Longwood is a small city with an outsized share of road. A short stretch of I-4 runs along its western limit with a single exit at SR 434, and SR 434 crosses the city east to US 17/92. The I-4 Ultimate reconstruction ends at that SR 434 interchange, and a pair of rest areas serves both directions of I-4 inside the city. Add a SunRail station and LYNX bus service, and Longwood packs a lot of traffic into about 15,000 residents. Mobile diesel repair from RDI Power covers all of it, with technicians traveling from our only shop, in Brooksville, to wherever the truck stopped.
Meeting a technician at the Longwood I-4 rest areas
A rest area is one of the best places on I-4 to work on a truck: level pavement, marked truck parking and real distance from moving traffic. Longwood has a pair of them, one for each direction, and FDOT lists the eastbound site, 2.5 miles east of exit 94, with truck parking. If a truck is acting up but still safe to drive, with no red stop-engine lamp, no low-air buzzer and a normal temperature gauge, getting it into the rest area makes the repair easier and safer for everyone. Tell us which side you are on and where in the truck lot you parked.
If the truck is not safe to drive, do not try to make the rest area. Get it as far right as it will go, turn on the hazards, set out the triangles and call from there.
Where the I-4 express lanes end at SR 434 in Longwood
The express lanes built in the I-4 Ultimate project end at SR 434 in Longwood; a planned extension from SR 434 to US 17/92 was still in planning and design. Lanes merge and traffic reshuffles through this stretch, and FDOT counts about 11,659 trucks a day on I-4 near the city. A truck that stops there should get as far right as it safely can. Give us the direction, whether you are in the express or general lanes or on the exit 94 ramp, and what the truck did before it stopped.
US 17/92 through Longwood, heavy with trucks
On the city’s east side, US 17/92 carries about 4,532 trucks a day on its busiest nearby segment, 15.9% of 28,500 vehicles, a higher truck share than I-4 shows here. SR 434 adds about 2,040 trucks a day across the middle of town. These are commercial roads with side streets and parking lots close by, so if the truck can roll somewhere off the travel lane without risk, that is where the repair should happen. If it cannot, hazards and triangles come first and the call comes second.
Contractor trucks on Longwood job sites
Longwood’s 2023 employer list leans toward the trades. Alongside Orlando Health South Seminole Hospital, the largest employer, and a UPS operation, the top ten included a roofing company, a building services firm and an energy services company. If your trucks work job sites around the city, mobile service comes to the site. The technician needs firm ground next to the truck, a clear path for the service truck and someone who can answer questions about the unit and its recent history, such as when the fuel filters were last changed or whether the batteries are new.
What a Longwood on-site repair covers
Each visit starts with a real diagnosis: codes, live data and a direct test of the suspect part. RDI technicians carry dealer-level capability, including Ford IDS and WiTECH, and the team behind them includes a Ford specialist with more than 30 years at a Ford dealership. Once the fault is proven, typical fixes include:
- A dead battery, a corroded cable end or a starter that no longer engages
- An alternator that has quit charging
- A cooling hose, belt or fitting that let go in traffic
- Fuel filters plugged with debris, or water in the separator
- A failed sensor or chafed harness behind a derate
- Air brake leaks and chambers on heavier trucks, and trailer wiring
A digital inspection with photos records each repair, and on-site work carries the same labor warranty as shop work: 3 years or 36,000 miles.
Longwood jobs headed for the Brooksville shop
Some Longwood calls end with the technician explaining that the truck needs a bay: an engine with internal damage, a transmission that has to come out, an alignment or any job that needs a lift. In that case you get the evidence first, and then we plan the move to 1665 Donto Way with you, so the shop is ready when the truck arrives.
When a truck stops in Longwood during the work week, call (352) 433-3800 between 7:00 AM and 4:00 PM. Outside those hours, roadside help belongs to RDI Fleet accounts, described on Longwood fleet maintenance. How our service trucks operate is covered under mobile diesel repair, and the city just north on I-4 has its own page: mobile diesel repair in Lake Mary.