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Logistics2024Tech Lead (consultancy)

Fleet operations platform, mobile-first

A regional last-mile carrier running 220 vans across two countries on top of a paper-and-WhatsApp dispatch system. Drivers got their stops as photos of printed manifests; dispatch reconciled exceptions by phone. Stop-time variance was eating margin.

We built a React Native driver app with offline-first manifest sync, signature/photo capture, and turn-by-turn integration; plus a Next.js dispatcher console for live route tracking, exception triage, and bulk re-dispatch. Backend is a Node.js services tier on top of Postgres with PostGIS for geofencing.

Within four months, average stop-time variance dropped from ±9 minutes to ±4 minutes per stop. Failed-delivery rate fell 38%. Dispatchers handle 1.7× more vans per shift with the same headcount.

Logistics · 2024
Fleet operations platform
−54%
Stop-time variance
−38%
Failed deliveries
1.7×
Dispatcher capacity

Tech stack

The whole picture.

Top-level technologies. Specific packages and integrations are listed below.

React NativeNext.jsTypeScriptPostgreSQLPostGISNode.jsMapbox

Architecture

End to end.

Web
  • Next.js dispatcher console with live map + WebSocket updates
  • Bulk re-dispatch via Server Actions
Mobile
  • Offline-first manifest with conflict-free WatermelonDB sync
  • Background location with battery-aware throttling
  • Photo + signature capture with deferred upload queue
Backend
  • Postgres + PostGIS for geofence + ETA computation
  • WebSocket gateway for live driver telemetry

Libraries

Packages worth naming.

  • ExpoRN shell + OTA updates for fleet rollouts
  • WatermelonDBoffline-first manifest storage
  • TanStack Querybackground sync orchestration
  • react-native-mapbox-gldriver navigation surface
  • Drizzle ORMtyped Postgres + PostGIS queries

Integrations

External systems.

  • Mapboxrouting, ETA, telemetry tiles
  • TwilioSMS notifications to recipients
  • Auth0driver and dispatcher SSO
  • Datadogdevice fleet observability

Building something similar?

Tell me about the product. I'll come back with thoughts and a first shipping date.

Let's talk