TruckDown

Frequently Asked Questions

Topics

  • Who should advertise on TruckDown?

    In general Companies that sell services or products to the commercial trucking and bus industry should consider a listing on TruckDown. TruckDown is a location specific vendor locator used by commercial fleets to locate and track vendors that provide services such as heavy duty towing and recovery, major and minor truck repair, truck stops, truck tire service, national tire account service, mobile tire service and mobile mechanical repair services. In short, services commercial fleets depend on to keep their trucks rolling safely down the highway.

    Who uses TruckDown?

    Since TruckDown was originally launched in 1997 the service has accumulated tens of thousands of registered users. These users represent commercial trucking and bus fleets of all sizes operating regionally or throughout the USA and Canada.

    Why advertise on TruckDown?

    TruckDown users come to TruckDown for one primary purpose, and that is to find a business that can provide them with service. When you advertise on TruckDown, you are putting your business in front of buyers actively looking for the services you provide in your area, and that means that TruckDown delivers fast and effective results.

    TruckDown is a proven solution that helps you grow your business.

    How do I get listed on TruckDown?

    To request a listing on TruckDown you can use any of the following options:

    Create an account then add your listings(s), or

    Contact Us and we will be happy to help.

    Outside of the TruckDown site, where else is my listing published to improve my advertising?

    When you advertise your business on TruckDown, you are not only putting your business on our website. TruckDown works closely with industry partners to publish your business in as many effective mediums as possible.

    Your business will be listed in all of the major Internet Search Engine search results including Google and Microsoft Bing. In some cases, users do not even go to TruckDown.com to see your business information.

    Also, TruckDown has data licensing agreements with all major truck GPS providers including Garmin® and Rand McNally®. That means that if you list your business on TruckDown, your business will also be listed as a point-of-interest on all of these GPS devices.

    No other truck service locator provider provides the same exposure for your business.

    What makes TruckDown Advertisements so effective?

    TruckDown users are legitimate Drivers or Fleets that are looking for service for their equipment. They are buyers. The main reason why TruckDown Advertisements are so effective is because TruckDown puts your information in front of these buyers when they need your service.

    Another reason why our advertisements are so effective is that when a customer wants to contact your business, they call you directly. TruckDown does not get involved any interaction between you and your customer, nor do we set any service pricing or add any service fees to your customer.

    How do I know I am getting my money's worth with my TruckDown Advertisement?

    One of the most difficult things with advertising or marketing your business is ensuring that you get a return on your advertising dollars. TruckDown makes measuring your results easy. At TruckDown, our job is to win you business and we take that very seriously. We want to ensure that for every dollar you spend with us, you earn more in new business for your business.

    At the beginning of each month, you will receive a TruckDown Advertising Results report. This report will show you the critical metrics related to your TruckDown advertisements including the number of times your ad was viewed and, most importantly, the estimated number of times a TruckDown user called your listing as a result of the TruckDown advertisement.

    TruckDown does not include arbitrary numbers in our results. We also do not include inflated numbers. Every month, the TruckDown system performs hundreds of thousands of searches including searches by users, searches by various Internet search engines, and searches by our administrative team and GPS suppliers. Our result reporting, however, only includes a portion of these searches. Essentially, we only include searches performed by users looking to buy your services.

    For more information on how we track your advertising results and what the results mean to your business, feel free to Contact Us and we would be happy to discuss them with you.

    In addition to the key metrics for your advertisement, TruckDown also provides a list of recommendations you can consider to help improve your results. These are not sales pitches. The only suggestions that are included are suggestions that will actually impact the results of your advertisements.

    How many hits will my listing get?

    For each listing active on TruckDown we track the number of views (sometimes referred to as “Hits”) and make that information available to vendors through on line reports and monthly emails. However, more important than views are calls, which we also track so you can evaluate your advertising with TruckDown. How many views and resulting calls you get depends on where your business is located and what services you are actively listed under.

    What can I do to ensure my TruckDown Advertisement delivers the best results possible?

    Advertising a business on TruckDown is easy. Getting the best results out of your advertisement takes a few extra steps though. Some suggestions include:
    1. Ensure you include a tag line and description on your business listing that helps you to stand out compared to other listings in your area.
    2. Determine the optimum listing type for your area. The optimum listing type may not be the most expensive depending on how much competition you have in your area. Contact Us for more information; our team is great at ensuring you are given the right information to make an informed decision. Our team will not recommend the most expensive option unless that option will deliver you the best result.
    3. Ensure you include all of the services your business offers when creating your listing.
    4. Ensure everything you put on your business listing is accurate and up-to-date.
    5. Invite your customers to rate your business on TruckDown.com. This is a great way for you to receive direct feedback from your customers and helps to showcase the quality of your service to potential new customers.

    What makes TruckDown better than any other Advertising option?

    We pride ourselves on doing three main things that makes our services better than anyone else:

    Most functional features and services

    No other competing service provides the same level of features and benefits to users or advertisers. With TruckDown, users can manage and track everything from personal notes to repairs to ratings for any listing in our system while advertisers can monitor detailed information on the results their listings bring to them.

    Advertisers also get the benefits of having their business information published in a large portion of the Truck specific GPS units along with all of the major North American Internet Search Engines.

    Fast and stable technology infrastructure

    TruckDown’s system is fast, reliable, and always available. Rain or shine, TruckDown is always available ensuring that your business is always advertised and your business is always available to users looking for your services.

    Superior customer service

    Have a question? Need something clarified? Want us to help with a change to your business listing? Give us a call, send us an email, or fill out our contact form on-line. Our team will respond and help you through anything you need. Our goal is for you to get the most out of your TruckDown advertising and our team is there to make it as easy as possible for you.

    What does advertising on TruckDown cost?

    TruckDown has a variety of advertising options that range from free (yes … free!) to a small annual cost to a pay-per-view promotion service.

    To list your business in TruckDown’s search, there are 3 listing types including:

    TruckDown Stock - Free listing type allowing you to list your business under one service category.

    FREE

    TruckDown Pro – The most popular listing type. This listing type gives you search priority over Brand and Stock listings within 15 miles of your listing's location. It also allows you list under all of the related services your company offers for one low annual price.

    $330.00/year

    TruckDown Elite – A listing type for areas with heavy competition. This listing type gives you search priority over TruckDown Pro listings within 15 miles of your listing's location as well as all the premium features.

    $660.00/year

    In addition, TruckDown provides the ability for you to launch a Search Promotion for your listing. Each time your listing is displayed you can display a Search Promotion that is prominently in the search results. This promotion is charged on a “pay-per-view” model and costs $0.75/view for featured views and $0.10/view for non-featured views.

    $0.75/featured view

    $0.10/non-featured view

    Finally, to brand your business across either a whole state/province or nationally, TruckDown offers regional or national banner ads.

    Regional Banner - $600.00/year

    National Banner - $1,200.00/year

    What types of listings are there?

    TruckDown offers 3 listing types to qualified vendors ranging in price from free to $660 per year depending on the nature of your business and market area. Please visit our Advertisers section for details on each listing type. You are also welcome to Contact Us for more information.

    What does a TruckDown listing do for my business?

    TruckDown listings are displayed in front of active fleet buyers looking for specific services in specific areas.

    How can I get top spot?

    TruckDown uses a listing rotation strategy that allows listings of equal type to obtain equal exposure to fleets based on the service area and services provided by the vendor. We do not provide an option for any one company to have their listing display first on every search. It should also be noted that fleet users tend to use the results map to determine where vendors are in relation to the truck need service.

    What is "TruckDown Preferred" (Orange Listings) and how can I get this?

    The TruckDown Preferred designation and corresponding orange listing border cannot be purchased as a listing type. It is only available to vendors that have received 4 or more positive ratings from registered fleet users. Please see our Terms & Conditions: Rating Policy for more information.

    Why, when I click on my Listing pin on the Search Results Map, does my Company Name show as "Search Point", when other Companies on the same page show their "Real Company Name"?

    In cases where the listing pin is very close to the fleet’s search point you may have to zoom in on the map to provide enough separation between the listing pin and fleet search point.

    What are Search Promotions?

    A Search Promotion is a notice that displays in the search results that states a clear value proposition to fleet users such as a limited time discount on services or products offered at a specific vendor location or locations. Authorized Search Promotions are only displayed when the fleet is searching within 15 miles of a participating location's listing.

    Why would I want to launch a Search Promo?

    If you have a specific promotional offer for a specific listing, a Search Promo is an ideal way to put your message in front of fleets actively looking for service your company provides.

    Why run a Banner Ad?

    Banner ads are primarily used to promote brand advertising in a specific State, Province or nationally across the USA or Canada.
  • Does it cost anything to use TruckDown Search?

    TruckDown Search is free to use.

    What makes TruckDown different from any other Truck Repair search service?

    Since 1997 TruckDown has focused on ensuring that vendor information is accurate and combined with tools that make it easy for fleets to find the right vendor in the right place as needed. We built the first on line vendor locator for commercial fleets in North America and pioneered features such as vendor ratings, preferred vendor lists, customized search results, vendor searches along truck routes and many other features included in your free Fleet account. Our service is designed around feedback from tens of thousands of fleet users and decades of experience.

    What are notes and how can they help me?

    Fleet users have the option of adding private notes to any vendor listing. The notes are an easy way to keep track of details related to how your company works with a specific vendor. For example you might have special pricing with a vendor that you want your team to be aware of the next time they contact a specific vendor. Private notes are a handy way to keep track of things you need to know about a specific vendor.

    Why would I track my repairs on TruckDown?

    Most companies track the cost of repairs in their accounting and maintenance systems, but this information is not always immediately available to dispatchers or fleet support personnel dealing with a breakdown situation. Each vendor listing has a “Repairs” link on it that allows you to start a repair with as little or as much information as you want to keep track of when dealing with a specific vendor. A common use of this system is to record the vendor’s repair estimate and response time, than when the repair is completed record the actual time and cost. This information stays with the vendor record and is immediately available to your team the next time the vendor comes up in a search.

    Why rate vendor service listings on TruckDown?

    Rating a vendor’s service automatically adds the vendor to your fleet’s preferred or do not use list (see My Service Network) A rating also impacts your fleets search results. For example, a positive rating on a vendor sets them as preferred so that the next time you are searching in that area that vendor comes up first and is clearly identified as a vendor you have worked with successfully before. TruckDown also displays a rating score compiled of all ratings assigned by registered fleets.

    What is My Service Network and how does it help me?

    The My Service Network feature of your account is a sortable list of all the vendors you have identified as Preferred. Vendors are automatically added or removed from the list based on ratings you assign to vendors through a search. Tracking preferred vendors in this manner helps ensure your fleet uses vendors you have positive experience with and can also be used to identify vendors anywhere in the country you have preferred pricing arrangements with, including most major national tire account providers and OEM authorized repair centers.

    Does TruckDown Routing cost me anything?

    Included with each TruckDown account are 10 free truck routes and unlimited regular routes. Each route you create is saved to your account and can be used over and over again without any additional cost. If you require more that 10 new truck routes per month additional routes can be purchased for a low monthly fee.

    Why would I use TruckDown Routing?

    You can email route driving directions, search for repair and service vendors along a route and use your truck routes for fuel tax reporting.

    Can I use TruckDown Routing to manage my Fuel Tax Reports?

    Yes, Truck Routes saved to your TruckDown account can be used to generate trips that allow you to record all the mileage and fuel receipt information required to generate your quarterly fuel tax reports.

    Can I use TruckDown Routing to view route mileages?

    Yes, reports are available for each route you create including Directions, Cost/Revenue Estimates, Roads Reports and State/Province Mileage Reports.

    Can I use TruckDown Routing to plan my route revenue and expenses?

    TruckDown Routing can be used to evaluate the profit/loss potential of a load you are about to move, or to calculate the outcome of a load you have moved. For each route you can enter the revenue per mile or per hour, fuel costs and other expenses to see what is the bottom line for that trip looks like.
  • What are the benefits of an ACE Membership?

    Large fleets typically have more fleet support staff and often run 24 hour breakdown centers. The ability to instantly share vendor ratings, user notes, dealer networks, preferred pricing arrangements and vendor coverage across multiple users in multiple locations is vital to managing repair cost and response time. A TruckDown ACE membership allows fleets to manage their own users and access other advanced features, but the greatest benefit is keeping everybody in your Fleet Support Group on the same page in terms of which vendors to use for various services and when to use them.

    What does an ACE Membership cost?

    $ 239.40 per year per fleet, no limitation on the number of users per company.