Frequently asked questions

Answers about the fleet trial, pricing, delivery planning, driver apps and your data. For help choosing the right setup, contact support@vulaway.co.za.

Updated 28 September 2026

What Vulaway is

What does Vulaway do?: Vulaway helps fleets plan jobs, assign drivers, track deliveries, capture proof of delivery and update customers. Bulk fleets can assign repeated loads for the day. Port status, vessel information and NAVIS advice are optional services. Dispatch advice is advisory; your team makes the decision.
Is this a tracking / telematics system?: Vulaway manages deliveries and fleet records. You can use driver phone location or connect Cartrack, Geotab or Ctrack if you already have a tracking service. You do not need to buy tracking hardware to use the delivery tools.
Is this a berth or terminal planning tool?: Vulaway supports trucking and gate-side work. It does not manage vessel berths or replace terminal planning systems.
Does "hold suggested" lock my truck out?: Never. Every call is advisory. Your dispatcher and driver make the final call.

Ports & data

Which ports do you cover?: The eight majors: Durban, Cape Town, Ngqura, Gqeberha, Richards Bay, East London, Mossel Bay, and Saldanha. Depth of live feeds still varies by port — Durban is the furthest along. Richards Bay has an official vessel board; it does not have a public stack or import-storage list we can parse.
Where does the road and queue data come from?: For ports you have switched on, Vulaway fuses official road sources, cameras, connected trucks and driver reports. A delay from two sources is not added together. National SANRAL pins come from the public map index, with a rotating sample of tooltip detail; East Coast Radio is the KZN bulletin. TomTom corridor times, when paid routing is on, use a truck profile. Those national collectors run on a schedule even when no fleet has asked for a page. National WhatsApp groups and national route comparison stay off unless we enable them.
Can camera analysis create an alert?: No. Image reads only add confidence to a warning that's already showing from another source. They don't create alerts by themselves.
Why are some SANRAL cameras blank?: Some SANRAL cameras do not provide a current image. Vulaway shows an offline message when no usable image is available nearby.
Do you book Navis / TPT slots for me?: No. Vulaway suggests booking windows using port history, yard travel, approach roads and the return trip. Book the slot yourself in Navis.
Can we use Vulaway without any port tools?: Yes. A new general fleet starts with Port status, Vessel information, and NAVIS booking slot advice off. An owner or manager can select any combination for each port under Preferences. Direct deliveries, bulk cycles, drivers, tracking, POD, fleet records and Commercial continue without them.
Can I choose when to leave after I plan a delivery?: Yes. After you plan, Vulaway offers three to five suggested leave times, or you can propose your own. Pick one and the job shows on Today with a leave reminder (and a browser push if you enabled push). It is advice only — it does not dispatch the truck.
Should I add mileage when I register a truck?: Yes. Enter the current odometer when adding a truck or in its cost settings. Logged trip kilometres are added to that opening reading. GPS positions do not create mileage records.
What vehicle classes can I record?: From a half-tonne utility (Chevy Utility, NP200) through a Kia K2700 / H100 dropside, rigid 4 t to 15 t, horse-and-trailer, tri-axle and 56 t superlink. Class is the mass and axle configuration — it drives diesel planning, axle limits and the licence a driver needs. Body (tautliner, flat deck, dropside, tipper, tanker, pantech, reefer, car carrier, lowbed, skeletal) is a separate field: it says what fits, not what the engine drinks. Skipping class leaves diesel plans blank rather than treating the truck as a 56 t interlink.
Will it stop me putting 26 tonnes on a 1.5-tonne dropside?: Yes, on Plan and when you assign the truck, if you have entered the load mass. Recorded gross and tare on that truck bind; a class-only figure allows a small excess for tare variation and refuses a load no plausible tare could cover. Missing class is a warning, not a block. This is arithmetic from the register, not a weighbridge or a legal mass certificate.
Can a logistics manager log fuel, tolls and wages on a trip?: Yes. Under Fleet → Drivers, an owner or logistics manager can save each driver's confidential default as an hourly, per-trip, per-kilometre, or per-tonne rate. The rate is snapshotted when that driver is assigned, so changing today's rate never rewrites older trip profitability. On the job, a manager can still enter the confirmed wage bill, which overrides the estimate. This is a trip-costing input, not payroll, overtime, bargaining-council or statutory remuneration calculation. Photograph the fuel slip on the job card in Plan (or Commercial); check the extracted litres, printed Rand-per-litre and station total before saving. Tolls and misc stay typed. Trip costs also offers an optional SANRAL plaza estimate you still confirm before saving — it is not a billed e-toll statement. An optional customer charge stays typed. Drivers never receive wage or trip-cost data in the driver app.
Do you catch diesel siphoning without a tank probe?: No. A fuel slip records a purchase, not measured trip consumption or proof of theft. Review the extracted values before saving. You can import a fuel-card CSV under Fleet → Compliance → Diesel logbook; petrol, shop and AdBlue lines stay on the statement evidence and do not enter the rebate logbook. That is still not siphon detection.
Why photograph the slip instead of typing a national diesel price?: Pump prices differ by station. The photo is so you do not retype litres, R/L and the total. We read what is printed on that slip. If litres × R/L do not match the total, we say so — you correct it. A blurry photo means type the figures. This is not SARS eFiling and not a claim that the tank received those litres.
Can I record services and tyres against a truck or trailer?: Yes. On Fleet, open the calculator on that truck or trailer. Log scheduled service, oil, tyres, brakes, COF work, defects, clutch, electrical, or landing gear, with optional cost and next-due date. This is a workshop log, not a booking system.
Can I see today's dispatched trucks on a map?: Yes. Today's dispatch map shows trucks assigned to today's jobs using driver-app GPS or connected Cartrack, Geotab or Ctrack data. Trucks without a location update have no map marker. Select a marker to open the job in Deliveries.
How do I mark a truck as dispatched without telematics?: On Today (or on the job card in Plan), tap Driver left yard when the driver actually leaves. Use this if you have no live tracking and the driver does not use a smartphone. The dispatch board treats that as en route until check-in, telematics, or POD says otherwise.
Do you tell me to send drivers overnight to sleep in the queue?: No. We do not recommend overnight queueing. When a stack opens, we compare historical gate/road delay patterns from the night before and at open (from our traffic harvest) and add that to the trip estimate if you would arrive near open — so a 06:00 stack is not treated like a quiet pre-dawn run. If we do not yet have enough harvested samples for that port, we apply no historical queue premium and say so.
Can I pick any leave time I want?: Suggested options come from the live vessel board and from current TPT stack or import windows. A last-published or collector-stale window is labelled and is not a dispatch instruction. You can set a custom leave time as an explicit override — we reject times in the past, recalculate arrival/queue for that clock, and warn if you are outside the suggested window. Only an owner or manager can set leave time or mark driver left.
Are trip times for a car or a truck?: Truck. We prefer truck routing (weight and restrictions) and treat car-map ETAs as a fallback only after inflating them for a laden or empty heavy vehicle. Long hauls also use road-adjusted distance, not straight-line car speeds. Import collect goes empty to the port and laden to the customer; export goes laden to the port. Return-to-base defaults to empty unless you mark a backload.
Does the plan include the return to yard?: Yes, when the job starts from a real fleet base. You choose empty return (no backload) or laden return (backload booked). Round-trip time is shown separately from the one-way delivery clock.
Can it suggest an order for a multi-stop delivery?: Yes. For jobs with at least two remaining stops, Plan delivery compares a recommended order with the order you entered. Up to twelve stops, it finds the lowest-cost valid order; longer runs use a search and show the best result found. The card explains the cost and risk assumptions. Select Use this order to apply it; it is checked again when saved.
Will it stop me sending a driver who cannot legally finish?: It will not recommend an order they cannot finish. Once you have signed a driver-hours limit set and the job has a driver assigned, the optimiser only considers orders where the driver stays inside their shift and can reach a stop you approve before a break falls due — approved meaning it is on your insurance register with guarding and access control recorded. If no order works it says do not dispatch this run as planned, and names why, instead of showing a cheapest one. What it does not do is block dispatch itself: you can still send the job in its existing order, and mass and paper records still do not lock the planner.
Does the plan know what the route climbs?: Yes, on the N3, N1 and N4. The card says what the recommended route climbs in metres, and once you have recorded a load it says roughly how many litres of the diesel go into lifting it — Durban to Johannesburg is about 88 L on a 56 t combination. That figure is already inside the cost shown, not added on top: the per-kilometre rate is a real-world average measured over roads that already have hills, so charging both would overstate a climbing route by about a quarter. Legs off those three corridors are counted and named as unknown rather than treated as flat.
Should I dispatch off vessel ETA?: No — for exports, use a current TPT stack open and close, plus any VGM or cargo cut-off the line gave you. The agri export desk stores those line times as your record; it does not book a TPT slot. For imports, use a current Import Storage clock (first free day / free storage end, or on-hand). Last published is not today's clearance. Vessel ETA is background; arriving early or late against those windows costs money.
Where do stack dates come from?: A central job pulls TPT Stack Dates List PDFs twice an hour; every fleet reads that one cache. We parse Pier 1, Pier 2 (Gateway), Durban RoRo / Car Terminal, Point MPT, Cape Town container and combi, Ngqura, and Gqeberha container and RoRo when TPT posts a compatible file. Maydon Wharf / Agri-bulk has no compatible public stack file — we say so, not empty. If a list is current, last published, missing, or unsupported, we label it that way. Last published is not today's drop-off clearance. Always confirm on the official TPT list before you roll.
Where do import collect windows come from?: Same Terminal Updates hub, same twice-hourly shared cache. Durban: Pier 1 Import Storage (including per-block dry/reefer/IMDG clocks when the PDF layout allows) and Point last-free-day from the Point stack publication. Cape Town, Ngqura and Gqeberha container lists still give per-vessel free-storage ends when TPT publishes them. Durban Car Terminal has stacks, not a separate public import-storage list. We do not invent dates. Last published or missing is labelled — not an empty terminal. Always confirm on the official list.
When would I see a rail enquiry suggestion?: Severe delays on the Durban approach may prompt a suggestion to enquire about rail. Contact Transnet directly; freight booking is not available in Vulaway.

Fleets & drivers

How do drivers use it?: Web: open /driver (or Add to Home Screen). Native Android pilot: first install is the APK from /downloads (old /driver-app links still send you there), then sign in with the username and password created by their fleet manager. Later versions install from inside the app — do not uninstall. The server resolves the correct fleet; drivers do not need a fleet ID. Never share the fleet access code or FREE identity. After signing in, the home screen is the next assigned job or bulk cycle: acknowledge, navigate, update progress, POD, or the next site tap. After POD the driver can tap Start trip back to base, then Arrived back at base if there is no yard geofence. If dispatch already assigned another load to that truck, that job takes the screen — an unfinished return does not block it. An active bulk cycle on that truck takes the screen over a harbour job.
What does fleet setup save?: Trucks, trailers and drivers are saved to your fleet register as you add them. The first step saves your VAT number and main type of work. Add the depot's map location under Fleet → Vehicles & bases. Add documents under Compliance. Spreadsheet imports use the same checks as manual entry. Confirm imported driver logins under Fleet → Drivers before sharing them; passwords are never printed on the induction sheet.
Can I plan a delivery that is not tied to a vessel?: Yes. Use Customer delivery under Plan — pickup, customer address with map coordinates, truck, driver, optional time window and return. Port / vessel jobs are separate when you need the stack or import clock. If the live vessel list is empty, you can still save a port job as a draft (truck, destination, container) and attach the vessel when the feed is back — that draft is not a TPT booking. The server rejects customer deliveries without a real address and coordinates.
Can I clone yesterday's harbour job?: Yes. On Plan, Clone last harbour job copies the last port job's truck, driver, destination, job type, and vessel (if that vessel is still in the live list). Type the new container and save. It does not book a slot.
Can I search for a vessel that is not on today's list?: Yes. On Plan delivery, and again on Port tools, type the name. We search this port's TPT/AIS board (berthed, at anchorage, approaching) with partial and close spellings. If it is not on that list yet, an owner or manager can Watch this name — type the full vessel name or IMO. The automatic alert only fires on an exact match, so a short prefix like MSC cannot page you for the wrong ship. The desk exception appears when that exact name first shows on this port's board. A browser push is attempted if a dispatcher on this fleet has notifications enabled; if nobody is subscribed or the push fails, the exception still stays on the desk and we retry for a while, then stop. That is not WhatsApp, not a TPT booking, and not a world vessel directory. Remove the watch to clear the exception. It does not attach the vessel to a draft job.
Can I run quarry or mine cycles without a port job?: Yes. Bulk cycles: allocate a truck and driver to a saved loading and delivery site (or a saved corridor) for the operating day. Start compact cycles from the desk, the web Driver App, or the native APK. Close a tonnes cycle with a weighbridge pair whose net mass matches the accepted tonnes; the native app can close that operational cycle from the ticket numbers and masses, and a manager still has to verify a ticket photo before the cycle is invoice-ready. Log litres from the fuel slip (photo read or typed) next to that ticket on the desk. Bulk cycle tickets still do not create customer invoices in this release — harbour and customer-delivery rate cards and invoicing live under Fleet → Commercial.
Does the driver app work on bulk cycles when the signal drops?: On both the web Driver App and the native Android APK, site steps and weighbridge captures queue on the phone and sync when data returns. The native screen follows the same desk cycle the dispatcher opened: clocks move, a stop on the phone cancels that cycle, and completing a tonnes allocation records the ticket numbers and net mass and closes the operational cycle. A ticket photo is still required before a manager can mark it invoice-ready; we do not invent masses. Litres or cubic metres still close from the desk ticket form, because kilograms cannot be converted without a density we do not hold.
Can a weighbridge ticket photo fill in the masses for me?: Sometimes, as a draft only. On the desk and web Driver App, after you upload a private ticket photo we may read ticket number, gross, tare and net and pre-fill the form — you must confirm every value before save. On the native APK the camera can read text on the slip offline and suggest the same fields; you still confirm before close. A net that does not match gross minus tare is flagged, not auto-accepted. Manager verify and invoice-ready still need the photo on file; OCR is not a substitute for that review.
Do bulk cycles call live routing on every GPS ping?: No. Recurring lanes use the saved corridor template first. Live truck routing is a shared desk service: cached by lane, vehicle profile and a 15-minute slot, and only recalculated on a new allocation, a recorded material delay, a road incident refresh, or a genuine route deviation — never every ping. If HERE is busy or a provider fails, we keep the last usable route or the template and label it cached, template, stale or degraded. We do not invent a precise ETA. Mapbox stops before paid overflow; TomTom is a capped last-resort fallback.
Do I need live routing to allocate a truck, capture a ticket or close a cycle?: No. You can continue bulk work when route information is unavailable. Assign loads, start cycles, record site updates and review weighbridge tickets as usual. Bulk customer invoices are not yet available.
How do you judge whether bulk operations are working?: The reports show ticket review time, missing tickets, accepted tonnes, recorded site times, completed cycles, trucks blocked before allocation and fuel purchases. On-time comparisons need a saved route target. Purchases are not treated as fuel consumption. Empty-kilometre share, invoice amounts and invoice-dispute time are not measured yet.
What is Simple vs Technical on the desk?: Both views use the same records, actions and permissions. Simple shows daily work and outstanding actions. Technical adds timing, route update details, site tables and saved-route settings. Switch in the header; the choice is saved on your device. Owners and managers can set a fleet default in Preferences. The driver app has one view.
If we mainly run quarry work, do we still get a port dashboard first?: No. Today shows bulk work when there are open bulk allocations. Port tools appear only when an owner or manager enables port services in Preferences.
Do you claim RTMS or dangerous-goods compliance for bulk?: No. Truck readiness and recorded GVM/tare can block a bulk allocation. That is not RTMS certification, and it is not a dangerous-goods control. We will not claim either until the exact controls and legal obligations are in the product.
Will a score accuse a driver of fuel or product theft?: No. Harbour efficiency is drive time vs the plan. A fuel slip is purchase evidence, not a theft finding and not part of that score. A ticket/mass mismatch or a returned ticket is recorded evidence for a person to review. Overnight siphoning without a probe only appears as a high next fill — we will not call that theft.
How does the harbour driver efficiency score work?: The score compares recorded drive time with the plan saved at departure. Port queues, site waiting and fuel purchases are excluded. Owners can view it under Commercial; owners and managers can also view punctuality on the driver scoreboard. Missing data stays blank. Use the score for discussion with the driver, not as a disciplinary record.
What does starter / connected / managed mean under Preferences?: These describe fleet setup needs. Starter covers paper records, calls and photo tickets. Connected includes existing tracking or accounting systems. Managed includes multiple depots and approval rules. Choose the setup that matches your operation.
What is on the left-hand menu?: Operations includes Today, Plan delivery, Deliveries, Returns & recovery and Bulk cycles when relevant. Management includes Owner overview, Fleet and Preferences. Optional port, road and weather tools appear when enabled. The order depends on your role.
Where are the port tools?: Open Port tools for enabled harbour services. Today is the home page for daily fleet work. Owners and managers can enable port services in Preferences.
How do I set up a driver securely?: Fleet → Drivers → add the driver, create their username, password and mobile number, then assign at least one truck. Give the username and password to the driver in person or over a call. The server binds that username to the correct fleet, so the driver does not need a fleet ID or QR code. Resetting the password or revoking the driver cuts app access immediately.
Can I import trucks, trailers or drivers from a spreadsheet?: Yes. Use Import from a spreadsheet in the vehicle register or during setup. Truck limits, duplicate registrations and driver login rules still apply. Driver rows need a name, username and password of at least six characters. Confirm the logins under Fleet → Drivers before sharing them. Passwords are never printed on the induction sheet.
What is the printable driver induction sheet?: Fleet → Drivers → Print Yard Induction Roster. It lists usernames and assigned trucks for your yard, plus a QR code that opens vulaway.co.za/driver — not a login token. Passwords are never printed; give those to the driver in person. The sheet includes a bilingual day-one checklist.
What is the insurance & risk register?: Fleet owner only, under Fleet. You record the goods-in-transit policy terms you hold — insurer, policy number, liability limit, escort threshold, approved-parking rule, subrogation waiver parties, and transshipment rule. You can also list overnight truck stops and mark which ones appear on the insurer's schedule. Vulaway is not the insurer, not a broker, and does not verify cover. A clean advisory means nothing you typed conflicts with that load — not that the load is covered.
Does the goods-in-transit advisory stop a truck from leaving?: No. On Plan delivery it warns from what you recorded (over limit, escort needed, overnight stop not on the approved list, unrecorded transshipment term, expired policy). It never blocks dispatch. Liability amounts are shown to the owner only; other roles see the finding without the Rand figures. If the register cannot be read, the desk does not pretend the check was clean.
What are the terminal, rail and emergency registers?: Under Fleet → Operations registers: terminal booking accounts (TAS/Navis/other), rail customer codes, recovery operators, and spill retainers. Terminal logins are encrypted at rest and never shown back on the desk — only that a login exists. Vulaway does not book slots or call recovery on your behalf. Owner writes terminal/rail accounts; owner or manager maintains recovery and spill contacts; any fleet session can read the emergency numbers.
Can a driver ask to be forgotten?: Yes. The driver asks the fleet. Only the owner can action it on Fleet → Drivers: type the driver's name to confirm. We replace the name with a stable label, drop the phone, username, password, PrDP number and every location ping. POD photos, weighbridge tickets, invoices and the dispatch log stay — those are the fleet's operational records. A job card may still show the name that was typed when the load was planned. There is no driver self-serve delete in this release.
How long do you keep a driver's last GPS position?: Raw driver GPS events and inactive last-known driver coordinates are removed after 90 days. Truck position history is removed after 30 days. When an owner erases a driver's personal details, their location traces are removed immediately.
Does the Driver App track with the phone locked?: Web/PWA: locking the screen or closing the browser stops or reduces tracking. Native Android pilot: tracking can continue during an active outbound trip via a visible foreground service notification while Android allows it. It stops at POD unless the driver taps Start trip back to base. With a fleet yard it can end within 2 km; without one the driver taps Arrived back at base. A 16-hour cap still applies. Force-stop, denied permissions, or aggressive battery kill also stop updates. Connected vehicle-tracker data takes priority over phone GPS. The app shows whether tracking is active, delayed, saving updates offline, paused or stopped.
Why won't the app tell me to hold or go yet?: Add a fleet base and trucks first. HOLD/GO advice needs enough fleet and road information to support a dispatch recommendation.
Can I assign a hazmat load to any driver?: No. Only jobs that already have a hazard class or UN number are checked. Then we block the truck unless it has current Hazchem / Tremcard under Documents & PODs, and the named driver on the job has current PrDP-D — either under Documents & PODs or a PrDP with category D under Fleet → Compliance. A co-driver's papers on the same truck do not cover them. Ordinary jobs skip this check. That is an expiry-and-label gate, not SANS 10231 certification.
Does Fleet → Compliance stop a truck from leaving?: Mass, hours, COF and similar papers on that tab still do not stop planning by themselves. An open vehicle-off-road workshop card does: Plan delivery and truck assignment refuse that registration until the card is closed. A recorded dispatch-legality check exists, but Plan delivery does not run it yet — we will not say a load is legally held for mass until it does. Driver hours are the exception, and only for stop order: once you have signed a limit set, Plan delivery will not recommend or save an order the assigned driver cannot legally finish, and neither will the server. That constrains the order, not the dispatch. A PrDP with category D stored there is used for hazmat assignment, same as PrDP-D under Documents & PODs. Hazchem / Tremcard still has to sit under Documents & PODs.
What is the workshop bay on Compliance?: Fleet → Compliance → Workshop bay is job cards for the bay — open, start, and mark done. Parts and labour lines are not on that desk yet. A vehicle-off-road card blocks assigning that truck on Plan delivery until you close the card. The older workshop log on each truck or trailer (service, tyres, COF work) is still there under Fleet; it is a history log, not the bay.
What is Load placement?: Under Fleet → Compliance → Load placement, record each item's mass, deck position and unloading stop. Axle-load projections require a calibrated vehicle profile. Saved placements stay linked to that profile version. The results are advisory and do not authorise a load.
Can it tell my loader how to pack for the route?: Yes. Record each item's mass, length and unloading stop, then choose Plan the packing for this route. It places earlier deliveries nearer the door and keeps through-cargo farther inside. Heavy-vehicle plans also check steering-axle balance after each drop. If no valid arrangement is found, no plan is offered. You can adjust the proposed positions.
Do I have to type a position for every container?: For 20 ft and 40 ft containers, record the trailer's twistlock positions once, using the same datum as its load profile. Selecting a slot then sets the container position and uses its recorded verified gross mass. Place 45 ft containers manually because their fitting arrangements vary.
Does the cross-border documents desk clear a border?: No. Fleet → Compliance → Cross-border documents checks typed papers against your approved corridor checklist. A typed permit number is a declared reference, not a verified scan, and it will not complete a required checklist on its own. Owner or manager configures those checklists under Compliance → Cross-border checklists — every document must name its source. It is not SARS filing, not a border clearance, and not a customs release.
What is the RTMS audit pack?: Fleet → Compliance → RTMS audit pack assembles overload register, driver hours, credentials, maintenance and pre-trip inspection evidence for a period into a CSV you can download. It is evidence for an audit, not SANS 1395 certification. Pre-trip inspections are captured on Compliance → Pre-trip inspection once you adopt a signed checklist.
Can I claim the SARS diesel refund from Vulaway?: You can prepare a Schedule 6 logbook and claim calculation under Fleet → Compliance → Diesel logbook. Enter purchases, usage, opening and closing stock, and the applicable rate with its source, or import a fuel-card CSV after you preview the mapped columns. Petrol and shop lines are flagged and not posted as diesel. The calculation separates supported amounts from amounts with weaker evidence. Review it with your accountant and submit through the official process; Vulaway does not file with SARS. Trip fuel-slip records are separate from rebate claims.
Can I maintain a fleet rate card in Vulaway?: Yes, owner or manager under Fleet → Commercial → Rate card. Lines can be scoped by customer account, corridor, zone, vehicle class and commodity, with effective dates and banded km rates. Ambiguous overlapping lines are flagged before save. Close a line with an end date rather than editing history. POD verify still rates each delivery against the card; a manual re-rate needs a reason and another manager's approval before it becomes billable.
How do I issue a tax invoice from rated charges?: After POD verify has rated deliveries, Fleet → Commercial → Tax invoice lists unclaimed rated charges. Select the customer, complete billing identity, and issue — that claims the charges in one numbered tax invoice. This is not the same as the older invoice builder, which can copy a charge without claiming it. Use one path per customer work so you do not bill twice. Bulk cycle tickets are still not on this screen.
What are goods declarations on Compliance?: Fleet → Compliance → Goods declarations is your NRTR 330A–330D issue record for a load — parties, agreements, masses and an advisory assessment. It does not certify legal mass and is not a filing with the traffic department. A declaration can be voided with a reason; void is stamped, not erased.
Does Compliance capture pre-trip inspection and driver hours?: Yes. Pre-trip: adopt a signed checklist, then record daily inspections against it — the RTMS audit pack includes them. Driver hours: sign a limit set, then record duty segments; the pack folds them by day. Neither desk stops Plan delivery by itself, and neither is RTMS or hours-of-service certification from Vulaway.
Can I record COF, service and paper expiry on Compliance?: Yes. Compliance → Credentials is the write path for driver and vehicle papers with expiry dates. Compliance → Maintenance records service, tyres and defects for the audit pack. The older workshop log on each truck under Fleet is still a history log; the maintenance desk is the structured register the pack reads.
What is the Exception desk?: The Exception desk under Fleet → Compliance shows recorded cases. Acknowledge assigns responsibility; Resolve records what happened and any preventive action. Cases do not create legal holds. Driver emergency and breakdown reports are listed separately under Fleet → Drivers.
Can the Driver App speak isiZulu or Afrikaans?: Yes. English, isiZulu, isiXhosa, Afrikaans and Sesotho. The picker is on the sign-in screen, not behind a menu. Non-English words are a first draft until a named speaker reviews them — the app says so in that language. The dispatch desk stays English.
Why does the address bar say /fleet instead of /port?: The fleet workspace uses /fleet/ links. Older /port/ links still open the same workspace.
Do you calculate distance as the crow flies?: No. Save your real yard addresses — we use those for drive-to-port and return estimates in the trip timeline.
Where is the privacy notice?: Open /privacy. You can read it without signing in — the same as FAQ and Terms. It covers fleet records, driver location when the driver enables tracking, and what a customer tracking link can show.
Do you track visits to the website?: Yes. Anonymous page views (path, referrer, time on the page) go to our own operator dashboard. Vercel Web Analytics, on the same host that serves the site, also records page views. Neither includes names, fleet IDs or access codes. Driver GPS is separate and only runs when the driver enables it.
Can my customer see where the truck is?: Yes — after you plan a job, copy the tracking link from the confirmation (or the job header) and paste it into WhatsApp. They don't need a login or an app install. They get status, ETA, and — while the load is still in transit and the driver app has a recent GPS ping — an anonymous truck dot on a map against the destination. The pin drops off once the load is delivered; the run home is fleet-internal. No driver name, phone number, or truck registration. Bulk cycles do not get a public tracking link in this release.
Where do I download the Android apps?: Open Downloads on the phone and install the app for your role: driver or dispatcher. These are direct APK downloads, not Google Play listings. A download is offered only after a signed build is published. Installed apps check for signed updates. Do not uninstall before updating, because this removes sign-in or group-pairing details.
Do I have to download a new APK from the website for every update?: No. Installed apps check for signed updates. Android may ask you to allow updates from Vulaway and may show an installation confirmation. Install over the existing app to keep driver sign-in and dispatcher group pairing. Do not uninstall first.
How do our WhatsApp traffic groups get onto the map?: Link the group under Fleet → Integrations. You can then share a WhatsApp post to Vulaway from the phone, or install the dispatcher app from Downloads and pair the exact group title. Both process the message on the phone and send road details, the reported delay and a fingerprint. Muted groups or an open chat may not generate notifications for the dispatcher app to read. The separate HTTP ingest option sends message text and is intended for technical integrations.
Does Vulaway read the messages in our dispatch WhatsApp group?: WhatsApp Share and the dispatcher app process messages on the phone. They do not upload message text, sender names or numbers. The dispatcher app keeps group titles on the device for one day to help with pairing, and removes them when the last group is unlinked. The separate HTTP ingest option stores a redacted copy of submitted text.
What is the Get help button on the desk?: It opens a message to Vulaway support in WhatsApp when that service is available. The draft includes your fleet, port and current page; add the problem before sending. If WhatsApp support is unavailable, copy the details into an email instead.
What is Vula?: A read-only report assistant for the fleet owner or manager. It is off unless we switch it on for your fleet. It answers from records already on Vulaway — it does not write jobs, invoices or payments. Most-profitable and similar reports run from stored trip and invoice rows without paid AI. A language model is used only to classify a free-text question when we enable that separately; trip, invoice and driver rows stay on our servers.

Reverse logistics

What is the Reverse tab for?: Returns & recovery has four categories: pallet movements, waste transport manifests, retail returns and empty container returns. These are fleet records. Continue to use your pooling provider's statements, official waste filings and shipping-line invoices where required.
Does Vulaway reconcile myCHEP or issue a CHEP statement?: No. The pallet ledger records deliveries, exchanges, shortfalls and typed ETV voucher numbers on your fleet books. Vulaway does not call myCHEP or Loscam and does not transfer hire liability for you. Your pooling provider statement stays authoritative.
Are waste manifests on Reverse a DFFE or EPR filing?: No. The desk captures NEM:WA-style custody fields — generator, transporter permit, licensed facility, integer kilograms, hazard class and a tamper-evident digest — so you have a fleet record. It is not a DFFE submission and not a producer's EPR return. Close a manifest with the disposal certificate number your facility issued; that does not file anything with government from Vulaway.
What are retail uplifts?: A workflow for collecting returned goods under CPA-style reasons — store collection, driver signature, DC receipt and condition grade. Vulaway does not decide warranty entitlement or refund the customer; it is your custody and routing record.
Is the empty-container detention Rand a shipping-line bill?: No. The turn-in desk validates the ISO 6346 number and counts down free time using a daily rate you enter (default R1,800/day). The Rand shown is an estimate for dispatch — not a line invoice and not a guaranteed charge.
Are reverse-logistics reference numbers a gapless sequence?: No. Manifest and uplift numbers are fleet-unique random references for your desk — not a tax-invoice-style numbered series. If a collision occurs on save, try again.

Owner overview

What does Owner overview show?: Owner overview shows issued invoices, recorded trip costs, outstanding invoices, unbilled PODs and pallet liability, plus a vehicle and period breakdown of those same figures. You can record a customer receipt on an issued invoice or tax invoice — that is a desk record, not a collection. Figures are blank or withheld when records are unavailable. Lifetime margin compares all-time invoiced revenue with all costed trips; it is not a matched profit-and-loss account or bank statement.
Does the diesel export button file with SARS?: No. Export diesel usage (CSV) downloads your fleet's recorded purchases and usage for your accountant or SARS work — the same data as Compliance → Diesel logbook. There is no SARS eFiling from Vulaway.
What is the credential summary download?: A plain-text export of recorded driver and vehicle credentials and their expiry dates. Include it in your audit records; it is not RTMS certification or a legal sign-off.
How do I record a self-billing agreement with a subcontractor?: Fleet owner only, under Fleet → Commercial → Subcontractors → Record agreement. You enter an agreement that was already signed off-fleet, with BGR 15 declarations and the supplier VAT number. Vulaway does not draft the legal document. Settlement refuses a self-billed tax invoice unless a live agreement is on record.
Why did Adopt NRTR fail on a fresh database?: Adoption copies an unsigned reference limit set into your fleet. If the reference is unavailable, adoption fails. Your compliance officer must check and sign the copied set before it can be used for assessment.

Money & load exchange

What is the route-advice value tracker?: It separates available route advice, selected plans and advice followed within the departure tolerance. Estimates use the assigned truck, recorded fuel-price evidence, a saved idle-fuel model and the driver's wage basis at assignment. Missing or conflicting records are excluded. These are comparisons with an alternative plan, not measured fuel, payroll or cash savings.
Do you take a cut of loads posted on the exchange?: No. The load exchange is a simple board. You deal with the other fleet directly. We never hold money or touch driver pay, and the board does not charge a platform fee.
Can other fleets see my client rate on an open load-board post?: No. Your customer rate stays on your own desk and on loads you have accepted. Other authenticated fleets browsing open posts see lane, commodity and timing — not your client rate field.
Are invoices and trip certificates legal guarantees?: They're built from verified job and POD data, and certificates are tamper-evident. They are not a substitute for your accountant, insurer, or lawyer — use them as operational proof, not as a warranty of payment.
Can I record that a customer paid an invoice?: Yes, owner or manager only. Record a receipt on the delivery invoice, or on the tax invoice if that delivery was rolled up. Type the amount already in the bank, the date and a reference. Vulaway does not collect the money, send a customer receipt, or reverse a saved payment in this release. Check the figures before you save.
What are arrival geofences and the behaviour board?: Arrival geofences mark a stop from a position you already collect. The behaviour board shows events from those positions when we have them — it is not a telematics disciplinary finding and it does not invent events from a planned address.
What happens when I verify a POD?: Verify proof & rate delivery on Documents & PODs signs off the photo and signature, freezes that evidence, and rates the trip against your fleet rate card. The customer account code on the job must match a contracted rate line when one exists — a near miss such as "Acme Mining Pty Ltd" versus account ACME01 blocks the generic rate rather than invoicing the wrong price. A delivery with no customer name and no account code is also blocked. If no rate covers the job, or a multi-stop run was only partly completed, a billing exception opens instead of inventing a R0 invoice. Build the customer invoice under Fleet → Commercial from the rated charge — still editable before send. Complete the customer billing address and VAT number when applicable; a VAT-registered seller cannot print, export, email or mark an incomplete Tax Invoice sent. From there you can print it (or save it as a PDF), download its detail as CSV for your bookkeeper, email it to the customer, and mark it sent. A driver upload alone never bills the customer, and an invoice that still totals nothing cannot be marked sent. Set the seller address, VAT number, banking details and terms under Preferences → Invoice details. Vulaway does not send email on your behalf yet; the email button opens your own mail app with the invoice filled in.
Can my bookkeeper export the issued tax-invoice book?: Yes, the fleet owner can export issued invoices and credit notes for a date range under Fleet → Commercial → Accounting. Spreadsheet CSV is available. Sage Pastel Partner is a file-based pilot: the file includes document type and original-invoice number on credit notes, but confirm every column and account/VAT code against the import template from your own Pastel installation before using it. Xero, QuickBooks Online and Sage Business Cloud are shown as not connected; Vulaway does not claim to post into those services yet. Exports are bookkeeping aids, not tax advice, and every import must be reviewed in the accounting package before posting.
Can I settle an owner-driver or subcontractor from Vulaway?: Yes, the fleet owner only, under Fleet → Commercial → Subcontractors. You capture deductions with the evidence the subcontractor can trace (fuel-card slip, fine notice, claim reference). Issuing a settlement recovers those deductions on that voucher in the same write, so the same advance cannot be taken twice. A disputed deduction is held and shown, not netted off, until you resolve it. Self-billing is only valid while a written agreement is in force and the supplier has a VAT number — we will not raise a tax invoice on their behalf without that. Vulaway does not pay the subcontractor or hold funds; the voucher is your remittance record.
Can a dispatcher correct or delete a delivery job?: Owners and managers can use Correct details to update a job's customer, reference, pickup and destination while edits are allowed. Truck and driver assignments lock when the driver is notified. A destination can be rerouted during a trip, but POD capture locks the job record. Only drafts that have not been dispatched can be deleted. Use Cancel or Failed for other jobs to retain their history.

Shippers & terminal operators

I'm a shipper — what do I get?: Shippers can review urgent exceptions, track consignments and batches across carriers, inspect custody reports and invite carriers. The 45-minute gate idle warning is an internal threshold, not a carrier SLA or detention invoice. Export tools record line bookings, customs references, VGM, seals and cut-offs; they do not book TPT slots or submit SARS filings.
Does the agri export desk book a stack slot or file with SARS?: No. Enter the shipping-line booking number, SARS MRN and CUSRES time, VGM, seals and confirmed cut-offs. Vulaway checks container numbers and requires CUSRES time before recording a customs release. Containers stay on hold in the workspace until required records are complete. Confirm clearance with the relevant authority and TPT; Vulaway does not submit filings or provide PPECB or plant-health clearance.
Can I configure what agri documents my export desk checks?: Yes, on the shipper export desk → Market protocols. Each requirement needs a source label (for example a DALRRD protocol or line booking note) and an effective window — we do not ship one universal checklist for every market. Harvest seasons are separate rows for peak planning. Assessment against a booking still reads what you configured; it is not PPECB or DALRRD verification.
I'm a terminal operator — can I see which fleet is which?: No. You get anonymised gate activity: totals, average wait, busiest hours. Not another company's private truck list.

Accounts & billing

Is there a free trial?: Yes — 90 days of the fleet plan from registration: the 50-truck cap, alerts, WhatsApp groups, the driver app for every driver, and connecting a tracker you already pay for. No card required. API access and outbound webhooks stay enterprise-only. There is no free tier after the trial: your jobs, PODs, diesel logbook and compliance history stay in the account and you can still read and export them, but planning a new delivery or opening a new bulk allocation needs a paid plan. Shippers and terminal operators can register without a card; their pricing is by arrangement — they do not get the same 50-truck fleet trial clock.
Can I push Vulaway events into our ERP?: Outbound signed webhooks are on the enterprise plan. The fleet trial does not include them. Creating or testing an endpoint is refused until that entitlement is on.
What does it cost after the trial?: Fleet pricing is per truck per month: R500 (1–10), R400 (11–30), R300 (31–100), R250 (100+). Every band includes the driver app for as many drivers as you run — you pay per truck, not per driver. You can register for the 90-day trial today. Any separate first-year launch discount is announced by email — it does not block signing up now.
How do I sign in?: Register once, keep your fleet / company / operator ID and access code somewhere safe (download or print them on the registration screen), then sign in at vulaway.co.za/login. Drivers sign in at /driver with the username and password their manager created — not the fleet access code, and not a port-specific driver link.
Can I change my password?: There is no password — you sign in with fleet ID and access code. Under Preferences you can rotate the access code (self-registered fleets). The new code is shown once; the old one stops working immediately. Demo / Vulaway-managed fleets must ask support.
I lost my access code — can I get back in?: On the login screen, use “Email support for recovery” (support@vulaway.co.za). Include your fleet / shipper / operator ID and the email used at registration so we can verify ownership and issue a replacement. Owners can also rotate the code under Preferences if they are still signed in.
Does phone tracking work with the screen locked?: On the web Driver App, browser GPS only runs while Vulaway stays open. The invited Android pilot can continue during an active outbound trip via a visible foreground notification while the OS allows it. Native tracking stops at POD unless the driver starts the return; force-stop or denied permission also stops updates. For continuous visibility, connect Cartrack, Geotab, or Ctrack.
Can a driver retake a POD photo?: Yes. After capture the driver sees a full-screen preview, can retake, add an optional note, then confirm before it uploads for manager review.
Can I switch between night and day mode?: Yes. Use the sun / moon control in the header, or Appearance under Preferences. Your choice sticks across refresh on that browser.
Who owns the data we put in?: You do. We process it to run the service (see the Terms). We don't sell fleet or shipper operational data.