Really sorry if I am posting this in the wrong section.
I’m looking for some feed back and some advice if possible from you all please.
Im abit of an amateur app developer and been a delivery driver for a commercial van and truck dealer I noticed there isn’t really much out there that maps all the country’s truck stops, not just official but also lay-bys, there is nothing that maps all the country’s burger vans or cafes and how accessable these cafes would be for trucks, i.e available parking. I was thinking about developing this app which would give all the locations of the above services with ratings.
I feel it would help new people to the trade and even the veterans as once we find a regular spot, cafe, burger van we don’t tend to try anywhere else.
This would be a free app and I would try to make money from it but charging the burger vans/cafes to advertise on it plus there could be room for advertising aimed towards you guys.
The advice and feedback would be would any of you guys be interested in an app like that? Would you actually use it? Would there be anything else that could be added to it that would be usual? I have asked a handful of truckers that I know and the consensus is mixed, some say they would and then there’s the ones that say they pack up and would still probably continue to use the usual spots so again might take a look but wouldn’t really use it long term.
Any thoughts and feedback would be really appreciated.
I reckon it could be a goer, if you supply all of the pertinent information.
You’ll need to include:
Accurate address.
Type i.e. roadside/recognised truck bay/roadhouse.
How many full size parking spaces.
Cost of and time limits for parking.
Payment methods accepted.
Facilities i.e. pie van/multiple restaurants (describe)/toilets/ showers/laundromat/none. Hours of operation.
Users will want to read reviews from their peers.
Some really good points star down under that I didn’t think of especially about the description of the services offered themselves. I also think the user reviews would be a good idea as it would be you guys using them, also the best way to keep the information up to date.
Ripper. I really like the what3words idea especially as it already has integration with mercedes navigation systems. I had heard about that website a few months ago and forgot about it.
It feels like it could be a long road to get layby cafes signed up to advertise. I can’t imagine many of them having an online presence or a phone number listing, I am picturing someone having to drive round as rep to sell the idea face to face.
Then for the vendor could they be sure their subscription is having a benefit separated general good or bad days.
User ratings are all the rage and could help the customer choose a place to eat, but if you have them and an outlet gets a few bad reviews they may well want to get back off your listings.
I wonder if there is a route to include offers from the vendor exclusive to app users, giving them some scope to actively tout for new business, would equally show them when it works. Perhaps if many vans are still cash only you could take payment from app and take a fee for the transaction.
Possibly make the app user adding so people who have stopped in a layby could mark the layby and what’s available etc
Many times when I’ve struggled to find one so end up parked up somewhere safe and then drive past like 6 on a stretch that I could have gone too [emoji23] kinda hard when your multi dropping in unknown areas to know where some of the laybys are etc
There is an app called ‘intruck’ but again only lists the truck stops and there is alot missing with only basic information. I hadn’t seen the motorway buddy one, so thanks for the pointer there, strange how it’s only for apple though, like you said washwipe, it is pretty basic.
The laybys was always one of the main things I wanted to get mapped AV1D as they are free and off the main road and they are good for when you run out of hours. I asking people to help map them, possibly using “what3words” might help to map them accurately.
I agree njl the burger vans could be the big hurdle, I find it strange that they are everywhere but never really easy to find and have often wondered if people would want the opperrunity to be more visible. I agree the reviews might put them off as so many negative reviews can turn customers away, something to think about I suppose. Again this could be mapped with the help of you guys as nobody knows this countries roads better then you lot. Alot of things to think about that I didn’t think of myself there.
Thanks for all the feedback and ideas guys, really really appreciate it.
With an app you need to download it and I’d need to advertise it whereas a website is more accessible, especially for people that arnt big on apps plus it’s easier to advertise on search engines.
Not sure how you would go about it, but if you did bboth wouldn’t you be able to link the information via a mysql database? That way if the app was to not respond the content could still be views on a Web browser.
Never really made an app before so just going on my understanding of php and mysql from php/database coding I’ve done in the past.
Some really good points star down under that I didn’t think of especially about the description of the services offered themselves. I also think the user reviews would be a good idea as it would be you guys using them, also the best way to keep the information up to date.
Ripper. I really like the what3words idea especially as it already has integration with mercedes navigation systems. I had heard about that website a few months ago and forgot about it.
Thanks gents, really appreciate the feedback.
I had something along the lines of the Truck parking app ready mentioned but it seemed to stop getting updated then eventually just wouldnt load any records no matter what you searched for.
If you are also looking to include other places like industrial estates for parking then it may be difficult to get research from drivers as normally if a spot becomes well known it ends up with the inevitable bottles of ■■■■ and bags of rubbish everywhere so parking gets stopped [emoji34]
Neetsneets:
Have a look at an app called Park4nite. It’s for caravan parking but it calls for user input, maybe it will give you some ideas.
I was going to mention that as well (but spelt park4night). I recently used it in Norway with a campervan. The problem with it which will also apply to this is for example lay-by parking you will not know if it is already occupied/full before you get there.
AV1D seems like you alot more about the development side then I do, very impressive. I’ll look into your suggestions. You are probably rightz I think I will need both a website and an app to support each other.
Thanks for idea for the industrial estates Karlm, didn’t really think of them however I do agree with the respect thing. I would like to make the website/app community based where hopefully those people that behave like that could be anonymously reported and then we could report them to either the authorities or the company they work for as they people are the ones that spoil it for everyone else, I also don’t agree with littering, it’s a pet hate of mine.
Neetsneets, I had a look at that app and to be honest I was impressed with it, very detailed and lots of photos, that would be something I would like to mirror more for truckers/professional drivers though with the added extras of truck stops and cafe/burger van locations. With regular updates. As previously stated I want it be be heavily community influenced, any problem reported will hopefully be dealt with, any reccomended spots added.
Stu675, another problem that I never foresaw, not knowing if the lay-by is already occupied, that would be a very difficult problem without thinking of a way for people to check in said lay-by or a way of monitoring it, it could be done however would take some thinking about.
Stu675, another problem that I never foresaw, not knowing if the lay-by is already occupied, that would be a very difficult problem without thinking of a way for people to check in said lay-by or a way of monitoring it, it could be done however would take some thinking about.
Thanks again for the input lads.
The only thing you can do is say how many spaces there are if that’s possible and then drivers will need to make their own mind up to go for it depending on the time of day. The problem with campervan parking is they could park for multiple days at the same spot so time of day is not as relevant as it is for trucks, so don’t worry about it too much.
Hi Landmass87,
Are you still thinking about developing this app?
I have been collating data on all UK & NI road lay-by and parking areas for HGVs.
To give you an idea of the scale.
8K locations - including Postcode/GPS/W3W locators
Sites include - Lay-bys, Truckstops, Snack Vans, Abnormal Loads Areas, Services.
Contact Details - Tel / Mob / Website / FB for all Truckstops and Snack Vendors
Lay-bys - Indicated with no barriers and protection barriers.
Each location has - parking spaces
Every road - has direction of travel indication to help plan routes.
Developing the app (and that will be 3 times - Android, iOS, Web) will be the easy part.
The tricky part is the data quality - ensuring its complete and up-to-date, without erroneous entries. Regarding checking sites are occupied - forget it, how on earth are you going to persuade truckers to “check in” on the app once arrived - or even turn “location” on and allow their position to be reported to a third party app with no benefit to themselves? And what about the trucks which don’t use the app but occupy spaces etc.