Trucker Path is
a mobile app that helps truckers find truck stops, parking spots, rest
areas, scales, DOT weigh stations, truck washes and more. At first, this
may sound pretty banal, but the company has bigger plans that go far
beyond these kinds of map-centric tools. To do so (and to enter the
growing Chinese market) Trucker Path has raised $1.5 million from
Chinese holding company and social network Renren.
Trucking is a gigantic industry, and while there have long been plenty of trucking-centric
apps on the market, Trucker Path has clearly caught on with
drivers. The service now has 100,000 registered users and is seeing 20
percent month-over-month growth according to the company’s own data.Going forward, Trucker Path hopes to leverage this user base to launch a platform that connects commercial truckers with shippers. The company is currently testing this service in the form of an invite-only beta, but going forward, this is clearly Trucker Path’s best option for monetizing. As the company recently noted on its blog, it is also looking to acquire a small to mid-size freight brokerage company to help power this part of its business.