--- title: Send an SMS from the transport order, even to people without the app description: The LiteTMS SMS module texts an order's drivers, carriers and site contacts, with templates, AI help and the SMS count shown before you send. slug: sms-from-transport-order locale: en date: 2026-09-23 updated: 2026-09-23 category: product-updates tags: sms, drivers, orders, communication, modules cover: https://cdn.litetms.eu/blog/2026/09/scr-20260923-ipea-cover.jpg cover_web: https://cdn.litetms.eu/blog/2026/09/scr-20260923-ipea-web.webp cover_thumb: https://cdn.litetms.eu/blog/2026/09/scr-20260923-ipea-thumb.webp cover_alt: SMS tab in a LiteTMS transport order with the order's driver selected as a recipient, a message field with a character counter, Improve with AI and Templates buttons, and an SMS summary author: LiteTMS Team draft: false --- With the SMS module, you send a text message straight from a transport order in LiteTMS: to the drivers assigned to it, to contact people at the contractor or a subcontracted carrier, to the site contacts at loading and unloading points, or to any number you type in. It arrives as an ordinary SMS, so the recipient does not need LiteTMS Mobile, and a record of what was sent stays with the order. The module itself is free; each SMS is charged at the standard rate shown in your billing panel. ## The app covers your drivers, not everyone on the job Your own drivers can talk to the office in the [company chat in LiteTMS Mobile](/en/blog/dispatcher-chat-mobile-app), with photos, voice notes and the whole history in one thread. That covers a large part of the daily conversation. A transport order, though, often involves people who will never install your app: the driver of a subcontracted carrier, a warehouse clerk waiting for the delivery, the customer's contact at the unloading point, or a new driver who has not logged in yet. For them, the quickest channel is still a text message. Without a place for it in the system, that message goes from someone's own phone. The number is copied out of the order, the text is typed on a small keyboard, and the exchange stays on a device no colleague can see. Whoever takes over the order in the afternoon has no way of knowing what was agreed in the morning. The SMS module puts that message in the order, next to everything else about the job. ## Recipients come from the order itself Open the order and go to the SMS tab. LiteTMS lists the people the order already knows, grouped by role: - drivers assigned to the order, with an **All drivers** button that selects them in one click, - the order contact, - the contractor's contact persons and company phone numbers, - contacts saved on the route points, - contacts and company numbers of carriers handling subcontracted legs. Tick the people you need. If a number is not on the list, type it into **Other number** with its country code, for example +48. A number saved without a country code is shown but cannot be selected, with a note explaining why, so someone can correct it in the right profile instead of it being skipped without a word. One message can go to up to 20 numbers, and each recipient gets it as a separate SMS. ## You see how many SMS a message takes before you send it A text message has a fixed size. Written in basic letters, one SMS holds 160 characters. A single letter outside the standard SMS alphabet, such as the Polish ą, ę or ł or any Cyrillic letter, switches the whole message to a format that holds 70. A short note about a new unloading time can quietly turn into two or three SMS for every recipient. The counter under the message shows characters, SMS and the format in use while you type. The **Send with basic letters only (é → e, ł → l, ü → u)** switch turns special letters from any language into basic ones (the Polish ą into a, the German ß into ss) and writes other alphabets, such as Cyrillic, in Latin letters. It tells you how many SMS that saves per recipient, and **Show what recipients receive** displays the text exactly as it will arrive. If your company wants basic letters in every message, an administrator can make that the rule under **Special letters** in the SMS settings. The summary beside the message does the arithmetic: recipients, SMS per recipient and SMS in total, with the price per SMS from your panel and the monthly free allowance where one applies. A send of 10 SMS or more asks for confirmation before anything goes out. ## Templates and AI for the messages you repeat Some messages get written several times a week: a new loading slot, a reminder about documents, directions to the right gate. Save such a message as a template, pick it next time, overwrite it when the wording changes, and delete it when you no longer need it. **Improve with AI** helps when a message is too long or unclear. It can tidy the wording, shorten the text so it fits into fewer SMS, and rewrite it in basic letters with no emoji. You see the suggestion before it replaces your text. ## What was sent stays with the order Once sent, the message appears under **Sent from this order**: when it went out, who sent it, the text, the number of SMS and the result for each recipient. The same entry shows up on the order's Communication and History tabs, alongside chat messages and emails. A colleague who opens the order later can read it without having to ask. Messages that are not about a specific order have their own place too. On the module's page you pick a contractor or an employee, or type a number, and a list shows every SMS sent from your company. ## How to switch it on SMS is a free module in the LiteTMS [module marketplace](/en/blog/module-marketplace-built-from-company-feedback). Once it is active, the SMS tab appears in orders for users with permission to send. You pay only for the SMS you actually send, at the rate shown in your billing panel. Want to see it on a job like yours? [Contact us](/en/contact) and bring an order with a subcontracted leg. We will show you who can receive a message from it and what it would cost. ## FAQ ### Does the recipient need the LiteTMS Mobile app to receive the SMS? No. The message is an ordinary SMS sent to a phone number, so it goes to any phone that can receive text messages. Your own drivers can keep using the company chat in LiteTMS Mobile. ### How much does sending an SMS from LiteTMS cost? The module itself is free. Each SMS sent is charged at the standard rate shown in your billing panel, and a long message counts as several SMS for every recipient. The summary shows the SMS total and the rate before you send. ### Why does a message with Polish or Cyrillic letters use more SMS? Letters outside the standard SMS alphabet, such as ą, ę, ł or any Cyrillic letter, switch the SMS to a format that holds 70 characters instead of 160. The Send with basic letters only (é → e, ł → l, ü → u) switch turns special letters from any language into basic ones, writes other alphabets in Latin letters and shows how many SMS that saves. ### Can I send one SMS to several drivers at once? Yes. You can select up to 20 numbers for one message, for example with the All drivers button. Each recipient gets a separate SMS, and each one counts towards the total. ### Can I see whether the SMS was delivered? You see whether the message was sent to each number, both in the order and on the module page. The module does not show delivery reports from mobile operators.