Episode Details

Joshua, please introduce yourself

• I am a Joshua Walls, co-founder of Truckpark.com, a phone app that helps drivers find a safe, secure place to park. We developed our phone app as a tool to help truck drivers find safe and secure parking. Ideally, our app will improve the driver's experience and quality of life.

Please tell us about your background. Where did you grow up? Go to school? What was your major in college?

• Grew up in Chicago and I am a big Chicago Cubs fan
• Earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Trinity International University
• Earned a master's degree in organizational leadership, training and development from Lewis University

What was your first job out of school?

• Neiman-Markus tasked with customer experience/customer engagement

When and why did you start TruckPark?

• My partner, Anthony Petitte and I became interested in truck parking because we both had family members in trucking who complained that is was sometimes difficult to find safe and secure parking

Joshua, today's topic is "Improving the Driver Experience using Technology" so please tell us a little about the driver experience

• Joe, I am not a driver so I can't fully describe all the issues facing drivers, but I can tell you what we have learned from talking with hundreds of drivers
• Also from talking to friends and family who are drivers. My brother is a driver so I have learned a lot from his experience
• The driver experience is a difficult one
• There are many challenges facing drivers both professionally and personally
• All of us worked to achieve a good work/life balance, however drivers have a much harder time because of the long hours on the road

Joshua, let's first talk about the professional issues drivers face

• On the professional side, drivers are also confronted with some unique challenges:
  • First, they must cover a lot of miles – every time I travel any distance by car, I am reminded that drivers do this every damn day
  • Secondly, they must conduct their business from the road
    • Providing updates to dispatchers/brokers
    • Coordinating with shippers – pick up and deliveries
    • Finding their next load
    • Invoicing, accounting, sales, etc. for owner operators
    • Routine maintenance, fuel, etc.
    • Traffic – very unpredictable, yet they must keep on schedule / be on time
    • Weather – rain, snow, dangerous roads, extra time
  • Lastly, they must comply with local, state and federal regulations
    • Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
    • Hours of Service / Electronic Logging Device
    • We all try to follow rules, but when you are a driver, not complying means you could lose your livelihood
    • Obviously, the rules are in place to protect the drivers and the general public, but some of the rules like ELD have some elements that are very difficult to manage

Joshua, let's first talk about the personal issues drivers face

• On the personal side they live on the road, which means:
  • Time away from family – getting home for your daughter's game or the school play is a real challenge
  • Living a healthy lifestyle – finding affordable, healthy food, exercise
  • Sleeping in an unsafe/unsecure location
  • Fatigue – not getting a good night's rest for a variety of reasons like
    • Difficult work schedule – fighting their body clock
    • Getting loaded/unloaded late
    • Traffic – running late and running out of hours
    • Can't find a place to park/sleep
  • If you work in an office, being tired is no big deal, but for drivers, fatigue is a life and death problem

No wond