Why broadcasts are rate-limited and how mute works

Broadcasts are powerful — a notification on someone's phone is a real interruption. The platform enforces two limits to keep that power from being abused: a rate limit (1 per truck per 24 hours) and a customer mute option. This article explains both.

If you're looking for how to send a broadcast, see Sending a broadcast to your followers.

Why the rate limit exists

The 1-per-truck-per-24-hours rule is enforced server-side; it's not just a UI suggestion. Three reasons:

1. Push notifications are a privilege

A customer who lets your app send pushes is trusting you. Send 4 of them in a day and they'll either mute you or uninstall the app. Send 1 a day, on something they care about, and they keep checking. The rate limit is the platform's way of enforcing a discipline that benefits everyone.

2. One-message-per-day is a forcing function

If you can only send one broadcast in 24 hours, you have to prioritize. The "we're open today" message gets dropped because the "tres leches today only" message is more useful. Owners who broadcast well typically wait several days between sends — the rate limit just prevents them from blowing it.

3. It protects the channel for the whole platform

If even one truck spams every 30 minutes, customers don't just mute that truck — they often mute all truck announcements, or worse, disable Trucked Up notifications entirely. That hurts every other truck on the platform. Rate-limiting per truck keeps the channel healthy collectively.

How the rate limit actually works

• Window: 24 hours, rolling from your last send, not midnight-based.
• Owner UI: the Send button is disabled and shows "Available [HH:MM]" so you know exactly when you can send again.
• No admin overrides — even Trucked Up support can't push the limit higher for any individual owner.
• Per truck, not per account: if you owned multiple trucks (today, you can't, but in the future), each would have its own 24-hour window.

How customer mute works

Every Trucked Up customer has a setting in their profile — Allow announcements from trucks I've favorited — that defaults to on.

• When on (default): the customer receives broadcasts from every truck they've favorited.
• When off (muted): the customer receives no broadcasts from any truck. (It's a global toggle, not per-truck.)

There's no per-truck mute today — a customer can't mute just one truck. They either see broadcasts from all trucks they follow, or none.

The toggle lives in the iOS app under Profile → Notifications. It looks something like:

NotificationsAllow announcements from trucks I've favorited [toggle]

What happens when a customer mutes

When they flip it off:

• They stay favorited to your truck (and any others). Mute doesn't unfollow.
• They keep receiving order, delivery, and other transactional pushes — only owner broadcast announcements are silenced.
• The next time you send a broadcast, they're silently excluded from the recipient list. They get nothing on their phone.

What you can see

You can't see who muted. The "Reached X devices" count on each broadcast you send is the post-mute number — it reflects the people who actually got the notification.

If your devices-reached count drops over time, that's a signal that some followers have muted (or unfavorited, or disabled iOS notifications). The right response isn't to try to win them back individually — it's to send fewer, better broadcasts so customers stay un-muted.

What this all adds up to

The combined effect of the rate limit and the customer mute is that broadcasts work best when used sparingly. The platform makes it hard to over-do, and customers can opt out if you do.

The owners who broadcast well share a habit: they send maybe 2-3 broadcasts a week, each with a specific reason, written in their own voice. Their devices-reached count stays steady because customers stay un-muted.

The owners who burn through goodwill share a different habit: they send daily "we're open" pings, generic "follow us" promotions, holiday greetings without an offer attached. Their devices-reached count drops month over month as customers mute or unfavorite.

The platform is built so the first habit is easy and the second habit is hard. The rate limit isn't punishment — it's the rail.

Common questions

Can I send more than one broadcast per day if I really need to? No. The limit is enforced server-side. Even Trucked Up support can't override it. If you have a genuine emergency-class need (e.g., recall, safety issue), email us — we'd handle that case-by-case via direct outreach.

Why isn't there a per-truck mute (e.g., "mute just this truck, not all")? Mostly because per-truck mute doesn't change the dynamic much — customers who'd mute one truck typically mute all eventually. The global toggle is simpler and gets the same outcome. We may add per-truck mute later if customer feedback strongly asks for it.

Can I see a list of customers who've muted me? No. We don't expose that — partly because it's incidentally about customers' notification preferences (private), and partly because there's nothing useful you can do about an individual mute except change your own behavior over time.

A customer asked how to unmute. How do they? On iOS: Profile → Notifications → toggle "Allow announcements from trucks I've favorited" back on. They'll start receiving broadcasts again from every truck they've favorited.

My devices-reached count is dropping. What do I do? Send less, write better. Skip routine pings; save broadcasts for things that genuinely benefit customers (specials, surprise stops, real news). Customers re-engage when the broadcasts get sharper.

Does the rate limit apply to test broadcasts I might send to myself? There's no "test broadcast" feature today — every broadcast goes to every eligible follower. Read carefully before tapping Send. Each successful send counts toward your 24-hour window.

Still stuck?

Email info@truckedup.food.