An operations plan for Forth Fuel Transport.
This is what I think we should do. You're already running on Asana and Xero — both stay. We add three small tools that take the paperwork off your hands, put the drivers on their phones, and let customers book fuel online. About $230 a month all up.
Have a read. Tap any section below to dig deeper. Nothing here is locked in — it's a starting point.
What actually changes
Five concrete shifts. Each one is something you do today that becomes automatic, or something you don't do but should.
Eight things you stop doing manually
Each one is real, specific, and measurable. Tap to expand for the detail.
Job entry, dispatch, and invoicing
| Step | Today | After |
|---|---|---|
| Job entry | Paper / phone / Asana, then radio the driver | Typed once → appears on the driver's phone |
| Proof of delivery | Driver radios "done", you write it down | Signature + photo + litres captured on the phone, attached to the job |
| Invoicing | You write invoices in Xero from your notes | Auto-drafted in Xero with the docket attached. You tap approve. |
Recurring jobs, pricing, and customer comms
| Recurring jobs | Farmer calls every 2 weeks for a top-up | Set up once, the job auto-schedules forever |
| Pricing | Quoted from memory or a spreadsheet | Customer rate cards stored — price calculates itself |
| "Where's my fuel?" | Customer rings to check | Optional auto-SMS: "Your fuel is 30 minutes away" / "Delivered at 2:14pm" |
BAS, reporting, and tax credits
| Fuel Tax Credit | Estimated at BAS time | Litres-per-truck report ready each quarter. Real cash recovered. |
| Daily wrap-up | Held in your head | Auto-emailed each evening: jobs done, litres delivered, exceptions flagged |
How customers will book fuel online
An "Order Fuel" button on your website that creates a job in your dispatch system. Three ways to do it. Recommended approach first — the other two are options for later if you grow.
Customer fills a short form on forthfueltransport.com (fuel type, litres, delivery address, when needed). Submission lands as a draft job in your dispatch plus an email to operations@. You review, assign, done.
Customers log in, see history, re-order in two clicks. Overkill for two trucks. Worth revisiting at 5+ trucks or when a big repeat customer asks for it.
Older farmers prefer texting. They send "1000L diesel to back paddock Friday" and it becomes a job. Add later if your farm customers would actually use it.
Customer to paid invoice — 10 steps, 2 manual
Here's what an order looks like end to end once the system is live. The blue-filled steps are yours. Everything else runs by itself.
The stack
Five tools. Two you're already paying for. Three new ones. The new tools earn their keep through hours saved and tax credits recovered.
| Tool | What it does | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| MyTrucking | Dispatch + jobs. Driver phone app + your web dashboard. Pushes invoices into Xero. | ~$90 |
| Whip Around | Phone-based pre-start checks. Drivers tick the boxes, photograph defects. | ~$20 |
| Logmaster | Electronic work diary for fatigue logs. Only if the trucks are heavy-vehicle fatigue-regulated. We'll confirm. | ~$120 |
| Xero | Stays as your accounting, BAS, and payroll. We'll enable Payroll for the employed drivers. | existing |
| Asana | Demoted. Used only for compliance reminders + renewals calendar. No more job tracking in here. | existing |
What each person uses day-to-day
Phone app — iOS or Android
The day's jobs sit there each morning. Tap to start. Tap to complete. Capture signature and photo. Works offline (matters for farm runs out of coverage).
No more paper dockets, radio call-ins, or "what was the address again?"
Web dashboard
Works on a laptop, iPad, or your phone. Drag-and-drop dispatch. Live job status. One-tap invoice approval. Customer rate cards.
No more retyping the same invoice. No chasing drivers for delivery dockets.
What gets locked down
Fuel haulage has real legal exposure under HVNL and ADG rules. The plan covers it all once, properly, so it stops living in your head.
The launch package
The hardest parts are done — sharp logo, the operations@ email, the domain, and an Instagram handle. The gap is execution.
- One-page website at forthfueltransport.com. Services, coverage, the "Order Fuel" button, contact. Hosted on Cloudflare (free, fast).
- Google Business Profile — puts you on Maps + lets customers leave reviews.
- Activate the Instagram @forthfuels — six starter posts then a steady drip.
- Facebook business page — still matters for the farm demographic.
- LinkedIn company page + personal profile — matters for tender shortlisting with bigger principals.
Five phases
Each phase is roughly a weekend or two. We can run them in order or stack a couple — your call.
What it actually costs
Two numbers matter — monthly recurring, and one-time setup. ROI typically pays the monthly back within weeks through hours saved and tax credits recovered.
Where the money comes back
- Admin hours — if you're spending 10+ hrs/week on admin, cutting that in half is the biggest dollar saving (before sanity).
- Fuel Tax Credits — properly tracked, often recovers thousands per BAS quarter that gets left behind otherwise.
- Faster invoicing — same-day vs weekly usually means cash in the bank 1–2 weeks earlier.
- Fewer mistakes — no more "did we charge for that one?" or "did anyone send the invoice?"
FAQ
Can I keep using Xero?
What happens to Asana?
Will the drivers cope with a phone app?
Can customers still call or text orders?
What if we grow to more trucks?
What about the website domain and email?
How long until it's live?
What if I hate it?
A few things to confirm together
Before we kick off, a quick chat to lock these down. Most are 30-second answers.
- Truck GVMs. Under 12 tonne, or heavier? Drives whether the fatigue tool is needed.
- The 2 employed drivers — PAYG or sub-contractor? Affects payroll + workers comp.
- Which fuels are you carrying? Diesel, petrol, AdBlue, lubricants — affects pricing cards + DG setup.
- Online ordering — Phase 1 or later? Some prefer "phone first, online once we're settled".
- Domain + Google Workspace admin login. Needed to point DNS at the new website.