You may be waiting a while if your car is in need of a tow or a boost.
In the Edmonton/ St. Albert region, AMA is seeing 4.5 times its normal volume of phone calls for battery boost services and four times the normal volume for tow and winch services, according to an AMA spokesperson.
Currently, in the Edmonton area, which covers St. Albert, AMA's website estimates callers will be waiting 52 hours for towing or winching.
Callers can expect to wait four hours for a boost.
When temperatures dip below -15 C, AMA advises plugging in your vehicle.
In a press release, AMA's Chief Instructor for AMA Driver Education Mark Pasternak said, "If you don’t have that option, ensure you have a newer battery — about three-years-old or less — and consider using synthetic oil if you can.”
The release also recommends ensuring that your gas tank is at least half full, using gas-line antifreeze if your vehicle frequently moves from warm to cold environments and making sure your tires are properly inflated.
AMA recommends avoiding trips in extremely cold weather, and packing emergency supplies such as blankets, warm clothing, caution triangles, a flashlight, gloves and a folding shovel.
