Agile implementation of a B2B rental platform for semitrailers with FLEETLOOP

FLEETLOOP is a corporate venture between the German trailer manufacturer Schmitz Cargobull and the rental company Greiwing Truck & Trailer. The company automates the rental of semitrailers. Via my.fleetloop.com, customers have the opportunity to rent semitrailers and tippers around the clock, which can be activated independently by drivers using Schmitz Cargobull’s TrailerConnect® telematics. The goal was to create an intuitive B2B rental platform that constantly communicates with the vehicles’ telematics systems.

As a pioneer in the semitrailer rental industry, FLEETLOOP aims to quickly put the fragmented B2B rental processes on a new, digital foundation, to create an outstanding user experience and to combine this with an individual brand presence. The platform was to be developed hypothesis-driven and iteratively so that the first orders could be processed via the platform just three months after the start of the project. Customers should be able to see at a glance which vehicle is at the ideal location for processing an order, always have an overview of the status of their bookings and rented vehicles and be offered a smooth pick-up, return and billing process. Finally, the design and user-friendliness of the platform had to match FLEETLOOP’s promise to handle rentals within a minute.

In order to meet the requirements for speed and individualization, the combination of specialized, modular and independent software solutions – also known as the MACH approach – quickly emerged. In contrast to a completely individual development, which would have been predestined for mapping an individual business logic, the MACH approach saved a lot of time, personnel costs and upfront investments. A ready-made software solution, on the other hand, would have scored with immediate availability, but many requests for individualization would have been left open.

commercetools – use of commerce microservices in the cloud

commercetools offers numerous, immediately available microservices that can be enriched with individual information. User, company, product, and order management as well as individual pricing logic were implemented using these microservices. Individual user accounts are linked to a business unit so that users can easily go through an individual onboarding process while maintaining an overview of all their company’s booking information. User and company accounts are created with just a few clicks by the FLEETLOOP operations team in the commercetools Merchant Center. Users then immediately receive a link for onboarding. FLEETLOOP also has the option of creating individual prices to map discount scales. In addition to information such as license plate and chassis number, the current location of a product is always available. Dispatchers can select the best-positioned vehicle on a map to ensure efficient routing. With the help of order microservices, dispatchers always have an overview of whether vehicles have already been picked up, returned or the rental extended after the order has been created.

Nuxt and Vercel – Tailor-made, headless frontend for maximum customization and performance

From the outset, FLEETLOOP was not intended to be a simple web store with a rental function, but a tool that logistics professionals would like to use to increase the efficiency of their fleet management. This requirement was not only the focus of all UX and UI decisions, but also when selecting the technology for implementing the front end. With the help of the Nuxt framework, interactive elements such as the limitation of available vehicles in a specific map section could be implemented quickly. In order to provide a high-performance platform at all times, the frontend is hosted by Vercel, which ensures the automatic scaling of the necessary infrastructure. In addition, the analytics software PostHog was implemented to record user feedback quantitatively and qualitatively and to empirically test hypotheses.

From the factory tour to the go-live celebration, an innovative rental platform based on state-of-the-art web technologies was created within three months in an intensive and cordial collaboration. We look forward to continuing to support FLEETLOOP in revolutionizing the market for commercial vehicles in the future.