HELP Program

Traffic congestion is a serious and growing problem in Tennessee, especially in the major travel corridors in our metropolitan areas, and it's more than an inconvenience. Consider the value of time to the commuters, truckers, visitors and other drivers and passengers stuck in traffic. Consider the costs to businesses waiting for critical parts or supplies or waiting for customers to arrive. Automobiles and trucks stuck in traffic congestion add more pollutants to our air and waste energy. Traffic congestion causes traffic crashes, and traffic congestion aggravates road rage.

So what can we do? State and local governments are working together to expand the capacity of our transportation systems, but new infrastructure alone will not solve the problems associated with congestion.

In analyzing the problems of congestion, two numbers stand out:

• 60% of all freeway congestion is non-recurring, i.e. caused by incidents such as wrecks, debris in the road, disabled vehicles, and not by limited highway capacity.
• 20% of all freeway crashes are secondary, occurring because the roadway is blocked by an earlier (primary) incident.

In other words, more than half of all backups occur on highway sections where roadway capacity is adequate under normal circumstances. Furthermore, one out of five freeway crashes happens after a previous incident that is still disrupting traffic flow.

Accordingly, TDOT is giving more attention to "highway incident management," and TDOT is promoting "quick clearance" of highway incidents. The HELP Program is probably the most visible result.

The TDOT HELP Program emphasizes quick clearance of congestion-causing accidents on the highways.  According to Tennessee law (T.C.A. 55-10-117), when a motor vehicle traffic accident occurs with no apparent serious personal injury or death, the driver of each vehicle involved should remove the vehicle from the roadway whenever the move may be done safely and the vehicle is capable of being normally and safely driven.

National studies have shown that up to 20% of all collisions on controlled-access highways are secondary, or attributable to an earlier (primary) incident that has not been fully cleared.  To help ease traffic congestion, TDOT and the Tennessee Department of Safety have entered into an interagency memorandum of understanding to work together to ensure public safety, promote safe and orderly traffic flow, protect the safety of emergency responders and restore the roadway to full capacity as soon as possible following an incident.

This is part of the TDOT SmartWay plan to address traffic congestion issues. TDOT has placed signs along the state's interstate system and other access-controlled highways to remind motorists to move their damaged vehicles to the shoulder if no serious injury has occurred.

HELP trucks patrol the most heavily traveled freeways in Knoxville, Chattanooga, Nashville, and Memphis seven days a week. (When requested by law enforcement agencies, HELP trucks may also work on weekends and late at night during special events that create high traffic volumes.)

HELP trucks operate on assigned routes which are restricted to the core areas of each city, so operators can respond quickly to incidents that have the most impact on the total freeway system. The routes sometimes vary by time of day, and HELP trucks are sometimes sent off regular routes to help with traffic control at major incident scenes; but patrols are maintained on the assigned routes as much as possible.

The lime-yellow trucks are equipped with a variety of tools, emergency medical equipment, traffic cones, traffic control signs, absorbent material, emergency and work lights, and other equipment to assist with incident management. The trucks also carry gasoline, diesel fuel, and water. The directional arrow boards on top of the trucks can be raised from inside the truck. HELP operators carry two-way radios and cell phones.

All HELP operators are specially trained to deal with different kinds of emergencies that occur on our roadways, and the HELP trucks are official emergency vehicles. You should always yield to a HELP truck just as to other emergency vehicles. Also, you should be aware that HELP trucks make frequent stops. Be especially careful to keep a safe following distance.

HELP services are provided without charge, and HELP operators do not accept tips. Operators give postage-paid comment cards to each motorist who receives assistance, and we encourage motorists to fill out and mail the card as soon as possible after the incident.

HELP Statistic (1999-2025) pdf.