Freightlane: Making Trucking Run Smoother

Freightlane is a mid-size logistics company managing a fleet of 50+ trucks across several states. Their internal dispatch dashboard had become outdated and fragmented, slowing down workflows and creating unnecessary operational friction.

The client asked for a more “Uber-like” design and experience - clean, intuitive, and built for real-time action. I led the end-to-end redesign to streamline dispatch operations, elevate live fleet visibility, and enable faster, more confident decision-making. Within the first three months after launch, FleetOps recorded a 35% improvement in route efficiency, a 22% reduction in idle time, and an 18% savings in fuel-related costs.

Dashboard of Freightlane fleet management platform displaying a map with trucks, status indicators, and details of a fleet of six trucks, including their routes, statuses, and estimated times of arrival.

Challenge

Logistics teams had to juggle multiple tools just to plan and track a single route:

Outdated (sometimes misleading) dashboard features, spreadsheets for load details, separate systems for maintenance alerts, and manual phone updates from drivers.

Pain Points

  • No unified view of trucks, routes, loads, and delays

  • Dispatchers switching between 4–6 tools

  • Zero predictive insights

  • Poor communication between dispatchers and drivers

  • Maintenance alerts easy to miss → costly breakdowns

  • Limited historical data for optimization

The lack of integration created delays, increased operational costs, and lowered both dispatcher and driver satisfaction.

An operational dashboard with tiles displaying various supply chain metrics such as delivery times, inventory turnover rates, warehouse performance, fleet efficiency, transportation cost per mile, orders, alerts, supplier performance, and documentation. The tiles are color-coded, with some in green, gray, and black, indicating different statuses or categories.

Old Dashboard

Goals

Slide with blue background and white and light blue text that reads 'Create a unified hub for fleet management' and 'Single source of truth for all fleet operations'.
Blue background with white and light blue text about simplifying route assignment and delivery planning.
A presentation slide titled 'Lower operational and fuel costs' with a subtitle 'Data-driven insights for cost reduction'
Blue background with white and light blue text about real-time tracking and predictive insights.
Text on a blue background reading 'Reduce dispatcher workload' and 'Automate routine tasks and communications'
A blue background with white text stating 'Improve overall fleet efficiency' and 'Measurable improvements across all KPIs'.

Research

Methods

Flowchart with five steps related to dispatching: 1. Contextual inquiry with dispatchers, 2. Shadowing live operations, 3. Driver interviews, 4. Analysis of telematics data, 5. Industry benchmarks review.

Insights

A four-bullet infographic with a blue background and white text, highlighting the reliance of dispatchers on mental math, the causes of delays, the desire for clearer instructions, and the need for better KPI tracking and fuel analytics.

Key Opportunity: A dashboard that anticipates problems before they happen

Strategy

The redesign focused on four pillars:

A digital infographic with a blue background and white text about fleet management, focusing on 1. Visibility. It mentions real-time fleet map filters for status, delays, load type, and driver hours.
Section titled '3. Efficiency Tools' with a blue background, listing smart route suggestions based on delivery windows and load weight, fuel prices and driver availability, historical traffic patterns.
Blue informational slide titled '2. Predictive Assistance' with text about alerts for traffic, weather, low fuel, HOS, maintenance deadlines, and idle time.
Slide titled '4. Communication Hub' describing a direct dispatch-driven messaging layer with automated updates.

User Journey Maps

Unified Fleet Map — User Journey

Unified Fleet Map

Dispatcher uses the unified fleet view to monitor status, identify issues, and act quickly.

Stage Step User Thoughts Opportunities
Awareness Logs in and sees the fleet map with key KPIs at the top. “Is anything urgent right now?” Clear status colors and a concise KPI strip for at-a-glance fleet health.
Exploration Applies filters (status, region, driver), zooms in, and checks delayed trucks. “Where are the problems?” Smooth map interactions, instant filtering, and the ability to save common views.
Decision Selects a specific truck to inspect further. “What’s happening with this one?” Fast detail drawer, clear hierarchy, obvious primary actions.
Action Messages the driver or initiates rerouting. “How do I fix this quickly?” One-click suggested actions and immediate confirmation feedback.
Resolution Closes the panel and returns to the fleet map. “Good. Next issue.” Live updates and action logs.
Driver Detail Drawer — User Journey

Driver Detail Drawer

Dispatcher opens the driver drawer to quickly understand one truck, route, and driver in context.

Stage Step User Thoughts Opportunities
Awareness Notices an anomaly (delay, idle, alert) and opens the driver drawer from the fleet map or list. “Something’s off here.” Instant panel load, clear header summary (driver, truck, route), consistent drawer animation.
Exploration Scans route progress, remaining HOS, ETA, load details, and maintenance flags. “Why is this happening and how bad is it?” Strong information hierarchy, risk badges, and visual indicators for late or at-risk deliveries.
Decision Evaluates whether to reroute, adjust timing, or simply contact the driver. “Do I need to intervene right now?” Contextual suggested actions such as “Propose reroute,” “Update ETA,” or “Notify customer.”
Action Sends a message, updates route instructions, or modifies delivery window directly from the drawer. “Let me fix this before ETA slips further.” Quick-reply templates, one-click route changes, and visible confirmation of saved updates.
Resolution Closes the drawer and returns to the fleet map with updated status and ETA. “Good. What’s next?” Live refresh on the map, recent actions log, and reassurance that the issue is now tracked.
Predictive Alerts System — User Journey

Predictive Alerts System

Dispatcher uses predictive alerts to detect risks early and prevent delays or safety issues.

Stage Step User Thoughts Opportunities
Awareness Receives a new alert and opens the Alerts view to understand what happened and which truck is affected. “Is this urgent? Do I need to jump on it now?” Clear severity levels, concise titles, visible timestamps, and grouping by alert type or route.
Exploration Reviews alert details such as weather, traffic, HOS risk, or maintenance issues and sees impact on ETA or delivery window. “How serious is this and what happens if I do nothing?” Plain-language risk descriptions, link to truck or route, and simple visualization of impact.
Decision Sorts and prioritizes alerts by severity, region, or SLA and chooses which one to handle first. “What should I tackle right now?” Smart sorting, SLA indicators, and suggested next actions like “View on map,” “Reroute,” or “Message driver.”
Action Reroutes a truck, sends a message to the driver, or acknowledges/snoozes the alert from the same screen. “Let me fix this before it becomes a bigger problem.” One-click resolution flows, quick-reply templates, and confirmations that the alert is now handled.
Outcome Alert moves to Resolved or Snoozed; fleet view and KPIs update to reflect the intervention. “Good, that’s under control. What else needs my attention?” Alert history, patterns for recurring risks, and metrics on avoided delays or saved time.

Final Design

A digital graphic titled 'Unified Fleet Map' with a blue background and white text, displaying features of a real-time truck fleet management system, including truck location, route ETA, delays, HOS, and status indicators. A green banner at the bottom highlights the impact of faster decision-making and fewer calls.
A laptop displaying a freight management software dashboard called Freightlane, showing a map with truck routes across North America, fleet status, and delivery details.
Screenshot of a user interface titled 'Driver Detail Drawer' with sections for driver profile, load details, HOS countdown, chat thread, maintenance notes, and an impact note at the bottom.
Laptop screen displaying a logistics or fleet management dashboard with route details, vehicle status, and load information.
A digital dashboard displaying predictive alerts system with notifications about weather delay, maintenance overdue, excess fuel idle, and HOS driver limit approaching, each in colored sections.
Dashboard screen showing alerts and events related to freight truck operations, including weather warnings, delivery window risk, maintenance overdue, extended idle time, and HOS limit approaching.

Results

(First 90 Days)

KPI Before After Change
Route Efficiency Baseline Improved +35%
Idle Time High Lower −22%
Fuel Costs Rising Stable −18%
On-Time Deliveries Inconsistent Improved +27%
Dispatcher Workload Heavy Lighter −33%
Driver Satisfaction Mixed Better +21%

The biggest shift: Planning became proactive, not reactive. FleetOps could now prevent problems before they hit the road.

NEXT STEPS

What I'd Improve Next

Driver Mobile App Redesign

Optimize the driver experience on mobile devices

Gamified Driver Incentives

Reward efficiency improvements and safe driving

Automated Load Assignment

Smart matching of loads to optimal drivers and routes

Insurance & Compliance Integrations

Streamline compliance tracking, safety reporting, and insurance claim management

AI Forecasting

Predict seasonal demand and optimize fleet capacity

Thank you!