Logistics · Technology
Transport management with live tracking and proof of delivery for a 3PL
A transport management system for a third party logistics company, covering trip planning, vendor trucks, live tracking, e-POD and freight billing in one place. Customers now see where their consignment is and get a signed delivery note the same day, without calling the control room.
- Client
- A third party logistics company in Gujarat running full truckload and part load movements for chemical and engineering manufacturers across western and northern India
- Region
- India
- Sponsor
- Director of operations and head of finance
- Duration
- 16 weeks to first release across three outputs, then a monthly support plan
Engagement model
O2E: Output Oriented Engagement
Three outputs were agreed and priced separately: trip planning and tracking, the driver app with e-POD, and freight billing with customer visibility, each paid on acceptance.
How O2E worksThe team
- Solution strategist1
- Backend engineer2
- Mobile engineer1
- Frontend engineer1
- QA engineer (shared)1
The challenge
Where things stood
- About two thirds of trips ran on market vehicles hired through brokers, and the control room tracked them by calling each driver several times a day.
- Signed LR copies and delivery notes came back by courier or as blurred WhatsApp photos, often weeks later, which held up freight invoices to customers.
- Customers phoned the control room for every status update, and the team kept a shared spreadsheet that was never quite current.
- Detention, loading charges and diesel advances were recorded on paper and argued over at month end.
The approach
How we ran it
Weeks 1 to 3
Lane and trip mapping
Spent time in the control room and at two customer plants. Mapped every trip type, the LR and e-way bill steps, broker payment terms and how detention was being claimed. Agreed one trip record that every other screen would hang off.
Weeks 4 to 8
Planning and tracking
Built indent intake, vehicle placement, LR generation and e-way bill linking. Tracking used SIM based location with driver consent for market trucks and GPS feeds for the client's own fleet, shown on one map.
Weeks 9 to 12
Driver app and e-POD
Released a light Android app in Hindi, Gujarati and English that works offline on cheap phones. Drivers capture the consignee's signature, stamp photo and any shortage remarks at delivery.
Weeks 13 to 16
Billing and customer view
Freight bills are raised from closed trips with detention and extra charges attached, and posted to Tally. Customers get a tracking link on WhatsApp and a portal to download PODs.
What it looks like
Representative screens
Drawn to show the kind of system we delivered. Client screens and data stay private.
Trip LR-AHM-58223: Sanand to Jaipur
- Consignor
- Engineering pumps plant, Sanand GIDC
- Vehicle
- RJ14GC9087, 32 ft MXL, market vehicle
- E-way bill
- 3412 8857 0193, valid to 13 Oct
- Freight
- INR 46,500 plus detention
- Diesel advance
- INR 18,000 paid to broker
- Detention
- 1 day at consignee, INR 2,000
- Vehicle placed and loaded, 10 Oct
- Departed Sanand, tracking consent given
- Reached Jaipur consignee gate
- POD signed and stamp photo uploaded
- Freight bill raised and posted to Tally
What we delivered
Modules and features
- Indent intake, vehicle placement and LR generation with e-way bill linking
- Live map combining SIM based tracking for market trucks and GPS for the own fleet
- Offline first driver app with signature, stamp photo and shortage remarks
- Broker and vendor payments with diesel advance and balance settlement
- Detention and loading charges captured against the trip as they happen
- Freight invoicing from closed trips, posted to Tally
- Customer tracking links on WhatsApp and a POD download portal
What changed
Outcomes
- The control room sees every vehicle on one map
- Signed delivery notes reach the office the day the truck unloads
- Freight invoices go out once the POD is in, with detention and extra charges already attached
- Customers check status themselves from a link
Solutions
Industry and platforms
Looking back
SIM based tracking for market trucks was cheaper and quicker than asking brokers to fit GPS devices, but it depends on the driver giving consent and keeping the phone on, and some drivers simply refused. We should have planned a fallback from the start, a check in prompt in the driver app at toll plazas. The offline first app was the right decision; network on the Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh stretches is patchy and most PODs are captured with no signal. If we did it again, we would bring the billing team into the e-POD design earlier, because they knew which remarks would later turn into deductions.
Start a conversation
Discuss a similar project
Tell us where your team is today and we will walk you through how a project like this would run for you under O2E. The first conversation is free. Delivery work is paid only after you accept it.
A specialist replies within one working day. The first conversation is free.