SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING PROACTIVE MONITORING, INTERVENTION, AND INSURANCE COVERAGE SERVICES IN A PACKAGE DELIVERY NETWORK

• US 20150039347A1
• Filed: 08/02/2013
• Published: 02/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: United Parcel Service Of America Incorporated (United Parcel Service Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: United Parcel Service Of America Incorporated (United Parcel Service Incorporated)
• Inventors: Sharma, Kranti
• Application Number:
  US13/957,542
• Publication Number:
  US 20150039347A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

Various embodiments provide a system for proactively managing intervention activities associated with the delivery of at least one package and the settlement of costs incurred thereby. The system comprises one or more computer processors configured to receive new PLD data, the new PLD comprising at least an indication of a jeopardy delivery condition triggering the predefined condition associated with and impacting the delivery of the at least one package; determine and identify one of the one or more actions to be taken by the service provider in response to the jeopardy delivery condition, the determination and identification being based at least in part upon a portion of the intervention data; receive an indication of costs incurred due to the identified action being taken; and in response to receiving the indication, determine an appropriate settlement procedure for the costs, the determination being based at least in part upon the insurance data.

Claims

1. A system for proactively managing intervention activities associated with the delivery of at least one package and the settlement of costs incurred thereby, said system comprising:

one or more memory storage areas containing;

(A) customer profile data comprising customer contact data for a customer associated with the delivery of said at least one package, intervention data regarding one or more actions to be taken by a service provider in response to a predefined condition associated with delivery of said at least one package, and insurance data regarding coverage of costs that may be incurred should said one or more actions be taken in response to said predefined condition;

(B) proactive monitoring data including information regarding status of said at least one package; and

(C) package level detail (“

PLD”

) data comprising a carrier tracking number of said package, and a proactive response secure (“

PRS”

) indication associated with said package; and

one or more computer processors configured to;

(A) receive new PLD data, said new PLD comprising at least an indication of a jeopardy delivery condition triggering said predefined condition associated with and impacting the delivery of said at least one package;

(B) determine and identify one of said one or more actions to be taken by said service provider in response to said jeopardy delivery condition, said determination and identification being based at least in part upon a portion of said intervention data;

(C) receive an indication of costs incurred due to said identified action being taken by said service provider; and

(D) in response to receiving said indication of costs incurred, determine an appropriate settlement procedure for said costs, said determination being based at least in part upon said insurance data.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said one or more computer processors are further configured to:

determine whether said jeopardy delivery condition was caused by a delay-related incident or a non-delay related incident; and

wherein;

in response to said jeopardy delivery condition being delay-related, said appropriate settlement procedure facilitates settlement directly between said carrier and said service provider without involvement of said customer; and

in response to said jeopardy delivery condition being non-delay related, said appropriate settlement procedure facilitates reimbursement of said costs to said customer upon receipt of an insurance claim from said customer.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said one or more computer processors are further configured to:

determine whether said jeopardy delivery condition was caused by a delay-related incident or a non-delay related incident;

in response to determining said jeopardy delivery condition was caused by a delay-related incident, identify said delay-related incident as a delay associated with a vehicle conveying the at least one package;

when identifying said identified action to be taken in view of said delay-related incident, identify said action as a rerouting of the at least one package via a third party air freight carrier; and

when determining said appropriate settlement procedure, identify such as a settlement directly between said carrier and said third party air freight carrier without involvement of said customer, said identification being based at least in part upon said insurance data.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said one or more computer processors are further configured to:

determine whether said jeopardy delivery condition was caused by a delay-related incident or a non-delay related incident;

in response to determining said jeopardy delivery condition was caused by a non-delay-related incident, identify said delay-related incident as pertaining to the temperature of the at least one package during conveyance by a vehicle;

when identifying said identified action to be taken in view of said non-delay-related incident, identify said action as an action that pertains to temperature stabilization of the at least one package via services offered by a third party service provider; and

when determining said appropriate settlement procedure, identify such as a settlement between said customer and said third party service provider followed by submission of a reimbursement claim by said customer for processing based at least in part upon said insurance data.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein said action that pertains to temperature stabilization of the at least one package comprises at least one of dry ice replenishment or refrigeration of the at least one package.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said one or more computer processors are further configured to, upon determining and identifying said at least one of said one or more actions to be taken by said service provider in response to said jeopardy delivery condition, further generate a notification indicating the identified action to be taken, the package tracking number, and a request for instructions.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein said notification further includes an indication of expected costs to be incurred upon taking said at least one identified action.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein two or more actions are identified and said request for instructions includes an option for a recipient of said notification to select a single one of said two or more action to be taken.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein said notification is transmitted to at least said customer and upon receipt of instructions from said customer, said one or more processors are configured to facilitate execution of said identified action by said service provider.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein said one or more computer processors are further configured to:

upon receiving an indication of costs incurred due to said identified action being taken by said service provider, generate a notification, said notification indicating the action taken, the package tracking number, and the costs incurred due to the action being taken;

determine whether said jeopardy delivery condition was caused by a delay-related incident or a non-delay related incident;

in response to said jeopardy delivery condition being delay-related, transmit said notification to said carrier and said service provider so as to facilitate settlement directly between said carrier and said service provider without involvement of said customer; and

in response to said jeopardy delivery condition being non-delay related, transmit said notification to said customer to facilitate reimbursement of said costs to said customer upon receipt of an insurance claim from said customer.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein said insurance data regarding coverage of costs that may be incurred is automatically generated and associated with said at least one package upon identification of said at least one package for proactive response status, said proactive response status being determined at least in part upon said customer profile data.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein said coverage of costs via said insurance data is automatically applied without said customer having to declare a value of any items within said at least one package.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein said one or more computer processors are further configured to generate one or more invoices for said proactive response and said secure insurance services, said services being identified as a single line item on said invoice.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein said services are applied against said customer profile data as a single flat rate, said single flat rate being independent from said actual costs incurred.

15. A computer-implemented method for proactively managing intervention activities associated with the delivery of at least one package and the settlement of costs incurred thereby, said method comprising the steps of:

(A) receiving and storing within one or more memory storage areas;

i. customer profile data comprising customer contact data for a customer associated with the delivery of said at least one package, intervention data regarding one or more actions to be taken by a service provider in response to a predefined condition associated with delivery of said at least one package, and insurance data regarding coverage of costs that may be incurred should said one or more actions be taken in response to said predefined condition;

ii. proactive monitoring data including information regarding status of said at least one package; and

iii. package level detail (“

PLD”

) data comprising a carrier tracking number of said package, and a proactive response secure (“

PRS”

) indication associated with said package; and

(B) receiving new PLD data, said new PLD comprising at least an indication of a jeopardy delivery condition triggering said predefined condition associated with and impacting the delivery of said at least one package;

(C) determining and identifying one of said one or more actions to be taken by said service provider in response to said jeopardy delivery condition, said determination and identification being based at least in part upon a portion of said intervention data;

(D) receiving an indication of costs incurred due to said identified action being taken by said service provider; and

(E) in response to receiving said indication of costs incurred, determining an appropriate settlement procedure for said costs, said determination being based at least in part upon said insurance data.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising the steps of:

determining whether said jeopardy delivery condition was caused by a delay-related incident or a non-delay related incident;

in response to said jeopardy delivery condition being delay-related, facilitating settlement directly between said carrier and said service provider without involvement of said customer; and

in response to said jeopardy delivery condition being non-delay related, facilitating reimbursement of said costs to said customer upon receipt of an insurance claim from said customer.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising the steps of:

upon determining and identifying said at least one of said one or more actions to be taken by said service provider in response to said jeopardy delivery condition, generating a notification, said notification indicating the identified action to be taken, the package tracking number, and a request for instructions;

transmitting said notification to at least said customer; and

upon receipt of instructions from said customer, facilitate execution of said identified action by said service provider.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising the steps of:

upon receiving an indication of costs incurred due to said identified action being taken by said service provider, generating a notification, said notification indicating the action taken, the package tracking number, and the costs incurred due to the action being taken;

determining whether said jeopardy delivery condition was caused by a delay-related incident or a non-delay related incident;

in response to said jeopardy delivery condition being delay-related, transmitting said notification to said carrier and said service provider so as to facilitate settlement directly between said carrier and said service provider without involvement of said customer; and

in response to said jeopardy delivery condition being non-delay related, transmitting said notification to said customer to facilitate reimbursement of said costs to said customer upon receipt of an insurance claim from said customer.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising the steps of:

receiving said insurance claim from said customer; and

facilitating processing of said insurance claim so as to complete reimbursement of said costs to said customer.

20. A non-transitory computer program product comprising at least one computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions embodied therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:

(A) a first executable portion configured for receiving a plurality of data, wherein said data comprises;

i. customer profile data comprising customer contact data for a customer associated with the delivery of said at least one package, intervention data regarding one or more actions to be taken by a service provider in response to a predefined condition associated with delivery of said at least one package, and insurance data regarding coverage of costs that may be incurred should said one or more actions be taken in response to said predefined condition;

ii. proactive monitoring data including information regarding status of said at least one package; and

iii. package level detail (“

PLD”

) data comprising a carrier tracking number of said package, a proactive response secure (“

PRS”

) indication associated with said package, and an indication of a jeopardy delivery condition triggering said predefined condition associated with and impacting the delivery of said at least one package; and

(B) a second executable portion configured for determining and identifying one of said one or more actions to be taken by said service provider in response to said jeopardy delivery condition, said determination and identification being based at least in part upon a portion of said intervention data; and

(C) a third executable portion configured for;

(i) receiving an indication of costs incurred due to said identified action being taken by said service provider; and

(ii) in response to receiving said indication of costs incurred, determining an appropriate settlement procedure for said costs, said determination being based at least in part upon said insurance data.