There is no denying the fact that the Internet and smartphones have made the vast majority of all professions much easier in a number of ways. This, of course, includes truck drivers. Nowadays, truckers can utilize their phones to optimize their routes, avoid traffic, enjoy some quality entertainment on the road, or simplify clearance procedures.
With that said, there are hundreds of applications out there that could technically be used for the purposes mentioned above. To navigate between them all in hopes of finding the best one would be an incredibly time-consuming effort, to say the least. When you’re on the road, testing out different applications carries the risk of wasting a lot of your precious time due to something as simple as faulty software.
This is why we’ve compiled this list of the 10 best apps for truck drivers. Use these apps to make your routes more efficient, and get the most out of your time on the road.
Overview of the Best Trucking Apps
We’ve divided our selection of the best mobile applications for truck drivers into four key categories: navigation, utility, entertainment, and parking. Here’s a quick rundown of all of the apps we chose. Below this table, you will find detailed descriptions and recommendations for each one of them.
| Category | App | Description |
Navigation | Trucker Path | A navigation app dedicated specifically for truck drivers. |
| Waze | Unmatched crowdsourcing of road condition data. | |
| Google Maps | Best for finding restaurants and facilities with high user ratings. | |
Utility | Gas Buddy | Allows you to look up the cheapest gas prices in your vicinity. |
| Weigh My Truck | Automates the truck weighing payment process on CAT scales. | |
| Prepass | Allows you to easily bypass weighing stations. | |
| The Weather Channel App | Keeps you up to date with recent and accurate weather forecasts. | |
Entertainment | Spotify | Millions of songs and podcasts to keep you occupied on the road. |
| Audible | Near endless library of audiobooks, radio shows, and podcasts. | |
Parking | Truck Parking Club | Easy and affordable way to find truck parking by connecting truckers with vacant property owners. |
Best Navigation Apps
Most truckers know their regular routes like the back of their hand. But oftentimes, unexpected events, accidents, and weather conditions disrupt the roads, forcing drivers to look for alternative paths to their destination. These three popular apps will help you optimize your routes to account for road closures, traffic jams, and many other disruptions.
Trucker Path
Over one million truck drivers use Trucker Path to plan, optimize, and adjust their routes based on real-time data. Alongside the regular map functionality, Trucker Path also features peer-to-peer communication, allowing drivers to comment on the availability of truck stops, weigh station wait times, and facility reviews.
If you want to plan your route in advance, with up-to-date information provided by truckers just like yourself, then Trucker Path might just be the app you’re looking for.
Waze
Although it’s by no means a navigation giant like Google Maps, Waze has amassed quite a significant amount of popularity due to its easy-to-use interface and unmatched crowdsourcing functionality. Waze users can easily submit information about current road conditions, ongoing traffic jams, and recent accidents on-the-go, making it perhaps the most accurate live navigation app out there.
Unlike Trucker Path, Waze isn’t dedicated solely to truck drivers. This means that if you’re looking for truck-specific information about stops or weight stations, you won’t find it there. However, when it comes to finding the quickest possible route to your destination, you’d be hard pressed to find an app that’s better than Waze.
Google Maps
This one needs no introduction. An absolute juggernaut of the navigation industry, Google Maps has all of the most up-to-date maps and information about facilities and rest stops you can find along the way.
Much like Waze, Google Maps is a universal navigation app, catering towards all kinds of drivers (and not only). You won’t be able to find truck-related data here, but it’s still worth a download. This app is particularly handy if you’re trying to find a good place to eat in your area – most restaurants listed on Google Maps have dozens (or even hundreds) of reviews, allowing you to find the perfect location to grab a bite while on the road.
Best Utility Apps
Time is of the essence when you’re fulfilling a priority delivery. The apps below present an innovative approach to some of the time-consuming, routine aspects of being on the road.
Gas Buddy
Gas Buddy is a must-have app for any budget-conscious truck driver out there. With a database of more than 150,000 gas stations across all of North America, it will point you towards the cheapest possible gas in your vicinity.
Furthermore, you can set up price alerts, which will let you know whenever gas prices are about to increase. On top of that, you can also use Gas Buddy to look up stations with food courts and shower facilities. The app doesn’t have any navigation or communication features, though, so you’ll have to use it in tandem with another program.
Weigh My Truck
Long lines at truck weighing stations are the bane of many truckers. If you belong to that group, then Weigh My Truck from CAT is an app you’ll definitely want to download onto your smartphone. It will allow you to quickly go through the weighing process on CAT scales by facilitating in-app payments and sending weight reports and receipts directly to your email address.
Prepass
Through integrating with your truck’s Advanced Vehicle Identification (AVI) and transponder, Prepass allows you to easily bypass truck weighing stations. These usually tend to be overcrowded with trucks waiting for their turn to be weighed. With Prepass, your truck’s weight information will be automatically sent to the authorities as you pass by, removing the need to queue up.
In order to access Prepass’s features, you’re going to need to pay a $17.95 monthly subscription fee. Bear in mind that the app only works in 42 out of the 50 US states. When using it, you should always double-check whether your route aligns with Prepass’s coverage area before cruising by a weigh station.
The Weather Channel App
The Weather Channel is the most popular and accurate source of weather news in the US and around the world. If you don’t already have their mobile app installed on your phone, you might want to do it before you head out on your next route. That way, you’ll always have access to the most up-to-date weather information, and as we all know, weather has a tremendous impact on road conditions.
Best Entertainment Apps
Being a truck driver can definitely be a fulfilling job, but dozens of hours behind the wheel can get monotonous and boring at times. Due to the nature of their work, entertainment choices for truck drivers are limited to audio options. If you’re tired of listening to the same pop songs and uninspired talk shows on the radio over and over again, give one of these apps a shot.
Spotify
This Swedish mobile app is currently one of the main shot-callers in the music industry, and for good reason. Its reasonable pricing plans and the widest library of music and podcasts brings in millions of subscribers from all over the globe. When you’re on the road for long hours at a time, Spotify is likely to become your new best friend, allowing you to get lost in thousands of captivating podcasts and create playlists with your all-time favorite tunes.
Audible
Being an avid reader doesn’t really go together well with having to drive a truck for hours upon hours. Audible solves that problem by providing users with an affordable, $7.95-per-month subscription which grants you access to thousands of great ebooks, including bestsellers and the newest releases. On top of that, the subscription also covers plenty of great podcasts and radio content to keep you occupied.
Best Truck Parking App
On average, truckers waste nearly 1 hour of their time looking for available truck parking spots. This, in turn, leads to extended delivery times and exhausted drivers. The current truck parking shortage is one of the most pressing issues the industry has had to face in recent years. Thankfully, just like weigh-ins and navigation, digital solutions can greatly contribute to solving this crisis.
Truck Parking Club
Our mobile application allows drivers to easily look up a truck parking spot along their routes and immediately book it, so that they have a rest stop ready and waiting for them once it’s time to take a break. By connecting vacant lot owners with truckers, our app works in a similar way to Airbnb – a quick, convenient way to secure a safe parking spot on an hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
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The Bottom Line
Being a trucker isn’t easy nowadays. Unpredictable road conditions, truck parking shortages, and a range of regulatory requirements pile on to add extra hours to their already-high workload. Most of the apps we listed in this article can free up valuable hours of your on-duty time, allowing you to complete your obligations in a timely, efficient manner. Others will keep you entertained as you drive on towards your destination. One thing is certain – using technology to your advantage will take a lot of stress and busywork off your shoulders.
The information published herein is for general informational purposes only. Truck Parking Club does not make any representations or warranties about the completeness, reliability, legality, and accuracy of this information. Any reliance placed on such material is strictly at the user’s own risk. Truck Parking Club shall not be responsible for any losses or damages incurred in connection with the information published herein.
