MyTrucking is 7 years old this year! The original MyTrucking prototype application was developed by founder Sam Orsborn for a couple of mates at Wairarapa Livestock Transport (WLT). Not long after getting it up and running at WLT, Josh Hawkins from Martinborough Transport saw it and asked for a copy. Jump forward a bit to late 2013, another trucker caught wind of this software and asked for a copy too. Sam, being the smart dude he is, knew you can’t just keep making copies of a database file – does not scale – so he hired a team, and the rest is history! Our software is now cloud based, and in the offices of over 400 transport companies, across four countries and in the hands of more than 5000 drivers. Along the way we’ve learned a LOT, but it boils down to these 7 things…
- Owner Operators are king (and queen!)
The journey from ‘driving-for-someone’ to ‘driving-for-yourself’ to owning multiple trucks and hiring drivers ‘but-still-driving-most-days’ is one we work alongside all the time. Most owner truck operators work around the clock and never rest, though watching the next generation grow up and pick up the reins is a bonus.
- The domestic industry is far bigger than we imagined (and still growing).
COVID rocked the world, but as essential services in NZ and Australia, our customers flourished and with economic conditions still good for most of them, we’re seeing amazing growth in their vehicle numbers.
- Be great at what you’re good at
This is an industry where we all have our role to make it work well. So; we’re good at software. You’re good at transporting, your drivers are good at driving (…there’s no WAY you’d want me behind the wheel!). We sometimes hear ‘I’m not good at tech’ (see point 6 for more!) and we always answer – you don’t have to be, we are.
- Want to get ahead, get real.
Real people get respect and there’s no time for fluff, fancy talk or faffing about. Genuine care and connection get appreciated and don’t have to be sugar coated or shined. It’s a busy working day where minutes matter, so we’ve learned to keep it simple and be real.
- You can’t stay parked for too long.
Like all industries, ours is evolving. Safety, compliance, training, software, people – everything changes. We’re evolving so we can continue to make dispatchers lives easy, drivers’ days less stressful and owners dreams more peaceful – we’ve updated our software more than 40 times in the last year!
- Tech is appreciated when it goes unnoticed.
Don’t think transporters aren’t tech minded. Sure, we’re still migrating a few off the paper diary but we’ve learned that tech WILL be embraced when it’s so simple it can slip into the working day without a ripple. We’ve seen high tech cabs with multiple devices, and dispatch offices with fancy screens displaying several integrated software platforms at once. But it’s got to help get the job done, not add a job to do.
- It’s a tight community.
It doesn’t take long for a good idea, a good person, or a good piece of software to be shared across the wires, North and South. And it’s not just the old boy’s network, the thriving Facebook groups for truckers, or women in trucking or just for sharing epic truck pics are proof that this industry is especially connected. Everyone knows everyone – so reputation matters.
