Method And System For Improved User Management Of A Fleet Of Vehicles
First Claim
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1. A system for managing a fleet, the fleet comprising a plurality of rental vehicles, the system comprising:
- a database in which vehicle data is stored, at least a portion of the stored vehicle data corresponding to rental vehicles currently within the fleet;
a computer in communication with the database, the computer being configured to execute a software program in response to user input, the software program being configured to (1) provide a plurality of user interface screens that are configured to receive user input regarding scheduling vehicles for deletion from the fleet, (2) retrieve vehicle data from the database that corresponds to one-way rental activity for rental vehicles within the fleet, (3) determine a quantity of rental vehicles that have been added to the fleet over a predetermined time period as a result of the one-way rental activity, (4) determine a quantity of rental vehicles that have left the fleet over the predetermined time period as a result of the one-way rental activity, and (5) display the determined quantities on at least one of the user interface screens.
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Abstract
A system and method for managing a fleet of vehicles provides users of the system with improved functionality that may include features such as one-way rental activity tracking, user-configurable fleet definitions, monitoring vehicle eligibility for sale as a used vehicle on the basis of pre-existing agreements, the ability to designate fleet vehicles as flex vehicles, the ability to compare one subfleet'"'"'s vehicle residual value estimations with another subfleet'"'"'s vehicle residual value estimations, and the ability to monitor post-purchase events that may adjust a fleet vehicle'"'"'s cost of continued ownership.
27 Citations
68 Claims
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1. A system for managing a fleet, the fleet comprising a plurality of rental vehicles, the system comprising:
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a database in which vehicle data is stored, at least a portion of the stored vehicle data corresponding to rental vehicles currently within the fleet;
a computer in communication with the database, the computer being configured to execute a software program in response to user input, the software program being configured to (1) provide a plurality of user interface screens that are configured to receive user input regarding scheduling vehicles for deletion from the fleet, (2) retrieve vehicle data from the database that corresponds to one-way rental activity for rental vehicles within the fleet, (3) determine a quantity of rental vehicles that have been added to the fleet over a predetermined time period as a result of the one-way rental activity, (4) determine a quantity of rental vehicles that have left the fleet over the predetermined time period as a result of the one-way rental activity, and (5) display the determined quantities on at least one of the user interface screens. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computer-implemented method for managing a fleet, the fleet comprising a plurality of rental vehicles, the method comprising:
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storing vehicle data corresponding to rental vehicles currently within the fleet;
retrieving stored vehicle data that corresponds to one-way rental activity for rental vehicles within the fleet;
processing the retrieved data to (1) determine a quantity of rental vehicles that have been added to the fleet over a predetermined time period as a result of the one-way rental activity and (2) determine a quantity of rental vehicles that have left the fleet over the predetermined time period as a result of the one-way rental activity; and
displaying a plurality of user interface screens that interface a user with a software application that is configured to accept user input regarding scheduling vehicles for deletion from the fleet, wherein at least one of the user interface screens is configured to display the determined quantities thereon. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A system for managing a fleet, the fleet comprising a plurality of vehicles, the system comprising:
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a database in which vehicle data is stored, at least a portion of the stored vehicle data corresponding to vehicles currently within the fleet;
a computer in communication with the database, the computer being configured to execute a software program in response to user input, the software program being configured to (1) display a plurality of user interface screens that are configured to receive user input regarding scheduling vehicles for deletion from the fleet, (2) through at least one of the user interface screens, accept user input corresponding to a plurality of parameters for defining which vehicles for which vehicle data is stored in the database belong to the fleet, (3) retrieve vehicle data from the database corresponding to the vehicles belonging to the fleet defined by the plurality of user-specified parameters, and (4) display at least a subset of the retrieved vehicle data on at least one of the user interface screens. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A computer-implemented method for managing a fleet, the fleet comprising a plurality of vehicles, the method comprising:
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storing vehicle data corresponding to vehicles currently within the fleet;
accepting user input corresponding to a plurality of parameters for defining which vehicles for which vehicle data is stored in the database belong to the fleet;
retrieving vehicle data from the database corresponding to the vehicles belonging to the fleet defined by the plurality of user-specified parameters; and
displaying at least a subset of the retrieved vehicle data on a user interface screen, wherein the user interface screen is part of a set of user interface screens that are configured to receive user input regarding scheduling vehicles for deletion from the fleet. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A system for managing a fleet, the fleet comprising a plurality of vehicles, the system comprising:
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a database in which vehicle data is stored, at least a portion of the stored vehicle data corresponding to vehicles currently within the fleet, wherein a subset of the vehicles within the fleet are not eligible for sale as a used vehicle due to at least one pre-existing agreement, and wherein another subset of the vehicles within the fleet are eligible for sale as a used vehicle;
a computer in communication with the database, the computer being configured to execute a software program in response to user input, the software program being configured to apply a plurality of business rules to the stored vehicle data to determine which vehicles within the fleet are eligible for sale as a used vehicle and which vehicles within the fleet are not eligible for sale as a used vehicle due to the at least one pre-existing agreement. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37)
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35. A computer-implemented method for managing a fleet, the fleet comprising a plurality of vehicles, the method comprising:
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storing vehicle data corresponding to vehicles currently within the fleet, wherein a subset of the vehicles within the fleet are not eligible for sale as a used vehicle due to at least one pre-existing agreement, and wherein another subset of the vehicles within the fleet are eligible for sale as a used vehicle; and
applying a plurality of business rules to the stored vehicle data to determine which vehicles within the fleet are eligible for sale as a used vehicle and which vehicles within the fleet are not eligible for sale as a used vehicle due to the at least one pre-existing agreement. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A system for managing a fleet, the fleet comprising a plurality of vehicles, the system comprising:
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a database in which vehicle data is stored, at least a portion of the stored vehicle data corresponding to vehicles currently within the fleet;
a computer in communication with the database, the computer being configured to execute a software program in response to user input, the software program being configured to (1) accept user input to designate a plurality of vehicles within the fleet as flex vehicles, and (2) accept user input to designate a quantity of vehicles to be deleted from the fleet and sold as a used vehicle, wherein the quantity includes the vehicles that have been designated as flex vehicles. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 46, 47)
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45. A computer-implemented method for managing a fleet, the fleet comprising a plurality of vehicles, the system comprising:
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storing vehicle data corresponding to vehicles currently within the fleet;
accepting user input to designate a plurality of vehicles within the fleet as flex vehicles; and
accepting user input to designate a quantity of vehicles to be deleted from the fleet and sold as a used vehicle; and
wherein the quantity includes the vehicles that have been designated as flex vehicles.
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48. A system for managing a fleet, the fleet comprising a plurality of vehicles, the system comprising:
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a database in which vehicle data is stored, at least a portion of the stored vehicle data corresponding to vehicles currently within the fleet, wherein the fleet includes a plurality of different subfleets;
a computer in communication with the database, the computer being configured to execute a software program in response to user input, the software program being configured to (1) display a user interface screen that is configured to accept user input corresponding to a plurality of residual value estimates for at least one vehicle category within one of the subfleets, wherein this user interface screen includes a user-selectable link, (2) in response to user selection of the user-selectable link, display another user interface screen that lists a plurality of residual value estimates stored in the database for like-categorized vehicles within a plurality of the different subfleets, and (3) store residual value estimates in the database in response to user input. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 59)
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54. A computer-implemented method for managing a fleet, the fleet comprising a plurality of vehicles, the method comprising:
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storing vehicle data corresponding to vehicles currently within the fleet, wherein the fleet includes a plurality of different subfleets;
displaying a user interface screen that is configured to accept user input corresponding to a plurality of residual value estimates for at least one vehicle category within one of the subfleets, wherein this user interface screen includes a user-selectable link;
in response to user selection of the user-selectable link, displaying another user interface screen that lists a plurality of residual value estimates stored in the database for like-categorized vehicles within a plurality of the different subfleets, and storing the residual value estimates in a database in response to user input. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58)
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60. A system for managing a fleet, the fleet comprising a plurality of vehicles, the system comprising:
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a database in which vehicle data is stored, at least a portion of the stored vehicle data corresponding to vehicles currently within the fleet, wherein the vehicle data includes data corresponding to post-purchase events for at least a subset of the vehicles;
a computer in communication with the database, the computer being configured to execute a software program in response to user input, the software program being configured to determine whether a cost of continued ownership for any of the vehicles for which vehicle data is stored in the database has changed as a result of the stored data corresponding to post-purchase vehicle events. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 63, 64)
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65. A computer-implemented method for managing a fleet, the fleet comprising a plurality of vehicles, the method comprising:
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storing vehicle data corresponding to vehicles currently within the fleet, wherein the vehicle data includes data corresponding to post-purchase events for at least a subset of the vehicles; and
determining whether a cost basis for any of the vehicles for which vehicle data is stored in the database has changed as a result of the stored data corresponding to post-purchase vehicle events. - View Dependent Claims (66, 67, 68)
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Specification