The logistics and transportation industry is the driving force for worldwide commerce and has its own worth and contribution to the global economy and market. Though it has quite a proper scope in the commercial world, it comes with many issues such as consignment tracking, driver performance analysis, driver’s retention, and more. All this makes operations sucking.
So, how to tackle it? How to make the industry much better so that it can save money for shippers and eliminate the carbon waste of our planet?
Simple! Bring some uberization in your truck transport business and dive into the market with a powerful, effective, and feature-packed fleet management application like an Uber app.
Uber Freight has proved itself to be one of the best logistics mobile apps that had helped shippers reinvent their supply chain.
If you are also looking to develop a trucking app like Uber, go through this article to guide you through the best features that apps like Uber need and the technical specifications required for developing such apps.
So, without wasting any more time, let’s delve into this!
According to the techcrunch reports, the UberFreight app has been downloaded more than 328,000 times, and about 12%t of 350,000 US-owned operators have completed the onboarding process. Additionally, UberFreights had 30,000 active users last quarter, which clearly reflects the Uber-like app’s increase in demand for the trucking industry.
Table of Contents
How to Develop a Trucking App like Uber?
To have an Uber-like trucking app that could bring a landmark transformation in your taxi-business vertical, consider the following points and land up with a robust freight solution.
#1. Choose the right application type
You need to decide on the type of application you want to build. There are mainly two perspectives for developing any trucking app.
- For example, you own a business and have a fleet of trucks, making it difficult for you to manage. So a Uber-like solution may streamline and scale up your business process.
- A solution that will act as an intermediary where the shippers can easily connect with the carriers in the nearby areas.
#2. Go for a reputed mobile app development company
Selecting an excellent mobile app development company is the primary thing that will help you generate revenues for your business. The secondary element is that you need to conduct profound research for hiring the company.
A superior app that is user-friendly, easily navigable, and fully-featured can be built by only good developers of a reputed company. Just look at the client testimonials and portfolios of their previous clients to get an opinion of their caliber.
#3. Validate your Idea
After hiring mobile app developers from the top mobile application development companies in India, the next big thing is to validate your business idea. Check whether the solution is giving the desired result and profit and justifying your investment and efforts.
#4. Create an MVP and incorporate the required features
First, create an MVP(Minimum Viable Product) and put in all the must-have features to obtain positive and negative feedback. This feedback will help you in making crucial changes that give shape to the final product.
What Features are Required in an Uber-like Tracking App?
The application is built from multiple perspectives and all integrated into one solution.
Driver’s App
The primary reason for incorporating the Driver’s app in the solution is to ensure that the carriers can fill their trucks with cargos and enjoy the seamless transportation of goods to its destination. Add the following features in your truck driving app and see the result.
1. Registration
Through this, the Driver can easily log in to the app through their social media accounts, as they will not have to enter the inputs manually. Additionally, it comes with an advanced feature where you, as the owner, can provide credentials to each Driver only after the carrier is approved by you to make the deliveries.
2. Shipment Details
This feature allows the Driver to see the shipment details of the cargo, such as weight, dimension, type, pick up time, and delivery location of the goods. This will give them an idea of whether to accept or reject the shipment based on their vehicle requirements as each cargo type has its vehicle requirement.
3. Filtering and Sorting of Cargo Details
With this feature, the Driver can quickly sort the shipment details and apply different types of filters, date, pick-up and destination location, and many others.
4. Request Cancellation
The Driver can easily cancel the shipment in case the carrier has an emergency for other delivery.
5. Route Optimization and Tracking
Route Optimization feature allows the drivers to track the routes in real-time so that the Driver can adjust their routes as per traffic, accident, or road repairs.
6. Proof of Delivery
The Driver can easily upload documents or a photo to the shipper stating that the goods have been delivered to the destination.
Shipper’s App
The main objective of this application is for the shipper quickly to locate nearby trucks in their local area. You must incorporate the following essential features in your solution.
1. Registration
Here, the registration process is similar to the Driver’s app, where the shipper can quickly register on to the application through their social media accounts like Gmail, Facebook.
2. List of Vehicles
The shipper can quickly check the list of nearby vehicles along with their necessary details.
3. Instant and Scheduled Banking
This feature allows the shipper to do the pre-booking and scheduled banking as per their convenience.
4. Notifications and Alerts
This is a reminder feature that reminds the shippers about the shipment status, date and time of delivery, and many other things. The shipper can see the notification on their screen with just ease of a click.
5. Integrated Multiple Payment Options
The solution comes with multiple in-built payment options where the service user can make instant payments through the app’s wallet, cash, and card payments, etc.
6. Ratings and Reviews
With this feature, the shipper can rate the experience of the carrier in and Driver as this will help you determine the performance of a driver in a particular region. Also, taking the ratings and reviews into consideration, you can work on the weak parts.
7. Real-time Vehicle Tracking
This feature is an add-on to the shippers as they can track the shipment of their cargos in real-time.
Admin’s App
The application comes integrated with many analytical and manageable modules so that the owner can monitor, track, and control all the operations of the trucking industry.
The app owner must have a special privilege to access and track everything, including carriers, shippers and shipment details, freight details, and many more.
1. Refined Dashboard
On the dashboard, you can see the vital information and details of the vehicles, shippers, orders, and carriers. You can also track the status of the orders and requests if they are pending or completed. In addition to all this, the owner can view various advanced graphs and analytics in real-time.
2. Track drivers
This feature allows the admin to track the location, products in the shipment, estimated delivery time, and many more.
3. Bill management
As the owner of the application and being the admin, you can manage the bills and approve invoices with the utmost ease.
4. Notifications
The notification feature allows the admin to send essential updates through notification about the change in delivery location, routes, pick-up timing, and drop-off, etc.
5. Seamless Management
The admin panel has added, delete, and edit buttons to make it effortless for the owner to carry out the operations.
6. Complaints & Queries
The admin can address the queries and complaints of the user via text messages or automated in-built chatbots in them.
7. Manage Refunds
With the help of this feature, the admin can effortlessly manage refunds and cancellations on the dashboard.
8. Tariff & Order
Here, the admin can easily control the tariffs and offers other promotional codes for their users.
Must-have Advance Features to have a Uber-like Truck App
Incorporate this must-have advanced and analytical features for developing trucking app like Uber:
CHAT MODULE
A chat module will connect the drivers and customers in post-booking communication.
CRM (Client Relationship Modules) tools
CRM is an advanced tool to understand, monitor, and target users.
BIDDING TOOL
Bidding is a kind of analytic tool that will help commercial users in achieving competitive rates.
GEO-FENCING
It helps in auto notification when a truck is available nearby.
VOICE ASSISTANCE
It is a voice booking option that can give your business edge.
What would be the Costs Involved to Develop a Trucking App?
As per the mobile app stats, the forecast number of mobile app users worldwide is expected to grow 6.95 billion in 2021, which reflects the ultimate need for an application for any purpose.
So, to develop an Uber-like solution, you need to consider several factors which will determine the exact cost for developing an app like Uber:
- Complexity of app
- Platforms
- No. of actors
- Hours count
- Hourly rates
- Technology stack
Based on our estimation, it usually takes around 5 to 6 months to build such an app. The average hourly rate estimated is approximately $50 for this application.
Conclusion
A fleet management solution or an advanced trucking app can save your money and time. It is the most efficient digital freight network that connects shippers and carriers in one place, thus resulting in fewer errors and communication issues.
Besides this, there are many other things that should be taken into consideration while developing a trucking app like Uber. If you are also looking to develop one for your business, then hire app developers in India.
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