There’s an old adage in the trucking industry that says: “If you bought it, a truck brought it.” It’s an accurate statement. Close to 70% of commercial freight in North America today is transported by trucks, with more than 11 million tons of goods valued at $9.075 billion travelling annually over US and Canadian highways. The North American trucking industry is valued at more than $600 billion.
Trucking is also one of the most regulated industries. From weight and emission restrictions, to hours of service limiting the number of hours a driver can spend on the highway, trucking fleets and owner operators must remain constantly vigilant and compliant with safety regulations as set out by the US Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
Truckers and fleets have relied upon technology such as telematics and fleet tracking systems for decades to aid truck performance, track driver behaviors and streamline business processes. However, these traditional technology options — delivered by large technology vendors — have been hardware heavy, requiring in-vehicle installation, as well as ongoing maintenance and upgrades. These hardware centric solutions have never really appealed to the driver. The technology is viewed by truckers to be restrictive and controlling; in other words, a hindrance rather than help. They are also expensive, and require information technology expertise to manage, which has often put them out of reach for small fleet owner/operators, who make up the bulk of the North American trucking market.
The emergence of low cost, powerful smartphones and tablets, however, is changing the trucking technology game forever. Eighty-five percent (85%) of drivers today use cell phones. More than half of those devices are smartphones, and now seven out of 10 drivers report they are using those mobile devices to conduct business. Going hand in hand with this proliferation of smart phone devices is a host of new business and productivity apps aimed helping fleets and truck drivers better and more efficiently manage their business operations.
BigRoad, founded in 2011 by seasoned experts in the transportation industry, is a rapidly growing technology start up with the best interests of truckers at its heart. The company’s highly popular BigRoad app allows truckers to electronically capture and document their hours of service (HOS) – a key metric required for FMCSA compliance. The app, which is available for Android and iPhone platforms, also helps fleets connect with drivers more easily, manage critical information such as driver location and availability, and track state mileage reporting and vehicle inspection reports. In just two years, BigRoad has earned the business of more than 1,000 fleets and more than 160,000 drivers today use the app for HOS tracking.
In July 2014, the FMCSA broke down any remaining barriers to mobile device-based electronic logging with a newly revised guidance (49 CFR Part 295). The guidance confirmed that electronic logs produced by apps such as BigRoad are indeed considered official records of duty under Federal Law, removing any lingering ambiguity related to the regulations. This means truckers using the BigRoad app will no longer face questions or objections from Department of Transportation (DOT) roadside inspectors.
With the road ahead smooth and clear, BigRoad is focused on executing its strategy to bring to truckers the most user-friendly electronic logging system on the market today. The app, which already has a five star ranking on the app stores, continues to capture new users daily as news of its usefulness spreads through truck stops and fleet depots.
Just the Deets
Name: BigRoad
Industry: Transportation
Management Team: Terry Frey, COO; Willem Galle, CEO; Dan Collins, CTO
Founded: 2011
Graduated Accelerator Centre: 2013
Employees: 16
Customers: 1,000 fleets, 160,000 drivers
Website: www.bigroad.com
Twitter: @bigroad
Crunchbase: http://www.crunchbase.com/organization/bigroad