Material hauling and delivery monitoring system

• US 20080011839A1
• Filed: 10/03/2005
• Published: 01/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Joseph David Noll, Nathan Bradley Noll
• Original Assignee: Joseph David Noll, Nathan Bradley Noll
• Inventors: Noll, Joseph David, Noll, Nathan Bradley
• Application Number:
  US11/243,013
• Publication Number:
  US 20080011839A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/384
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management

Abstract

A system and apparatus monitors dump truck loads and activity. A truck picks up a load and haul ticket at one location, such as a gravel or sand pit, and delivers them to another, such as a job fill site. An operator at the job site scans a bar code on the truck to log arrival of the load and creates a scan record of the arriving or departing truck. A touch screen on the scanner may be used to enter optional numeric data from other sources such as the haul ticket or truck odometer. The operator'"'"'s hand-held, cellular- or radio-based scanner connects directly to a centralized data processor and uploads scan records through a wireless, internet-based communication link. From such truck and load data, the processor provides contemporaneous reports via internet connection about truck identifications, load sizes and actual delivery times of loads, enabling efficient, automated job management and accounting for invoicing and job site volume of hauling activity, while displacing the laborious handling of manual haul tickets issued at the pickup site and collected by the operator.

Claims

1. A dump truck load monitoring and site management system for tracking dump trucks moving materials at construction sites, the system comprising

truck identifier means disposed on each one of a plurality of dump trucks so that the plurality of trucks may be individually monitored;

scanner means for scanning the truck identifier means to create scan records for each dump truck load;

job identification means for associating the scan records with a particular job at the construction site;

storage means for electronically storing the scan records;

operator interface means adapted to display a plurality of screens to an operator of the scanner means for allowing the operator to receive information about the scan records and to issue commands with the scanner means;

uploading means for uploading the stored modified scan records;

central processor means for receiving and processing the uploaded scan records; and

report and invoice means for generating construction site management reports and invoices from the processed scan records.

2. The load monitoring and site management system according to claim 1 and further comprising

touch screen means coupled to the scanner means for entry of additional load and truck data.

3. The load monitoring and site management system according to claim 1 and further comprising

printing means adapted to couple to the scanner means for printing haul tickets in response to commands from the scanner.

4. The load monitoring and site management system according to claim 3 wherein the printing means comprises

a wireless transmitter port disposed on the scanner means;

and

a portable ticket printer having a wireless receiver port adapted to align with the transmitter port to receive print commands from the scanner means.

5. The load monitoring and site management system according to claim 1 wherein the truck identifier means comprises

a printed bar code readable by the scanner means.

6. The load monitoring and site management system according to claim 1 wherein the truck identifier means comprises

a radio frequency identification tag.

7. The load monitoring and site management system according to claim 1 wherein the scanner means comprises

a portable, self-contained bar code scanner.

8. The load monitoring and site management system according to claim 1 wherein the job identification means comprises

data downloaded to the scanner means from the central processor for association with each scan record.

9. The load monitoring and site management system according to claim 1 wherein the operator interface means comprises

a screen disposed on a case containing the scanner means;

and

a plurality of buttons on the case for selectively executing a plurality of functions with the scanner means.

10. The load monitoring and site management system according to claim 1 wherein the uploading means comprises

a wireless transmitter adapted to couple to the central processor through an electronic communications network.

11. The load monitoring and site management system according to claim 1 wherein the central processor means comprises

network interface means for coupling to the uploading means;

user interface means for allowing a user to establish and modify a plurality of databases containing

truck capacity and identification data;

scan records; and

job volume and location data;

a computer controller adapted to

receive the uploaded scan records and load data from the scanner means;

associate the scan records and load data with truck and job data to create records in a main databases for each scan record;

analyze the databases to

accumulate load data for all scan records; and

generate construction site management reports.

12. A dump truck load monitoring and site management system for tracking dump trucks moving materials at construction sites, the system comprising

a bar code disposed on each one of a plurality of dump trucks;

an infrared scanner adapted to scan the bar codes and store a scan record for each delivery of a load by a dump truck;

random access memory within the scanner for storing the scan records;

software within the scanner adapted to store the scan records and to upload them for analysis and reporting;

an operator interface disposed on the scanner and adapted to display a plurality of screens to an operator of the scanner means in response to instructions from the software;

an uploading routine within the software for uploading the stored scan records;

a central processor adapted to receive the uploaded scan records and associating them with additional data for processing construction site fill progress; and

report routines executable by the central processor and adapted to generate construction site management reports from the processed scan records.

13. The load monitoring and site management system according to claim 12 wherein the operator interface further comprises

a touch screen generated by the software for entry of additional load and truck data.

14. The load monitoring and site management system according to claim 12 and further comprising

a printer adapted to couple to the scanner to receive commands from the scanner for printing tickets.

15. The load monitoring and site management system according to claim 14 and further comprising

an infrared wireless transmitter disposed on one end of the scanner for transmitting print commands;

and

an infrared wireless receiver disposed on the printer and adapted to align with the transmitter port to receive print commands from the scanner.

16. A method of monitoring dump truck load deliveries at construction sites, the construction sites having a plurality of dump trucks moving excavated materials from one location to another, the method comprising

providing a central processor having preprogrammed construction site data and dump truck owner and capacity data;

providing a scanner for reading a bar code disposed on each dump truck;

then

scanning each bar code as the dump truck arrives at the construction site to create a scan record;

then

associating each scan record with a job site identifier and the date and time the dump truck arrived;

accumulating a plurality of bar code scan records in storage;

then

uploading the accumulated bar code scan records to a central processor through a wireless network;

then

analyzing the uploaded scan records in light of the preprogrammed construction data and capacity data; and

generating a plurality of pre-selected reports from the analyzed data to contrast the accumulated scan records with construction site requirements.

17. The method according to claim 16 and further comprising the steps of

providing touch screen means for entering additional load and truck data into the scanner means;

keying in said additional load and truck data; and

integrating said additional load and truck data with the bar code scan into the scan record.

18. The method according to claim 16 and further comprising the steps of

analyzing the uploaded scan records in light of the preprogrammed dump truck owner and capacity data;

and

generating a plurality of financial reports adapted for use as settlement of payments to the dump truck owners for delivering the excavated materials.