The growing demand in providing fast and convenient solutions for logistics industry caused the rapid logistics mobile app development.
In order to suppress the competitors logistic providers are embracing the latest technologies including real-time cargo tracking, remote fleet management, and employees’ supervision.
Using high-tech innovations allow transportation companies to optimize the delivery process, increase productivity, reduce expenses and improve user loyalty.
If you want your logistics application to be on the cutting edge, consider adding advanced features:
- Location tracking
- Cargo tracking
- Daily log
Location tracking
Logistics industry use tracking devices that transfer information in real time. Tracking your car with a reliable tracker. Tracking can be of two types: cellular and satellite (GPS).
Cellular tracking relies on the network coverage and therefore is usually used in urban areas, as there are a lot of cell towers to provide the coverage and transmit vehicle’s location coordinates to the server in real time. When there is no network, data is stored on the mobile device and is transmitted only when network connection becomes available again.
Satellite tracking is supported by the GPS tracker equipped on the vehicle or the one in-built on driver’s mobile device. GPS trackers collect and send location data to servers via satellites using either a satellite modem, a mobile network or radio channel. GPS tracker can also transmit the information about fuel level, engine temperature, battery status and tire pressure.
In practice, logistics mobile apps utilizes both of these tracking options.
Cargo tracking
Another essential feature for mobile logistics apps is cargo tracking, as they have to supervise trucking equipment, loading units, and the cargo itself.
Thanks to this feature dispatchers receive the precise information on which item is currently on which van. This way, a user can also check their shipment status.
The inventory management can be implemented either with the QR-Code or RFID and NFC technologies.
In the first case, each item has a unique QR code, which the user can scan with the smartphone’s camera. Note that traditional code scanning can take some time till the phone reads the code.
RFID and NFC tags, on the contrary, are by far faster than QR code scanning. Radio-frequency identification technology and its specialized subtype, near-field communication, work on similar principles and consist of a scanner and a tag. These tags falls into two categories – active and passive ones. All that differ them is the read range: 25 meters in case of passive tags, and 100 meter reach for the active tags.
Compared to RFID tags, NFC tags has to be held right before the scanner (within about 10 centimeters), which makes it impossible to scan all objects at once. However, in comparison with RFID tags, NFC is a two-way communication system, which allows warehouse worker to overwrite the current information on the tag with the new one.
Daily log
Daily log contains such information as driver’s profile, vehicle registration plate, number of working hours, passed mileage and cargo description. Managers use daily logs to monitor truck drivers’ performance and make sure that none of them is working unsociable hours. Keeping logs also helps to control the vehicle’s condition according to the reports of the drivers.
The mobile app introduces automation into the logistics management process and provides information on the vehicle’s location, the number of miles driven, and the estimated time of arrival to the destination point.
