There’s too many big rigs and not enough safe overnight parking for trucks and RVs, but a techie group of truckers wants to change that.
The new and totally free “Roadbreakers” app for Android and iPhone is making it easier than ever for the 3.5 million truckers and untold numbers of RVers looking for a safe place to spend the night on North American roads.
Truckers Help RVers Find Safe Parking
Crowdsourcing Overnight Parking for Trucks and RVs
The lack of safe overnight parking for trucks and RVs often makes horrific headlines. The most well-known one occurred in 2009, when trucker Jason Rivenburg was murdered while overnighting at an abandoned truck stop he heard was safe.
In 2014 trucker Mike Boeglin was murdered while sleeping outside a factory that was awaiting his cargo in the morning, the Wall Street Journal reported.
More robberies and murders are happening because nearby truck stops and big box store parking lots are constantly full, leaving truckers and RVers to fend for themselves and hope for the best.
Cheap fuel combined with stricter regulations requiring mandatory rest periods are two reasons why these incidents are on the rise, but the Roadbreakers developers are working toward a solution.
Trucker and RV parking is what Roadbreakers does best.
“Everyone wants a place where there won’t be someone banging on the door at 3 a.m. telling them to move,” writes Allen Campbell, a former truck driver, entrepreneur and creator of Trucking Office, a software package for truck drivers.
Campbell recently shared his conversation with Greg White, one of Roadbreaker’s founders. White explained that the Roadbreakers’ app is successful because it focuses on safe parking spots and is constantly being updated by those in the know: truckers.
This overnight parking directory is always current.
“We’re crowd-sourcing the data,” White told Campbell. “We have drivers send us locations of places they’ve found. We’re not just depending on the truck stops to give us their information, which sometimes the GPS locations aren’t quite right. Our users can give us a location that we’d otherwise never know.”
In addition, Stone says, “If we hear about a robbery or trouble at a site, we get that information out there. Drivers want to know that.”
How the Roadbreakers App Works
- No internet required to find parking.
- Data is stored locally on your device.
- Get automatic live updates when WiFi is available.
- Easy to read map view or list view shows nearby parking locations.
- Users post comments about specific overnight truck parking locations.
- List new locations of overnight parking for trucks and RVs.
- Be the first to let truckers and RVers know about problems with a specific parking location.
- When you feel like chatting with others, just post & view user comments within the app!
The app uses the phone’s Internet connection to download updates to the parking location. “Only small ‘sips’ of data are quickly downloaded in the background,” say the Roadbreakers developers.
The app will automatically add new locations and delete old ones, giving users the most accurate and up-to-date specs on overnight parking for trucks and RVs.
According to developers Greg White and Richard Shore, “We have ONE goal: Help you find overnight truck (and RV) parking in the USA! We have the biggest & best overnight parking list. Better and cheaper than the books.”
Get the free Roadbreakers app for Android or iPhone.
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