Dec 17, 2015

What's New in Trucker Path Pro

We’ve been hard at work improving the Trucker Path Pro app, and we’ve got lots of new features to share with you. Here is just some of what we’ve been working on.

Get Industry News

It’s been a busy news week in the trucking industry. The ELD mandate was just made official. Thousands of you helped deliver for Wreaths Across America. A new safety fitness determination could be on it’s way.

It’s hard to keep up with all of the trucking news. That’s why Trucker Path Pro now gives you direct access to the information you need. If you’ve downloaded the newest Trucker Path Pro update, you may have noticed the new Industry News option on the menu. When you tap this option, your smartphone opens a menu containing headlines from the Truckers News website. You can tap one of the headlines to read the full article and keep up with this ever-changing industry.

Be Safe Out There

At Trucker Path, we care about your safety and the safety of others out on the road. Because of this, we’ve implemented an alert to warn our users about the dangers of distracted driving. The alert appears on your screen if you operate Trucker Path Pro while moving. We recommend pulling over, using a hands-free setup, or, if possible, asking a passenger to operate the app. Please remember, you can be subject to a hefty fine from the FMCSA and a 10 point CSA violation if cited with violation for using a handheld device while driving.

Help Build the Community

A lot of folks have been notifying us about some unsavory user comments in place reviews. We at Trucker Path take community seriously, and we know the foundation of a great trucking community is respect. So, we’re working hard to moderate offensive comments and make Trucker Path Pro a place where all truckers can contribute to building a stronger community.

Our approach to solving this problem includes a few different phases that we’ll be rolling out over the coming months. First, though, we wanted to notify everyone of the new comments policy in Trucker Path Pro: In order to build a constructive community of truckers, comments containing lewd, threatening, or explicit language are prohibited.

We’ve added a notification to the app which contains the new comments policy. Currently, the notification is only available for Android users, but don’t worry – we’re working hard to create a notification for iOS users too. In the meantime, we encourage all Trucker Path Pro users to be kind and respectful to one another.

You spoke, we listened – and we’re glad we did. We’re constantly striving to improve so we can be more helpful to truckers. Building our app based on community feedback is big part of what makes Trucker Path Pro so useful. Nothing complicated, no frills. Just truckers helping other truckers. Here at Trucker Path, it really is that simple.

Truck Stops to Family Values: Choosing the Right Path [p]Whether he's driving a big rig or raising his kids, father of 7 Ed Brooks knows just where to look for guidance.[/p] [p]Ed Brooks found the Trucker Path app the same way a lot of our users do (searching for a smarter way to get from the proverbial Point A to Point B),but the feature he’s used most often lately is a favorite of his son – Ed’s on-the-road companion for the past five months. “When you travel with an 11-year-old,” he says with a smile, “you need to know where the bathrooms are.”[/p] [p]And not just any roadside truck stop will do, mind you. “We always check user ratings to see if the bathrooms are clean, and the atmosphere is family-friendly. Most times, we try to shoot for full-service truck stops. After all, if you have to stop, you might as well make it a good one.”[/p] [h2]Not your typical driving experience[/h2] [p]Ed’s been driving OTR since April – delivering RVs, buses and box trucks across the country. Before that, the Ann Arbor native drove several years locally for Uber and Lift – two jobs which offered a bit more, let’s say, ‘adventure’ than the average 62-year-old wants in life. “I drove a lot of students from club to club at nights, and it just got too wild. I wouldn’t even take rides after 11:00. By then, a lot of them could barely walk or talk.”[/p] [p]Which, in a roundabout way, raises a couple of questions: Where does a 62-year-old get the energy to raise an 11-year-old son, and how’d that happen in the first place? “Oh, we’re joined at the hip,” says Ed. “We’ve been on the road together nearly full time since I took this job. My wife and I adopted Roman when he was 11 months old.”[/p] [h2]Answering the call[/h2] [p]Ed admits that, at the time, he and Linda weren’t exactly looking for number seven (of whom, three others are also adopted),“but the Lord intervened. Roman had suffered a brain injury as a baby, and we just felt like he needed us.”[/p] [p]The injury led to early comprehension challenges, especially during pre-school and kindergarten. Roman’s going into fifth grade this year, and, Ed’s proud to say, “he’s doing well and making his grades. We home-schooled him last year,” which is how he was able to spend so much time on the road during April and May, “and now he’s all caught-up, and he’ll be going back to school this year.”[/p] [h2]A message of hope[/h2] [p]Although the next nine months on the road are likely to be a bit lonely for Ed, he’ll still have plenty of opportunities to make a difference when he’s home. A chaplain at the Washtenaw County jail for seven years before he began his driving career, Ed’s a member of Bethesda Bible Church in East Lansing – and still maintains an active ministry counseling recently-released inmates.[/p] [h2]Making good choices[/h2] [p]There is one upside to traveling solo for Ed: “Roman mostly liked eating at McDonald’s, whereas I do my best to stay away from carbs and starches.” Yet another area where his favorite driving app comes in handy every time he hits the road. “If a place ain’t on Trucker Path,” Ed says flatly, “I won’t go there.” Words of wisdom from a man who knows a little something about keeping it on the Straight and Narrow.[/p]

Dec 03, 2015

A Match Made at MATS [p]Kevin Young and his wife Shannon have traveled together for half of his 16 year truck driving career, enjoying “the freedom of the open road and not having a boss standing over your shoulder.” Together, they’re on a mission to get the sense of community back in the trucking industry using new technologies like Trucker Path and podcasts.[/p] [img src="https://truckerpath.com/uploads/2015/09/KJ_Picture1-1.png" alt=""] [p]Kevin Young knows the secret to keeping a relationship happy and healthy while on the road.[/p] [p]“Love,” Young said. “When you’re two feet apart all day, you either love them or hate them. Love and patience.”[/p] [p]At the Great American Trucking Show (GATS) in August, members of the Trucker Path team got to hang out with Young, a third generation trucker, and his wife Shannon in their truck.[/p] [p]“We know 99 % about each other,” Young said. “Sure, we get on each other’s nerves, but we wouldn’t change it for the world.”[/p] [p]When they need a break from one another, Young and his wife enjoy stops along the way like GATS and MATS. In fact, [a href="http://www.overdriveonline.com/a-match-made-in-mats-couple-gets-married-at-truck-show/"]they even got married at MATS in 2013[/a].[/p] [p]For Young, the highlight of GATS was the chance to talk to others in the trucking industry. “I love talking,” Young said, “and I had a lot of wonderful interviews. Talking to people is my main thing.”[/p] [p][a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/trucking-comes-up-short-in-search-for-young-drivers-1432071355"]Even the Wall Street Journal looks to Young for insight on trucking[/a].[/p] [img src="https://truckerpath.com/uploads/2015/09/KJ2-1.png" alt=""] [p]Young said truckers come to GATS to learn about all the latest gadgets and technology in the industry. He said it’s important that truckers keep up with technology trends.[/p] [p]“Everybody has to change with the times,” Young said. “No old school mentality anymore.”[/p] [p]Along with over 400,000 other truckers, he and Shannon have turned to Trucker Path for help on the road.[/p] [img src="https://truckerpath.com/uploads/2015/09/KJ3-1.png" alt=""] [p]“Like my buddy Brad James said, ‘Trucker Path is the new CB radio.’” Young said. “Lots of new gadgets out there in the trucking industry, and you’ve got to roll with it.”[/p] [p]Young is hoping the Trucker Path Pro app will help with a growing issue in trucking – community. He said that, while there’s a strong sense of community at events like GATS, that hospitality doesn’t always shine out on the road.[/p] [p]After a flat on his trailer’s back axle in the fall of 2000, Young says other drivers stopped to help him right away. Nowadays, however, he fears that sort of camaraderie is fading from the industry.[/p] [p]“Drivers don’t help each other on the side of the road as they used to,” Young said. “Community like that in modern day trucking is missing.”[/p] [img src="https://truckerpath.com/uploads/2015/09/KJ4_edit-1.png" alt=""] [p]Young is on a mission to get that community back. He’s starting a podcast called [a href="https://www.facebook.com/Truckin-Roundup-page-1427419624228653/"]Truckin Round Up[/a] which brings together the elements of old school trucking with the trends of new school trucking.[/p] [p]Young’s podcast will take the form of a talk show full of interview segments with others in the industry. In it, Young plans to discuss new technology like Trucker Path that can keep old school trucking relevant.[/p] [quote]“You’ve got to have allies in this world and in this industry,” said Young. “It’s a never ending battle between good and evil. Stick together and be helpful on the road.”[/quote] [p]When Young isn’t recording his podcast or driving his truck, you can find him helping his wife Shannon learn to drive.[/p] [img src="https://truckerpath.com/uploads/2015/09/Kj5-1.png" alt=""] [p]“If you want a hard challenge in your life, train your spouse how to drive a truck,” Young said jokingly. “I tell her do as I say, not as I do. She’s done drove me bald and took all my money. She might as well drive my truck too.”[/p] [p][i]Special thanks to Kevin and Shannon for sharing their stories with us and for their support of the Trucker Path app.[/i][/p]

Sep 29, 2015

Oct 27, 2015