BigRigBuddy: a CDL training platform for returning citizens
A concept build for a full-stack platform guiding returning citizens through the state-specific process of earning a Commercial Driver's License — mentor matching, an AI assistant, document management, appointment scheduling, and gamified progress tracking behind mentee, mentor, and admin dashboards.
About this page. BigRigBuddy is a Cogwheel concept build, not a client engagement — every mentee, mentor, and account shown is demonstration data, and there is no CDL provider or school behind it. The three screens below are genuine captures of the application as it ran; there is no current public deployment that reflects this build. What is real is the design and engineering, which is what this page is about.
The brief
Getting a Commercial Driver's License is a state-specific sequence of medical exams, permits, training, and testing — the kind of process that is easy to lose track of without someone walking through it step by step.
BigRigBuddy set out to build that step-by-step guide as a full application: state-specific tasks tracked against a shared record, mentors matched to mentees, an AI assistant for questions along the way, and progress made visible through XP and badges, all behind role-based dashboards for mentees, mentors, and admins.
Walk through it
Three screens from the application as it ran: the marketing homepage, a training-resources panel, and a mentee dashboard. Select a thumbnail to change the frame, or open any image full screen.
Homepage & Progress Preview
The marketing homepage pitches BigRigBuddy as a guide through every step of obtaining a CDL, next to a preview panel from a sample account showing overall progress, tasks completed, badges earned, XP points, and an upcoming DMV appointment.
Comprehensive CDL Training Platform
Full-stack application helping returning citizens obtain Commercial Driver's Licenses through personalized mentorship and gamified learning
Modern Tech Stack
React 18 + TypeScript, Node.js, PostgreSQL with Supabase
Advanced Features
AI assistance, real-time messaging, mentor matching system
Structured Progress Tracking
158 state-specific CDL tasks with gamification and progress tracking
Technical Highlights
How it is built
Behind the three screens above is a full-stack application with its own auth, messaging, and scheduling layers.
158 state-specific tasks behind one progress bar
The path to a CDL is broken into 158 tasks specific to a state, with the dashboard showing overall progress, task count, badge count, and XP total together on one screen.
Mentor matching with real-time messaging
Mentees and mentors are matched and can message in real time, running on top of multi-role authentication (mentee, mentor, admin) built with Supabase Auth.
An AI assistant alongside the task list
An OpenAI integration provides guidance alongside the standard task-tracking flow, rather than the platform relying on static instructions alone.
Document handling, scheduling, and an admin layer
Secure document upload and storage, appointment scheduling with calendar integration, and a separate admin dashboard for system management sit alongside the mentee-facing screens, all on a PostgreSQL schema accessed through Drizzle ORM.
What these screens show
Three captures, spanning two different accounts and two different views of the product.
The pitch and a live preview, side by side
The homepage pairs its guide-through-every-step pitch with a preview panel from a sample account: overall progress, tasks completed, badges earned, XP points, and an upcoming DMV appointment all in one card.
Study materials as their own step
The "Training Resources" screen carries the same "BigRigBuddy Dashboard" carousel chrome as the welcome panel above, with a different dot filled — the homepage preview cycles through more than one view rather than showing a single static frame.
A different account, near the start of the journey
A second account's dashboard shows the other end of that progress bar: counts still at zero, with a next-task card, an interactive training module, and a badge-progress panel oriented around getting a new user through its first few steps.
Built with
One schema, three roles
Mentee, mentor, and admin roles run through the same Supabase-authenticated backend, with Drizzle ORM providing type-safe access to a shared PostgreSQL schema and TanStack Query handling client-side data fetching and caching.
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