Container tracking + fleet maintenance alerts (ITP, RCA, service)

Two different operators brought me the same theme, around the same time, from different angles: one was losing track of the containers sent to clients (how many, where, which are free), the other was tracking ITP (roadworthiness inspection) and RCA (mandatory car insurance) deadlines for the fleet in a manually updated Excel file, with the obvious risk that someone would forget to check it in time. Both problems share the same root — information that exists, but lives outside the system, dependent on someone's memory or discipline.

Container tracking

The new "Containers" module keeps a simple but complete list: each container has a code, a type, a capacity, an ownership status (owned or rented), and a current status — in the depot, at a client, or in service. The difference from a static list is that the status isn't edited manually — it's calculated automatically from the last recorded movement (pickup, drop-off, relocation, or entering service), the same way stock tracking already works elsewhere in the app. In practice, the operator doesn't "set" a container's status — it's derived from what actually happened to it.

The list page has a status filter, and each container's detail page shows the full chronological history of movements, with a simple form for adding a new one. For an operator working with dozens of containers spread across different clients, "where is container X" or "how many containers do I still have free in the depot" becomes a glance, not a round of phone calls.

Fleet maintenance alerts

On the vehicle and equipment side, every owned vehicle can now have expiry dates recorded for ITP, RCA, and scheduled service. A separate equipment registry also appeared (scales, for example), with a metrological verification date — because this equipment also has legal deadlines that, if missed, expose the operator to risks similar to those of an unregistered vehicle.

An automated job runs daily and sends an email at 30, 14, and 7 days remaining before expiry, for each deadline separately. The deduplication rule is designed not to be annoying: once the 7-day alert has been sent, the system doesn't resend the 14-day alert for the same deadline — it always moves toward the stricter threshold, never back. The dashboard also shows a banner with the number of vehicles and equipment items with approaching deadlines, linking directly to the Settings page where the dates are edited inline and where equipment is fully managed — add, edit, delete.

Why it matters for an operator

A spreadsheet with manually tracked deadlines has one real weakness: it depends on someone remembering to check it periodically. A vehicle stopped in traffic with an expired ITP or RCA means a fine and, worse, being taken off the road — right when you need it for a scheduled pickup. A scale without an up-to-date metrological check can invalidate the weighing documents generated with it, with implications far more serious than a simple administrative fine.

Moving these deadlines from Excel into the system doesn't change the legal obligation — it changes who's responsible for remembering. Instead of depending on one person's discipline with a shared file, the alert goes out automatically, at the right moment, to someone who can act on it, regardless of whether that person remembered to check manually that day.