TRAILER UTILIZATION SYSTEMS, METHODS, COMPUTER PROGRAMS EMBODIED ON COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIA, AND APPARATUSES

• US 20150199644A1
• Filed: 03/24/2015
• Published: 07/16/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• 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: SIRIS, MARC III
• Granted Patent: US 10,304,028 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0835 Relationships between shipper or supplier and carriers

Abstract

The disclosed systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer programs embodied on computer-readable media may enable a shipping carrier to determine the utilization of a trailer in a delivery network by receiving and aggregating disparate types and sources of shipping information, including, for example, package billing data from a customer order, scan data from the loading and unloading of packages transported by the trailer, dimensional data received from dimensional scans of packages at carrier shipping hubs, and/or trailer data including the volume of the trailer. Utilization may be determined for each trailer in a carrier delivery network or for a subset of trailers in the network. The determined utilizations may be used to determine the parameters for an optimized delivery network, which may include the addition, elimination, and/or modification of the delivery schedule. Network optimization may be an iterative process that may be continually performed using continually updated trailer utilization statistics.

Claims

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

a first executable portion for receiving an indication of one or more packages assigned to a trailer;

a second executable portion for determining one or more dimensions of each package assigned to the trailer; and

a third executable portion for determining the utilization of the trailer based at least in part on the one or more dimensions of each of the packages assigned to the trailer by;

determining a weight of each package assigned to the trailer;

determining the volume of each package assigned to the trailer, wherein the volume of at least one package is determined based at least in part on a historical average package volume based on the weight of the at least one package;

calculating the total volume of the packages assigned to the trailer; and

dividing the total volume by the available volume associated with the trailer to determine the percent utilization of the trailer.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the first executable portion further comprises an executable portion for receiving the indication of the one or more packages assigned to a trailer as the one or more packages are scanned at a hub.

3. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the second executable portion further comprises an executable portion for receiving one or more actual dimensions from a customer at the time of shipment of the corresponding package.

4. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the second executable portion further comprises an executable portion for receiving one or more estimated dimensions from a customer at the time of shipment of the corresponding package.

5. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the second executable portion further comprises an executable portion for receiving the one or more dimensions of each package assigned to the trailer from a dimensional scanner.

6. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the one or more dimensions of each package assigned to the trailer comprise height, width, and length.

7. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the third executable portion further comprises an executable portion for receiving the actual weight of each package assigned to the trailer from a customer at the time of shipment.

8. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the third executable portion further comprises an executable portion for receiving the estimated weight of each package assigned to the trailer from a customer at the time of shipment.

9. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising a fourth executable portion for determining the utilization of each of a plurality of trailers used in a delivery network.

10. A method comprising:

receiving by a network entity over a wired or wireless communication network an indication of one or more packages assigned to a trailer;

determining by the network entity a weight of each package assigned to the trailer;

determining by the network entity one or more dimensions of each package assigned to the trailer, wherein the volume of at least one package is determined based at least in part on a historical average package volume based on the weight of the at least one package;

determining by the network entity the volume of each package assigned to the trailer;

calculating by the network entity the total volume of the packages assigned to the trailer; and

determining by the network entity the utilization of the trailer based at least in part on the total volume of the packages assigned to the trailer.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the indication of one or more packages assigned to a trailer is received from a scanner as the one or more packages are scanned at a hub

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more dimensions of each package assigned to the trailer comprise one or more actual dimensions received from a customer computing device at the time of shipment of the corresponding package.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more dimensions of each package assigned to the trailer comprise one or more estimated dimensions received from a customer computing device at the time of shipment of the corresponding package.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more dimensions of each package assigned to the trailer are received from a dimensional scanner.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more dimensions of each package assigned to the trailer comprise height, width, and length.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein determining the utilization further comprises:

dividing by the network entity the total volume by an available volume associated with the trailer to determine the percent utilization of the trailer.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the weight of each package assigned to the trailer comprises an actual weight received from a customer computing device at the time of shipment of the corresponding package.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the weight of each package assigned to the trailer comprises an estimated weight received from a customer computing device at the time of shipment of the corresponding package.

19. The method of claim 10, wherein the volume of a package assigned to the trailer is determined based at least in part on a historical average package volume based on a weight of the package.

20. The method from claim 10 further comprising determining by the network entity the utilization of each of a plurality of trailers used in a delivery network.