STUK is an all-in-one platform for towing and roadside assistance companies in the USA. It replaces phone calls, paper tickets and whiteboards with one system for dispatch, live truck tracking, impound storage, invoicing, payments and reporting, and it's free for towing companies to use.
I built STUK's web dispatch portal and the backend behind the whole product, which also serves STUK's driver and customer apps.
Client: STUK Software, Florida, USA
My role: Backend & web developer
Timeline: 1 year
Stack: Node.js, Express, MySQL, Sequelize, Socket.IO, Angular, Mapbox, AWS S3, Plivo, Square, Clover, Stripe, Authorize.net
Results
1 backend, 3 apps: the web dispatch portal, the driver app and the customer app all work from the same live data.
260+ API endpoints and 16 real-time events keep every screen up to date with no refreshing.
4 payment processors connected (Square, Clover, Stripe and Authorize.net), so each company keeps the one it already uses.
13 built-in reports, filterable and exportable, so the books are ready without a spreadsheet.
Nothing goes unbilled: miles, extras and storage days are calculated automatically.
The challenge
A towing company runs around the clock, and much of the industry was running it on paper. Dispatchers phoned drivers one by one to find the nearest truck, stranded customers couldn't share where they were, hand-written jobs were easy to under-bill, and dispatch, GPS, invoicing and payments lived in separate tools.
What I built
A dispatch board that shows what's running late. One form creates a job, which then moves through 6 clear stages from dispatched to completed, colour-coded with a timer. Jobs booked for later are checked every minute and drop onto the board at the right time, in the right time zone.
Every truck on one live map. Drivers' locations stream to dispatchers over private real-time channels for each company, and Mapbox calculates the miles that feed straight into billing.
STUK tracking screen showing on-duty drivers and their live jobs beside a map with a truck's route to the pickup
Customer updates by text. A single-use link lets a stranded driver share their exact location with one tap, then follow the truck live.
Roadside help on demand. Customers can request a tow, jump start, lockout, tire change, fuel or an EV charge; the backend finds nearby companies that offer it (within 50 miles by default) and prices the job up front.
Invoices, payments and reports. Every completed job becomes an invoice, and owners get statements, sales, commissions, ETA-versus-arrival and storage reports in one place.
STUK reports page with a daily sales bar chart and a sidebar listing statement, driver, jobs, commission and storage reports
Read the full case study, with the complete architecture and more screens, on my website: akshatarora.in/work/stuk-software
0 likes · 25 views · Feb 27, 2024
STUK's web dispatch portal and the Node.js backend behind 3 apps: 260+ API endpoints, 16 real-time events, 4 payment processors and 13 built-in reports, running towing companies from the first call to the final payment.
