Trailer rental management system
The digital transformation of a New Zealand trailer rental company: paper-based operations replaced with self-service kiosks and web portals.
- Role
- Technical Lead & full-stack developer
- Type
- Client project · team of 8
- Timeline
- 6 months
- Stack
- React Native · React · Spring Boot · PostgreSQL
The problem
The client’s paper-based system was costing money and visibility:
- Revenue loss. Paperwork errors led to lost bookings and untracked rentals.
- Equipment downtime. Poor maintenance scheduling left trailers unavailable.
- Asset visibility. There was no way to track overdue returns or overnight holdings across remote locations.
- Operational blindness. No real-time view of performance across 20+ sites.
- Infrastructure cost. Initial proposals required expensive custom kiosks at every location.
The solution
Three integrated applications, each for a different group of users.
Kiosk app (React Native)
Standard Android tablets turned into cost-effective self-service kiosks. Customers manage their own bookings, the app is offline-first so it keeps working through connectivity problems, and Microsoft Intune handles remote device monitoring and management.
Operations portal (React)
The command centre for the business: real-time fleet management, automated maintenance scheduling with service notifications, overdue tracking with automated customer communication, analytics and reporting, and role-based access control.
Partner portal (React)
A simpler interface for petrol station partners, with location-specific trailer inventory, real-time synchronisation across the network and workflows designed for non-technical staff.
Architecture
Frontend
├── React Native — kiosk
├── React — operations portal
└── React — partner portal
Backend & infrastructure
├── Spring Boot — containerised REST API
├── PostgreSQL on RDS
├── ECS — container orchestration
└── Docker- RDS (PostgreSQL) for a highly available database with automated backups.
- S3 + CloudFront with WAF in front of the web applications.
- ECS with auto-scaling for the API.
- CodeBuild + CodePipeline for automated deployment.
- Device Farm and Cypress for mobile and end-to-end testing.
The outcome
- Lost bookings eliminated through digital tracking and automated confirmations.
- Maintenance is scheduled proactively, with automated alerts.
- Overdue rentals are monitored systematically, protecting revenue.
- Real-time dashboards give complete visibility across every site.
- Hundreds of bookings are processed daily, with 99.9% uptime.
The system continues to run in production and supports the client’s expanding rental business.