Dude, where’s my truck? Even if you don’t need one right now, you’re likely going to need one in the near future. Each year the American masses carry out about 230,000,000 micro-moves, which is when you move things that can be accommodated in the bed of a single pick-up truck. Gym equipment, furniture, and musical instruments all fall under the micro-moves category. What does one do when such a move is to be made? You could rent a U-Haul or hit a buddy up, but those aren’t always be the quickest, cheapest or most convenient options. Now you can snag a truck rental by shining the Bat Signal at a shared economy of very niche micro-movers: dudes and dudettes with trucks.
The Dude I Need A Truck app on Android and iOS connects people with a Dude or Dudette in the local community; basically you get any person with a pick-up truck who’s also willing to lend a hand with the actual moving. Dudes usually show up at the assigned pickup location within 15-45 minutes of their services being requested in the app. You can also schedule a move at a future time.
All you need to do once you’ve made the request is get your stuff packed and ready for transport. The assigned Dude will help load the items into their pick-up truck, move them, and unload them at the drop-off location. Most Dudes can’t tell you if the new rug ties the room together, but they can drag it through a door without breaking too much.
The app updates users with the progress of the move in real-time and notifies them when the truck has arrived at the pick-up and drop-off locations. It also allows users to loop in other contacts so the Dude can coordinate the move with a friend or relative in their absence.
Payments are easy to make since it’s done from within the mobile app. The amount is computed based on the distance of the haul and the estimated time. Each move is allotted 2 hours from start to finish. If the job takes more than 2 hours, users are required to pay a dollar per additional minute until the job has been completed.
Want to be a Dude (or Dudette) yourself? If you own a pick-up truck, you can sign up to be one using the app. All potential Dudes undergo motor vehicle and criminal background checks before they’re made part of the network. Once having passed those, they undergo an intensive training program with mentors—I assume they’re called “Duuuuuudes.”
Dude I Need A Truck currently operates in Camarillo, Carpinteria, Goleta, Isla Vista, Oxnard, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and Ventura.
Since it’s part of the bustling on-demand economy, the service understandably has some competition. Lugg, FleetZen, and PickupNow all operate in the same space. Despite the noise, its comprehensive end-to-end service, transparent payment structure and convenience will likely help Dude I Need A Truck keep a leg (and a helping hand) up on the competition. They may also have the best company / app name of the 21st century.
Prateek Jose is a writer and engineering undergrad from India with an unhealthy obsession for obscure historical trivia. Conversations about absurdist fiction and the technological singularity make his day. He’s already uploading parts of his brain to servers by writing for websites such as this one.
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Simple AND effective. When I owned a pickup, I was the “go to” for those moving and i HATED it. Maybe the company has an affiliate program?
Timothy our research shows truck owners on average get asked from friends/family to borrow their truck three or more times per year. Usually this involves your help as the truck owner as well. Heck I don’t even pick my mom up from LAX anymore I just send an Uber for her. so yeah we take that awkwardness out of having to ask your friend for their truck or their time. And yes we have affiliate program, are you thinking of sending leads our way where you get paid when somebody converts?
Great service! And you would think that it might be one that is easily franchised.
Carol you make a great point. Do you have experience with this? We have already tested the bottle out somewhat but we are by no means experts. I feel like we could raise a lot of money to build out a national brand without having to raise the venture capital, or at least delay it for quite sometime.