Trucker Path Introduces Truck Stop Safety Feature for Women
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AUSTIN, Texas — Technology vendor Trucker Path is enhancing its transportation network application to help women find comfortable and safe truck stops as part of a partnership with American Trucking Associations’ Women in Motion group, the company announced Oct. 15.
Trucker Path offers a mobile application that initially was developed to help truck drivers locate rest stops with amenities they need, and it has grown to include more features over the years. Now the company is expanding the service with women truck drivers in mind, focusing on facilities that have good lighting, safe bathrooms and on-site personnel.
“Trucker Path was born to help drivers find truck stops — that was the very first functionality that we offered. So this just lined up perfectly,” Trucker Path Chief Marketing Officer Chris Oliver said during a news conference at ATA’s 2023 Management Conference & Exhibition. Women in Motion was started by the association with the aim of promoting and supporting the advancement of women in the trucking industry.
“This partnership between Women in Motion and Trucker Path is a way to address one of the persistent concerns women in trucking express — safety,” ATA President Chris Spear said. “Helping women drivers identify truck parking facilities with essential amenities like lighted parking, bathroom access and on-site security will play a role in addressing this longtime challenge for our industry.”
Spear
Trucker Path generates information based on real-time feedback from its user base of drivers. The new feature will allow users to check seven separate boxes to signal whether a rest stop has lighted parking, lighted bathroom access, lighted lounge areas, lighted shower facilities with all-day access, lighted laundry facilities with all-day access, around-the-clock maintenance and on-site security.
“When we first had this conversation, it was like this is a perfect extension of what we already do,” Oliver said. “So we went back and forth and talked about the handful of amenities that really line up nicely. We identified the seven.”
The facilities that have all seven amenities will be marked with the Women in Motion logo. But even after a location earns that distinction, drivers will still be able to provide updates on the condition of the facility’s amenities through the app.
A look at the Trucker Path app, which generates information based on real-time feedback from its user base of drivers. (Trucker Path)
“They’re becoming available on the app, and the truck stops that have those seven amenities ... will be there,” Oliver said.
Oliver noted that the user base has been eager to provide information for the app. Because of this, he expressed confidence that the new feature will provide helpful information.
“This worked out perfectly because every dot on our map [is] a truck stop; we have details about that location,” Oliver said. “Historically, it’s been how many spots are available for both paid and free parking.”
Trucker Path receives about 20 million data points from individual users each month. Oliver noted that these users are motivated to tell other drivers how things are going and how the industry is working.
“Women in Motion and ATA have made increasing access to safe truck parking a primary mission, so helping women find those facilities while on the road is the next logical step in our furthering that mission,” Women in Motion Chairman Sarah Rajtik said. “We’re proud to announce this partnership here and are looking forward to continuing our important work to make the trucking industry safer and more inclusive.”
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