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Drive and ambition
Page 26
Page 27
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With the acquisition of drivers' website TruckNetUK.com
by CM'S parent company, Rikki Chequer can return to what
he enjoys the most — running the online driver community.
Rikki Chequer, community manager of TruckNetUK.com, wanted to be a truck driver for as long as he can remember. -Always," he says. "My first ever job was as a yard boy in my uncle's firm, which used to do runs out to the East."
After a while, however, it became apparent that the only way Chequer was going to get his truck licence was to join the army in his case the Royal Corps of Transport. 'l joined to get my LGV licence. The problem was that at that time the army didn't have much money, especially not for diesel," he recalls.
"On exercises we used to put up camouflage around imaginary trucks. So we spent most of our time painting them."
Unsurprisingly, Chequer went back to Civvy Street at the first opportunity; he started work fora small haulier in London driving 7.5-tonners. After numerous other driving jobs he had his first experience with abnormal loads at FVS in Tyneside."' really wanted ajob in heavy haulage," he says. "This job also led onto European work, mainly in Holland and Belgium."
Chequer was very fond of his European runs:"The standard of truckstops was certainly higher than in the UK. I'm not saying they were great, but they provided a good service."
After leaving that job he went through a few more before getting work with an asphalting company: "The job was very good, but I was away for stretches of five to six weeks at a time. I kept thatjob for three years until I got married."
This was the turning point for Chequer:"The missus didn't want rue to go away that much,so I had to think of something else. That's when I discovered the internet."
His love for and knowledge of trucking led him to look up truck-related sites.This is where he stumbled across the US site TruckNet.com. He explains: "America had this big community site, whereas the UK only had little separate groups. The biggest of these was called 'UK truck drivers', which was given to me by its lady owner when she couldn't run it any more."
Chequer quickly discovered the need for a UK-wide site, as an increasing volume of traffic started coming tothe forum he had set up.
Checking out TruckNet "At this point 1 bit the bullet and bought myself a ticket to America to meet the guy who owned TruckNet.com." he says. "After meeting him at a show and showing him my proposal [for a UK version] he was sold." Chequer emphasises that the site is all about the community and the interaction:"The free flow of information is the most important thing."
So TruckNetUK.corn was launched and Chequer was given the licence to manage it: "The content was ours and 1. could do what I wanted. I was given free web hosting and all my development work was done for me."
He soon found that there was a lot of work involved for a wehsite which was not making any money it is free for drivers (and anyone else using it). "This is the bit I struggled with," he says. "I started looking for advertisers and managed to bring on board companies like Dat ERF and some smaller ones. It made enough to keep me ticking over, but I still struggled as marketing really isn't my strong side."
In mid-2006 he decided it was becoming too large for him to manage: "The site was growing and it was becoming too much. I either needed to get someone in to help or start a partnership.
"One of the most important things for me was to keep the core values of the site," he adds.
After numerous meetings Chequer concluded that Reed Business Information-a division of publisher Reed Elsevier -was the only serious contender to support the site:"We both went into it with an open mind and started discussions about how to go forward as two separate entities."
Now that the site is owned by RB1. Chequer has been able to return to what he enjoys: "I can fully focus on running the community and go back to the forum side of things. RBI brings the marketing, which takes a huge load off my shoulders. I was trying to cover all aspects of the web, which was taking me into unknown areas and generally becoming a pain. My job now is to sustain what we have and try to bring more people to the site.
TruckNet UK.corn does not clash with its fellow RBI site, Roadtransport.com: instead it runs in parallel. Chequer explains: ''TruckNet is run by volunteers, the content is provided by users and it's for drivers: it's a community. Roadtransport.com bases itself higher up the triangle and is more for the operators."
He also highlights some of the challenges he encounters on the site: "We sometimes have to moderate language and personal attacks. It's a shame when people use expletives to put a point across." Chequer is sometimes criticised for this policy of moderation: "People putting up such content often complain that they should be able to say what they want. But they have to realise that the site can be viewed by anyone — kids included.Also,someone from outside the industry looking to find out some information on it will get the wrong impression.This website is the public face of truck drivers!"
That irritating minority
Chequer is annoyed that a small minority of drivers arc dragging down the public perception of the majority of professional drivers.
The current hot topic of road pricing has not escaped him.
"I object immensely to road pricing because it punishes the low-income person," he explains. A good-income family taking their kids two miles up the road to school or a low-income family driving 30 miles to work —which journey should be penalised?
Regarding the issue of foreign trucks coining into the LIK,he says:"We should have a vignette. Foreign trucks coming in should buy road tax for the period of time they are in the country and be checked when they leave the port."
No doubt Chequer and his community at TrockNetUK.com will have many more opinions on all the issues regarding the industry. To become involved or read the forums log on to the we bsite at www.trucknetuk.com •