Beyond Dots on a Map: Designing and Evaluating a Truck-First Visibility Prototype for B2B Road Freight Logistics

This thesis investigates how visibility gaps in B2B road-freight handoffs can be reduced through a low-cost end-to-end visibility prototype. In third-party logistics settings, shipment information often deteriorates when goods leave the focal firm’s direct operational control and enter partner-controlled transport legs. Existing tracking frequently relies on milestone scans and delayed status updates, leaving blind intervals that limit receiving preparation, exception handling, and status clarification. Following a design science research approach, the thesis derives requirements from practitioner input and logistics literature, translates them into a truck-first visibility architecture, implements a functional prototype, and evaluates it through technical tests, stakeholder feedback, and businessfeasibility reasoning.