The transport and the logistics industry is very crucial as the livelihood of commerce and the economy largely depends on this industry. The biggest support for this business is truck drivers. Uber is a huge success. A lot of people in the industry perceive it as a landmark when it comes to bringing about a transformation in the taxi business. That being said, there is much more to it. The success of Uber was perceived as a testimony to the fact that the on-demand model of business is the future. The success of Uber has given the confidence to the entrepreneurs as well as the mobile development companies to make heavy investments in the on-demand business models to disrupt several industry verticals. The concept of Uber for trucks is just an emulation of the truck transportation business and making it an on-demand business model. Let us discuss in brief about the different aspects of developing your own uber-truck app and how to go about it when it comes to development.
As an entrepreneur, if you’re looking forward to creating an app like uber exclusively for trucks and the freight industry, then it is imperative that you need a mobile application development company. You need to co-operate and work closely with the professionals in order to get an app that is robust. Let us look at the things which you need to consider before going for this venture.
Type of Application which you want to develop
Before you go and have brainstorming sessions with your app developers, you need to decide which type of application you need for your business. You have the following two scenarios which will help you out
- 1. You have your own logistics business and your own fleet of trucks as well. You now want to streamline operations and scale your business with the help of a solution.
- 2. You need to build a marketplace that connects shippers with the carriers.
Find a mobile development company for your app
Once you decide what kind of app you need to build, you need to decide which mobile app development company you need to hire for your project. This is a very crucial step as it determines largely whether your business will turn out to be successful or not. A reputed company can develop a superior app which would be easily navigable, user-friendly as well as fully featured. Thus it is very important to do thorough research before hiring any company. You must take a look at the previous client testimonials and other portfolios as well in order to assess the caliber of the company and its mobile app developers.
Validation of Idea
Once you have hired a company that is proficient to build your mobile app, the next step is to validate the idea for your business. For this, you have to conduct deep market research to check if your application can sustain in the market. You can also see if you can deliver better results with the assistance of small tweaks in the app. This step is very important as it ensures that all your investments and efforts will go in vain.
Features to be included in your Minimum viable product
A minimum viable product (MVP) is basically a version of the application which is compressed and has enough features. You need to incorporate all the must-have features in the MVP. After that, you can launch the MVP to get both positive as well as negative feedback which helps in making crucial changes to the final product.
Must-have features in the application:
When you are developing an app that is related to the transport and logistics you need to take into consideration from the view of different perspectives and add features catering to these needs. Let us have a look at what features you need to incorporate for your app.
Registration:
This is a must-have feature that will help in customer retention. You can have multiple options for this feature. You have the traditional email registration or you can also opt-in for registrations through various social media. You can also provide credentials to each and every individual carrier, and once the carrier is approved by you, you can either go for traditional email registration or offer registration through social media accounts. You can also provide credentials to each individual carrier after the carrier is approved by you to make the deliveries.
Shipment details
This will help the drivers to get all the important details before they go out for delivery which will be great for managing the availability of drivers and also the timely delivery of the goods.
Filtering and sorting
This feature is beneficial for both the end-users as well as the registered users. The carriers can filter the type of cargo, type of cargo, date and pick up destination.
Request Cancellation
This is one of the most important features to have. The drivers, as well as the end customers, must be able to cancel deliveries conveniently without much hassle.
We hope that was helpful and we have got you thinking in the right direction when it comes to building a freight app.