Fleetbase is an open-source, modular logistics operating system (Laravel core, Ember.js console, AGPL-3.0). We self-hosted it on the client's infrastructure and wrote a custom extension and a forked driver app for their cold-chain workflow.
A regional last-mile courier handling fresh and frozen goods ran dispatch over phone and radio. They had high spoilage, unpredictable ETAs, and no real-time visibility into where temperature-sensitive cargo was or how cold it stayed.
- Building a cold-chain tracking workflow on top of Fleetbase without forking the whole platform.
- Streaming in-cab GPS and temperature telemetry to a live dispatcher map over WebSockets.
- White-labelling the open-source Navigator driver app so it worked offline in coverage dead zones.
We self-hosted Fleetbase, then scaffolded a custom extension (a Laravel WarehouseServiceProvider plus an Ember engine) for cold-chain tracking, added IoT telemetry ingestion, and forked the open-source Navigator app into an offline-first, branded driver client.
- A Fleetbase extension scaffolded via the CLI — backend under server/src/Providers/, Ember engine registered with universe.registerHeaderMenuItem, REST routes exposed via Route::fleetbaseRoutes(...).
- A WebSocket telemetry pipeline rendering live driver paths plus per-vehicle temperature and GPS on the dispatcher console.
- Automated threshold alerts that emit SMS to warehouse handlers the moment a reefer drifts out of its temperature band.
A customized view of the system we shipped for this engagement — the components and how requests and data flow between them.
Before — manual bottleneck flow
Clerks print invoices and hand-group them into driver folders with no system of record.
Dispatcher phones each driver to confirm location and cargo state, then writes it down.
A temperature breach is only found when frozen goods arrive thawed and unsellable.
After — automated optimized flow
The cold-chain extension groups shipments and pushes routes to driver terminals.
GPS and reefer temperature stream over WebSockets to the dispatcher map.
Any out-of-band temperature fires an SMS to the warehouse before cargo is lost.
“The temperature alerts are what sold the team. We caught two reefer failures in the first month that each would have cost us a full load. Dispatch finally works off one screen instead of a radio and a whiteboard.”
