Transport software that follows every LR from booking to POD
Booking branches, drivers, customers and the accounts office working from the same consignment record, with POD photos that let billing go out the day goods are delivered.
This is software for Indian road transport companies that follows each consignment from booking and lorry receipt to delivery, with POD photos, trip expenses and billing on the same record. It fits transporters with booking branches, their own fleet or hired lorries, and customers who expect to track their goods.
Where the day goes wrong
- 01
Bills waiting for POD
To-be-billed customers will not pay without proof of delivery, and signed LR copies take weeks to travel back from the driver.
- 02
Trip expenses on trust
Diesel slips, tolls, loading charges and driver batta are settled from an envelope of bills against a cash advance.
- 03
Where is my load
Customers call the office to ask where their goods are, and the office calls a driver who is on the highway and cannot answer.
- 04
Expired vehicle papers
Fitness certificates, permits, insurance and PUC renewals are tracked from memory until a vehicle is stopped for inspection.
- 05
Branch books that never match
To-pay freight collected at the delivery branch and paid freight at the booking branch are reconciled by phone at month end.
What we build for you
- 01
Consignment booking
Consignor, consignee, packages, weight, declared value and freight as paid, to-pay or to-be-billed, entered at any branch.
- 02
Lorry receipt generation
LR numbers in branch-wise series, copies for consignor, consignee, driver and office, and the e-way bill number on record.
- 03
Vehicle and driver tracking
Location from GPS devices or the driver app, trip status by stage, and alerts when a vehicle halts longer than planned.
- 04
Trip expense settlement
Advance, diesel, tolls, loading charges and batta entered against the trip, with photographed bills and a settlement sheet per driver.
- 05
POD photo proof
Drivers photograph the signed and stamped LR at delivery, and billing for that consignment unlocks the moment it uploads.
- 06
Customer tracking page
Customers enter an LR number on your website to see the status and, once delivered, download the POD.
- 07
Fleet compliance
Renewal dates for fitness, permit, insurance, road tax and PUC per vehicle, with reminders well before each one expires.
A chain of handovers
A road transport company runs on handovers. Goods are booked at a branch and a lorry receipt is written. The load waits for a vehicle, travels with a driver who may shift it to another truck at a hub, reaches a delivery branch or the consignee's gate, and the signed LR copy eventually makes its way back so the customer can be billed. Freight may be paid at booking, collected on delivery as to-pay, or billed monthly to regular customers as TBB. Every handover is a point where paper goes missing and money waits.
Delay is the costliest leak
For most transporters the biggest loss is not theft but delay. Customers on monthly billing will not pay for a consignment without its proof of delivery, and a POD that returns by courier or in the driver's cabin weeks later stretches your working capital. Trip expenses come next: diesel, tolls, loading charges and batta are settled against a cash advance from a bundle of slips, and a few inflated bills per trip add up across a year. Mileage is rarely checked against what the route should need. Compliance is the third: a lapsed permit or fitness certificate becomes a fine and a stranded truck.
What we build for transporters
The core is a booking and lorry receipt system used by every branch, with LR series per branch, freight types, the e-way bill number recorded against each consignment and copies printed in the format your customers already know. Loading sheets group consignments onto vehicles, and transhipment at a hub updates the same record. Drivers carry a small offline-first Android app, because highway signal is patchy: they update trip stages, photograph expense bills and, at delivery, photograph the signed and stamped LR. That photo is the POD, and billing for the consignment can go out the same day. Tolls are matched against the FASTag statement rather than accepted on trust.
Location comes from GPS devices already fitted to your vehicles, or from the driver app where there is none; our note on GPS tracking explains the trade-offs. Customers get a tracking page on your website where an LR number shows the status, and the POD once delivered. Hired market vehicles follow the same flow, with the hire balance released when the POD arrives.
Cost and rollout
Booking, LR and billing for a few branches typically start around ₹85,000. The driver app, a focused Android build, typically starts around ₹65,000. A complete setup with trip settlement, fleet compliance, GPS integration and the customer tracking page typically runs from ₹1,50,000 to ₹5,00,000, and networks with many branches and several apps go beyond that. Allow ten to sixteen weeks, with a pilot on one route, say Madurai to Chennai, before the rest of the network switches over.
The first module to build
Build POD capture and billing first. For most transporters, nothing shortens the wait for payment more than getting proof of delivery back on the day goods arrive. Booking and LR come with it, since the POD needs an LR to attach to. Trip settlement and vehicle compliance follow once drivers are comfortable with the app, and our guide to apps for field teams covers how to win drivers over.
When you do not need custom software
An owner with a handful of trucks on contract to one or two customers can manage with trip sheets in a spreadsheet and a ready-made GPS subscription. Custom software makes sense once you run booking branches, mix your own and hired vehicles, or bill many customers monthly. For the wider view, see how we approach the logistics industry, or ask VS Tech Builders for a scoping call.
Frequently asked questions
Can the system print lorry receipts in our existing format?
Yes. During discovery we take a copy of your current LR and match its layout, fields and number of copies, so customers, drivers and officials checking the vehicle see a familiar document. LR numbers follow your branch-wise series, and the e-way bill number, declared value and freight type print on every copy. Whether you use pre-printed stationery or plain paper, the system prints to it.
What if a driver has no signal at the delivery point?
The driver app is built to work offline. The POD photo, delivery time and receiver details are saved on the phone and upload automatically once the driver is back in coverage, even hours later. The office then sees the consignment as delivered with the original time and the location recorded by the phone, so the record stays accurate and billing can go out.
Do we need GPS devices in every vehicle?
No. If your vehicles already carry GPS devices from a provider that offers data access, we bring their locations into the system. Where there is no device, the driver app reports location while a trip is active. Fitted devices are more reliable because they cannot be switched off with the phone, so a sensible mix is devices on your own fleet and the app for hired vehicles.
Can customers track their goods without calling our office?
Yes. Your website gets a tracking page where a customer enters the LR number and sees each stage, from booking and loading to arrival and delivery. Once the driver uploads the POD, the customer can view or download it from the same page. Your regular accounts can also get a WhatsApp message as each consignment moves, which removes most of the calls asking where a load has reached.
Further reading
Software built for logistics and transport companies.
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