About 300 drivers have been left stuck on the side of the road after a power outage hit the NRMA's Sydney dispatch system about 5pm on Tuesday.
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NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said drivers were waiting four hours for help after seeking roadside assistance because the automatic system has stopped working.
Staff had turned to pen and paper to take and dispatch calls for help, Mr Khoury said.
We are experiencing severe delays answering calls due to prior power outage at call centre.Sincere apologies,if urgent pls contact 13 11 11 — NRMAMotoringServices (@NRMA) December 10, 2013
At 9.30pm, there was a backlog of about 200 people waiting for help and a further 100 were waiting for their calls to be taken.
The NRMA has turned to social media to communicate with stranded drivers. When one driver tweeted to NRMA that he had been on hold for 45 minutes and his phone was running out of battery, the NRMA responded with a request for his location.
Mr Khoury asked people trying to get through to stay patient and the NRMA was recruiting extra staff from the closest call centre at Gosford.
The NRMA expects things to be back to normal by peak-hour on Wednesday morning.
