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.

Oct 27, 2015

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

Meet the Trucker: Scott Wagner [p]We got to know owner-operator Scott Wagner during our Meet the Trucker Q&A. Scott had lots of wisdom and advice to share with the Trucker Path team. [img src="https://truckerpath.com/uploads/2015/11/wagner_photo-e.png" alt=""] [p][b]Q: How did you hear about Trucker Path?[/b][/p] [p]A: I found out about Trucker Path about 3 months ago from my good, good friend. Word of mouth is the best solution for everything.[/p] [p][b]Q: Would you recommend Trucker Path to friends?[/b][/p] [p]A: I would recommend this app to aliens out on Mars.[/p] [p][b]Q: Do you encounter a lot of aliens on the road?[/b][/p] [p]A: A couple of these drivers, the way they look these days, might as well be.[/p] [p][b]Q: How has Trucker Path impacted your driving?[/b][/p] [p]A: Trucker Path has made a big impact on how I have been driving just recently. I was a company driver for 22 years and became an owner operator. Now, Trucker Path is out there telling me where the next weigh station is; tells me if it’s open or closed. It’s been beneficial in my driving success to get further down the road.[/p] [p][b]Q: What do you like about Trucker Path?[/b][/p] [p]A: Everything I have seen so far on the app has been helpful in driving. Number one, knowing about the scales and, two, knowing where the next fuel stop is going to be. Being an owner-operator and not being told where we have to stop, it’s beneficial knowing I can make it another 150 miles on my next tank of fuel as opposed to 25 miles before.[/p] [p][b]Q: What features are most useful?[/b][/p] [p]A: Weigh stations or next fuel stop. Also, at the end of the day it’s telling me is the lot full, is it half empty, is there plenty of parking, and also where my next Walmart store is. I love that, and there are no apps out there for that.[/p] [p][b]Q: Got any good trucking stories?[/b][/p] [p]A: The organization I am with – people like to toilet paper other trucks. So don’t leave your truck unattended. That’s all I’m gonna tell ya.[/p] [p][b]Q: What does a hero truck driver look like to you?[/b][/p] [p]A: It’s a person that does their job and is not afraid to lend a helping hand, even when they are not asked. We are a tight knit family out here, as a trucking group.[/p] [p][b]Q: Do you have any advice for other truckers?[/b][/p] [p]A: Be yourself. Don’t try to be a “super trucker.” Be positive in your job. Be smart about it. There’s a lot of stupidity going on – make a positive influence on other drivers.[/p] [p][b]Q: Any parting words or comments on trucking in general?[/b][/p] [p]A: The trucking business is a tight knit family – a lot of good and a lot of bad – and people like you guys helping to make it better than what it was.[/p]

Nov 04, 2015