Mobile Application Deployment Checklist

Sit down with dispatch leads and the safety director to confirm what ships in v1.0: HOS clock visibility, DVIR submission, dispatch messaging, document capture (BOL/POD photos), and accessorial logging. Capture sign-off so feature creep does not slip the launch — anything not signed off here ships in v1.1.

If the app records driving hours, the underlying ELD must appear on the FMCSA Registered ELDs list and meet 49 CFR 395.20 technical specs. Pull the registration ID, the supported tractor ECMs, and the malfunction-handling behavior so audits and roadside inspections have ready answers.

Force TLS 1.3 on the API gateway and reject anything older. HOS, MVR data, and driver PII flow through this pipe — TLS 1.0/1.1 endpoints showing up in a pen test become an audit finding fast.

Scope the test to the mobile binary, the backend API, and the authentication flow. A reputable firm produces a written report with CVSS-scored findings; allow at least two weeks between report delivery and launch so critical findings can be remediated and retested.

Categorize every finding by CVSS severity. Critical and High block launch; Medium and Low can ship with a tracked remediation ticket. Document the decision and rationale per finding — security audits will ask.

Fix the issue, ship a patched build to the pen-test firm, and obtain a written retest letter clearing each Critical/High item. Do not launch without the retest letter on file — insurance and shipper security questionnaires will request it.

Drivers operate the app from a windshield mount with one hand, often wearing gloves. Tap targets need to be large, the duty-status switch needs to be reachable with a thumb, and any modal that locks the screen while moving must comply with the ELD driver-distraction rules in Part 395.

Contrast ratios for sunlight readability, VoiceOver and TalkBack labels on every actionable control, dynamic-type support up to 200%. Older drivers and drivers with corrective lenses are a meaningful share of the user base.

Keep it under eight minutes. Cover login, the pre-trip DVIR flow, duty-status changes, dispatch messaging, BOL/POD photo capture, and how to log a malfunction. Drivers will watch this on a phone in a sleeper berth — assume that environment.

Dispatchers and the safety team are the front line when drivers call in with app problems. Walk through the top eight expected issues — login failure, ELD sync error, GPS drift, photo upload stall, dispatch message lost, duty-status edit, malfunction code, password reset — and the named owner for each.

Sentry or Crashlytics on the binary, Mixpanel or Amplitude on the event stream. Tag releases so you can compare crash-free session rates across versions during the rollout. Alert on any single error class exceeding 1% of sessions.

Drivers will not open a Zendesk ticket; they will call dispatch. Wire the in-app help button to a phone number staffed during dispatch hours, with after-hours routing to the on-call dispatcher. Track first-contact resolution and recurring issues weekly.

Pick a launch day that is not a Friday and not the day before a holiday. Have the safety director, lead dispatcher, and shop manager on standby for two hours after the App Store push goes live. Hold the legacy logging app in place as a rollback option.

Pull the crash-free session rate daily from Sentry or Crashlytics. Anything below 99.5% on Android or 99.7% on iOS by day three is a signal to investigate root cause and consider rollback. HOS-recording crashes are especially serious — driving time may be lost.

Stage the prior-version binary in the App Store and Play Store, push a forced-update prompt to active driver devices, and notify dispatch to expect calls. Preserve the crashed-version logs and Sentry events for the post-mortem.