Last Mile Delivery Software Development

What last mile software from Tepia has to get right

A late window or a package left in the rain shows up as a cancelled subscription, not as a line in a logistics report.

Tepia builds last mile software for grocers, meal services, pharmacies, furniture and appliance retailers, building supply yards and regional couriers. The common requirement is not a map with pins.

If you are earlier in the decision, the custom delivery app development page describes the full customer, driver and dispatcher platform.

Route optimization and time windows

Stop sequencing takes a list of stops already assigned to a driver and orders them to reduce drive time while honoring time windows. Tepia builds this with a mapping API and it is included in most mid sized builds.

Fleet optimization takes all orders for a day and decides how many routes, which driver takes which stops, and in what order, subject to windows, vehicle capacity, driver shifts and depot locations. Tepia builds this with a routing engine or optimization service behind the scenes, and it is typically an enterprise feature.

Tepia’s rule of thumb: operations under about 10 routes a day usually get most of the value from stop sequencing plus a dispatcher who builds routes by zone. Above that, or when windows are tight, fleet optimization pays for itself in fewer routes and fewer missed windows.

Customer ETA notifications and tracking

Tepia designs the customer communication layer around a simple principle: tell customers what is going to happen before they ask. The sequence Tepia typically builds is a window confirmation when the order is placed, a tighter window the evening before once routes are built, an en route message with a live tracking link when the driver is a set number of stops away, and a delivered confirmation with the proof of delivery photo.

ETAs are recalculated as the driver completes stops, using the driver’s actual position and the remaining sequence rather than a fixed schedule. Tepia tunes how often the ETA changes are sent to customers so they receive a meaningful update rather than a stream of minor shifts. Messages run through Twilio for SMS, SendGrid for email, and Firebase for push in your customer app.

The tracking page is a web link that works without an app install, which matters for one time customers. For your support team, Tepia builds a view of every message a customer received, so the answer to “what were they told” is one click.

Failed deliveries, reattempts and returns

Tepia builds each one as an explicit flow with a status, a notification and a report.

• Failed delivery. The driver selects a reason (not home, access issue, refused, wrong address, unsafe to leave) and captures a photo. The customer gets a message with options to reschedule, and the order returns to the dispatcher’s exception queue.
• Reattempt scheduling. The customer picks a new window in the tracking page or customer app, and the order is inserted into the next day’s routes automatically.
• Returns pickup. A return request creates a pickup stop with its own proof of pickup, routed alongside deliveries so a van does not make a separate trip. Returned items are scanned back into inventory through your warehouse or POS integration.
• Partial delivery and substitutions. Short items are marked at the stop, the customer is notified and refunded or credited through Stripe or Square, and the shortage is reported to purchasing.
• Damage. Driver photos at the stop plus the loading photo from the depot give your team evidence for a claim or a refund decision.

Tepia also builds a depot loading flow: orders scanned onto a vehicle in route order, so the driver finds the next package at the front, and a missed scan is caught before the van leaves.

How Tepia approaches last mile delivery software development

Tepia runs last mile projects through its six phase process, with Beta testing on real routes before launch.

1. Discovery (typically 1 to 3 months). Tepia investigates your current ordering, routing and driver process, interviews dispatchers, drivers and customers, and reviews third party integrations with your ecommerce platform, POS, warehouse or inventory system. Deliverables: Investigation Summary, Interview Summary and User Stories, including your window and zone rules.
2. Design. Design questionnaire, moodboards and a style guide, then detailed wireframes for the route board, the driver stop screen and the customer tracking page, followed by sample designs.
3. Development and Testing (typically 2 to 6 months). Alpha and Beta schedules with functional, user acceptance and nonfunctional test plans. Tepia replays a month of your historical orders through the routing engine and compares route counts and miles to what you actually ran.
4. Training. Hands on sessions for dispatchers and driver leads using user story scenarios such as a same day order insertion and a failed delivery with reattempt.
5. Launch (about 1 month). Migration of customer addresses and standing orders, a parallel run on one zone, and Tepia support reps on the first live days.

The full process is at tepia.co/process. Tepia’s MNC Go grocery ordering app for Mother’s Nutritional Center is an example of an ordering product in this category; see our work.

Frequently asked questions