Method for collecting and disseminating available-load information for the trucking industry
First Claim
1. A method for conveying available-load information within the trucking industry comprising the steps of:
- receiving from a plurality of providers messages related to available-loads to be shipped, each message including at least a voiced provider identification and accompanied by a geographical location of origination;
storing each of said received messages at a controller according to an address which corresponds to a geographical location of origination for the respective available-load, the controller having a plurality of addresses and each said address adapted to store a plurality of received messages; and
conveying to any one of a plurality of solicitors, from an address selected by said any one solicitor which is representative of a desired geographical location of origination, all of the messages previously stored in said selected address by the plurality of providers, including the voiced provider identifications associated therewith.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for collecting and disseminating available load information for the trucking industry utilizes a telephone-accessible controller which enables providers of loads to record into memory voiced messages related to loads currently available for shipment by truck. Each message is stored in memory at an address which represents a telephone area code used in the geographical region where the load will originate. Each message may contain one or more entries, with each entry representing an available load and including at least a provider identification and a load destination. Solicitors contact the controller by telephone, select the area code/memory address for a geographical region where a load is needed, and then listen to a playback of all the recorded entries for available-loads originating from that geographical area code/memory address. Thereafter, the solicitor selects an available-load and contacts the provider of that load by separate telephone call. The provider may then call the controller to erase from the controller'"'"'s memory the entry describing the available-load.
22 Citations
10 Claims
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1. A method for conveying available-load information within the trucking industry comprising the steps of:
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receiving from a plurality of providers messages related to available-loads to be shipped, each message including at least a voiced provider identification and accompanied by a geographical location of origination; storing each of said received messages at a controller according to an address which corresponds to a geographical location of origination for the respective available-load, the controller having a plurality of addresses and each said address adapted to store a plurality of received messages; and conveying to any one of a plurality of solicitors, from an address selected by said any one solicitor which is representative of a desired geographical location of origination, all of the messages previously stored in said selected address by the plurality of providers, including the voiced provider identifications associated therewith. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for conveying available load information from providers to solicitors in the trucking industry comprising the steps of:
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receiving from a plurality of providers message entries related to available loads to be shipped, each message entry including at least a voiced provider identification and a geographical destination and accompanied by a geographical location of origination; storing each of said received message entries at a controller according to an address which represents a telephone area code corresponding to a geographical location of origin of the available load; conveying to any one of a plurality of solicitors, from an address selected by said any one solicitor, all of the message entries stored therein, including the voiced provider identifications associated therewith; and removing, in response to instructions by providers, stored message entries related to available-loads that are no longer available.
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Specification