The verdict in three sentences
With 70 trucks and 1,600 trips a month, a haulier still handling transport orders, fuel slips and road expense advances on paper loses money on every trip, often without knowing how much. Imported TMS products cost 15 to 40 million FCFA and assume European processes: e-invoicing, hourly-paid drivers, electronic toll tags. A custom TMS designed for the Dakar-Bamako corridor, the port and cash or Wave advances brings invoicing down to D+2 and shows whether each trip made money on the day it closes.
Where a Dakar haulier's margin goes
The operations director knows the symptoms. A trip to Bamako, about 1,250 km, requires an advance of 250,000 to 400,000 FCFA for top-up fuel, road expenses and emergency repairs. A port run or a trip to Touba needs 50,000 to 120,000 FCFA. Advances are backed by paper receipts, reconciled weeks later, and part is never justified. On the customer side, invoicing waits for the signed delivery note, pushing issue dates to D+10 or D+15 and stretching collection by as much.
| Item | Current situation (estimate) | With a custom TMS |
|---|---|---|
| Creating a transport order | Paper slip, 15 min | Entry or customer import, 3 min |
| Unjustified advances | 4 to 6% of amounts paid | Under 1%, photo receipt required |
| Fuel consumption per truck | Estimated per fill-up | Tracked per trip, alert above +8% |
| Invoice issue time | D+10 to D+15 | D+2 after photo proof of delivery |
| Profitability per trip | Unknown | Calculated when the trip closes |
| Idle truck rate | Not tracked | Daily dashboard |
Across 1,600 trips a month with an average advance of 150,000 FCFA, advances total 240 million FCFA a month. Each point of leakage is therefore worth 2.4 million FCFA monthly.
Imported or custom TMS: the 2026 comparison
| Criterion | Imported TMS (2026 ballpark) | Custom TMS by Kolonell |
|---|---|---|
| Acquisition cost | 15 to 40 million FCFA | Grid below, by complexity |
| Licences and maintenance | 15 to 20% a year, plus per-user licences | 35,000 / 75,000 / 120,000 FCFA per month |
| Cash and Wave trip advances | Rarely supported | Native, with photo receipts |
| Low-coverage areas | Often online only | Offline driver app with sync |
| Mali corridor documents (transit, customs) | To be developed | Covered at scoping |
| Language and support | Often English, remote support | French, Kolonell team, WhatsApp |
| Time to go live | 6 to 12 months with adaptation | 4 to 6 months |
Kolonell's custom application grid: simple from 2,500,000 to 4,000,000 FCFA (3,810 to 6,100 EUR), medium from 4,000,000 to 7,000,000 FCFA (6,100 to 10,670 EUR), complex from 7,000,000 to 15,000,000+ FCFA (10,670 to 22,870+ EUR). A TMS with transport orders, driver app, advances, fuel and invoicing usually falls in the complex band. A first release focused on orders and advances can fit the medium band. Telematics integration, accounting connectors and hosting are priced in the quote.
The scope that works in Senegal
Five modules are enough to start. Transport orders, created by operations or imported from shipper orders, with truck and driver assignment. A driver app on Android that works offline on the road to Kidira and syncs whenever there is signal: departure, arrival, photo of the delivery note, photo of receipts. Advances and road expenses, paid in cash or via Wave and Orange Money, automatically matched to receipts. Fuel tracking per trip and per truck. Invoicing generated on proof of delivery and sent to the customer at D+2.
For our method and technical choices, see custom web applications.
Mini case study
Mr Ndiaye, operations director of a 70-truck haulier in Dakar, starts from 240 million FCFA of monthly advances. Unjustified advances drop from 5% to 1%, 4 points recovered: 240,000,000 × 4% = 9,600,000 FCFA a month. On invoicing, 1,600 trips at an average revenue of 450,000 FCFA represent 720 million FCFA a month. Moving issue from D+12 to D+2 brings collection forward by 10 days, freeing roughly 240 million FCFA of working capital on a permanent basis.
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A complex-band project, from 7,000,000 to 15,000,000+ FCFA depending on final scope, plus maintenance at 120,000 FCFA per month, pays back within one or two months on the advances lever alone, if the figures hold.
FAQ
Will drivers use the app?
Yes if it is limited to 4 or 5 actions: start, arrive, photograph the note, photograph the receipt. Making the next advance conditional on justifying the previous one pushes usage above 95% within a few weeks.
Do trucks need GPS trackers?
Not at the start: the smartphone position at departure and arrival covers most checks. A telematics box, around 150,000 to 300,000 FCFA per truck on the market, can be integrated later.
Does the TMS handle Mali documents?
Scoping lists the corridor's transit and customs documents, and the TMS attaches them to the transport order. Electronic exchange with customs systems is assessed case by case and priced in the quote.
How long to get started?
Allow 4 to 6 months, with a 4-week pilot on 10 trucks before equipping the whole fleet. Training takes 1 day for operations and 1 hour for drivers.
Can we connect our accounting?
Yes, invoices and advances can be exported to your accounting software in the expected format. A direct connection depends on the software and is priced in the quote.
Let's scope your project. Describe your fleet, main routes and advance workflow, and we will scope a phased TMS with a 10-truck pilot and a 4 to 6 month plan. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
