Project Overview
Apex Logistics operates regional and inter-state haulage services carrying industrial cargo, consumer goods, and cold-chain perishables across eastern India. As operations scaled, manual dispatch spreadsheets, siloed driver phone check-ins, and generic consumer mapping tools created scheduling bottlenecks and unpredictable delivery windows.
Lobhari Technologies was engaged to engineer a customized, enterprise-grade telematics platform that couples real-time vehicle IoT telemetry with automated dispatch workflows, dynamic route scheduling, and client-facing tracking visibility.
The Operational Challenge
1. Highway Connectivity Dropouts
Vehicles frequently traversed cellular blackspots. Off-the-shelf software would lose trip data, giving dispatchers false alarms regarding vehicle stalls or off-route detours.
2. Sub-Optimal Multi-Stop Routing
Dispatchers planned deliveries with static geographic rules rather than dynamic vehicle capacities, time windows, and bridge weight limits, resulting in excessive fuel burn and idling.
3. Proof-of-Delivery Delays
Paper delivery bills and manual receipt scans took days to reach billing systems, lengthening invoicing cycles and increasing payment disputes.
4. High Telemetry Ingestion Concurrency
Hundreds of vehicles pinging GPS, speed, and engine diagnostics every 5 seconds required a lightweight, scalable ingestion pipeline that wouldn't overwhelm relational database locks.
System Architecture
We designed a decoupled microservice architecture optimized for high-write telemetry throughput and low-latency dispatch rendering:
[Vehicle On-Board Units & Mobile App]
│── MQTT / Protobuf Payload (GPS, Speed, Fuel, Odometer)
▼
[EMQX IoT Telemetry Gateway]
│── Real-time Geofence Checking via Redis Spatial Sets
│── Buffered write stream to TimescaleDB (Time-series metrics)
▼
[Next.js & Node.js Application Layer]
│── Dispatcher Console (WebSockets live updates)
│── Route Optimization Microservice (OSRM engine)
│── Customer Portal & Digital Proof of Delivery (e-PoD)
Core Capabilities Built
Real-Time Fleet Visualization
Live interactive dispatch map showing vehicle speed, route deviation status, fuel levels, and geofence transitions updated every few seconds with smooth interpolated motion.
Dynamic Multi-Stop Sequencer
Algorithmic route re-sequencing based on customer time windows, current road conditions, and vehicle payload restrictions.
Digital Proof of Delivery (e-PoD)
Driver smartphone app capturing recipient digital signature, photo proof, and exact GPS stamps with automatic PDF invoice generation upon completion.
Fuel & Trip Analytics
Detailed reports on idle engine hours, excessive acceleration, mileage per segment, and driver safety scores to lower maintenance overhead.
Technology Stack
Verified Operational Outcomes
99.8%
Telemetry Delivery Rate
Zero trip data loss even through rural highway deadzones.
22%
Reduction in Fuel Waste
Achieved via route sequencing and reduced idle time.
Same-Day
Billing Cycle Turnaround
Immediate invoicing upon digital signature capture.
Technical Questions
How does the platform handle poor network connectivity on highways?
The mobile driver client utilizes an offline-first architecture with SQLite caching and an optimistic queuing system. Waypoints, drop-off confirmations, and signatures are recorded locally and automatically synced with exponential backoff once telemetry connectivity resumes.
What protocol is used for vehicle GPS telemetry ingestion?
We implemented an MQTT-based broker gateway with lightweight binary protocols (Protobuf) alongside standard HTTPS webhooks, allowing low-power IoT on-board units (OBUs) to stream telemetry without draining vehicle battery or cellular bandwidth.
Can the route optimization engine adapt to live road closures?
Yes. The dispatch backend calculates routes using open matrix routers combined with live traffic layers. Dispatchers can trigger dynamic reroutes that push instantly to drivers' navigation devices via WebSockets.
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