Real-time planning platform for 140 vehicles

Three planners, 140 vehicles, 1,240 trips a week. The schedule lived on three physical boards, trip data in Excel, and changes in a group chat with all drivers. When a customer called at 4:30 pm for an extra trip, nobody knew for certain which truck was closest, whether that driver still had driving time left, or whether the trip had already reached invoicing.

The company had already evaluated two planning packages. Both required a 9-month implementation, a per-vehicle license, and a way of working that did not fit their mix of fixed routes and ad-hoc trips. The brief to RABZI: build something that fits how we operate, uses what we already have (Webfleet on-board units, Exact Globe), and runs within a quarter.

We started with two days on the planning floor and a day riding along. That surfaced the real problem: not a lack of software, but four versions of the truth. So the first decision was a data model in which a trip, vehicle, driver and order each exist exactly once, on PostgreSQL with PostGIS for distances and zones.

We then chose Next.js and NestJS with a WebSocket layer on Redis, so every change reaches every screen within 1 second. Webfleet delivers position and driving time every 30 seconds; Exact Globe receives invoiced trips and sends customer and rate data back. No big bang: sprints 1 to 3 only read and display, sprints 4 to 6 add planning, sprints 7 and 8 add the driver view and the invoicing link.

The key trade-off was automatic planning versus assisted planning. We deliberately chose assisted: the platform proposes the three best vehicles with distance, remaining driving time and cost, and the planner decides. That won the department over and avoided three extra months building an optimization engine nobody would use.

The platform shows all 140 vehicles live on a map and on a timeline per driver, with driving hours, loading status and the next stop. Planners drag trips from one vehicle to another; conflicts with driving and rest times turn red immediately. Drivers see their day in a mobile view and confirm each stop with one tap.

After delivery, every trip flows automatically into Exact Globe with kilometers, waiting time and surcharges. A management dashboard shows load factor, empty kilometers and on-time percentage per customer and per week. The group chat still exists, but no longer for planning.