The small-fleet trap
Small courier firms sit in an awkward gap. Spreadsheets and WhatsApp groups stopped working somewhere around the fifth driver, but the delivery platforms built for large fleets expect an onboarding call, a contract and a price per driver per month that assumes every driver works every day. Telematics boxes tell you where the van is but not whether the parcel reached the right person.
What a small fleet actually needs is simpler: know where your drivers are, give your customers a link, and keep proof of each drop, without changing how your drivers work or paying for capacity you do not use.
No hardware, nothing to install
Your drivers already carry a phone with GPS. Track That Ride’s driver app runs in that phone’s browser: you add the driver with their mobile number, issue them a six-digit PIN, and they sign in. They see their jobs, follow directions on the app’s map, and complete each delivery with the proof you require. Nothing is installed, so it works the same for employed drivers on company phones and self-employed drivers on their own.
Driver accounts are protected too: ten wrong PINs lock that driver out for fifteen minutes, and you can reset a PIN at any time.
Pricing that follows your work, not your headcount
Track That Ride does not charge per driver. On the Free plan there is no monthly fee and each delivery started costs £0.40 from a prepaid balance, for up to 10 drivers. The Starter plan is £40 a month with 1,000 included deliveries, for up to 50 drivers.
For a fleet with seasonal peaks, or part-time drivers who work a few days a week, that is usually cheaper than per-driver pricing. Work out your own numbers with the cost per drop calculator and compare plans on the pricing page. (At £40 for 1,000 included deliveries, Starter works out cheaper than pay-per-delivery once you run more than 100 in a month.)
Moving off WhatsApp and spreadsheets
You do not have to switch everything at once. A sensible first week: add two or three drivers, put one regular customer’s deliveries through Track That Ride, and send that customer the tracking links. Keep your existing spreadsheet running alongside it. Once the drivers are used to completing drops with a photo and the customer has stopped phoning, move the rest of your work across. Your customer list builds itself as you go, because every delivery saves the customer and their address.
Running the day
Your dispatcher works from one dashboard: create deliveries, assign them to drivers, and watch every driver on a live map. Draw zones and assign drivers to them if you split your area. Customers are saved automatically from each delivery with their addresses, so repeat work is quick to book, and delivery statistics show how the week went.
Tracking your drivers fairly
Tracking people who work for you is monitoring, and UK data protection law applies whether they are employees or self-employed. The ICO’s guidance on monitoring workers is a good starting point: decide why you are tracking, tell your drivers clearly, and keep only what you need. Track That Ride helps by design: a driver’s position is only sent while they have the driver app open, and detailed route history is deleted after 180 days unless you put a specific delivery on audit hold.
When you outgrow it
As you grow, move to a plan with more drivers and included deliveries, or connect your booking system through the API and webhooks. If you need route planning across dozens of drops per driver, Track That Ride is not a route optimiser; see our honest comparison with Onfleet.