Courtesy Cruiser, Inc. began operating in Naples , Florida in 1994.  The vehicle operated by the company traveled Collier County Roadways providing "free roadside assistance" to motorists disabled on or near travel lanes.  Services included free auto-gas, tire-changes, cellular telephone use, an occasional free tow and even a ride home from a crash if needed.  The business was supported largely by advertising revenue and promotional considerations paid by businesses which paid for affiliation with the "good-deed" program and for having their logos displayed on the vehicle.  The "Courtesy Cruiser" also provided a local radio station with "live" traffic reports which aired during rush-hour, Monday through Friday.

Lieutenant James Wells with the Florida Highway Patrol was designated by his Department to work in conjunction with the Florida Department of Transportation in 1995 to assist with technical details and budgeting estimates involved with providing a service on the Interstate (Alligator Alley) to service motorists experiencing mechanical failures.  In an area historically plagued with a shortage of state troopers, an additional vendor or department better equipped to deal with broken down motorists on the desolate stretch of I-75 would be a welcomed service.  After extensive FHP and FDOT research, planning and development of the program was presented to the local towing industry for discussion.  Although initially concerned that the program would take business away from the towers in Southwest Florida tow companies now see the service as an added benefit of safety whenever their units are working on the Interstate.  The "Alley Service Patrol" was first placed into service on Friday the thirteenth, October, 1995.  The first two trucks were placed into service after a successful competitive-bid was awarded to Coastland Auto Center , Incorporated in Naples .  Coastland sub-contracted management services to Courtesy Cruiser, Incorporated and the private-public partnership proved to be a good match.  The public-funded "service patrol" in Florida was only the third or fourth such program in the Nation operating 1995.

Today's role of the now recognized "Road Rangers" has been expanded to include highway incident management on more than a thousand miles of highways, freeways, interstates and other primary roads in the state.  Road Rangers respond to all type of incidents and has become one of the most effective elements of the Department's incident management program.  FDOT's Road Rangers provide a direct service to motorists by quick clearance of travel lanes of debris and damaged vehicles involved in minor non-injury crashes.  Road Rangers respond and assist motorists who have mechanical problems on the State's vast highway system.  Services include: providing auto-fuel, assisting with tire changes and other types of minor emergency repairs including adding water to radiators to over-heated vehicles, providing engine oil and even a cool bottle of water to exhausted stranded motorists.  Road Rangers have a free cellular telephone available for motorists to call friends or family to request help from a motor club or tow company.  No motorist is ever left behind.  Frequently a ride to the nearest exit or public facility is provided by our patrol trucks.  Each Road Ranger is assigned a specific area or "beat" as we call it.  Although assigned to a certain area it is standard operating practice to respond "out of area" to assist law enforcement or another Road Ranger with large highway incidents which have great impact on motorists outside of the assigned area or "beat".  Our mission is to do whatever it takes to restore the flow of traffic to normal as quickly and as safely utilizing all of our many available resources.

Specific Road Ranger patrol locations and operating hours can be found in the FDOT web-site listed here: http://www.dot.state.fl.us/TrafficOperations/Traf_Incident/rrangers/rdranger.htm