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Praval Technologies

Case study

Proof of delivery, off paper and into the app

A US logistics operator replaced paper PODs, emailed damage reports and untracked exceptions with a mobile Power Apps capture for drivers and Power Automate routing behind it.

Admin time recovered
190 hrs/wkAdmin time recoveredAdmin, depot and driver time
Exception resolution
6.5d → 1.4dException resolution
PODs with audit trail
100%PODs with audit trailTime, GPS, photos, signature
Disputed claims
↓41%Disputed claimsEvidence settles most on sight

The paperwork came back with the driver

A Kansas City-based regional carrier runs 320 drivers making around 11,000 deliveries a week. Every one generated a paper delivery note, and any damage, shortage or refusal generated an email to whoever the driver could think of. The engagement ran around three months, phased, for the Director of Operations and IT.

POD arrived days later. Signed notes travelled back in the cab, then waited for someone to scan and file them, so invoicing waited too.

Exceptions lived in inboxes. A damage report went to a person, not a process. If that person was on leave, the claim simply sat there.

No audit trail. When a customer disputed a delivery, proof meant hunting for a smudged signature in a filing cabinet.

Evidence was inconsistent. Some drivers photographed damage, some described it, most did neither, leaving claims to be settled on goodwill.

Paper cost the operation hours at both ends (capturing it and chasing it) and cost real money whenever a claim couldn't be proven.

  • 11,000 paper delivery notes generated every week.
  • 6.5 days median time to resolve a delivery exception.
  • $310K in annual claims written off for lack of usable evidence.

The old paper trail ran through five handoffs, four of them manual, with no system of record until the very end:

StepWhat happenedThe gap
Driver signsPaper note, carbon copyNo photo
Back to depotTravels in the cab1–3 days
Scanned and filedManual admin batchQueue
Emailed onTo a named personNo owner
Claim settledOften on goodwillNo proof

"A customer disputes a pallet, and we're going through a box of paper notes hoping the signature is legible. Half the time we just paid the claim because arguing cost more than settling."

— Director of Operations, Kansas City-based carrier

Built for a driver at a tailgate

We rode along on routes before designing anything. The constraints were unforgiving: gloves on, phone in one hand, customer waiting, and no guarantee of signal at the dock.

  • Capture a clean POD in under 30 seconds.
  • Work offline and sync when signal returns.
  • Force a photo whenever an exception is flagged.
  • Stamp every record with time, GPS and driver ID.
  • Route each exception type to a team, never a person.
  • Usable by drivers with no training and no appetite for apps.

Capture it once, at the tailgate

A Power Apps form the driver completes at the point of delivery, and a Power Automate flow that turns whatever they captured into the right action, instantly, and with an audit trail attached.

One form, thirty seconds, no paper.

  • Pre-filled from the run sheet: the driver confirms rather than types.
  • Signature and photos captured on device, attached to the consignment.
  • Exceptions force evidence: flag damage and the camera opens; no photo, no submit.
  • Time, GPS and driver ID stamped automatically, so the audit trail builds itself.
  • Works offline at the dock and syncs the moment signal returns.

What happens the moment they hit submit. The flow reads the exception type and sends it to a team with an SLA, not to whichever inbox the driver remembered:

OutcomeWhat the flow doesOwner
Clean deliveryPOD filed against the consignment; invoice released same dayBilling · automatic
DamageClaim opened with photos attached; customer notified within the hourClaims team · 24h SLA
ShortageStock check triggered at the origin depot; discrepancy loggedDepot ops · 24h SLA
RefusalReturn leg scheduled and account manager alerted immediatelyAccount team · 4h SLA

One depot first, then the fleet

Drivers decide whether an app like this lives or dies, so the pilot ran with the depot most sceptical about it, and the rollout only started once those drivers preferred it to paper.

  1. Ride along: observe real deliveries to understand the constraints: gloves, weather, signal, and a waiting customer.
  2. Build the capture app: a Power Apps form with offline sync, signature, photos and forced evidence on exceptions.
  3. Automate the routing: Power Automate flows per exception type, each with an owning team and an SLA.
  4. Pilot one depot: run alongside paper for four weeks; refine the form against what drivers actually did with it.
  5. Roll out and retire paper: fleet-wide rollout by depot, then withdraw the paper note books entirely.

The paper stages didn't get faster; they disappeared. What remains is capture and the actual decision:

StepBeforeAfter
POD to office (capture → system of record)1–3 daysSeconds (instant sync)
Exception assigned (reaching an owner)1–2 daysImmediate (routed on submit)
Claim resolved (evidence to decision)6.5 days1.4 days (photos already attached)

Proof travels at the speed of the delivery

The evidence now arrives before the driver does. Billing releases the same day, claims arrive with photographs already attached, and a disputed delivery is answered by pulling up a timestamped record instead of a filing box. The depots that fought hardest against the app are the ones that won't go back.

Result
Hours saved per week190
Exception resolution6.5 days → 1.4 days (↓78%)
PODs with audit trail100%
Disputed claims↓ 41%

Built on Power Apps and Power Automate.

Recognise any of this in your own estate?

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