Most logistics software isn’t built for how your business actually runs. You end up reshaping your dispatch process around someone else’s idea of what a delivery operation should look like. Drivers fight with an app that doesn’t match their routes. Office staff keep a spreadsheet running alongside the “official” system because the reports never give them what they need. Orders sit in your e-commerce platform waiting for the next CSV export. It’s friction, and it adds up across every shift.
We build logistics and dispatch software that fits your operation, not the other way around. We’re a small London team, we work with UK SMEs, and we build systems you own outright: the source code, the database, the lot. No per-vehicle fees, no feature lockouts, no waiting on a vendor’s roadmap to maybe fix something next quarter.
Before we go further, a fair point: if your dispatch is straightforward and your fleet size is stable, an off-the-shelf platform may well be the right call, and we’ll say so. Custom software earns its place when standard tools start fighting your business. The rest of this page is about when that happens, and what we do about it.
Why off-the-shelf logistics software falls short
The big platforms demo well. Then you start running real volume through them and the gaps show:
- Per-vehicle pricing punishes growth. Most platforms charge around £20-£35 per vehicle per month. A 50-van fleet is £15,000-£25,000 a year before setup and integration fees. Grow to 120 vehicles and the bill roughly doubles, which is how a software licence quietly becomes a brake on hiring more drivers.
- Your dispatch logic doesn’t fit their rules. SaaS dispatch is usually “nearest available driver” or simple first-in-first-out. It struggles with rules like “only route gas-safe engineers to boiler jobs”, “hold high-value orders for manual approval”, or “tender overflow to the cheapest compliant carrier”.
- Integrations stall. If your ERP isn’t on the vendor’s pre-built list, you’re exporting CSVs every few hours or paying for bespoke API work the vendor barely wants to do. Orders arrive late, get imported twice, or go missing entirely.
- The audit trail is the wrong shape. SaaS captures a final proof of delivery. It rarely captures a full chain of custody, handler IDs at every hand-off, or temperature logs, so food and pharmacy operators end up patching gaps by hand.
- Lock-in is real. Long minimum terms, proprietary data formats and per-gigabyte export charges make leaving expensive. You can be trapped in a mediocre system because switching costs more than staying.
People work around all this. They re-key data, run parallel spreadsheets, use WhatsApp to chase drivers, and accept that certain things just won’t work properly. That hidden admin is the real cost, and it’s invisible until you add it up.
When SaaS is genuinely enough
We’d rather you spend money well than spend it with us. Off-the-shelf is usually the better choice when:
- Your dispatch follows standard patterns with no unusual approval or allocation rules
- The integrations you need (Shopify, Sage, QuickBooks) already exist as native connectors
- Your fleet size is predictable, so per-vehicle pricing stays manageable
- Your compliance is industry-standard rather than a bespoke audit requirement
- You need to be live in weeks, not months
If that’s you, we’ll point you at a sensible vendor and wish you well. Read on if it isn’t.
What we build instead
We start with your process, not ours
Before any code, we sit with your team and map how dispatch actually works: how jobs come in, how they get allocated, what counts as an exception, and where the current system forces a workaround. The software is built around that, not the reverse.
Your dispatch rules become the system’s rules
Skills-based allocation, capacity and weight limits, time-window optimisation, priority overrides for urgent jobs, manual review for high-value orders: whatever logic your operation depends on, we encode it. There’s no vendor constraint deciding what your business is allowed to do.
Your other systems stay properly connected
We build the integration layer ourselves, with two-way sync rather than a one-way data dump. Orders flow in real time from your e-commerce or ERP, delivery proof flows back to your accounting system for invoice reconciliation, and we add idempotency keys and retry logic so nothing duplicates or silently drops.
You pay once and own it
A fixed development cost after discovery, and the system is yours: source code, database, the lot. No per-vehicle fee that grows every time you add a van. Because we build on standard tools and a standard database, you’re never locked into us either.
UK compliance is built in
GDPR-compliant data handling, access logging, retention rules and subject access export are standard. Where your sector needs more, we build it: chain of custody for medical deliveries, HACCP-style temperature and handler logs for food, vehicle inspection and incident reporting for field service under HSE.
You can actually reach us
Our team is in London. If something breaks during business hours, you talk to a person who worked on your system, not a ticket queue.
Features and modules
Every system we deliver is different. A sensible first release usually covers:
- Order and job capture — manual entry plus real-time import from e-commerce, POS or ERP, with address validation
- Dispatch board — live map, driver and vehicle status, job queue, drag-to-assign or rules-based auto-assignment
- Route optimisation — multi-stop sequencing that respects delivery windows, vehicle capacity and weight limits
- Driver mobile app — job details, navigation, arrival confirmation, and proof of delivery by photo, signature or barcode scan
- Customer notifications — SMS and email on dispatch, ETA and completion, with branded tracking
- Reporting — on-time rate, deliveries per day, cost per stop, fuel use and driver KPIs
- Integrations — two-way sync with accounting, ERP and carrier APIs for label printing and tracking
- Audit trail — every state change, data access and deletion logged for GDPR
Later phases tend to add the heavier work: AI-assisted auto-dispatch, multi-carrier tendering against your contract rates, dynamic re-routing as new orders land, predictive ETAs trained on your own delivery history, fleet maintenance scheduling against mileage and MOT dates, a customer self-service portal, and sector compliance workflows.
How a project works
1. Discovery and scoping (2-4 weeks)
Workshops to document current workflows, audit the data you’ll migrate, identify integration points, and review compliance requirements. This is also where we agree what belongs in the first release and what waits.
2. Build (8-16 weeks)
We build using established frameworks such as .NET Core or Node.js, whichever fits best, with PostgreSQL behind it. You get weekly progress updates and working software to look at as we go. Integration work typically accounts for 20-40% of the effort, so we tackle it early rather than leaving it as a surprise.
3. Pilot and rollout (2-4 weeks)
We pilot with one depot or shift first, usually a small group of drivers, to find UX friction before it reaches the whole fleet. Then we roll out in stages so go-live day doesn’t stall your operation. Running clean data into the new system matters here: dirty addresses and duplicate customer records are the most common cause of a rocky launch, so we cleanse during migration.
4. Training and support (ongoing)
We train dispatchers, drivers and managers separately because they use the system in different ways, and provide documentation and short video guides. Twelve months of support and updates are included; after that you can buy development days or set up a maintenance plan.
What it costs
Custom development costs more upfront than signing up for a SaaS tool. The trade is that there’s no recurring per-vehicle fee, so over a three-to-five-year horizon it usually works out lower, and the gap widens as your fleet grows.
As a rough guide:
- MVP — single depot, straightforward dispatch, standard accounting and e-commerce integration: around £15,000-£25,000, 6-12 weeks
- Standard — two or three depots, advanced routing, multi-carrier handling, basic compliance: around £35,000-£50,000, 12-16 weeks
- Enterprise — multiple depots, bespoke dispatch logic, legacy ERP bridges, HACCP or pharmacy-grade compliance: £60,000-£100,000+, 20-28 weeks
We quote a fixed price after discovery, so you can put it directly against a SaaS quote and decide. No mandatory upgrades, no hidden module fees. We don’t promise a guaranteed payback date, but for growing fleets the savings on licence fees alone are usually straightforward to model from your own numbers.
What triggers a custom build
Most businesses come to us at a turning point rather than out of the blue:
- They’ve outgrown spreadsheets and WhatsApp, and driver errors and failed deliveries are climbing
- They’re opening a second or third depot and manual coordination has stopped working
- An audit, GDPR query or compliance finding has shown that paper and spreadsheet records won’t hold up
- Orders are stuck between Shopify or Magento and dispatch, slowing the whole order-to-delivery cycle
- A driver shortage means they need to squeeze more efficiency from a smaller team
- They’ve moved to same-day or two-hour delivery windows and manual dispatch can’t hit the SLA consistently
Industries we work with
Custom dispatch software suits any UK business where the standard tools have started to fight the operation:
- Couriers and parcel delivery — dense multi-stop routes, tight windows, failed-delivery handling and cost-per-stop reporting
- Field service (HVAC, plumbing, electrical) — skills-based allocation so only certified engineers get matched to relevant jobs, with parts inventory per vehicle and first-time-fix tracking
- Pharmacy and medical logistics — chain of custody, ID verification at delivery, cold-chain temperature monitoring and patient privacy in the driver app
- Food distribution — freshness and delivery-window tracking, plus HACCP-style temperature and handler logs where it applies
- E-commerce fulfilment — automatic carrier selection across DPD, Royal Mail and others, address validation, and proof of delivery tied into returns
- 3PL and freight forwarding — multi-carrier tendering against your contract rates, cost allocation and SLA tracking
- Construction plant hire — asset tracking and maintenance scheduling alongside dispatch
- Waste management — weighbridge data and recycling reporting integrated with route planning
- Hazardous materials carriers — ADR documentation and handling audit trails
Common Questions About Custom Logistics & Dispatch Software
Should we just use Samsara, Onfleet or Route4Me instead?
Often, yes. If your dispatch is fairly standard, your fleet size is stable, and the integrations you need are already on a vendor's list, off-the-shelf SaaS is the sensible choice and you can be live in weeks. A custom build pays off when SaaS can't encode your dispatch rules, when your fleet is large or seasonal and per-vehicle pricing gets painful, when you need a legacy ERP or carrier API that no vendor will connect, or when your compliance trail has to meet a specific audit format. We'll tell you honestly which side you fall on.
How does the cost compare to a SaaS subscription over time?
SaaS looks cheaper at sign-up, then scales with your fleet. Most per-vehicle platforms run roughly £20-£35 per vehicle per month, so a 50-vehicle operation spends in the region of £15,000-£25,000 a year, plus setup, integration and support fees. Over three years that is a meaningful sum with nothing owned at the end. A custom build is a larger upfront cost with no recurring per-vehicle fee, so it usually works out lower over a three-to-five-year horizon, particularly if your fleet is growing. We give you a fixed quote after discovery so you can compare like for like.
What's a realistic development timeline?
A focused MVP covering order capture, a dispatch board, route optimisation, a driver app and customer notifications is usually 6-12 weeks. A standard build across two or three depots with advanced routing and accounting integration is around 12-16 weeks. Enterprise scope with multi-carrier orchestration, legacy ERP bridges or HACCP-style compliance can run 20-28 weeks. We phase the work so you get a usable system early rather than waiting for everything at once.
Can you integrate with our existing systems?
Yes. Common connections include accounting and ERP (Xero, Sage, NetSuite), e-commerce (Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento), telematics and GPS hardware, carrier APIs (DPD, Royal Mail, DHL) for label printing and tracking, and SMS providers for customer updates. We build the integration layer ourselves, with proper two-way sync, idempotency to prevent duplicate orders, and retry logic tuned to your delivery SLAs. If your ERP is bespoke or poorly documented, we work directly against its schema rather than relying on a brittle Zapier chain.
How do you handle GDPR and sector compliance?
Driver GPS location and customer contact details are personal data, so every system includes a lawful basis, access logging, retention rules and subject access export as standard. Where your sector needs more, we build it in: chain-of-custody capture for pharmacy and medical deliveries, temperature and handler logs for HACCP-relevant food work, vehicle inspection and incident reporting for field service under HSE, and audit reports in the exact format your regulator expects. Delivery proof can be retained for the six to seven years that disputes and audits typically require.
What happens after launch, and do you train our team?
We train dispatchers, drivers and managers separately because they use the system differently, and we provide documentation and short video guides. The system is yours outright, including the source code, so you are never locked in. Twelve months of support and updates are included; after that you can buy development days as you need them or set up a maintenance plan. Because we build with standard tools and a standard database, you can also take the system to another developer if you ever want to.