Meet Karl Snyder, AAA South Jersey's Fleet All Star Technician Award Winner

VOORHEES, N.J. – For most people, a vehicle breaking down and needing a tow means a bad day. For AAA South Jersey members, the silver lining is you might meet Karl Snyder. Karl was awarded AAA South Jersey’s Fleet All Star Technician Award for 2025. The second annual award was given to Karl to honor his outstanding performance, strong safety habits, and consistent commitment to delivering excellent service to our members. Get to know Karl below.

Q: How long have you been with AAA?

Karl: Ten years.

Q: What did you do before working at AAA?

Karl: I drove a tow truck for another tow company.

Q: What do you do for AAA?

Karl: 99% of the time, towing.

Q: What was your reaction when you found out you won this award?

Karl: I was a little shocked. I didn't believe it. They announced it at the holiday party but I wasn’t there. Everyone said something and I'm like, ’What are you talking about? I don't know. I never won an award before.’

Q: The award winner is selected based on metrics such as safe driving, speeding, harsh braking, distracted driving, etc. And then it's also based on customer service, how well you work with the team here. Is that something that you take pride in?

Karl: I do. It's my job. Pay attention. And I take commercial truck driving very seriously because we get to clean up the aftermath of when people don't pay attention. They're too busy browsing Facebook to pay attention and smack curbs and hit other cars. And just treat everybody like people, show up, enjoy your coworkers. It's the people here.

Q: What do you enjoy most about the job?

Karl: It’s something different every day. It's never the same thing. You never know what you're getting into. So, it's something fresh every day. Yeah, the job's the same. You put the truck where it needs to be and the truck does the rest of the work, but you never know who you're gonna bump into. People telling you funny stories from back in the day. Just people's stories, getting to talk different people every day.

Q: Do you have a memorable call or service?

Karl: I have quite a few that we can't put on here.

Q: Slow Down, Move Over is a big initiative for AAA. People either may not know about it, or they just don't follow the law. Have you had any close calls?

Karl: Oh, absolutely. Every day. Yeah, almost I got laid out by a dump truck right at 561 on I-295. He was looking at his phone and went right over the white line.

Q: Do you have a message for the people who will read this?

Karl: Put your phone down and pay attention to what's in front of you. I mean, honestly, it's simple. And honestly, the new cars today, there are so many computers and screens like flashing stuff at you and like that, that's a distraction in itself and they have terrible blind spots. It's too much of a reliance on technology. And then people, they think their car can auto drive.

According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, only 64% of vehicles either slowed down or moved over when researchers reviewed real-world footage of drivers passing roadside incidents. The other 36% did neither.

The same research also found tow truck operators face the greatest risk. Only 58% of drivers slowed down or moved over when a tow truck was stopped at the roadside, compared to 66% for police vehicles.

New Jersey law requires drivers to slow down and move over for all vehicles stopped at the roadside.