I know it’s a very busy and challenging time of year, with rising fuel prices, staffing difficulties and road & rail disruptions. So I just wanted to shoot a quick video to say thanks for the good work and give a quick update on the platform.

Fantastic Reviews

Although I know most customers are delighted with the service, its still great to hear it again. Here is one that really stood out to me;

On time with pick-up and delivery. They kept in contact with me, informing me where vehicle was after pick-up and when in transit.


Called me when 15 minutes away from drop off point.

Excellent service.

And here is another:

Need an engine shipped from Bundaberg to Melbourne. Tried quite a few of the big name companies and obviously were not interested.

Found a great company on Truck it who completed the job inside 5 days door to door with no issues at all.

The first shows how much customers appreciate communication. It sounds like that provider made things by using the app to enable tracking. In my opinion the highlight in the second review is all about the customer recognising that our providers are often more flexible with greater service standards. Great work!

Platform Updates

On the Horizon

While we haven't specifically been looking for more business to business jobs, a lot more manufacturers, wholesalers and civil projects have been reaching out to us to find good quality providers. It means an greater need for pantechs, skels, flat tops, curtainsiders, low loaders and more. These businesses generally have terms and conditions that go above what most consumers would expect, but the pay off is the chance of longer-term work, easier loading & unloading and pickup and deliveries to the same locations while dealing with the same people.

To give yourself the best chance of landing a slice of this work, make use of the insurance uploader for your certificates of currency, and keep your Truckit rating high.

Lastly I just want to say thanks to all of the transport providers who have kept Australia moving through the year!

Stay safe on the road and have great Christmas,

Rob

1. Where were you born? 

Assam (North East) - India


2. Favourite Hobby? 

Playing with Bat and Ball


3. Favourite Quote?

"Everything comes to us that belongs to us if we create the capacity to receive it." - Rabindranath Tagore

4. Favourite Band?

Fossils Band (Kolkata)


5. Favourite Food?

Hilsa fish in Mustard gravy


6. Post-pandemic - Where Do You Want To Travel First?

Queenstown, New Zealand


7. What's a fun fact people may not know?

I made students believe that I was a new teacher at a private arts school being a student on the very first day of the course.

8. What’s your favorite part about your job at Truckit?

Bringing up design culture among folks

One of the benefits of using the Truckit Provider app is that you can share your location with customers, allowing them to keep up to date with their delivery.

How to enable tracking for the first time

The first time you login to the app you will be shown a popup with a brief overview of Truckit's location tracking. You will then be prompted to set your Location Settings to 'Always'.

In order for the tracking to function properly you will need to select 'Always Allow' when prompted. This is a technical requirement to ensure a good tracking experience for your customer, otherwise the tracking will not function. But don't worry, you will have full control over when you wish to be tracked, as you will read below. 

How to change your tracking setting to 'Always'

Starting a Job

Before you leave to go and collect a job, make sure you go into the job screen and click 'Start Job'. When starting the job you will also be given the options to:

Turn all tracking on or off  with the Online switch

With Truckit tracking you are in full control, to turn tracking on or off for all customers, simply use the 'Online' switch on the home screen (see below).

What does Online and Offline mean?

When you are Online, customers who have a job in progress will be able to see your current location on a map as well as an estimate of the distance to the collection or delivery (example below). 

When you are Offline, nobody will be able to see your location, only your last known location from when you were last online.

What your customer can see

Customers can view your location on a map when their job has been started and you are set to Online. If both of these conditions are met, then the customer will be able to see a map on their listing page that looks something like the below.

Good to know tip: To maintain a level of privacy, there is a zoom limitation on the customer map which means they can not zoom all the way in to see your exact position on the map.

We hope that this assists in your queries about our tracking options! As always, if you have any further questions or queries, please reach out to us on 1800 859 850 or support@truckit.net.

Interview with Andrew Erikson - Senior Developer at Truckit.net

How did the idea of the app come about?

I think the idea for the App may even predate the Website actually. No, I'm exaggerating just a little.  But it really wasn't long after the Website launched that talk of doing a Mobile App began. I think it was pretty much self-evident that that’s where things were headed. Smartphones changed everyone’s lives… which demanded that Truckit step up and produce, not just an App, but a top-notch App.

Had you developed apps [like this one] previously?

Well, I've been involved in the Development of other Apps, but certainly nothing even remotely close to this one. I think that is just a reflection of the level of bespoke functionality that Truckit has acquired over the years that has made it so much different from everything that came before, certainly in my experience.

How is this app different from others you have done?

The main area that in my experience has set this App apart from others I would have to say is the intricacies and permutations of the User Interfaces, which are required to support several distinct workflows and User Experiences. Truckit is very unique in that aspect, and this has made it quite different to other types of Software I've had the privilege of working with over the years.  Besides this, there is also the technology aspect that was new in that we chose to work with a technology that up until that point we had little experience with.  All of this has since changed of course.

Can you discuss the agile methodology of software development and talk about its advantages and disadvantages?

Using the Agile methodology has enabled us to adapt and change as the project has progressed and made it possible for us to respond faster to requirement changes and overlooked or poorly designed features that are not obvious at the outset. But this usually comes at the expense of being able to apply more time to the documentation process which can have a detrimental effect over the longer term. It can also be frustrating sometimes to iterate multiple times over the same feature until such time as the stakeholder is happy with it.  So there definitely are positives and negatives. Unfortunately, if you are dealing with a project where the full scope of requirements is not yet fully understood, and this was certainly where we found ourselves at the beginning, then Agile is the only method available to you really. The most important aspect of any software project is the ability to adapt to circumstances and understand that what you are dealing with is very often a moving target. Sure, you might settle on all the features to be included in a Version 1, and then a Version 2 after that and so on, but we all know it often doesn't stop there. Versions can be open-ended depending on the success of the product, so I think it’s good in some ways to try and view a software project as a journey rather than a destination, with fixed resting points that define the boundaries between versions. When you look at it like this, and utilise it in this manner, then I think the Agile Methodology makes a lot of sense and the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

What were some hurdles you faced, and which was the biggest hurdle you faced during the creation of this app?

There were several hurdles that revolved around deciding what Architecture to go with, but I would probably say the biggest hurdle of all was actually deciding what Technology to use, because I mean, there are so many options out there really. The classical approach to this question may entail reviewing the development skills available to you as a manager, and then making a decision based on this. That is not the approach we took.  In fact, we completely put available skills to one side and focused on the pros and cons of each technology independent of other factors, and we continued doing this even after we had started the project. In fact, we made what I would refer to as a 'course correction' a few months into the project after we evaluated another technology that had up until that point been off our radar. The fact that we were prepared to make a huge U-turn like this as far into the project as we were I think emphasises just how important technology choice was for us in the end, thus making it our biggest hurdle, definitely.

After overcoming these roadblocks, how do you think overcoming these issues changed the final product?

I would certainly hope that after each roadblock, the end product would be better. If not, I guess it would make those very roadblocks pretty pointless really.  So, roadblocks are a really good thing, and it’s important to try and frame a roadblock as positively as possible. One could take a 'glass half empty' approach and say, "oh well, you know... there is just no solution to this, so let's rather just drop the feature entirely". That is obviously not the approach we here at Truckit, take. Quite the opposite. We welcome roadblocks.  We thrive off roadblocks. The challenge of solving a Roadblock is what gets us up in the morning. So, coming back to your question, I wouldn't necessarily say overcoming roadblocks changed the product, but what I would say is that it changed those involved in the product rather, by giving them a sense of confidence and pride in their own abilities, and this I think will stand them in good stead for the future of their careers, as well as the future of this product hopefully.

Can you discuss how you balance addressing client demands with developing complex application software?

That really is the Holy Grail that you have touched on right there... finding that balance. It all comes down to the search for simplicity, and simplicity for a client or user vs a developer can often mean polar opposite things. The more demanding the user requirements, usually the less elegant a software application becomes.  Client demands definitely take precedence though.  From a software perspective you need to exchange customer for user in the cliche 'the customer is always right'. So, the user is always right and us Developers need to always keep in mind that we are there to support the user rather than the other way around.  Ultimately achieving this balance requires a robust architecture that on the one hand is flexible enough so, as to give a Developer enough freedom and control to build more advanced and challenging features, but on the other hand constraining enough so that it forces a Developer to conform and stick within certain defined boundaries defined by the rules of the architecture. So, it’s a delicate balance that comes down to architecture selection I would say.

What steps do you take to prevent an app from crashing?

Software crashes are one of those things as a Developer that, hard as you might try, you simply cannot prevent 100% of the time. So, it’s something you cannot get around unfortunately, kind of like death and taxes. All you can really do is ensure you have a robust framework in place to identify errors when they do occur, and deal with them appropriately so that they cause as little disruption as possible. This requires the following of best-practices to ensure you have error catching code in place. Also, you need to try and ensure that you inform the user in layman’s terms what just happened and what they need to do to be able to continue working. Obviously as a Developer you want to try as hard as possible to recover from the error as seamlessly as possible while invoking the least amount of anger from the User as possible. It can be a real challenge to get all those things right. It's also very important to try and capture as much detail about an error as possible, and then try and ensure that all this detail makes its way into the hands of the Dev team so that they can then try and identify the source of the problem, and hopefully fix it in the next release. Google luckily have a product called Crashlytics which can be very, very helpful in this case.

What are the different testing stages and how does each stage assist in the development of the app?

Testing is all about quality control. Developers that worked on a project will have a natural bias towards much of the functionality in an App, so they should not feature in the Testing phase at all, although a Developer will always need to perform Unit Testing and some other Basic Functionality Testing to make sure their code works as expected before they send it for code review and more advanced internal testing, followed by external testing. In computer jargon we would refer to this as Alpha, followed by Beta Testing. Testing stages are usually dictated by the type and importance of the software being built. For example, testing flight automation software where you are potentially dealing with life and death will have way more stringent testing requirements than say an ecommerce web application that is selling merchandise. During Alpha testing it is important to create a test plan that defines your inputs and expected outputs, so that the success of a test can be easily measured, and then also to ensure that this information flows seamlessly between the Testers and the Developers so that bug and other fixes can be performed within the time sensitivities of the Project and Test Plan. So, it would be an iterative process that repeats indefinitely until such time as all the Tests within the Alpha Test plan succeed, and then it can be moved into Beta Testing. So, each testing stage should result in improvements to the software overall and give confidence to both the Developers of the product, and the users of the product, that everything works as it should.

What’s next - maybe a customer app?

Oh yes, most definitely. We need to strike while the iron is hot.

All I can say is 'WATCH THIS SPACE'

Where were you born? Palmerston North, New Zealand


Favourite Hobby? Horse Riding, Gardening, Cooking.


Favourite Quote? Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you! – Dr Seuss


Favourite Band? Crowded House


Favourite Food? Thai, Indian, BBQ


Post-pandemic - Where Do You Want To Travel First?
Home to NZ.  It has been 3 years since I have been able to see my folks and sister.


What's a fun fact people may not know? When I was in labour with my second son I drove myself to the hospital but had to stop to get petrol on the way!!


What’s your favorite part about your job at Truckit? I get to talk to some wonderful people and help to get their goods moved across Australia - I love being able to make someone’s day with a phone call.

If you need assistance with your listings or bookings – call our amazing customer service team today on 1300 859 850

Living on the road can be tough for truck drivers. Luckily, there are many trucker apps that are designed to support truck drivers. There are so many different apps out there, so we took it upon ourselves to find you the best and most reputable apps that navigate, manage your fuel, find you rest stops, manage fatigue & find a good feed!

Apps to make your trips easier

Toilet Finder

Toilet Finder is an international community group who together have found over 150,000 toilets around Australia and the rest of the world. The app is completely free to use, and you can add to the list of undiscovered toilets, including being able to rate them. Now you can find a clean toilet stop with ease with the help of fellow truckers!

Sygic Truck & Caravan

Sygic Truck and Caravan is a high quality GPS navigation app that is designed for professional drivers and their larger vehicles. It is trusted by 2 million drivers of trucks, lorries, LGV’s, HGV’s, RVs, Caravans, Campers, Vans, Buses, Cars & many more of the world’s leading delivery fleets. What makes it stand out from the others is it has 3D offline maps meaning you can access the app and its features without the use of internet or mobile data. The maps they use are also updated throughout the year so they can make sure they are providing you with the most up-to-date road conditions.

Sygic also offers special routing for Trucks/Lorries/LGV’s/HGV’s and delivery vans that are specifically calculated for the vehicle and it’s load. With this, when you search for your destination, it will present you with 3 alternative routes that display the total driving time, distance, and elevation of the route. Along these routes it also includes petrol stations, weight stations and rest areas that are best suited for your journey.

If you weren’t already sold on this basically ‘all inclusive’ app, their advanced route planning includes avoiding tolls, U-turns, hazards such as low bridges, narrow roads, or restricted areas such as emission zones and school zones. Also included in the advanced route planning is the curated planning and optimisation for multi-stop routes. You can add up to 150 waypoints and they will be rearranged for you, to achieve the best efficiency.

To make sure it is safe for truckers to use whilst driving, the maps have spoken voice instructions with road indication, speed limits and speed camera warnings. Their live map services include real-time traffic information, mobile speed camera databases, fuel pricing and parking places.

The best part is that the app is extremely affordable. Whilst some aspects of the app are free, the premium features are an affordable $28.99 for an entire year, which is less than $2.50 per month!

Apps to save you fuel

MotorMouth

MotorMouth identifies your location and finds the cheapest fuel closest to you. It tracks trends and creates forecasts to notify you when fuel will be cheapest and whether it is at your local petrol stations, or at another nearby location. This app is great as it utilises a rewards system. If you record the price of petrol when you fill up on the app, you can earn 5 fuel credit points, and an extra 5 if you confirm the price with a photo!

Fuelly

Fuelly is a great app if you are a driver who avidly check’s the vehicle's performance and maintenance. This app tracks your petrol use and compares results over time to show you whether or not your vehicle is performing at its best, and if your fuel consumption has changed. This data also then becomes a part of a community database where other drivers can compare their fuel consumption. Additionally, you can set up the app to send you reminders to keep on tip of maintenance tasks such as oil changes and tyre rotations.

Fuelly also provides a premium service which removes ads, adds photos and PDFs to personal app records and provides priority support within app messaging.

The app starts at 0.99 cents per month and $6.99 annually. All in all, a very affordable app.

Apps to help with fatigue management

Logbook Checker

Logbook Checker app, is in fact, a log book checker. It makes note of your logbook and warns you about your rest breaks and how much driving time you have remaining in your work day. It simultaneously handles different types of fatigue management systems (basic fatigue management, advanced fatigue management, standard hours and WA rulesets).

Best part of the app - it’s free!

Test Your Tired Self

Fatigue management is an important part of long haul drives. This app has games dedicated to truckers fatigue management which include reaction times, sleeping patterns, focus & memory testing. Inclusive of this, during the games, fatigue facts pop up to make sure you are informed of all things fatigue management.

Need a feed?

TheFork

TheFork is a renowned restaurant bookings app. They are partnered with over 4,500 restaurants across Australia and commonly have discounts of up to 50% off. It is a great app for someone who eats out a lot and loves a free meal. Using TheFork, you can accumulate ‘Yums’ points: 1 app booking is equal to 150 Yums and 1 desktop or mobile website booking is equal to 50 Yums. 1000 Yums gets you a $20 discount on your next meal, and 2000 Yums will get you a $50 discount! 

Where were you born? Brisbane, Queensland

What are your favourite hobbies? Playing video games, reading, live music & seeing friends!

In a post-pandemic world, where do you want to travel first? France, maybe the Netherlands. I want to see all of the art galleries and see the pretty buildings

What is your favourite food? Cheese Pizza

Do you have a favourite band? Tool

What is a quote that means most to you? Change your thoughts, change the world

Do you have any fun facts that people may not know about you? I am a crazy cat lady but only have ONE cat, I have 24 tattoos & I have met John Jarratt

What's your favourite part about your job at Truckit? Being able to resolve issues for our customers & providers, alongside the cool people I work with

If you need assistance with your listings or bookings - call our amazing customer service team today on 1300 859 850

There is no denying that freight drivers spend significant periods of time on the road. In 2020, Budget Direct recorded an estimate of 23,499 million kilometres travelled by all freight vehicles. With such a high estimate, we did some digging to see what these incredible drivers get up to, to keep themselves entertained whilst on the road.

Podcasts & Audio Books

Without the company of family and friends on the road, finding quality podcasts or audiobooks are an engaging way to stay alert on the road, but also to learn new topics like historical periods, have a laugh and keep yourself informed. In 2021, some podcasts that made it into Australia’s top 10 were Casefile True Crime, Hamish & Andy, The Update, Triple M Rocks Footy AFL and She’s on the Money.

Music Streaming

Music streaming, not unlike podcasts and audio books, can be utilised whilst driving or during breaks. This is a great hands free option for de-stressing, boosting your mood and also creating a more positive and engaging environment to drive in, especially for those who don’t like sitting in silence with their own thoughts, or prefer to choose their own curated music playlists over the radio.

Self-Reflection

Very few people take time out of their day to practice self-reflection & gratitude. Truck Drivers on the other hand have ample time to do just this, and can be a different way of keeping the mind occupied whilst keeping their full attention on the road.

Mobile Games

After travelling long distances, it’s nice to take a break and take your mind off of work. Although many might say that staring at a screen for too long can be detrimental to your health, it also is known to have health benefits such as stress relief, reducing depression and improving your mood. Furthermore, if you play an online mobile game, it allows you to connect with people and collaborate in problem solving - increasing your creative output. As drivers spend so much time on the road and not on their phones, I think it’s safe to say that the positive impacts of mobile games outweigh the negative!

Social Media & Vlogging

In recent years, more truck drivers are becoming social media influencers. More times than not the decision to become an influencer stems from wanting to share industry advice, industry news, provide humorous entertainment, and to create a community. Using their voices, backed by their following and community, these influencers have a common goal of educating, motivating and empowering truckers so they can stand up for their rights all whilst bringing public awareness to these issues in an attempt to bring about change.

Photography

Taking a break between trips is vital when driving long distances. During these breaks, some drivers take a moment to stretch their legs and take in their surrounds. Dependent on how far and where they have travelled, the landscapes or wildlife they may encounter can vary from town to town & state to state. This is a great chance to not only capture a momento of the moment, but to hone those photography skills through shooting different climates & angles!

Exercise

Sitting down for long periods of time can affect a person's health. As truck drivers require rest periods as a part of their trip, some have taken to hiking as for their break as an alternative to the typical gym session. Hiking and walking trails can be very common in rural areas so they should be easy to find, and the fresh air will allow for a fresh mind once the driving starts again. Before your next trip, research some hiking trails along your route to see where you can take your next break!

Novel Writing

Quite possibly through self reflection, some drivers have taken to writing novels during their breaks on the road. New apps have been developed where drivers can speak to their phone whilst keeping their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel, and the app transcribes speech to text. So if you’re on the road and think of a fantastic story idea, be sure to check out Transcribe, Dictation & Otter (to name a few).

Collecting Souvenirs

Collective souvenirs like fridge magnets, town maps or postcards can keep a long-distance driver occupied as they can look forward to each town they drive through. Souvenirs like these are typically held in the local information buildings, therefore subliminally educating anyone who walks through those doors. Not only are they collecting proof of these towns' existence, but also learning the story of its making to take home to share with friends and family whenever they point out the collection.

We'd love to know what you get up to during your time on the road - feel free to reach out to marketing@truckit.net and let us know!

At Truckit we want to help you show potential users that you will go above and beyond to give them a more personalised experience.

A picture speaks a thousand words, and can also increase your chance of securing a job by over 50 percent. We recommend uploading a profile picture that includes your face. If you choose to upload more, you could also showcase yourself, your vehicles, or some of the interesting loads you have transported. Using this feature on your profile will allow a more comprehensive view of who you are, including your skills and experience, providing the user more bang for their buck.

To assist you in taking the best possible profile picture, we have compiled some industry pro-tips below!

1. Show Your Face

This may sound obvious, but it isn’t uncommon to find profile pictures that require you to zoom in, only to be faced with indecipherable pixels. Your picture could be taken whilst you participate in a hobby, or in the workplace - as long as there is a clear view of your face. You want to make the point to users that you are also a human being wanting to provide an excellent service; working to support themselves and their families.

2. Use Contrasting Colours

If you have decided to take a more professional profile picture with a more basic background, contrasting colours are a great way to draw people’s attention. To ensure that it will stand out, be aware of the platform's key colour scheme where you are posting your picture. For some insight, check out the colour wheel below!

3. Smile!

Research has shown that people who have bigger smiles in their profile pictures have greater social connections and relationships, so make sure you flash those pearly whites!

4. Why stop at just 1 picture?

You can upload a gallery of pictures to your Truckit profile to help show off your vehicles, your professionalism and examples of things you have moved previously. Having a variety of pictures can give the customer incentive to choose your quote as you are showcasing your experience!

We hope these pro-tips helped you take your ultimate profile picture!

Summer trucking can be challenging.

During this hot season, it is important that truck drivers establish ways to keep themselves safe. Take time to practice these summer safety tips to significantly reduce a potential road accident and health problems.

1. Hydrate Frequently
High heat and humidity increases perspiration.

2. Protect Yourself Against The Sun
Sunlight shining through windows can lead to sunburn and can have a significant impact on someone's health.

3. Watch Out For Extra Drivers
In the summer months, there are more people on the road than any other season.

4. Keep Tires Properly Inflated
Tire blowouts aren't uncommon in the extreme heat.

5. Check The Brakes
Hot temperatures can lead to brake fading or the loss of friction when brake component can't absorb the heat.

6. Protect Your Eyes
Direct sunlight can cause your cause your eyes to become quickly irritated.

Follow these truck driving safety tips to help you beat the heat this summer!