Driving a commercial truck for a living can be incredibly demanding. Truckers frequently work long hours, endure long periods of isolation, and need to deal with the rigors of living life on the road for weeks or months at a time. While trucking can certainly pose some unique challenges, modern technologies offer many advantages that truckers have not historically enjoyed. From navigation to weather apps, there are a plethora of technologies that can make the life of the average trucker significantly easier.
In this article, we discuss some of the most commonly-used apps in the trucking world. We hope that you get the chance to try some of these apps out!
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Truck Routing & Navigation Apps
As a truck driver, you understand the importance of getting your cargo delivered to its destination on-time. There are a plethora of navigation apps available to help you reach your destination, but there are a few that stand out amongst the rest.
Trucker Tools
If you’re looking for an app designed specifically with truckers in mind, look no further. Trucker Tools helps users plan routes based on maximum safety and efficiency. The app provides turn-by-turn directions to help you reach your destination as quickly as possible, without exchanging safety for speed.
You’ll also get an estimation of how much fuel the drive will consume and the estimated cost of refueling, depending on recommended fuel stops. This helps you get a better sense of precisely how long your trip will take and what your expenses will be. Best of all, you can download Trucker Tools for free via Google Play or the Apple Store. There are no subscription fees to “unlock” useful features such as locating truck stops or checking real-time fuel prices.
Waze
Over the years, Waze has become one of the most popular navigation apps for all road users, not just commercial truckers. Waze is a crowdsourced navigation app, which means that users can contribute real-time updates to give other people a heads-up on road conditions. You can report road work, police activity, gas prices, and even mark the location of truck crashes encountered on your drive. This data can help you avoid traffic and known obstacles in your path, thus getting you to your destination quickly and easily.
Google Maps
One of the most widely-used navigation apps in the world, Google Maps provides real-time route adjustments for construction, crashes, and accidents. The app offers multiple ways to view your travel route, including satellite and street perspective views. As a useful safety feature, Google Maps offers voice assistance directions, so you never have to take your eyes off the road while behind the wheel.
While Google Maps is certainly an effective routing app, it lacks some of the truck-specific features of Trucker Tools and other similar technologies. You won’t automatically be notified of low bridges to avoid, recommended overnight truck steps, or good refueling stations along your planned route.
Best Fuel App
Fuel is an essential component of trucking. Finding safe, cost-effective fuel stops is very important on a daily basis. Luckily, there are many fueling apps to help you find the most convenient and cheap fuel on your routes! According to user reviews, GasBuddy has consistently been one of the most user-friendly fueling apps available, so we’ll discuss it in a bit more detail below.
GasBuddy
If you’re looking for a free fueling app, GasBuddy might be the perfect fit for you. The app is available through Google Play and the Apple Store. Gasbuddy has an index of over 150,000 fuel stations across North America, so it’s likely that your next route will be thoroughly mapped out in the app. As a bonus, the app even alerts you when the price of gas is about to change, which can help you budget for a trip more effectively.
The app collects and uses your data to help you make more cost-efficient fueling decisions. If you make purchases with the GasBuddy app or a connected card, you may receive gas saving coupons as well. Although the app can help you find fuel stations with food and showers, you’ll need to use a separate technology for planning your trip.
Best Weather App
Nothing can ruin a trip more effectively than bad or dangerous weather conditions. To properly plan your route and get to your destination safely and on-time, it’s essential to have a top-tier weather app to rely on. While there are multiple options, The Weather Channel app stands out amongst its peers in terms of accurate, timely updates that you can trust.
The Weather Channel App
While there are countless weather apps available to choose from, The Weather Channel offers key features that are particularly useful for truckers. You can use the app to predict precipitation in multiple areas simultaneously, access daily forecasts, and receive live radar updates on weather in your area. You can pick and choose what data you want to receive and even how it’s presented in the app, which serves to enhance your experience as a user.
The basic version of the app is free, but you can purchase a paid subscription starting at $9.99 for a year. Features of the paid subscription include no ads, longer-distance lightning maps, additional details, and future radars.
Choosing the Right Apps for Your Trucking Needs
There are countless apps out there that can be useful for truckers, so we suggest trying out several different apps and seeing which ones work best for you. We hope these suggestions help you enjoy safe travels on your upcoming routes!
