Logistics Fleet Modernization

A logistics company needed to modernize their route planning and fleet management systems. Manual dispatch processes created inefficiencies across 200+ vehicles and 15 distribution centers.

Dispatch coordinators at each distribution center spent 2-3 hours per day manually planning routes using spreadsheets and local knowledge. There was no centralized view of fleet status, and route optimization was based on experience rather than data. When disruptions occurred — vehicle breakdowns, traffic incidents, customer schedule changes — re-routing was a manual phone-based process that typically took 30-45 minutes per incident.

The company had no real-time tracking capability beyond periodic driver check-ins. Customers received estimated delivery windows of 4-6 hours, leading to frustration and frequent "where is my delivery" calls that consumed customer service resources. Fleet utilization was estimated at just 65%, with significant deadhead miles and suboptimal load consolidation.

With fuel costs rising and customer expectations for real-time tracking becoming standard, the company needed a technology-driven approach to logistics optimization.

We designed an event-driven microservices architecture with four core services:

First, a Route Optimization Service that uses historical delivery data, real-time traffic information, and vehicle capacity constraints to generate optimal routes. The service considers multiple objectives: minimizing total distance, meeting delivery time windows, balancing driver workloads, and maximizing vehicle utilization.

Second, a Real-Time Fleet Tracking Service that ingests GPS data from all vehicles at 30-second intervals, providing live position, speed, and ETA calculations. The service publishes events for geofence entries/exits, delivery completions, and deviation alerts.

Third, an Automated Dispatch Service that assigns orders to vehicles based on optimized routes, handles real-time re-optimization when disruptions occur, and provides dispatch coordinators with a dashboard for exception management rather than routine planning.

Fourth, a lightweight API Gateway integrating with the existing TMS and ERP systems through standardized interfaces. This preserved existing business processes and reporting while adding modern capabilities.

The project was delivered in three phases over 9 months:

Phase 1 — Foundation (Months 1-3): GPS hardware deployment across the fleet, event infrastructure setup, and real-time tracking service development. Pilot route optimization at 3 distribution centers with historical data validation.

Phase 2 — Core Services (Months 4-6): Automated dispatch service deployment, route optimization rollout across all 15 centers, and TMS/ERP integration via the API gateway. Driver mobile app deployment for real-time communication and proof-of-delivery.

Phase 3 — Optimization (Months 7-9): Machine learning model training for ETA prediction, customer-facing tracking portal deployment, and advanced analytics for fleet utilization reporting. Continuous improvement of routing algorithms based on real-world performance data.

The fleet modernization delivered significant operational and financial improvements:

Dispatch planning time was reduced by 60%, with automated route optimization replacing 2-3 hours of daily manual work at each distribution center. Dispatch coordinators shifted from routine planning to exception management, handling only the 5-10% of situations requiring human judgment.

Fuel costs decreased by 14% through optimized routing, reduced deadhead miles, and better load consolidation. Fleet utilization improved from 65% to 82%, meaning more deliveries per vehicle per day with less wasted capacity.

Delivery time accuracy improved to 95% with 1-hour delivery windows replacing the previous 4-6 hour estimates. Real-time tracking eliminated 'where is my delivery' calls, reducing customer service volume by 35%.

The event-driven architecture supports scaling to 500+ vehicles without redesign, and the microservices approach allows individual components to be updated or scaled independently as business needs evolve.