Jeff Jarvis Offers Tips for Truckstop Owners

Yesterday, I had the privilege of hearing Jeff Jarvis, the author of the Buzzmachine blog and the book, What Would Google Do?, at the NATSO Show conference in Las Vegas.

Jarvis’ talk was based on his book tour presentation, which has been viewed some 29,000 times on Slideshare, but he made a significant effort to customize his talk to the audience of truckstop and travel plaza operators.  Jarvis had talked with operators and walked the exhibition floor to get a feel for the business of the attendees (an effort I’m afraid to say is not made by many conference speakers).

Jarvis focused his remarks on the depth of the relationship between truckstops and their customers. Unlike the vast majority of other businesses, truckstops and travel plazas play a central role in their customers lives: they feed them, fuel them, and in many different ways help them do the vital work they do. (For those unfamiliar with the life of truckers, we know from a readership study of Road King, a magazine we publish for TravelCenters of America, that truckers visit truckstops almost twice a day, totaling about 5.5 hours. They also spend an average of 22 nights per month on the road, many at truckstops.)

Given the role of truckstops in truck drivers’ businesses and lives, Jarvis touted the potential for tools like the web, blogs and Twitter to further deepen and strengthen that relationship. It was a powerful and insightful presentation and Q&A. The audience embraced the ideas and I think we’ll see many interesting and productive conversations between truckstops and their customers in the months ahead.

One Response to “Jeff Jarvis Offers Tips for Truckstop Owners”

1. Jeff Jarvis says:

   March 8, 2010 at 5:31 am

   Thanks, Bobby.
   Please to keep me up to date on changes you see in the industry. It’s a fascinating lab.