Real-Time Load Tracking
for an Austrian 3PL Freight Operator
A mid-size Austrian 3PL running DE / AT / IT corridors was losing roughly a third of its dispatch time to "where's the truck?" phone calls. We As Web delivered a single real-time pipeline across three surfaces — a dispatcher console, a driver app, and a public tracking link — so a load created in under 30 seconds becomes a driver's one tap and a client's live map, with no app for the client to install.
Discuss Your Project →A 3PL running DE / AT / IT corridors on phone calls and stale spreadsheets
Logistics still runs on phone calls and stale spreadsheets. A mid-size Austrian third-party logistics operator moving pallets, freight and high-value loads across German, Austrian and Italian corridors had no live picture of its own fleet. Dispatchers fielded the same status question all day, drivers stopped driving to answer it, and clients chased email threads for a tracking number that updated twice a day. Every surface in the operation was working from a different version of the truth, and by the time a status update reached the client it was already an hour old.
What prompted the project
The operator needed one status lifecycle that every party could see, without adding friction to the two groups least willing to absorb it — drivers and clients.
End the Status Phone Call
Give dispatchers a live fleet view so "where's the truck?" stops being a question anyone has to answer by phone.
Zero-Friction Driver Tooling
Drivers do not want a tool; they want to drive. Anything that demands check-ins, photos or manual status updates gets ignored.
No-Install Client Visibility
Clients expect a live map, not an emailed tracking number — but they will not install an app or create an account to get it.
One Status Lifecycle
Pending, assigned, in progress, delivered — the same lifecycle across dispatcher, driver and client, moving in real time.
Fleet-Scale Realtime Without a Backend Team
Continuous live position for the whole fleet, without the operator standing up and staffing a bespoke realtime backend.
Why an expert partner was required
Three constituencies, three completely different tolerances for friction — and a corridor network where connectivity cannot be assumed.
What We As Web delivered
One pipeline, three surfaces, zero friction for the people who matter most. A dispatcher's load becomes a driver's tap becomes a client's live map, moving through one status lifecycle in real time.
Surface 01 · The Dispatcher Console
A keyboard-driven web console for the people who run operations — one screen, one roster, one click from load creation to driver hand-off.
Surface 02 · The Driver App
One tap, then nothing. Location broadcasts in the background while the app stays out of the way.
Surface 03 · The Client Tracking Link
The client just gets a link. No app install, no account, no login — the truck moves on a live map.
The Realtime Layer Underneath
Realtime infrastructure is finally a commodity — five years ago this was a six-engineer backend project.
Every load, on a map, live — with nothing for the client to install
The delivered system replaces the status phone call with a link. Dispatchers assign, drivers broadcast, clients watch — and the same status lifecycle drives all three surfaces.
The dispatcher console takes a load from creation to driver hand-off in a single keyboard-driven flow, with drivers assigned from a live roster.
Drivers activate once and then drive. Position broadcasts continuously in the background on native iOS and Android, with no check-ins to ignore.
Clients open a public tracking URL from an SMS or email — no download, no account, no login — and see the truck move on a live map.
One status lifecycle — pending, assigned, in progress, delivered — propagates in real time across dispatcher, driver and client surfaces.
A thin realtime layer, three surfaces, one Postgres
React for the dispatcher console, React Native / Expo for the driver app, a public link for the client — all reading one realtime pipeline built on Supabase channels, Edge Functions and Postgres with RLS-scoped roles.
Drivers expect Uber-grade UX. Their clients expect Amazon-grade tracking.
Logistics still ships neither. A 3PL losing a third of its dispatch time to status calls is paying for information it already has — the truck knows where it is, the driver knows the load, the client just cannot see either. The fix is not another tool for drivers to ignore; it is one pipeline that broadcasts by default and asks nothing of the two groups least willing to work for it.
Realtime backends are now commoditised: what used to be a six-engineer, quarter-long backend project is a thin layer over Supabase, and that shifts the economics of who can ship live tracking. For this Austrian operator it meant a dispatcher console, a one-tap driver app, and a public client link — every load on a map, live, with no app and no login. Audit and replay are next.