Our frontline services
Our frontline teams play a vital role on motorways helping road users – our customers – to complete their journeys safely and reliably.
They work around the clock to support road users, helping people plan the best route for their journey, sharing information about roadworks and traffic conditions, assisting people who’ve broken down, and making sure the roads we manage remain in a safe condition.
Our frontline teams are experts in dealing with incidents.
Meet the team
National Traffic Operations Centre
The National Traffic Operations Centre operates 24/7, maintaining strategic oversight of our motorways to ensure that we can respond quickly to any planned or unplanned incidents.
The team distributes current traffic and future event information to third parties via a range of channels and directly to the public via Traffic England and social media. This also includes setting the strategy for on-road variable message signs. The Traffic England website displays what’s happening on the motorways and major A-roads in England and is designed to help drivers plan and prepare in advance of their journey.
The team works closely with colleagues across the country to reflect a picture of how our motorways and A-roads are performing.
Customer Contact Centre
Our Customer Contact Centre team deals with on average 30,000 phone calls and responds to nearly 7,000 emails a month. They make sure that when people reach out to us, they get a timely response to their question.
Queries include road users calling in to report debris, to advise us of incidents and obstructions on our road network, or simply to ask us a question about something that is impacting their journey, such as roadworks.
There's a wealth of information available via our online help centre and if you can't find what you need there, you can reach out to the Customer Contact Centre directly on 0300 123 5000 or email: info@nationalhighways.co.uk
Traffic Officers
On-road Traffic Officers are often first on the scene when an incident happens, creating a safe working area by implementing emergency traffic management.
They clear obstructions and spills, help remove broken-down vehicles and work in partnership with the police and other blue light services, by managing road closures when there’s a serious incident.
Their priorities are to keep themselves and other road users safe and to re-open the motorways as soon as possible.
Regional Operations Centres
Teams in seven Regional Operations Centres (ROC) across the country work closely with our on-road traffic officers and inspectors.
They respond to emergency calls from roadside phones and coordinate our response to incidents.
The role of a ROC Operator includes a range of activities from dispatching traffic officers, setting signs and signals to liaising with emergency services and other organisations such as recovery operators.
Inspectors
Working alongside our ROC teams and on-road traffic officers are a team of Inspectors who patrol both motorways and A-roads looking out for defects that require attention.
They arrange for repairs and monitor the progress of ongoing maintenance activities to ensure motorways and A-roads remain in a good condition for the millions of drivers who use it every day.
We also employ specialist inspectors whose role is to monitor the condition of embankments, bridges and other structures, making sure they're properly maintained and remain safe.
The outcome of this work helps to inform annual maintenance and renewals programmes across the road network.
Getting people home safely, or making sure your goods arrive on time, is all in a day’s work for our frontline teams. There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes, but if you need our help, our frontline teams are available 24/7, 365.
