The website and smartphone app, available for iPhone and Android platforms, enable truck drivers to connect and share experiences from their lives on the road.
As the global ambassador for Worldtrucker, Lisa Kelly was one of the first to use the website and app. She has distinguished herself in the social media landscape and has a large number of fans and friends on Facebook, Twitter and through the Worldtrucker forum.
“I like keeping in touch with the trucking community,” Kelly said. “There are a lot of things that keep truck drivers united, and that’s what’s cool about the Worldtrucker concept. Other truck drivers understand what you’re going through.”
Powered by Volvo Trucks and designed to help the more than 20,000 members of the global Worldtrucker community (http://www.worldtrucker.com/) easily connect, the website and app achieve this by helping truck drivers exchange experiences and expertise with other drivers – both in their local communities and around the world.
Upgrades to the Worldtrucker website include improved functionality and design, as well as new applications like a GPS-based system that allows truck drivers to record and share their routes on a map. This function is particularly useful when using the Worldtrucker smartphone app, seamlessly integrated with the website. Through Trucker Interest Points (TIPs), drivers can check-in, comment, rate and upload photos from a specific location and then share that information with fellow truck drivers.
A chat function in the app helps drivers find and contact other drivers that may be nearby. The app was developed based on data gathered from truck drivers at truck stops and through online surveys.
“Truck drivers are the experts on life on the road, and this website and app were developed both by them and for them,” said Paula Kühnel, Volvo Trucks online communication manager. “The app is both an extension of the website and an effective social tool for truck drivers to generate and share content directly from the road – from photos uploaded from their mobile phone, to useful tips about good rest areas or safe places to park.”
Through Worldtrucker, Volvo Trucks hopes to increase interest in the profession and support the recruitment of new drivers to address the worldwide driver shortage. Volvo Trucks aspires to make Worldtrucker the largest and most active truck driver community in the world. Worldtrucker welcomes all truckers regardless of what truck brand they drive or prefer.
First launched in 2011, Worldtrucker has members representing more than 100 countries and is available in 19 languages. The site has more than 90,000 visits a month and its members have uploaded more than 130,000 photos of trucks and life on the road. The Worldtrucker smartphone app is free and available for download from Apple’s App Store and through Google Play.
The new Worldtrucker smartphone app is now available for iPhone and Android to connect professional truck drivers from around the world.
Lisa Kelly, global ambassador for Worldtrucker and star of TV’s Ice Road Truckers, unveiled the new Worldtrucker smartphone app and website at the 2013 Mid-America Trucking Show.
Volvo Trucks North America’s operations and products are guided by the company’s three core values: Quality, Safety and Environmental Care. The Volvo VNM, VNL, VNX, VHD and VAH trucks are assembled in the United States at the New River Valley Plant in Dublin, Virginia, while Volvo engines for North America are assembled in Hagerstown, Maryland. Both plants are certified to ISO14001 environmental and ISO9001 quality standards.
The Volvo Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of trucks, buses, construction equipment and marine and industrial engines. The Group also provides complete solutions for financing and service. The Volvo Group, which employs about 115,000 people, has production facilities in 19 countries and sells its products in more than 190 markets. In 2012, the Volvo Group’s sales amounted to $45 billion. The Volvo Group is a publicly-held company headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo shares are listed on OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm and are traded OTC in the U.S. For more information, please visit www.volvogroup.com or www.volvogroup.mobi if you are using your mobile phone.
March 21, 2013