Why I built DockGuide

For more than two decades, I ran a service business servicing large retail centres, industrial facilities and commercial precincts across the Hunter region and Newcastle.

In that time I spent thousands of hours in loading docks, service corridors and back-of-house areas. I worked alongside drivers, storemen, facilities managers and operations teams. I watched the same problems play out, over and over again.

Drivers arriving at the wrong gate. Trucks attempting docks they couldn’t physically fit into. Drivers with no PPE are being turned away at the boom gate. Safety inductions that nobody told the driver about until they were already on site. Delivery windows were missed because nobody knew the booking system had changed.

None of it was malicious. Almost all of it was avoidable.

The information existed. It just wasn’t getting to the right person at the right time.

For the last six months, I have been behind the wheel myself — working as a delivery driver across the Hunter region. And everything I had watched from the outside for twenty years, I felt from the inside.

Pulling up to a site you’ve never been to, no idea which gate is for trucks, no idea whether you need a booking, no idea what the access code is or whether there’s even room to turn around once you’re in. Calling the number on the docket and getting voicemail. Driving around the perimeter looking for a sign. Blocking traffic while you figure it out.

What surprised me most wasn’t the confusion. It was the anxiety.

There is a particular stress that builds in the cab when you don’t know what you’re walking into. You’re on a schedule. You’re responsible for the load. You don’t want to hold up the site, damage the truck or make a mistake in front of people who clearly know what they’re doing. You’re expected to just know — and most of the time, nobody has told you anything.

That feeling is real, it is common, and it is completely unnecessary.

The information that would fix it exists. It sits in the heads of storepersons, dock supervisors and facilities managers who deal with these sites every day. It just never makes it to the driver before they arrive.

That’s the problem DockGuide solves.

What was missing

There are logistics platforms, route planners, fleet management systems and warehouse management tools. There are booking systems and induction portals.

But there was nothing that answered the most basic question a driver has before a delivery:

“What do I actually do when I get there?”

Which gate? Which dock? What safety gear? What are the hazards? Whether a booking is needed. What is the access code? Whether there’s enough room to turn around.

DockGuide answers that question — clearly, practically and before the driver leaves the depot.

An operational tool, not a tech product

DockGuide is deliberately practical. It is not trying to replace your existing systems, your booking platforms or your safety management processes. It is a focused tool that does one thing well — gets the right delivery information to the right driver before they arrive.

It is built around how drivers and fleet managers actually work. Not how a software company imagines they work.

Starting in the Hunter — growing from there

DockGuide is currently focused on the Hunter region and Newcastle — the area I know best and where I can build the verified site database properly, not just quickly.

The large shopping centres, hospitals, industrial estates and commercial precincts across this region represent thousands of deliveries every week. Getting dock information right in one region and proving the model is more valuable than spreading thin across the country before the product is ready.

Expansion will follow. But not at the cost of quality.

What we stand for – Accuracy over speed

A dock listing that is wrong is worse than no listing at all. Every piece of information on DockGuide is either verified with the site directly or clearly marked as fleet-submitted. We don’t publish guesses.

Safety through specifics

DockGuide exists because loading docks are genuinely dangerous environments. Getting drivers prepared before they enter a site is not a convenience feature — it is a safety contribution. We show it through what’s on the screen, not by announcing it.

Honest about what we are

DockGuide is a growing platform at an early stage. The verified database is being built site by site. We tell subscribers exactly what is verified, what is fleet-submitted and what is still to come. No overclaiming.

Built for operators, by an operator

Every design decision in DockGuide has been made with real operational experience behind it — not user personas invented in a meeting room.

Where we are right now

DockGuide is currently in its pilot phase, operating across the Hunter region and Newcastle. We are actively building the verified site database through direct relationships with shopping centres, hospitals and commercial precincts.

Fleet subscribers during the pilot phase are founding members. Their feedback directly shapes how DockGuide develops. Early subscribers receive our founding member rate and will not be subject to future price increases as the platform grows.

If you are considering DockGuide for your fleet or your site during this phase, you are getting something other early adopters rarely get — direct access to the founder and a genuine say in how the product develops.

Talk to Craig directly

DockGuide is still at the stage where I handle every inquiry personally. I’d rather have a genuine conversation with the right people than send automated emails to everyone.

If you run a fleet and want to understand whether DockGuide makes sense for your drivers, call or email me directly.

If you manage a commercial site and want to talk about getting your dock information published and verified, same thing.

There is no sales team. No chatbot. Just a straightforward conversation.