Ten years running OTR gave me something most software developers don't have: the experience of using bad software under pressure.
I've been 600 miles out with a shipper refusing to receive my load, a TMS that's three clicks deep to find the consignee phone number, and a dispatcher who can't see where I am because the tracking feed is down. You learn fast what matters.
Operations don't forgive vague tools. When you're building software for trucking, every extra click, every unclear label, every system that assumes the user has time to think — that's friction that costs money. Real money. A driver sitting at a dock for an extra hour because the paperwork flow is broken isn't a UX problem. It's a $150 problem, and it happens ten times a day.
What I learned about system design:
The best operations tools are boring. They're clear. They surface the right information at the right moment — without making you search for it. Dispatch boards that show load status at a glance. Driver apps that let you check in with three taps. Billing automation that doesn't require a human to verify every line.
Software that works under pressure is software built by someone who has felt the pressure.
That's the lens I bring to every project: not "what would be elegant?" but "what does the person using this actually need in the moment they need it?"