TruckIntel Research Project SA
Southern African trucking research & operational intelligence.
Understanding the real-world challenges facing truck drivers and transport operators across Southern Africa.
What is TruckIntel?
Real roads. Real delays. Real operating problems.
TruckIntel is an independent research project focused on the everyday realities of moving trucks across South Africa and the wider Southern African region.
We are speaking to professional drivers, owner-drivers, transport operators, fleet managers and other people working inside the industry to understand where time, money and productivity are being lost — and where better information could make a practical difference.
Before trying to build solutions for trucking, listen to the people who actually do the work.
Road-freight operations generate enormous amounts of information every day. Drivers encounter congestion, roadworks, accidents, border queues, unsafe areas, loading delays, poor road conditions, weather, truck-stop problems and countless other disruptions.
Much of that knowledge is scattered between drivers, WhatsApp groups, operators, public information sources and individual experience. TruckIntel is researching how that information could eventually be brought together and turned into something genuinely useful.
This is a research project first. We are not arriving with a finished product and asking the industry to adapt to it. We want to understand the problems properly before deciding what should be built.
What We’re Researching
We are gathering insights on the key issues that affect productivity, profitability and safety in the trucking industry, including:
This is a research-led project. We are listening first, so that any future solutions are built around the real problems experienced by drivers and operators.
Road & weather conditions
Poor surfaces, potholes, construction zones, difficult routes and infrastructure that affects travel time, vehicle wear and safety. Heavy rain, flooding, fog, wind, fires and other conditions capable of disrupting a journey.
Route delays
Unexpected congestion, accidents, closures, roadworks and other events that turn a planned journey into lost hours.
Border crossings
Queues, processing delays, changing conditions and the uncertainty involved in cross-border operations.
Loading & offloading
Waiting time at customers, depots, warehouses, mines, ports and distribution centres — and the effect those delays have on drivers and operators.
Safety & security
Hijacking risk, unsafe stopping areas, theft, protest action and other threats encountered while operating on the road.
Operational cost
The real financial consequences of delay — fuel, overtime, standing time, missed collections, late deliveries and under-utilised vehicles.
Truck stops & driver facilities
Parking, fuel, food, showers, rest areas and the availability of safe places for drivers to stop.
Information gaps
What drivers and operators wish they had known earlier — and where existing information fails them.
Why We’re Doing This
A truck standing still is rarely standing still for free.
A delay may mean extra fuel, another night out, driver hours lost, a missed delivery slot, an unhappy customer or another vehicle standing idle waiting for the load.
One isolated delay may be manageable. Hundreds of small delays across an operation become expensive.
TruckIntel is exploring whether better use of existing information — together with knowledge from drivers themselves — can help transport operators anticipate some of these problems earlier and make better decisions before the cost has already been incurred.
Built Around the People on the Road
Technology can collect information. But drivers know what that information means in the real world.
A traffic map may show congestion. A driver may know that the queue has reached the weighbridge, that trucks have been standing for three hours, that a particular truck stop is full, or that an apparently open road is becoming difficult for heavy vehicles.
That knowledge matters. TruckIntel wants professional drivers to be part of the conversation from the beginning.
We are here to listen before we build.
Your Experience Counts
We welcome input from people throughout the road-freight industry, including:
- Professional truck drivers
- Owner-drivers
- Small fleet operators
- Large transport companies
- Fleet and operations managers
- Controllers and dispatchers
- Cross-border operators
- Workshop and technical personnel
- Truck-stop and logistics facility operators
- Other people with direct experience of Southern African trucking
You do not need to prepare anything formal. Sometimes one story about a recurring problem is more valuable than a hundred statistics.
Drivers: tell us what costs you time
- What regularly slows you down?
- Which roads create problems?
- Where do you wait unnecessarily?
- Which borders are unpredictable?
- Where is it difficult to find safe parking?
- What information do you normally get too late?
- What do experienced drivers know that somebody sitting in an office often does not?
We would like to hear it.
Share your experience on WhatsAppTransport operators: tell us what costs you money
- Which operational risks are hardest to predict?
- Where do your vehicles lose productive time?
- Which delays are difficult to quantify?
- What information would help your controllers make better decisions?
- Which problems are currently managed through telephone calls, WhatsApp messages, spreadsheets and experience because no better tool exists?
TruckIntel wants to understand those gaps.
Talk to TruckIntelTruckIntel Research Project SA
TruckIntel is an independent South African research initiative examining the operational challenges facing road-freight transport in South and Southern Africa.
The initial objective is not to sell software. It is to learn.
The longer-term objective is to determine whether practical technology and better use of available information can help drivers and transport operators reduce avoidable delays, manage operational risk and make better-informed decisions.
As the research develops, findings and useful information will be shared with participating members of the trucking community wherever practical.
No spam.
No recruitment schemes.
No selling driver information.
No pretending to understand trucking better than the people who live it every day.
If you speak to TruckIntel, your experience will be treated with respect.
We Want to Hear from You
If you drive trucks, own them, manage them or work closely with the people who do, we would value your perspective.
You can contribute a single observation, describe a recurring problem, answer a short survey, or simply have a conversation with us.
Help us understand the problem before we build the solution.
Share your experiences
Participate in future surveys
Help shape practical solutions for the industry