PhnomPath Logistics
Small and medium sellers in Cambodia, most of them running their business through Facebook, Instagram, or Telegram, have no good way to get packages to customers. Existing couriers like J&T, Kerry, and VET charge $1-$10+ per package with opaque, weight-based pricing, offer next-day delivery at best, provide no live tracking, and settle cash-on-delivery (CoD) payments 2-7 days later, tying up sellers' cash exactly when they need it to restock. PhnomPath Logistics is a Grab-like experience built specifically for package delivery: sellers request a pickup and the nearest available driver is assigned within minutes, customers get an SMS with a live tracking link showing the driver's location and ETA, and sellers get their CoD money back by 7:30 PM the same day, with the delivery fee deducted automatically. Commune-based pricing starts at 3,000 KHR (~$0.74) for same-commune deliveries, undercutting every major competitor, and sellers can batch up to 8 packages into a single route-optimized, multi-stop trip to save further on fees.
Context & Motivation
I was the Lead Backend Developer on a 3-person team, building most of the backend on Express.js, TypeScript, and Drizzle ORM, including the route optimization (via OSRM) that plans efficient multi-stop delivery routes for drivers, alongside the seller/driver apps (Expo/React Native) and the admin web dashboard (Next.js).
The goal for the MVP was to prove a Grab-like delivery experience purpose-built for packages in Phnom Penh's 14 khans and 100+ communes: instant driver matching in minutes rather than hours, the cheapest commune-based pricing in the market, and same-day CoD settlement, the platform's biggest differentiator against competitors who take 2-7 days to pay sellers back.
Technologies Used
Key Features
- •Instant driver matching that assigns the nearest available motorbike driver within minutes of a pickup request.
- •Commune-based pricing starting at 3,000 KHR (~$0.74), with no hidden fees or weight calculations.
- •Live GPS tracking sent to customers via an SMS link, no app download required on the customer side.
- •Same-day CoD settlement by 7:30 PM, with delivery fees deducted automatically, versus 2-7 days for competitors.
- •Multi-stop deliveries that let sellers batch up to 8 packages into one route-optimized trip, saving 10-15% per additional stop.
- •Driver accountability via in-person vetting, contracts, credit scoring, and proof-of-delivery photos.
- •Seller and driver apps distributed as Android APKs for early testing, plus an admin web dashboard to manage drivers, monitor deliveries, and trigger daily settlements.
Gallery
Outcome
PhnomPath Logistics was completed as a working MVP covering the full delivery loop: sellers request pickups, drivers get route-optimized assignments, customers track deliveries live over SMS, and sellers are settled the same day. The project is not yet publicly deployed; provincial expansion beyond Phnom Penh is planned for future versions.