How leads work
A lead on Trucked Up is a customer asking to book your truck for an event — catering for an office, a wedding, a birthday, a private party. The customer fills in a short form on your truck page; you see the lead in your dashboard; you decide whether to pursue it.
This article covers the full flow at a high level. For the specific Validate step, see Validating a lead and what gets shared. For why we gate contact info, see Why we gate contact info behind Validate.
The big picture
Customer taps "Book" on your truck page → fills form → submits
↓
Lead lands in your Booking Inquiries queue (state: New)
↓
You open it → it auto-marks Read → you see event details (contact info hidden)
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You decide: pursue or pass
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If pursue: you tap "Validate" to reveal email/phone, then contact the customer externally
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You mark the lead Responded (or Declined if you're not pursuing)The whole thing is intentionally low-friction on the customer side and intentionally low-volume on yours. You should expect maybe a handful of leads a week, not dozens — these are real catering inquiries, not casual taps.
What customers fill in
When a customer taps Book on your public truck page (web or iOS), they get a sheet that asks for:
- Their name, email, phone (prefilled if they're signed in)
- Event date (any future date)
- Start time and end time (must end after start; usually a multi-hour window)
- Location (venue name or address)
- Budget tier — pick one: Under $500, $500-1k, $1k-2k, $2k-5k, Over $5k
- Headcount tier — pick one: Under 25, 25-50, 50-100, 100-250, Over 250
- Message (optional) — anything else they want you to know
Customers must be signed in to submit a lead. If they're not, they're prompted to sign up first. This is by design — it lets us tie the lead to a real account and gives you a paper trail for follow-up.
After submit, the customer sees a confirmation: "Inquiry sent — the owner will be in touch." No automatic messaging happens between the platform and the customer beyond that.
Where you see your leads
Web
URL: truckedup.food/owner/bookings (or Booking Inquiries from your Owner Dashboard).
Two-column layout: list of inquiries on the left, detail panel on the right.
Each row shows the requester's name, event date, headcount tier, budget tier, and a status badge.
iOS
- Open the app → My Truck → Booking Inquiries card. The card shows an unread count badge so you can spot new ones at a glance.
- The list view shows the same row info as web. Tap to open detail.
Lead states
| State | Color | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| New | Red | Just arrived; you haven't opened it yet |
| Read | Blue | You've opened it but haven't taken action |
| Responded | Green | You've contacted the customer (or marked it as such) |
| Declined | Gray | You're not pursuing this one |
Leads auto-flip from New to Read the moment you open the detail view. The other transitions are manual — you decide when to mark something Responded or Declined.
What you see before validating
When you open a lead, you see everything except the customer's email and phone. Specifically:
- Customer's first name (full contact info is masked)
- Event date and time window
- Location (venue or address)
- Budget tier
- Headcount tier
- The customer's optional message
This is enough information to decide whether you can do the gig and whether the price/scale fits your truck. If yes, validate. If no, decline without validating — you don't pay for a lead you don't want to talk to.
Notifications
When a new booking inquiry comes in, you'll get an iOS push notification titled "New booking inquiry" with the requester's name. Tapping it takes you straight to the inquiry detail view in the app.
The unread count badge on the Booking Inquiries card (iOS) and the list itself (web) also reflect new leads, so you can spot them without push if your phone is locked or you're using the web dashboard.
If you're missing booking-inquiry pushes, the fix is the same as for any push: confirm notifications are enabled for the Trucked Up app in iPhone Settings → Trucked Up → Notifications. The Notifications section of this help center has more.
Replying to a lead
Trucked Up doesn't host the conversation between you and the customer — once you validate, you'll have their email and phone, and you reply directly via your own email or phone (text, call). After you've reached out, mark the lead Responded in your queue so you can track it.
If a lead is unrealistic or you can't take it, mark it Declined — that closes it cleanly without leaving it cluttering your active list.
Common questions
Will I get a notification when a lead comes in? Yes — the iOS app sends a push titled "New booking inquiry" with the requester's name. Tap it to jump straight into the lead. The web dashboard surfaces new leads via the unread count and list view, but doesn't send browser push for leads.
Can I reply to the customer through the app? Not today. Once you validate, you have their email and phone. Use whichever feels right for the situation (email for formal quotes, text/call for quick questions).
The customer didn't include important info in their message. That's normal — tiers are deliberately broad. Validate (if the rough fit looks right) and then ask the specifics over email or call.
A lead looks like spam — can I delete it? There's no delete or spam-flag option today. The cleanest move is to mark it Declined. If a specific source is repeatedly spammy, email us — we can investigate.
Can my staff see and respond to leads? Today, the simplest path is to share your account credentials with the team member handling bookings. Per-staff permissions are on the roadmap.
Still stuck?
Email info@truckedup.food.