Demand scheduled partial carrier load planning system for the transportation industry
DCFirst Claim
1. An apparatus for determining instructions for moving a plurality of orders in a geographic territory using a single carrier, each said order having an independent origin and destination point in said territory, said plurality of orders being selected from a larger pool of orders in the territory, said apparatus comprising:
- a) means specifying a data representation of an artificial network containing a plurality of vectorized shipping paths in the territory;
b) means for entering order data to form order records, each order record defining an order;
c) means for organizing and accessing a plurality of order records defining said pool of orders;
d) means for determining a vector representation of the path from the origin to the destination for each order in said pool;
e) means for matching the vector representations of the order paths to one or more of said vectorized shipping paths of the data representation;
f) means for selecting from the matches a group of order records corresponding to orders that can be carried by a single carrier between their respective origins and destinations;
g) means for determining move sequence instructions for the carrier to pick up and deliver the orders corresponding to the selected order records; and
h) means for reporting said move sequence instructions.
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Abstract
Method and apparatus for a demand scheduled partial carrier load planning system for the transportation industry, designed to distribute planned and random orders, each order having a source point and a destination point in the territory served, and for distributing products and materials in a predetermined geographic territory, primarily intended for use in connection with wheeled vehicles traveling over public highways.
285 Citations
48 Claims
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1. An apparatus for determining instructions for moving a plurality of orders in a geographic territory using a single carrier, each said order having an independent origin and destination point in said territory, said plurality of orders being selected from a larger pool of orders in the territory, said apparatus comprising:
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a) means specifying a data representation of an artificial network containing a plurality of vectorized shipping paths in the territory; b) means for entering order data to form order records, each order record defining an order; c) means for organizing and accessing a plurality of order records defining said pool of orders; d) means for determining a vector representation of the path from the origin to the destination for each order in said pool; e) means for matching the vector representations of the order paths to one or more of said vectorized shipping paths of the data representation; f) means for selecting from the matches a group of order records corresponding to orders that can be carried by a single carrier between their respective origins and destinations; g) means for determining move sequence instructions for the carrier to pick up and deliver the orders corresponding to the selected order records; and h) means for reporting said move sequence instructions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. For use with a system for moving a plurality of individual orders from one point to another in a geographic territory using a single carrier, wherein the orders each have an independent origin and destination point in said territory and are to be carried in the same general direction, an apparatus for selecting the individual orders from a pool of orders and providing instructions to a user for consolidating the selected orders into a carrier load for transport, comprising:
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a) means for identifying from the order records those orders in the pool which are greater than a certain minimum size; b) means for grouping certain orders into carrier loads with the constraint that the group must form a carrier load above a certain minimum size and below the capacity limit of the carrier; c) means for reporting instructions for moving the loads in the group using the carrier, d) means for maintaining a record of when the carrier will be or is passing through a particular local area other than the originating area; and e) means for producing instructions to assign an additional load originating in the particular local area other than the originating area to be loaded carrier passing therethrough, provided the carrier is travelling along a path corresponding to the path of the load and there is room for the load on the carrier, and for reporting the instructions to a user.
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11. For use with a system for moving a plurality of orders from one point to another in a geographic territory using a carrier fleet, wherein each said order has an independent origin and destination point in said territory, and the carriers move from one area to another in the territory when moving the order, an apparatus for providing instructions for correcting imbalances in the supply and demand for carriers in local areas of the territory, comprising:
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a) means defining a plurality of local areas in the territory; b) means for maintaining a record of the position of empty carriers in each local area; c) means for specifying local areas where there is a shortage or is likely to be a shortage of carriers to move loads from origins in the areas, and means for identifying local areas where there is an excess of carriers or is likely to be an excess of carriers to move loads from origins in the areas; and d) means for determining instructions for when to move empty carriers from local areas of excess carriers to areas of shortage comprising; i) means for forecasting the inbound and outbound order volume for a given area over a given time interval, ii) means for forecasting the availability of empty carriers in the given area during the same time interval, and iii) means for reporting instructions on which empty carriers to reposition from areas of excess carriers to areas with a shortage of carriers. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. For use with a system for moving a plurality of individual orders from one point to another in a geographic territory using a single carrier, wherein the orders each have an independent origin and destination point in said territory and are to be carried in the same general direction, and have origins in the same general area, an apparatus for selecting the individual orders from a pool of orders and providing instructions for consolidating the selected orders into a carrier load, and for transporting the consolidated orders, comprising:
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a) means for specifying data representation of an artificial network containing a plurality of vectorized shipping paths in the territory and means specifying order records for the orders for each shipping path; b) means for searching the order records and identifying those orders in the pool which are greater than a certain minimum size; c) means for grouping certain identified orders into a carrier load with the constraint that the group must form a carrier load above a certain minimum size and below the capacity limit of the carrier; and d) means for reporting instructions for moving the carrier load using the carrier. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for moving a plurality of orders in a geographic territory using a single carrier, each said order having an independent origin and destination point in said territory, said plurality of orders being selected from a larger pool of orders in the territory, comprising the steps of:
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1) operating a computer to perform the steps of; a) maintaining a definition on an artificial network in the territory comprising a plurality of vectorized shipping paths; b) determining a vector representation of the path from the origin to the destination for each order in said pool; c) matching the vector representations of the order paths to corresponding ones of said vectorized shipping paths; d) selecting from the matches a group of orders that can be carried out by a single carrier between their respective origins and destinations; e) determining a move sequence for the carrier specifying the pick up and delivery of orders; and 2) moving the group of orders using the carrier in accordance with the move sequence. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. In a system for moving a plurality of individual orders from one point to another in a geographic territory using a single carrier, wherein the orders each have an independent origin and destination point in said territory and are to be carried in the same general direction, a method for selecting the individual orders from a pool of orders, consolidating the selected orders for a carrier load, and transporting the consolidated orders, comprising the steps of:
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1) operating a computer to perform the step of; a) maintaining a record of said orders in said pool; b) identifying those orders in the pool which are greater than a certain minimum size; c) grouping certain orders into carrier loads with the constraint that the group must form a carrier load above a certain minimum size and below the capacity limit of the carrier; 2) moving the loads in the group using the carrier; and 3) further operating the computer to perform the steps of; a) maintaining a record of when the carrier will be or is passing through a particular local area other than the originating area; and b) assigning a load originating in the particular local area to a loaded carrier passing therethrough provided the carrier is travelling along a path corresponding to the path of the load and there is room for the load on the carrier.
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35. In a system for moving a plurality of orders from one point to another in a geographic territory using a carrier fleet, wherein each said order has an independent origin and destination point in said territory, and the carriers move from one area to another in the territory when moving the order, a method for correcting imbalances in the supply and demand for carriers in local areas of the territory, comprising the steps of:
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1) operating a computer to perform the steps of; a) maintaining a definition of a plurality of local areas in the territory; b) maintaining a record of the position of empty carriers in each local area; c) identifying local areas where there is a shortage or is likely to be a shortage of carriers to move loads from origins in the areas, and identifying local areas where there is an excess of carriers or is likely to be an excess of carriers to move loads from origins in the areas; and d) determining instructions for movement of empty carriers from local areas of excess carriers to areas of shortage according to the following criteria; i) forecasting the inbound and outbound order volume for a given area over a given time interval; ii) forecasting the availability of empty carriers in the given area during the same time interval; and iii) repositioning empty carriers from areas of excess carriers to areas with a shortage of carriers; 2) moving empty carriers from local areas of excess carriers to areas of shortage according to said instructions. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37)
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38. In a system for moving a plurality of individual orders from one point to another in a geographic territory using a single carrier, wherein the orders each have an independent origin and destination point in said territory, are to be carried in the same general direction, and have origins in the same general area, a method for selecting the individual orders from a pool of orders, consolidating the selected orders into a carrier load, and transporting the consolidated orders, comprising the steps of:
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1) operating a computer to perform the steps of; a) specifying a data representation of an artificial network containing a plurality of vectorized shipping paths in the territory and maintaining a record of orders in said pool for each shipping path; b) identifying those orders in the pool which are greater than a certain minimum size; c) grouping certain identified orders into a carrier load with the constraint that the group must form a carrier load above a certain minimum size and below the capacity limit of the carrier; and 2) moving the load in the group using the carrier. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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Specification