The problem isn't that the driver forgot to leave; it's that the order got lost between Excel cells, and the nearest free vehicle never got the message. A Syrian fleet tracking app clears the path and pulls the order from paper into a notification on the driver's phone.
A shipping company in Homs had six trucks, each losing at least 35 minutes daily between recording the order in Excel and giving it to the driver. The customer called asking about the shipment, and the company opened a 'table' with tangled rows instead of pressing one button.
The operational problem
In shipping operations, the time between receiving the order and assigning the vehicle is the loss center. When the system relies on Excel files, information is prone to delay and distortion. Around 7 out of 10 business owners we know manage invoicing and order tracking with a mix of Excel file and WhatsApp, meaning orders are scattered across channels that are hard to consolidate.
Closing the month at a mid-size shipping company working on Excel can take between 5 and 10 working days. This isn't just delayed accounting; it means operational data isn't available instantly for tracking shipments or reallocating resources.
Example: the customer requests a shipment, the staff enters it in a file, then starts calling branches or warehouses to see if a vehicle is available. This process can take half an hour or more, while a single system could link the order to the vehicle's location and give instant instructions.
Assignment delay means the driver could be on a break or far away, while another closer driver could have been chosen. In today's market, delay in half the orders leads to customers being lost repeatedly.
Why off-the-shelf solutions fall short
Off-the-shelf warehouse management or POS software provides general capabilities but doesn't address the specific complexity of multi-branch shipping companies.
- Doesn't link the order directly to the vehicle's location.
- Doesn't support integration with local interfaces like payment gateways or messaging apps.
- Often requires significant manual adaptation to fit your workflow.
- Fails to deliver instant notifications to drivers, relying on office screens instead.
- Lacks executive reports measuring assignment time.
These limitations mean your team still depends on manual coordination between order and driver.
The TRBD solution
At TRBD, we deliver mobile application development for custom fleet tracking systems, including UX/UI design for both office staff and drivers, full-stack development, and API integration to capture real-time vehicle location.
Steps:
- Exploration session: Gather process details, shipment types, vehicle distribution.
- Prototype design: Draw screens, order flow.
- Development & linking: Build the app and link it to your ERP system.
- Pilot launch: Run the system with a selected batch of shipments.
- Production release: Roll out across all operations.
Expected outputs:
- Reduce assignment time from half an hour to under 8 minutes.
- Weekly performance reports.
- Instant notifications to drivers via the app.
Our mobile app development and "Business Management Systems (ERP/CRM)" services ensure you have a fleet tracking system that doesn't rely on Excel files.
How the client starts with us
Get started by contacting us at info@trbd.net or via WhatsApp Turkey https://wa.me/905537323153 or WhatsApp Syria https://wa.me/963992367582. We'll arrange a free initial assessment to map your operations.
Towards a new operational model for Syrian shipping companies
Switching from Excel to a fleet tracking app isn't just a tech upgrade; it's a rewrite of response time. In the Syrian shipping market, where competition is measured in minutes, the difference between paper and mobile notification can noticeably increase your business.
When month closure time drops from ten days to under two days, as we've seen with some clients after implementing the system, operational decisions shift from reactive to proactive.
The near future dictates that companies wanting to retain customers will need to integrate shipment tracking into ERP systems, with an Arabic-first interface to quickly onboard staff.
Moving to a real-time model means the operations manager knows the location of every vehicle, the status of every order, and the assignment time at any moment. This level of transparency will define the winner and loser in the market.