FleetNala
WhatsApp-First Fleet Cost Management
A fleet management platform built for South African small fleet owners — from a single bakkie to a mid-size fleet. Drivers use WhatsApp they already have. Every advance, expense, inspection, and report flows through automatically. No app download. No training. No data forms.
How FleetNala works
Fleets run on WhatsApp.
The money was invisible.
South African small fleet owners manage their drivers informally — advances requested over WhatsApp, cash sent via eWallet, receipts photographed and lost in group chats. By the end of the month there is no clear picture of what was spent, what was earned, or what is still outstanding.
FleetNala was designed to plug directly into that existing behaviour. Instead of asking drivers to change how they communicate, FleetNala listens to the same WhatsApp channel and turns every message into a structured financial record.
Manual WhatsApp threads with no structure or audit trail
Spreadsheets updated days or weeks late — if at all
Verbal money agreements with no record or proof
End-of-month surprises when costs exceed income
No way to track vehicle condition between trips
Disputes with no supporting evidence or timeline
Everything a fleet owner needs.
Nothing a driver has to learn.
FleetNala covers the full financial and operational lifecycle of a small fleet — from the first advance request to the monthly PDF report.
Advance Lifecycle Management
Drivers request money via WhatsApp. Owners approve, change, or decline — then mark it sent. Drivers split actual spend against the advance and attach proof. Every step is logged and traceable.
- Natural language requests: "Need R700 fuel"
- Owner approval flow with amount-change support
- Itemised spend splitting: "Fuel R640 data R60"
- Receipt and proof photo capture to Cloud Storage
- Full reconciliation status per advance
Vehicle Inspection Flows
Drivers submit guided 9-step photo inspections — odometer, body panels, tyres, discs — before or after every trip. All photos are timestamped and linked to driver, vehicle, and date.
- Trigger phrases: "morning check", "pre-trip", "post-trip"
- 9 guided steps with photo capture at each step
- Skip and cancel controls mid-inspection
- Duplicate inspection safeguard built in
- Full inspection history and status visible in admin panel
Income, Fines & Mileage Tracking
Drivers report income, mileage, fines, and breakdowns directly via WhatsApp. Owners are notified of fines to assign responsibility. All events become transaction records.
- "Income R22000 RTT April" → income record created
- "Mileage 189450" → odometer updated
- "Fine R500" → fine record + owner notified
- "Breakdown" → event flagged, owner alerted
- All records queryable by vehicle, month, and category
Reporting & Financial Visibility
Monthly reports per vehicle showing fuel, repairs, fines, income, insurance, tracker costs, and net profit. Downloadable as PDF. Accessible via admin panel or WhatsApp command.
- "Report" via WhatsApp → monthly breakdown sent instantly
- Admin panel: /reports → select owner + vehicle + month
- PDF export for records, accountants, or disputes
- Advance and transaction filters by vehicle, status, month
- Media gallery for all receipts and inspection photos
Owner & Driver Management
Admin staff set up owners, vehicles, and drivers via the web panel. Owners can add drivers directly via WhatsApp. Every person is identified by their registered phone number.
- Admin web: /owners, /vehicles, /drivers with inline edit
- Owner command: "Add driver Themba 0721111222" → guided flow
- Soft-delete (Recycle Bin) with restore support
- Role-based access: admin, owner, driver, owner-driver
- Vehicle–driver assignments managed in both channels
Built on Google Cloud.
Hosted in South Africa.
Every component of FleetNala runs on GCP africa-south1 (Johannesburg). Data does not leave South Africa — a deliberate architectural decision that supports POPIA compliance and reduces latency for local users.
The WhatsApp-to-API pipeline processes messages in under a second. Replies are sent asynchronously so the webhook returns HTTP 200 immediately, keeping WhatsApp Business API happy regardless of processing complexity.
Protection of Personal Information Act
FleetNala is designed with POPIA principles in mind. Below is a summary of how each of the eight conditions for lawful processing is addressed in the platform.
Data residency: All personal data collected by FleetNala is stored exclusively within South Africa on Google Cloud infrastructure (GCP africa-south1, Johannesburg). Data does not leave South Africa as part of normal platform operation.
Accountability
The fleet owner is the responsible party for their drivers' personal information. FleetNala acts as the operator — processing data strictly on instruction. Owners accept this responsibility on registration.
Processing Limitation
Only information necessary to run the fleet management service is collected: driver name and phone number, advance amounts and categories, odometer readings, inspection photos, and fines. No ID numbers, bank account details, or health data are collected.
Purpose Specification
Data is collected solely for fleet cost management — tracking advances, expenses, vehicle condition, and producing financial reports. It is never used for advertising, profiling, or sold to third parties.
Further Processing Limitation
Data is shared only with the sub-processors required to deliver the service: Google Cloud (Firestore, Cloud Run, Cloud Storage), WhatsApp/Meta for message delivery, and Firebase Authentication for admin login. No other sharing occurs.
Information Quality
Owners and admins can update or correct driver, vehicle, and owner records at any time via the admin panel. Records can also be soft-deleted and restored.
Openness
Fleet owners can view all data held about their fleet via the admin panel. On request, a full data export can be provided from Firestore by the FleetNala administrator.
Security Safeguards
All data in transit is protected by HTTPS (TLS). All data at rest is encrypted by Google Cloud (AES-256 for Firestore and Cloud Storage). The admin panel requires Firebase Authentication. API endpoints require a server-side admin key. WhatsApp identity is verified by registered phone number only.
Data Subject Participation
Drivers and owners can request deletion or correction of their data by contacting their fleet owner or the FleetNala administrator. The admin panel supports both soft-delete (Recycle Bin) and permanent deletion of any record.
Data Retention
Active records are retained for the duration of the fleet relationship. Inactive (soft-deleted) records are held in the Recycle Bin until permanently deleted by the admin. WhatsApp message logs are retained for audit purposes. Owners are responsible for managing their data lifecycle via the admin panel.
Third-Party Sub-Processors
Sub-processors handling personal data: Google Cloud (Firestore, Cloud Run, Cloud Storage) in GCP africa-south1; WhatsApp/Meta for message delivery (phone numbers and message text only); Firebase Authentication for hashed login credentials managed by Google.
For data subject requests, record deletions, or POPIA-related queries regarding FleetNala, contact the registered fleet owner or the FleetNala administrator. To discuss the platform or explore a deployment for your fleet, contact CloudNala directly.
Interested in FleetNala for your fleet?
FleetNala is a CloudNala-built product. Reach out to discuss access, customisation, or a deployment tailored to your fleet.