Have you ever bought a product or service based solely on reviews you read on the internet and been totally disappointed, or worse, felt ripped off?

Old journalists coined the phrase, “Say it three times and it becomes The Truth”! These days, it feels like you only need to say it once and leave it to other people to repeat until it’s true.

The problem of “fake news” dominates headlines today, and since 2015 the problem of “fake reviews” has prompted Amazon to sue over 1000 people who offer to buy and sell fake reviews .

There’s a crisis of trust on the internet, with good reason. Rating Sites pop up all over the web on a daily basis claiming to be authentic and unbiased. Sadly, this is often not the case. But companies offering a legitimate service appreciate that trust is hard to gain and easily lost, which is where the push back against unsupported news and fake ratings is coming through.

But despite the proliferation we see today, fake news, false reviews and self promotion is not a new problem .

What is new is how it can be dealt with. TruckDown reviews all submitted ratings (we know, you don’t believe it but it’s true!) and we have a clear Rating Policy. We also allow vendors to respond to ratings directly, whether it be a thank you or looking to fix a situation that left a customer unhappy.

How does this affect Trucking Fleets?

Fleets are consumers too. In fact, the annual purchases made by a typical trucking fleet qualifies them as “Mega-Consumers.” Now, more than ever, it’s important for Fleet Management to be diligent in their buying choices and that starts with where they get their information. Taking a little time to check sources will enable Fleet Managers to make good decisions on where to spend, with the potential of saving thousands of dollars (not to mention a lot of time and headaches).

Individual drivers can experience the same problems; what are the odds that you remember which of the thousands of vendors out there were the ones who went above and beyond? Let’s face it, we all think we won’t forget but it happens to the best of us. A good rating system will be your permanent sticky note.

Real Ratings from Real Fleets doing Real Business

Authentic ratings are critical to good consumer decisions, and big players like Amazon are willing to spend millions of dollars on lawyers to protect the integrity of their reviews. Likewise, TruckDown allocates substantial resources to assure the integrity of their rating system. Enforcing a strict policy where ratings are authorized from registered users only is just the start. In addition, all public ratings are reviewed or verified by TruckDown Personnel to ensure they represent a Real Fleet doing Real Business with a Real Vendor.

Although no rating system is perfect, the TruckDown system has been credited by many Fleets with helping save an incredible amount of time and money over the past 20 Years! Fleet ratings have resulted in the removal of vendors that cross legal lines or compromise safety. But ratings are not all negative. The fact is TruckDown receives more positive ratings on vendors then negative ones. If that surprises you consider that all too often news focuses on the negative. In practice TruckDown connects hundreds of thousands of fleets and owner operators to high quality vendors that get the job done. TruckDown registered users frequently take the time to tell their vendors they appreciated the work by sending a positive TruckDown shared rating. Do people complain about slow service, high prices or a part that failed? You bet, but not nearly as much as you might think.

Lost Advertising Revenue…Really?

Like Amazon, TruckDown knows that it needs to be committed to Users first and foremost to maintain trust and confidence in its database of over 40,000 vendors. Even when it means losing advertising dollars.

TruckDown Management became aware of a recent advertiser who piled up several complaints and bad reviews within a short amount of time. A thorough investigation of the advertiser's performance quickly determined that they did not fit with the TruckDown Business Model and they were politely disinvited from the platform.

Unfortunately, as of this writing, that particular advertiser is still featured prominently elsewhere on the internet.

How to Check your Sources

Although it may seem like a boring read, I encourage you to check the Rating Policy of any Vendor Locator Service you are considering placing your trust in. By considering your Sources, you stand to gain much more than the time it takes to read the policies. Here’s a link to the TruckDown Rating Policy for starters.

To find out more about the Fleet Features offered by TruckDown , try watching these videos . Or sign-in and use the system now!