, patient repatriation, and legal aid
in civil cases. Today Assistance Booklet holders are able to avail themselves
of 37 different Assistance Booklet services, including breakdown assistance,
helicopter rescue, vehicle recovery, ÖAMTC emergency letters of credit, emergency psychological counselling, and organisation and cost cover following
an accident or illness. And not just throughout Europe, but also in Russia, the
countries outside Europe that border on the Mediterranean, and on all the
Mediterranean islands, the Canaries, the Azores, and Madeira. For all those
drawn to more exotic destinations, the Assistance Booklet can be complemented with global travel & health insurance cover, under which the ÖAMTC
provides emergency medical assistance worldwide.
Touring Members who do not have a car, motorcycle or moped themselves
can now also have security and peace of mind with the Assistance Booklet.
And even members’ relatives are able to rely on assistance in the event of
accident, injury and/or illness, even if they’re travelling alone – regardless of
the mode of transport with which they happen to be travelling.
Today’s Assistance Booklet may no longer cost 30 Austrian Schillings as it did
in 1959, but for just EUR 42.60 motorists in 2016 are able to benefit from a
package that comprises just under 40 different services. And, in 2016, the
ÖAMTC Assistance Booklet for Touring Members is available for EUR 25.
A hot summer
Summer 2015 was certainly a hot one not just in terms of temperatures, but
also for the staff working at the ÖAMTC Assistance Booklet emergency services.
Between June 1 and August 31 they fielded an average of 795 calls a day.
More than 20,000 assistance services were provided, and 873 people were
repatriated home. The ambulance jet was scrambled in 37 of those cases.
Services provided by the
Assistance Booklet…
include patient repatriation (also by ambulance jet), vehicle recovery, damage
caused by game/wildlife, return and onward journeys, and much more besides.
Cover is valid not just for Assistance Booklet holders, but also for their partner
and children up to the age of 19 – even if they’re all travelling separately. And
it doesn’t matter whether they’re travelling with their own vehicle, by rail, bus,
bicycle, ship or by air. The ÖAMTC Assistance Booklet is valid in Austria and
throughout Europe as well as in Russia, the European countries that border
on the Mediterranean, the Canaries, the Azores, and Madeira.
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then and now
Initially, ÖAMTC Assistance Booklet holders would not always call the ÖAMTC in an emergency as a matter of course. It took ÖAMTC advertising and an internet
presence to make members more aware of the Club’s Assistance Booklet services. Two other factors that have contributed greatly towards facilitating the work of
ÖAMTC staff are the internet and smartphones.
Thanks to the internet, Assistance Booklet staff are now able to locate a particular hospital treating a patient much more quickly and easily. Likewise, the logging of
data and the subsequent conversations with doctors in the case of patient transfers within Austria or conversations with emergency doctors in the case of transfers
from abroad (who also take charge of communicating with doctors attending on site) are also much simpler than they used to be. Keeping in constant touch with
the patient and their relatives has also been simplified, along with providing information on the next stages in the procedure. Previously, the hospital telephone
was often the only way of reaching a patient, and it was not unusual for coin-operated phones to be out of order.
And, in the past, organising a patient’s repatriation on board a scheduled flight could often take up to ten days; today, it takes a maximum of 48 hours for the
patient to be back home again.
patient repatriation in 1970
patient repatriation in 1980
On one occasion in the late 1970s, an Assistance Booklet holder had had
an accident in Belgrade, and the ÖAMTC did not know what hospital he had
been taken to. The ÖAMTC had to phone all the hospitals in the vicinity before
the injured person could be located and then transported home to Austria by
ambulance jet. That same decade, staff had to engage in detective work of a
similar nature, this time for a vehicle recovery, after they were informed that
two young men had had to abandon their broken-down vehicle ‘somewhere
between Padua and Vicenza’.
Two motorcyclists were once involved in a serious accident in Greece. As
their relatives had no further information, they called the ÖAMTC Assistance
Booklet Department. Within a day the ÖAMTC emergency doctor had got
in touch with the doctor attending, and the emergency call station had
arranged for the patients to be repatriated by ambulance jet and for the damaged
motorcycles to be recovered.
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… 9 emergency call stations throughout Europe work together with the ÖAMTC Assistance Booklet emergency services?
… the ÖAMTC has 230 partner clubs abroad?
… an increasing number of motorcycle accidents involving patient repatriation by the ÖAMTC occur on Corsica and Sardinia?
… the most common reason for calling the Assistance Booklet emergency services in the countries neighbouring Austria are car breakdowns?
… repatriation by ambulance jet within Europe costs around EUR 11,000?
… the furthest and most expensive repatriation made under the ÖAMTC global travel & health insurance policy was from Cordoba, Argentina, in 2006?
patient repatriation today
On a Monday in the summer of 2015 three school-leavers were enjoying a ride on a banana boat near Split when they fell into the sea and were run over by another
boat. One of the girls sustained severe injuries and was taken to hospital. Her father was an ÖAMTC Assistance Booklet holder and called the Club the same day.
The Assistance Booklet emergency headquarters in Vienna organised the entire procedure that followed. A medical officer in Innsbruck clarified the emergency with
the doctor attending in Split and a rapid repatriation mission by air ambulance was organised. The emergency assistance department in Vienna sent out enquiries to
five ambulance jet partner companies, one of which confirmed and went about obtaining the flight and landing permits. In the meantime the emergency assistance
team arranged cover for the hospital costs in Croatia, the transfer to the airport, the existence of the patient’s medical e-Card, and other administrative details. In the
Meanwhile, the Assistance Booklet staff regularly contacted the injured girl’s father by mobile phone and kept him informed of the latest developments.
Within 25 hours of the accident his daughter was on a ward at the emergency hospital in Linz. The repatriation costs of almost EUR 10,000 were covered by the ÖAMTC.
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Die gelbe Flotte
Assistance Booklets sold
Medical services
Breakdown assistance and towing abroad
Vehicle recoveries
1,373,245
181,364
4,610
19,820
7,330
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Air Rescue Service | Annual Report 2015 | ÖAMTC
ÖAMTC | Annual Report 2015 | Air Rescue Service
‘Calling Christophorus, over’ – That call for an ÖAMTC emergency helicopter in July 1983
marked the start of what has been a remarkable success story lasting more than 32 years.
No-one at the time could have imagined that these modest beginnings would one day evolve
into a nationwide network of air rescue bases covering the whole of Austria
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A miniature ICU
Having the right helicopter is
crucial
And so, over the past decades, the original remit of saving lives and rescuing
people from life-threatening situations has gradually evolved into a profess
ional service. Today, the swift action of ÖAMTC emergency rescue helicopters
means that top-quality medical care can be made available in the shortest
possible time almost anywhere in Austria. All of which has been enabled
by the many medical and technical innovations that have lastingly shaped
modern emergency rescue operations. The monitoring and therapy equipment
used in air rescue not only has to offer the full functionality of all the very
latest clinical devices and be just as reliable, it also has to be significantly
more compact and lightweight. So a logical consequence of these requirements was to develop combined multifunctional equipment. These devices
allow precise diagnosis and treatment while reducing the overall weight of the
equipment for the benefit of air safety.
Advances in the type of helicopters used are in turn based on the changes
in medical requirements as well as the statutory conditions stipulated at the
European level. So the latest generation of rescue helicopters focuses not just
on enhanced flight performance, but also on increasing the space available
inside for transporting patients. That way the emergency medical staff on
board has sufficient space to attend to the patient in the best possible way
during the flight. The performance increase allows greater ranges, but also a
safer handling of the helicopters in everyday missions.
The entire Christophorus fleet has been comprised of EC 135 Eurocopters
exclusively since mid-1999. As a result the ÖAMTC is able to operate what
is currently the most successful and modern rescue helicopter in its class,
an aircraft characterised not just by low maintenance and operating costs,
reliability, and a long service life, but also by a wide range of applications.
Inside its generously sized interior all the equipment, drugs and materials are
neatly stowed within easy reach of the emergency doctor or air rescue personnel.
Quick-release fasteners also mean that the helicopter’s configuration can be
adapted to special assignments at any time, e.g. for transporting incubators,
for transfer flights or for multiple evacuations.
The medical equipment of ÖAMTC emergency rescue helicopters now covers
the whole spectrum of emergency medical assistance and offers air rescue
doctors everything they need to attend to and treat injured or sick persons.
Monitoring is used to keep a constant watchful eye on all vital data such as
cardiac rhythm, blood pressure, pulse and body temperature. Defibrillators,
respirators and infusion pumps also ensure a high standard of quality
provided by first responders.
… the Air Rescue Service flew 18,270 assignments in 2015, more than ever before?
… with HeliAir, the ÖAMTC Air Rescue Service has its very own maintenance facility?
… an ÖAMTC emergency rescue helicopter reaches a patient within 15 minutes at the latest?
… the Christophorus crew is comprised of a pilot, an emergency doctor and an air rescue paramedic?
The Yellow Angels have wings
A brief excursion into the history of the ÖAMTC Air Rescue Service shows that
the airborne rapid response familiar to us all today was not always a matter
of course, not even for the ÖAMTC. The idea of a structured air rescue service
had been mooted by Prof. Dr Gerhard Flora for some time. Prof. Flora, who
passed away in 2015, was an Innsbruck surgeon and mountain rescue doctor.
All that was lacking was a suitable partner to help realise the idea. Initially, it
took a certain amount of persistence on the part of Prof. Flora to convince the
ÖAMTC of the idea. But ultimately the Club’s management were won over by it.
The ÖAMTC was therefore instrumental in getting the idea off the ground, as it
were, thanks first and foremost to Kurt Noé-Nordberg († 2010).
Within a matter of days the vision began to take shape and, within a few
weeks, it became reality. With their pioneering spirit and lots of innovations
the first crews laid the cornerstone for rapid progress in emergency medicine,
a medical specialty still very much in its infancy in those days. Nothing about
the original credo has changed since. Indeed, it has never been a matter of
getting the patient to the nearest hospital at ‘breakneck’ speed, but of getting
the doctor to the patient as swiftly as possible.
Assignments
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Die gelbe Flotte
Pilots
Doctors
315
Air rescue paramedics and personnel
145
Technical personnel 44
Administration, accounting, ground operations
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Assignments All preparations are geared towards the assignment
Along with faultless maintenance, flight preparations remain one of the
core elements of operating an emergency rescue helicopter assignment.
Communications and information transmission in particular have seen a
quantum leap in the recent past, vastly simplifying optimum preparations
for any assignment. Numerous online platforms are now available, replacing
the chunky handbooks that were familiar to pilots now retired, who also had
to make enquiries by fax and rely on telephone calls. It means that all the
latest key data on weather patterns, flight obstacles and potential landing
sites is instantly available at all times, making accurate flight preparations
a relatively straightforward process. Likewise the data from the checks of
the technical and mechanical systems made by each pilot on a daily basis
is now recorded electronically and digitally signed. It can then be viewed at
any time by the flight operations director or the relevant authority.
since 1995, but updating the index with new (temporary) obstacles was a
long-winded process. So when helicopter navigation systems were upgraded
in 2012, it seemed the ideal opportunity to incorporate obstacle data into the
new system there and then. The development work took around one year. The
ÖAMTC Air Rescue Service now has at its disposal a pioneering system that is
unique anywhere in Europe, automatically updated daily via radio link.
The latest ÖAMTC in-house development is used for electronic obstacle
acquisition. An index of obstacles to aviation for Austria has existed
mediation and innovative projects the Air Rescue College has established and
ONLY THE BEST
Operating a high-quality air rescue service means that pilots, emergency
doctors and air rescue personnel must be up to the task whatever the
operational situation. And that in turn requires a high level of social skills and
expert qualifications. With its selection processes, training events, information
promoted the requirements necessary to achieve those goals.
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50
18,270
Locations
16
Helicopters
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Teamwork is crucial to air rescue
Given the special circumstances that air rescue teams have to face, with
complex, time-critical and often dangerous situations, the ‘human factor’
is of the utmost importance in any air rescue mission. It concerns first and
foremost ‘non-technical skills’ such as communication, the ability to work
within a team, leadership, situation-specific alertness, and decisionmaking. Casting a critical eye back at the beginnings of air rescue in
Austria, it is not difficult to see that due to the lack of nationwide legislation
or, indeed, given the differences in legislation specific to each federal
province, each air base had to act more or less autonomously, not to
mention such important parameters as infrastructure and helicopters.
Standardised basic and advanced training seemed a long way off.
Everywhere different yardsticks were used and separate training concepts
drawn up. It was only in the late 1990s that air rescue regulations standardised
across Europe were first introduced. The Joint Aviation Requirements Operation
3 (JAR-OPS 3) precisely regulated both the way in which helicopters were to be
equipped and the training levels with which the crews had to comply.
Implementing these European regulations also in terms of qualifications
initially required a rethink within the ÖAMTC Air Rescue Service, too.
A curriculum to be used in future in training courses across Austria was
drawn up through concerted action. Measures had also been taken years
before to broaden the training horizon and adapt existing and successful
advanced training measures from other areas to the specific requirements
of an air rescue organisation. For example the medical training on CPR
simulation mannequins that has been common practice in clinics for some
time is now also implemented in helicopters.
A look ahead at what the future holds in store shows that the significance
of air rescue in emergency rescue and patient transportation will continue
to grow in Austria too, through infrastructure changes. We need to be
prepared for those changes, for the benefit and the well-being of each
individual patient.
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Infrastructure | Annual Report 2015 | ÖAMTC
ÖAMTC | Annual Report 2015 | Infrastructure
LEGEnd
Technical service and assistance centre 111
Driving centre
10
Emergency rescue helicopter base
16
8
Border station
31
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Service Station | Annual Report 2015 | ÖAMTC
ÖAMTC | Annual Report 2015 | Service Station
111 ÖAMTC technical service and assistance centres are available to more than
two million Club members as mobility centres.
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Always state-of-the-art
In those days the first cars had at best three electric motors: the starter, the
windscreen wiper drive motor, and the dynamo. Today’s cars have well over
100 interconnected control units. The steering and the brakes, which used
to be purely mechanical, are now controlled electronically. And, on new cars,
intelligent systems such as ABS, TCS (traction control system) and ESP (electronic stability program) now come as standard.
To be able to provide assistance, the Club’s technicians have to go beyond
their area of expertise and combine knowledge from several other fields.
Nowadays technical systems can no longer be treated in terms of individual
components, and a more holistic approach has to be adopted. When the
ÖAMTC’s Technical Services first began, sporadic training sessions every two
to three years, i.e. whenever something new came onto the market, were
enough to keep the Club’s technicians up to speed. But today, the Club’s
‘Yellow Angels’, more than 1,000 in number, spend many hours at their workplace every day poring over all the latest data fed into our data systems,
not to mention at least three special full-day training sessions a year to
keep abreast of the latest developments. The current trend has moved away
from explanations of new vehicle models towards training sessions on the
new systems built into the cars, systems which although almost identical in
constructional design are marketed under different names. Special emphasis
is placed on using diagnostics computers to locate faults, evaluating frequent
types of faults, and applying the ÖAMTC’s own in-house information systems.
Assistance always nearby
IN THE BEST OF HANDS
It all began at No. 12 Einsiedlergasse in Vienna’s 5th municipal district. Indeed,
the first ever ‘checks of operational reliability and roadworthiness on motor
vehicles and motorcycles by qualified personnel’ were carried out in April 1951.
Then, as now, the Club’s Technical Services did not carry out any actual repairs.
These initial checks merely served to expose any existing defects that might
affect a vehicle’s operational reliability. At that time 60,000 cars and 152,000
motorcycles were registered in Austria, and the ÖAMTC had 50,000 members.
In 2015 there were more than 4.7 million cars registered in Austria and around
500,000 motorcycles. And more than two million Austrians are now ÖAMTC
members.
Within weeks of that first inspection line opening in 1951, the waiting times
to obtain a date for a vehicle check had become longer and longer. The Club
had to take action. And so, on 19 May 1954, another technical service and
assistance centre was opened on Bachgasse. By then the vehicle check also
comprised the chassis, the engine and the power transmission. The new centre
was designed to handle 1,800 vehicle checks and 2,400 consultations a year.
In 2015 those figures were the equivalent to a month’s traffic passing through
just one technical service and assistance centre. Back then, a spanner, a pair
of pliers and a hammer were enough, but today’s ÖAMTC technicians also
have to be electronics specialists if they are to give a car a thorough check.
That’s why the natural instincts of the Club’s technicians are now backed up
by ultra-modern diagnostics equipment that communicates with the vehicle’s
control units as well as the Club’s in-house technical information system.
Competent. Modern. Objective.
As a non-profit association the ÖAMTC is not profit-driven; instead, it’s dedicated
entirely and exclusively to its members. The Club is interested in nothing other
than the safety of all its members and the benefits it provides to them.
By specifically pointing out repairs that are genuinely necessary, the ÖAMTC helps
its members to save money and irritations. A multitude of inspection services are
available at the 111 technical service and assistance centres throughout Austria.
Alongside the checks under Section 57a (MOT sticker), there are purchase, safety,
chassis, holiday and winter health checks, engine and control unit diagnostics,
and many other services.
35
The early 1960s saw the emergence of the concept of a technical service
and assistance centre. Every Austrian federal capital was to have its own
work centre, and every district administration its own technical service and
assistance centre. The first work centre opened on Schanzstrasse in Vienna
in 1965; it was the largest facility of its kind anywhere in Europe. By then the
Club’s membership had risen to 302,000.
In the lowlands of Austria, the inspection services at that time were provided
out of a marquee tent and a vehicle. Key locations were also served by a
mobile test centre.
Then things quickly gathered pace. The main technical service and assistance
centres were fitted out not only with inspection lines equipped with the day’s
very latest brake and performance test benches, but also with office premises
retailing Club articles, Assistance Booklets, and insurance policies.
The smaller unit used as a technical service and assistance centre, known
as a Korneuburger Häuserl, was a type of Nissen hut and had only one
inspection line. By 1970 there were more than 70 ÖAMTC technical service
and assistance centres across Austria.
The capacity of the ÖAMTC’s Technical Services had to be expanded once
again in 1973, the year the ‘MOT sticker’ was introduced. In October 1981
the ÖAMTC became the first automobile club in Europe to commission
the first computer-based engine tester. What was then the digital ‘guiding
beacon’ within the inspection workshop is now just one of many computerbased diagnostics equipment.
In the early 1980s the Club expanded its technical inspection services by
offering a more extensive vehicle purchase check. Since their introduction
thirty years ago, the Club’s Technical Services have intervened some five
million times at both the stationary and the mobile technical service and
assistance centres.
In 1984 Federal President Dr Rudolf Kirchschläger officially inaugurated the
ÖAMTC’s 100th technical service and assistance centre, in Vienna.
36
A shop with quality products
Today, the 111 ÖAMTC technical service and assistance centres have a lot
more to offer besides conventional technical services. Indeed, each year
the Club’s technicians carry out more than 1.5 million checks, from ‘MOT
sticker’ inspections to chassis and air conditioning system checks, not to
mention the thorough vehicle purchase checks and the stationary breakdown
assistance assignments at the centre itself. They also act as mobility centres
for tourist information and, on the adjoining shop premises, retail a whole
range of practical products for travel and everyday life, all in compliance with
the Club’s stringent and objective quality checks. It means that Club members
are able to shop there with complete peace of mind – and the guarantee of
lasting satisfaction.
Summer and winter items, car accessories, sat-navs and hands-free devices,
car light bulbs and batteries, and children’s toys are all part of the offer,
together with comprehensive advice on child seats, featuring top quality
products. Turnover at the technical service and assistance centres in 2015
totalled EUR 20.3 m.
Services tailored specifically for electric vehicles
The ÖAMTC has responded to the spread of fully or partly electrically powered
vehicles (with just under 20,000 hybrid and electric cars now registered in
Austria) with more and more new inspection and advice services.
The technical service and assistance centres in Linz, Baden and St. Pölten
have already been converted into e-competence centres. There, owners of hybrid
and electric vehicles can not only avail themselves of the ÖAMTC’s traditional
services such as MOT, chassis or air conditioning system checks, but also have
the electrical components put through their paces. Thanks to the state-of-the-art
diagnostics technology acquired specifically for e-vehicles, faults can quickly be
located and remedied.
Anyone interested in cars equipped with alternative means of propulsion can also
obtain comprehensive help and advice. A team of technicians trained specifically
on all conventional electric and hybrid vehicles is on hand to answer questions on
the topic of electromobility.
The future begins today
Energy self-sufficient centres
Future requirements are already being taken into account at the new
technical service and assistance centres that are now being built. The workstation concept developed by ÖAMTC Upper Austria is being implemented
at most of the new centres. All the technical aids for vehicle checks are
accommodated in a central ‘supply island’ located between the inspection
lines. For ergonomic reasons the Club is relying more and more on vehicle
lifts, which allow ÖAMTC technicians to identify more elements than they
would do by working out of one of the conventional pits.
Besides technical competence, complete transparency in the way in which
services are provided plays an important role. Members have the possibility
of being present, there and then, while the work is carried out; at all the newly
built centres large bay windows provide an opportunity to watch and monitor
the services provided.
Environmental compatibility is a key issue when it comes to the technical
building services. Heating at the newly built centres is provided through heat
pumps and ground source heat. At some locations photovoltaic systems are
used to generate the bulk of the electricity requirements directly at the centre
itself. And thanks to ‘free-cooling systems’ the technical service and assistance
centres no longer require conventional air conditioning. With this eco-friendly
process, water is used to cool the building in summer.
By 2030 the ÖAMTC technical service and assistance centres will be designed
and built using alternative building materials; they will be energy self-sufficient
and equipped across the board with electric charging stations and, potentially, hydrogen pumps. As far as inspection line facilities are concerned, most
of the emphasis will be on electronics. The testing equipment at the specially
equipped workstations will all be interconnected. By then exhaust emission
testers will presumably have become irrelevant, with most of the attention
shifting towards testing and diagnostics equipment for assistance systems.
… an automatic MOT check reminder service is available, notifying members by
email one month before their MOT is due?
… free Travel Info sets are available for members at every service station?
… ÖAMTC staff are on hand to offer the best objective advice available for
purchases of child seats?
Section 57a inspections (MOT sticker)
… the Buyer’s Check helps clarify a vehicle’s condition prior to any purchase?
38
Die gelbe Flotte
670,554
672,711
Other checks
287,293
Allocated Country-Infos
136,478
Travel bookings 28,844
39
40
Membership TREND*
2,049,027
2015
1,999,521
2014
1,946,633
Membership by category
2013
1,894,005
90.12 % | AUTO
2012
1,846,509
1,838,114
5.14 % | CORPORATE
2011
105,332
1,785,151
3.90 % | TOURING
2010
79,858 incl. bicycles
0.84 % | MOTOrcycle
17,328 incl. mopeds
Free membership for children and adolescents**
689,545
1,000,000
66.5 %
66.1 %
65.1 %
1,500,000
64.6 %
2,000,000
67.0 %
MEMBERSHIP/ASSISTANCE BOOKLET
63.9 %
FACTs
And
Figures
ÖAMTC | Annual Report 2015 | Facts and Figures
®
SOFORTHILFE IN ÖSTERREICH UND GANZ EUROPA
500,000
Ein gutes Gefühl, beim Club zu sein.
2010
Members
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Proportion of members with Assistance Booklets
ASSISTANCE BOOKLET
Assistance Booklets sold
Proportion of members with Assistance Booklets
Assistance provided
41.68 %
Breakdown assistance
and towing
1,373,245
(abroad)
67.0 %
15.41 %
181,364
Vehicle recoveries
(in Austria and abroad)
47,553
18.80 %
(excl. towing in Austria)
Return & onward
journey/overnight stay
14.41 %
Miscellaneous
(e.g. damage caused by game/
wildlife, garage parking)
9.70 %
*without free membership for children and adolescents
** not included in member pool
Medical services
42
Facts and Figures | Annual Report 2015 | ÖAMTC
ÖAMTC | Annual Report 2015 | Facts and Figures
Legal advice (in person, by phone, in writing) approx. 195.000
Doctors
315
Club’s legal experts
35
Air rescue paramedics and personnel
145
Counsels of choice
approx. 100
ADVOCACY & LOBBYING
88
Statements
11
1,428
Christophorus 4 (Reith/ Kitzbühel, Tyrol)
963
Total bookings
Christophorus 5 (Zams, Tyrol) 811
Employees
Christophorus 6 (City of Salzburg, Salzburg)
1,271
Christophorus 7 (Lienz, East Tyrol) 720
Christophorus 8 (Nenzing/ Vbg.)
821
Christophorus 9 (Vienna)
2,023
Christophorus 10 (Linz, Upper Austria)
1,193
Christophorus 11 (Klagenfurt, Carinthia)
1,212
Christophorus 12 (Graz, Styria)
1,415
32.04 %
Car accessories
11.41 %
E 39.17 m
19
Travel agency branches
283,763
Number of existing insurance policies 53,829
Policies concluded in 2015
Maps and leisure goods
E 48.50 m
E 20,30 m
Turnover
Service Stations
8
Monthly page impressions
933
DRIVING SKILLS
32.67 %
Car business
31.33 %
Legal expenses
120 emergency calls
1,209,209
Clubmobil allocations
24,740
Clubmobil vehicles
350
Dispatch centre staff
349
Technicians, patrolmen and towing staff Total, emergency vehicles
120,000
TRAVEL INFORMATION SERVICE
Touring sets issued
TECHNICAL INSPECTIONs
User Route Planner 672,711
Other checks
287,293
125,000
Property business
Routes calculated with the Route Planner
130,000
1.87 %
527
670,554
approx. 220
110,000
3.90 m
105,000
15,095
Monthly visits 74,813
1.40 m
Partners in Austria (incl. all outlets)
2,000
Partners worldwide (incl. all outlets)
160,000
User City Guide, web and app
196,570
User Country Info 733,566
User Travel Checklist
64,576
2012
2013
2014
USER FIGURES
700,0000
2015
600,0000
Road user education
550,0000
22,957
Blick und Klick
21,679
350,0000
Hallo Auto 56,791
300,0000
Club PS Total
2015
400,0000
250,0000
8,456
200,0000
1,096
110,979
2014
450,0000
Das kleine Straßen 1 x 1
124,620
Club Cards with credit card facility 800,0000
2011
1m
Card transactions by ÖAMTC members
1,000,0000
2010
5,415,782
PREFERRED PARTNERS
900,0000
Top Rider
43
Unique clients, monthly 115,000
136,478
1,458,929
Monthly page impressions TREND IN PARTICIPANTS
Travel insurance
1,252
Instructors
120,500
18.99 %
114
119,000
214,564
15.14 %
Employees
54,742
ÖaMTC Driving licence App
19
RELATIVE SHARES OF OVERALL BUSINESS
Towing assignments
14,002,117
167,467
Monthly visits
Christophorus 16 (Oberwart / Bgld.)
Personal insurance
1,957,702
5
Travel agency branches
672,711
Monthly visits
Mobile inspection stations
902
1,082,549
Unique clients, monthly
111
Christophorus 15 (Ybbsitz, Lower Austria)
668,202
Unique clients, monthly
ÖaMTC App
Service stations
Border stations Mobile breakdown assistance
monthly
Coverage
111
Branches
902
BREAKDOWN ASSISTANCE
1,822,000
Monthly page impressions
Insurance Services
1,763
Readership according to 2013/2014 media analysis
ÖAMTC Online
8.01 %
Christophorus 14 (Niederöblam, Styria)
Europa 3 (Suben, Upper Austria) 1,679,558
Published
Child seats
83
Circulation* *Source: ÖAK 2015 average for the year
12.09 %
28,844
160,000
Auto Touring
Oils
Turnover
Total premium volume
Traffic reports handled
Car & motorcycle batteries
Travel
10,702
ÖAMTC reports in print and online media
36.45 %
12,220
1,656
ÖAMTC TV and radio reports 1m
Christophorus 3 (Wiener Neustadt, Lower Austria)
46
SHOP
8
Am.Puls participants
816
1,081
33
990
Am.Puls surveys
Christophorus 2 (Krems, Lower Austria)
Campaigns / surveys / test series / joint ventures
169
*) incl. auxiliary staff
Assessments
Documented media contacts
assignment statistics
Christophorus 1 (Innsbruck, Tyrol)
20
1m
20
Press conferences / conferences / symposia
850,000
Helicopters
3,470
Subsidiaries*) 996
720,000
18,270
16
of whom: Technical services*) and Club services
Apprentices
42
Locations Press releases
117,600
Assignments
3,586
115,200
Administration, accounting and ground operations personnel
44
Total 123,600
Technical personnel COMMUNICATIONS
600,000
50
121,200
Pilots
Employees
LEGAL AID
550,000
ÖAMTC Air rescue
2010
44
2011
2012
2013
Printing information:
Media ownership/publisher: Österreichischer Automobil-, Motorrad- und Touring Club (ÖAMTC) | 1010 Wien | Schuberting 1–3 | ZVR: 730335108
Responsible for contents: Oliver Schmerold | Projektleitung: Stefan Lorbeer |Graphic design: Franz Xaver Scharler
Translations: Stephen B. Grynwasser, London
Editorial team: Roland Fibich, Manfred Pfnier, Ralph Schüller, Victoria Hofbauer
Photos: ÖAMTC Archiv | iStock, Getty Images
Printed by: gugler* print, 3390 Melk/Donau
Situation as at (unless otherwise specified): January 2016 | G 0011_16
Typesetting and printing errors excepted.
45

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