Show HN: TruckPlease – Moving sucks, so we decided to make it easier

https://www.truckplease.com

by sasan • 12 years ago

73 70 12 years ago

mrmch2• 12 years ago

I met Sasan and Heidar at the hackathon where they first built TruckPlease. Neat concept that definitely solves a problem, and they're smart/friendly guys!

Super curious what their plans are to monetize (it looks like TP is currently completely free)?

sasan18• 12 years ago

Hey, Matt! Great seeing you on here and thanks for the kind words :)

Right now we're completely free but we have a lot of ideas for monetization. One of them being handling payments and taking a cut and another would be to sell optional related services, like moving/rental insurance, cleaning services, and moving supplies.

mrmch2• 12 years ago

Insurance on the moving is pretty interesting, though I'd worry about fraud eventually being an issue.

rootedbox3• 12 years ago

So you want regular joe smoes to move people or fully licensed movers?

Local or national?

sasan18• 12 years ago

We currently have both! We have people using the site in Vancouver and Victoria right now and both licensed movers and guys with trucks are bidding on gigs. We're working on adding a badge system and reviews so users can quickly see how they're dealing with before accepting a bid.

Edit: right now we're focusing on local moves within cities but there's we have no problem with the site being used for long-haul moves.

rootedbox3• 12 years ago

Just wondering if you are going to handel licensing, bounding, and insurance. It appears you could possibly be banging up against 3PL regulations.

RickHull• 12 years ago

All of the above, I'm sure. The site itself would be neutral. The buyer chooses his preference.

OafTobark• 12 years ago

I would create a 3rd category that is akin to delivery. It could technically fall into moving but moving brings to mind the actual idea of moving.

What I mean by delivery is more something along the lines of...

- I have something I want to pickup (maybe off Craigslist or something) and I don't have a truck. Would be nice to have someone who has one help for a flat rate.

Skywing• 12 years ago

As a truck owner, is there a way to make sure that I never end up on this website? :) Just kidding. Any truck owner knows the joys of having every non-truck-owner ask to borrow the truck.

sasan18• 12 years ago

Hey, at least this way you can make some money now! :)

my_username_is_• 12 years ago

Owning a truck can be a blessing and a curse. I was never the driver when car pooling with my friends, but I had tons of requests to help move things--usually at the end/beginning of the academic years.

I wish this service was around when I owned a truck.

rabino• 12 years ago

"Find someone who gives a truck." would be a better tagline.

Other than that, really cool idea.

sasan18• 12 years ago

Appreciate the kind words! We'll definitely give that tagline some thought haha.

afiler• 12 years ago

This video with Rowan Atkinson contains all sorts of bad truck-related naming ideas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R5tUc1S3cc

MIT_Hacker• 12 years ago

You need to put something up on the home page which shows some of the gigs in your area or perhaps some of the drivers?

Tough to see what the product looks like without actually signing up and posting/bidding.

heidar3• 12 years ago

Hey - co-founder here :) Yeah that's a good idea, a few people have pointed this out as well. Definitely something we'll add soon.

ignostic2• 12 years ago

Cool idea, but two things that bothered me:

1) There's no easy way for users to browse. 2) The whole "gig" messaging and the entire call to action on the page is painfully confusing. -"Describe your gig." What? Am I in a band? Is this for a "seller" or a "buyer"? -Why do you need a description of "moving"?? "I'm moving." would be my description. What are you looking for here? Couldn't you just have a button for "I'm moving?" -There's just a general lack of context here.

I do understand and don't need it explained, but I guarantee the average user is going to be totally confused.

baddox• 12 years ago

2) The whole "gig" messaging and the entire call to action on the page is painfully confusing. -"Describe your gig." What? Am I in a band?

I think this is a difference in regional word usage. I'm accustomed to hearing "gig" used only to refer to a temporary agreement for musicians or similar artistic entertainment, like a single concert or perhaps a tour of concerts. But I have met people from the UK who use it to refer to any job.

JosephHatfield• 12 years ago

I have friends in LA/Hollywood who use the word "gig" when referring to any job of indeterminate length; especially if it pays well. ex: "Oh, man, I'd love to have that gig!"

sarreph• 12 years ago

Interesting... I'm from the UK and wouldn't generally refer to a 'gig' as anything but musical.

E.g. Fiverr 'gig's caused me a lot of misunderstanding the first time I browsed the site

I think it's generally a term to avoid that has been popularised by quasi-hipster tech.

Most probably, the word 'job' or even 'move' would be much less prone to confusion here.

sasan18• 12 years ago

Hey, thanks so much for your feedback! We're working on adding a way for users to browse existing gigs right now!

We chose to go with "gig" for two reasons:

- It's a less formal way to say "job" which could be misleading for drivers looking for work, since most of these moves will be one-off things.

- We looked at the popular sections on craigslist where drivers post their services or users post looking for drivers and those sections are Services & Gigs; so we went with gigs for familiarity.

ignostic2• 12 years ago

Maybe something more like, "What do you need a truck for?" Being more specific is generally better.

You may also consider funneling your traffic immediately to separate "buyers" and "sellers." Car sharing services often ask immediately whether you're looking to rent someone else's car or to rent out a car that you own. It's worth thinking about or testing anyway.

Good luck!

dandroid172• 12 years ago

Your drop-down isn't themed correctly on Chrome for Mac, FYI!

http://i.imgur.com/Y1BZwGP.png

heidar3• 12 years ago

Hey :) I'm able to reproduce this by disabling JS. I'm on Chrome on a Mac as well and with JS enabled there are no problems.

dandroid172• 12 years ago

I have JS enabled... not sure what's up. Not a big deal though!

Kluny• 12 years ago

I'm from Victoria! Cool to see local people making it on HN.

sasan18• 12 years ago

Thanks, Kluny! Appreciate it!

shriphani• 12 years ago

Very cool! Are you guys going to ship an app soon (something like having to pick up a large package at a fedex location and having a streamlined UI for requesting a truck).

heidar3• 12 years ago

Thanks! :) Yeah, once the site has all the features we want we'll definitely start working on an app. Tracking is something we're really interested in doing with that.

noonespecial2• 12 years ago

I've thought about this on and off over the years as well but never had the motivation to try. Congratulations.

In all seriousness, the one question I could never answer for myself is "what happens when there's cocaine in the box?" Have you considered this and how this risk will be handled?

joewee• 12 years ago

The challenges go both ways, a-la Uber 1) How do I know the driver isn't going to steal my stuff 2) How do I know I'm not transporting drugs

As a market place ensuring safety is the value add. Having a rating system would be nice. Perhaps requiring only facebook/linkedin could help?

Or drivers upload their photo and drivers license and the photos should match? I don't have a solution, but something to think about.

sasan18• 12 years ago

Definitely agree! We're working on adding user generated reviews right now and would love to eventually verify drivers with their license/insurance info. Appreciate your input!

sasan18• 12 years ago

Thanks! I think that's a problem every logistics/moving company has to face!

Reminds me of the Mitch Hedberg joke: "I love my FedEx guy cause he's a drug dealer and he doesn't even know it...and he's always on time."

noonespecial2• 12 years ago

They face it with the corporate veil, insurance, and a bunch of lawyers. My concern is, as an ordinary guy with a truck who just bid on a job to make a little extra cash over the weekend, "Its not mine" is going to work about as well as can usually be expected.

anigbrowl• 12 years ago

Given the infrequency of moving, I'm not sure how you intend to displace Craigslist for this sort of thing, since that website is already a good one-stop shop for random services. The times when you actually need a truck seem infrequent enough that I think you're going to run into a discoverability problem.

Indeed, ISTM that the trouble with moving your own stuff is not so much the truck - most people rent a u-haul or similar even if they have to bribe a friend to drive it - as the difficulty of finding people who know how to manhandle furniture and appliances without damaging them or the building they're being moved into/out of, and how to pack a truck so that the contents don't move around during transit.

username223• 12 years ago

finding people who know how to manhandle furniture and appliances without damaging them or the building they're being moved into/out of, and how to pack a truck so that the contents don't move around during transit.

This. If you just need a truck, U-Haul or similar will do that for under $100. If you want to move anything fragile and valuable, pay someone knowledgeable and insured. There just isn't much money in schlepping things around town for $40 plus gas.

keypusher• 12 years ago

Agreed. I'm moved several times, including twice cross-country and once internationally. Finding a truck was the least of my problems. If I just need a truck for the day to move something heavy, I can already a) Rent one via Zipcar for as an hour or two, b) Rent a van from U-Haul for the day, or c) find someone on Craigslist.

sandieman• 12 years ago

Perfect timing, I'm moving out of the Mission to Cow Hollow...

$80 was first bid, took it. Excited to see how this goes!

sasan18• 12 years ago

Awesome! Feel free to email us anytime at hi@truckplease.com to let us know how it goes!

baha_man• 12 years ago

Small typo on this page:

https://www.truckplease.com/how-it-works

"TruckPlease doesn’t employee anyone..."

sasan18• 12 years ago

Thanks, man! Will definitely fix that!

swalsh• 12 years ago

The real test for this site would be September 1st, Boston.

dalek2point3• 12 years ago

tell me about it! I rented a Uhaul last year during this time, and it was a complete nightmare. Im wondering how much extra money I have to pay on this site to make it less painful and whether it would be worth it.

Aloha2• 12 years ago

It'd be useful to deal with moving moving, like city to city or region to region, this looks like something for in the city.

sasan18• 12 years ago

Totally! Our goal right now is to focus on local moves but the site can definitely be used for long-haul moves as well!

redtexture• 12 years ago

"local or national"

You really need to deal with both state and federal consumer-oriented laws relating to moving, and bills of lading and the like.

You should also learn about the laws relating to "agency". As the agent of truckers, connecting the trucker to the customer, you can find yourself to be on the hook for movers and truckers that fail to deal with state laws, which can be quite "interesting" to an entity in your position.

The reason for such state laws and federal regulation: low estimates on the job, and truckers that hold a person's goods hostage for the surprisingly high bill. Nationally: you need to know your providers are reputable and capable.

bwl• 12 years ago

Can't wait for this to migrate into NYC

chiph• 12 years ago

How do you think you compare with established players, like uShip?

sasan18• 12 years ago

Hey! Just a copy & paste from a comment I wrote earlier:

We really like uShip! But we're different. While uShip has the functionality to offer local moves, their primary focus is on larger long-haul moves. Movers generally use their service to fill empty space on their trucks so they can get the most for their time/fuel costs.

Our main focus is on local moves. We've tried using uShip for in-city moves in a few cities and getting bids for these on their site is pretty hit and miss since most of their drivers prefer a longer haul.

damoncali• 12 years ago

This is going to hurt a little, but these guys are 10 years ahead of you: http://www.uship.com

sasan18• 12 years ago

mtalantikite• 12 years ago

There is moveline.com, which I think was in TechStars out here in NYC a few years back.

Is this more for small jobs within a city? Like if I needed to pick up some furniture or something similar.

sasan18• 12 years ago

Hey! moveline.com looks pretty cool. We're less focused on long-haul moves, although our site can easily accommodate them (we have a few long-haul gigs posted up right now) and more focused on short, "I need this desk moved across town" gigs.

davemel373• 12 years ago

Best Idea I have read about all year.

Seriously... I love this.

davemel373• 12 years ago

As someone who likes to buy consigned furniture, or browse estate sales... but hates paying expensive moving fees...This is a prefect solution for me.

Focus on estate sales and you will grow rapidly.

sasan18• 12 years ago

Thanks so much for the kind words! We will definitely look into marketing to estate sales :)

r00fus• 12 years ago

Awesome - I've just posted a gig for a bit of junk removal. That's a tough market - most folks won't quote you a price without seeing the goods.

ghshephard2• 12 years ago

I've used craigslist 4-5 times in the last 8 years (I don't drive, and I move a lot) - and two things stand out for me from my use of them:

#1 - I'm continually amazed at how flakey the drivers/moving services are - they all advertise multiple times a week that they have moving services available, but you have to call about a half dozen of them and leave messages before you eventually get one that will get back to you and commit. You would think they would at least get back to you quickly, and then refer the work to someone else.

#2 - The quality of service that you get varies quite a bit, and doesn't seem to correlate with what you pay as much as you would like - I've paid anywhere from $90 to $150 for moving and sometimes I get two, highly qualified movers, and an enormous truck capable of moving an entire house ($60/hour, 2 hour minimum). Sometimes you get a yahoo with a big uncovered pickup truck ($90/hour).

If there was a service that could solve those two pain points - eliminate the hassle of trying to track down the service, and making sure the person actually showed up when they said the would, and giving me some sense of what I would be getting (Big Truck? how big? Are the movers going to help me move things outside? Do they bring blankets for things like glass desks?) - then I'd be interested in using it.

andrelayer• 12 years ago

Unpakt.com is pretty good for this, though they index only professional moving companies. You enter the general stuff you're going to move and they compare prices across a bunch of providers.

ghshephard2• 12 years ago

My average price for moving is around $100 - though I've paid as much as $150, and the best experience ever was for $120.

The cheapest price on unpakt is $517 for my type of move. They are clearly looking at a different target market.

chrisBob• 12 years ago

As a user it is more reassuring to me if I can identify the business model or the fees involved up front. The FAQ states that the drivers don't pay anything, and the customers pay the drivers directly in cash. That makes me feel like I am missing something.

knocte• 12 years ago

An alternative that I've used successfully in Europe in the past is anyvan.com

jlockfre• 12 years ago

Is this aimed at guys moving like one or two boxes?

My parents run a removals firm in the UK, British Association of Removers accredited. Are you hoping to displace the removal industry of people moving entire homes?

The actual physical handling of people's goods should never come down to price, a bidding war on moving the personal belongings of your entire personal life is never going to end well. Unlicensed, unregulated cowboys will never handle your belongings as well as someone who has had training, is fully insured and has twenty years of experience.

Moving people is hard work, it's difficult to judge a price based upon what people say, distance to the truck? Amount of packing that needs to be done? These are all things that can add huge amounts of time, and therefore money into moving home and due to the fact you're dealing with people's hard earned personal possessions something that shouldn't be ignored.

midas007• 12 years ago

Should get a t-shirt that says "No I will not fix your computer and no you can't borrow my truck, but you can pay me for either if you'd like.

Thanks guys, this is a neat website.

Show HN: TruckPlease – Moving sucks, so we decided to make it easier

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