Sidney Wolk, who founded Cross Country Motor Club in 1972 — now Agero, the largest provider of emergency roadside assistance in the United States covering more than 120 million motorists — died on September 19, 2024 at age 89, according to Tow Industry Week and the Boston Globe. Wolk, the son of a Dorchester plumber, built the company from a vision that foreign automakers entering the U.S. market would benefit from offering round-the-clock roadside assistance as a competitive advantage.
Operator takeaway
The man who created the roadside assistance industry as we know it has died — every motor club call you answer exists because Sidney Wolk saw an opportunity in 1972 that nobody else did.