Update Transportation and Logistics Apps- Features, Benefits, and Cost

Do you want to have all transportation and logistics operations at your fingertips? Do you want to keep your customers updated about the location of their consignment? Do you want to monitor the movement of the fleet on a 24/7 basis? Well, you need to find answers to these questions when you own a transportation and logistics business.

Thankfully, mobile technology can assist you with custom mobile app solutions. You probably have heard about such solutions, but you may have some questions or doubts regarding the benefits and cost of a feature-rich transportation and logistics apps. In this post, we are going to address your doubts by mentioning step-by-step app development process.

Importance of Transportation and Logistics Apps Development

Gone are the days when customers waited for days to receive their consignment while contacting the logistic service providers occasionally. In today’s data-driven world, the tech-savvy customers want to access all necessary information on the move. There, a mobile app development company can lend a helping hand for logistics and transportation business.

Logistics app development can help transporters to integrate technological advancements in their process and improve the customer’s experience by providing real-time data anywhere and anytime. From controlling to managing of the fleet is possible with a feature-rich logistics applications.

Let’s go through various types of app solutions for your transportation business.

Types of Apps for Transportation and Logistics Industry

Fleet Management

This app collects fleet-related data and shows the real-time location of vehicles. You can manage the fleet through this one-stop mobile app solution.

On-demand Logistics

Your clients can use your logistics and transportation services as and when they want thanks to this app. It enables you to register orders on a 24/7 basis.

Warehouse Management

Warehouse plays a significant role in managing transportation business. The warehouse management app is designed to simplify the storage and overall warehouse-related process.

Tracking and Monitoring

This app enables you to monitor and track the driver’s movement and give you an idea about the route. It is helpful to get real-time updates about the location.

It is also possible to integrate these features into a single app. Now, as you have got the outline of types and scope of a logistic app, let’s discuss the answers to the most common questions related to transportation app development process.

Read More: How Taxi Mobile App Development Services can Benefit Your Business

Which are the basic features of Transportation and Logistics apps?

The transportation and logistics apps development process integrates the following key features in the customized logistics app.

– Dashboard to see all the processes at one place
– Admin panel to control and manage the processes
– Fleet management to track and manage fleet
– Push notifications to update the customers about the status of orders
– Log reports to see the status of delivery of goods
– Invoicing to make and access invoices
– In-app chat to enable drivers and managers to communicate
– Live tracking to find out the exact location of the fleet

The transportation and logistics apps has mainly three versions- admin panel, customer version, and driver version. All three versions have different features. Let’s go through the features of admin panel or management first.

Necessary Features for Fleet Manager or Admin Panel

GPS System

Google Maps have brought revolutionary changes in the way we use the GPS system. This feature can perform various tasks ranging from navigation to tracking, and monitoring to managing fleet. It enables the managers to track the drivers and collaborate with them. It can also ensure the safety and timely delivery.

Fleet Management

This feature enables the managers to direct drivers for alternative routes and change of delivery locations. Fleet management facilitates the admin department to take proper and prompt action on available inputs.

Dashboard

It can show all the activities in one place. It enables the admin to see the status of all the orders. It also allows the admin to control the entire process and stay connected with the customers to resolve their queries quickly.

Push Notification

It is necessary to send real-time updates about the order status. You can send the information regarding driver allotment, invoice, and order completion through this useful feature.

Vehicle Management

It is one of the most important features that facilitate the fleet manager to track the vehicles and keep the check on fuel consumption. What’s more, this feature enables the transporter to manage the fleet effectively by providing vehicle handling characteristics.

M2M Communication

M2M is not mobile to mobile communication, mind you! It is Machine to Machine communication that enables the admin to monitor the vehicle’s health from a remote place. It keeps the fleet managers updated about the vehicle condition and maintenance requirements.

Other important features of the admin panel include analytics and multilanguage support.

Necessary Features for Customers

Registration

The sign-up or registration process needs to be simple and straightforward. You can get the valuable data of customers like email address, name, and the like because of this feature.

Alerts

This feature updates the customers about order booking, invoice, delivery, and tracking the consignment. Customers can get the real-time alerts when the vehicle left the warehouse and reach the destination.

Payment Gateway

The app users or customers can pay online with the help of a payment gateway. It is necessary for you to provide a safe and simple mean of payment to the customers.

Track Order

Customers can track their orders as and when they are out for delivery. The real-time tracking enables the customers to find the exact location of the consignment and they can predict the time of delivery.

Rating and Feedback

The customers certainly like to give review or feedback after getting delivery of goods. You can get valuable feedback and implement the suggestions for improving customer services.

Other important features include social media integration and in-app chat.

Necessary Features for Drivers

Driver-friendly features are

Registration – The driver can register through email or social media account.

Order management – The driver can get information about the destination and other related details with the help of this feature.

Route tracking – GPS technology enables the driver to find the proper and shorter route to deliver the order.

In-app chat- It enables the drivers to contact the admin as and when necessary.

Approval of bills and receipt of payments are other additional features for the driver-side app.

Which are the useful technology stacks to build a custom transportation app?

The transportation and logistics apps development services integrate various technology stacks to make a feature-rich app. Here is brief information on the most common technologies used.

Twilio for registration and authentication
PayPal for payment gateway
Twilio for push notification
MongoDB for storing data
Hadoop or other related technology for real-time analytics
AWS or Google Cloud for cloud-based storage

Integration of features and necessary technology stacks can determine the app development cost for transportation and logistics app.

What is the approximate cost of a transportation and logistics apps?

The app development cost is determined by two factors- complexity and duration. Now, both these factors are interrelated and affected by various aspects. One of them is the hourly rate. Let’s understand this aspect through an example. A US or Canada-based app developer takes around $200-$250 an hour, whereas the Indian counterpart charges between $25-30 an hour.

It clearly indicates that if you assign the logistics app development project to a top mobile application development company headquartered in India, you can get the app with desired features in considerably reduced rates. You can get a native logistics mobile app with basic features at around $10000 in India. The price for the complex app can stretch up to $50000.

But, it is fair to mention that a mobile app for your logistics and transportation business can help you enhance online visibility and improve customer services. In a way, you can get a higher ROI and grow your business.

Many mobile app development companies develop transportation and logistics app. But, it is necessary to find the right app developers to meet the customer’s requirements, market trends, and business needs effectively. A feature-rich mobile app can make your business ready for the future while giving it an edge over peers.

Wrapping Lines

Timely delivery and real-time notifications are two major objectives for a transportation business. Logistics app development can assist you to achieve these objectives and you can provide improved services. Your customers can get all necessary information on the move with such an app and ultimately, your business can thrive.