A quick look around Google Play or the Apple App Store reveals many great applications that provide users some fairly remarkable tools. In many cases, GPS technology combined with crowdsourcing (the combination of opinions and knowledge of thousands, even millions of users) are the two main ingredients that make these applications so remarkable.
For example, there are applications that offer truck drivers the ability to find some exceptionally tasty, but hidden restaurants they may not have ever known about otherwise, or locate places to park their rigs and their availability.
Below are some of the trucking apps we’ve been hearing about:
Trucker Path – www.truckerpath.com
This application offers a navigational assistance, load sourcing and freight tracking platform for truckers. The app helps truckers find truck stops, parking, rest areas, open/closed weigh stations, and more. It offers an automated marketplace where truckers can find truckloads. Brokers can also contract directly to their preferred carriers. Best of all? It’s free!
Around Me – http://www.aroundme.com/
This application allows you to look around you and find points of interest, businesses and other attractions while you’re on the road. You can create communities of friends or join existing ones. In those communities, you can get recommendations and share experiences.
MyDAT Trucker – http://www.dat.com/products/trucker-apps
DAT Solutions is a company that’s helped truckers looking for loads on the spot since 1978, and now it offers an application called MyDAT Trucker. This application allows drivers to find loads from within the DAT Extended Network, the largest of its kind in the industry, according to the company. The application also constantly monitors the area around the trucker and provides them with updates on weather and road conditions, job opportunities and local services.
FatSecret Calorie Counter – https://www.fatsecret.com/
It’s like having your own personal Jillian Michaels or Drew Manning by your side taking a close look at what you shove in your mouth. Because let’s face it, it’s easier to find those fast food restaurants and eat those hamburgers, fries and dare we say it, those yummy shakes. But here’s the thing – those cheap foods all come with a cost – and finding healthy truck stop food is a topic for a whole other blog post! Using this application, you can look up nutrition informatio n for foods found at most restaurants, scan barcodes for instant nutrition information on packaged foods and track daily calories, fats and carbs. Knowledge is power.
GasBuddy – http://www.gasbuddy.com/
With this free application, users work together to provide drivers up-to-date diesel prices for thousands of stations across the United States and Canada. You can look up truck stops, view the features they offer and locate nearby fueling stations.
TruckerTools – http://truckertools.com/home.php
The folks at Randall Reilly and Overdrive magazine offer an application to help you find the nearest truck stop, get real-time diesel prices or find the fastest route to your destination. It’s like the Leatherman tool of Android or iPhone applications.
If you have an application that you just simply can’t do without let us know about it by writing to marketing@drivewyze.com. But please remember – NEVER open or use an application that’s distracting or can’t run on its own while you’re driving.