System for Resolving Distressed Shipments
First Claim
1. A cooperative system for resolving a distressed shipment during transport, the distressed shipment characterized by one or more parcels bound for a consignee and rendered undeliverable by an exception event, the cooperative system comprising:
- at least one shipper of the one or more parcels;
a carrier in communication with the shipper, the carrier to receive the one or more parcels from the shipper, attempt delivery to the consignee, and record the exception event; and
a primary trap for holding the distressed shipment during a finite intervention time window, the time window having sufficient duration to allow the shipper to contact the consignee and receive a consignee instruction,the carrier to complete the transport in accordance with the consignee instruction.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A cooperative system and an associated method are provided for resolving a distressed shipment during transport by a carrier, where the distressed shipment includes one or more parcels rendered temporarily undeliverable by an exception event while in transit from a shipper to a consignee. The inventive method involves the shipper in the task of contacting the consignee for the additional information necessary to resolve the shipment. The system creates a cooperative of participating shippers and carriers, working together to complete a shipment and thereby avoid the delay and expense associated with a premature or unnecessary return.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A cooperative system for resolving a distressed shipment during transport, the distressed shipment characterized by one or more parcels bound for a consignee and rendered undeliverable by an exception event, the cooperative system comprising:
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at least one shipper of the one or more parcels; a carrier in communication with the shipper, the carrier to receive the one or more parcels from the shipper, attempt delivery to the consignee, and record the exception event; and a primary trap for holding the distressed shipment during a finite intervention time window, the time window having sufficient duration to allow the shipper to contact the consignee and receive a consignee instruction, the carrier to complete the transport in accordance with the consignee instruction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An electronic distressed shipments resolution system, each of the distressed shipments comprising one or more parcels rendered temporarily undeliverable by an exception event while in transit from a shipper to a consignee, the system comprising:
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a viewer application residing on a central processor, the viewer application configured to display a current table of the distressed shipments, the current table comprising a list associated with each of the distressed shipments, the list comprising a unique identifier field; and a resolution application residing on the central processor, in communication with the viewer application, the resolution application configured to receive an input from a user selecting a certain distressed shipment from the current table, receive a resolution code from the user for the certain distressed shipment, and store the resolution code in a record associated with the certain distressed shipment. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A cooperative system for resolving a distressed shipment during transport, the distressed shipment characterized by one or more parcels rendered undeliverable by an exception event during transport by a carrier from a shipper to a consignee, the system comprising:
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wireless handheld device configured to; detect an exception event, wherein detecting the exception event comprises receiving an exception code at a carrier computer system, wherein the (a) wireless handheld device is operated by a driver attempting delivery of a shipment and (b) exception code indicates that the shipment is distressed and undeliverable to a consignee, a carrier computer system configured to; assign a carrier code from a plurality of carrier codes, the carrier code correlated to the exception code and indicating that the shipment is distressed and undeliverable to the consignee, initiate a hold command, wherein the hold command indicates that the distressed shipment should be stored in a trap during a finite intervention time window, and transmit (a) the exception code, (b) the carrier code, or (c) both to a shipper computer system, and a shipper computer system configured to; receive input identifying the consignee'"'"'s instructions about the disposition of the distressed shipment, assign a resolution code from a plurality of resolution codes, the resolution code correlated to the consignee'"'"'s instructions, and transmit the resolution code to the carrier computer system.
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Specification