System and method for providing a price quotation for a transportation service based on equipment ownership
First Claim
1. A computer readable medium including a program element implementing a graphical user interface (GUI) allowing a railway transportation company to deliver to a customer a quote for .shipping a commodity by rail, the GUI comprising:
- a) an origin and destination field allowing a customer to specify an origin and destination of the shipment, the origin and destination field presenting;
i) a first input component allowing the customer to specify an origin of the shipment of the commodity;
ii) a second input component allowing the customer to specify a destination of the shipment of the commodity;
b) a commodity selection field allowing the customer to specify the commodity to be shipped, the commodity selection field presenting;
i) a third input component allowing the customer to specify a type of commodity to be shipped;
ii) a fourth input component allowing the customer to specify a quantity of the commodity to be shipped;
c) a railcar owner selection field presenting the customer with an input option to specify a railcar owner whose one or more railcars are to be used for shipping the commodity, the specified railcar owner being selected amongst two or more different railcars owners, the input option allowing the customer to specify an entity as railcar owner that is distinct from the railway transportation company;
d) a first control component for allowing the customer to cause a price quote for shipping the commodity to be computed on the basis of multiple factors including the entity specified by the customer as railcar owner;
e) a price quotation field for displaying to the customer the price quote for shipping the commodity computed on the basis of multiple factors including the entity specified by the customer as railcar owner;
f) a second control component presenting the customer with an option to order from the railway transportation company a transportation service for shipping the commodity at the quoted price using one or more railcars owned by the entity specified by the customer as railcar owner.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for computing the price of a railway transportation service for the shipping goods is provided. A computer delivers first information to a user prompting the user to enter at the computer information about a rail route for shipment of goods by one or more railcars. A price for the shipment of the goods is then computed at least in part on the basis of the information about the rail route and the ownership of the one or more railcars. The computer displays to the user the price for the shipment of the goods or, alternatively, the price for the shipment of the goods is provided to the user via other ways such as e-mail, snail-mail or fax.
51 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A computer readable medium including a program element implementing a graphical user interface (GUI) allowing a railway transportation company to deliver to a customer a quote for .shipping a commodity by rail, the GUI comprising:
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a) an origin and destination field allowing a customer to specify an origin and destination of the shipment, the origin and destination field presenting; i) a first input component allowing the customer to specify an origin of the shipment of the commodity; ii) a second input component allowing the customer to specify a destination of the shipment of the commodity; b) a commodity selection field allowing the customer to specify the commodity to be shipped, the commodity selection field presenting; i) a third input component allowing the customer to specify a type of commodity to be shipped; ii) a fourth input component allowing the customer to specify a quantity of the commodity to be shipped; c) a railcar owner selection field presenting the customer with an input option to specify a railcar owner whose one or more railcars are to be used for shipping the commodity, the specified railcar owner being selected amongst two or more different railcars owners, the input option allowing the customer to specify an entity as railcar owner that is distinct from the railway transportation company; d) a first control component for allowing the customer to cause a price quote for shipping the commodity to be computed on the basis of multiple factors including the entity specified by the customer as railcar owner; e) a price quotation field for displaying to the customer the price quote for shipping the commodity computed on the basis of multiple factors including the entity specified by the customer as railcar owner; f) a second control component presenting the customer with an option to order from the railway transportation company a transportation service for shipping the commodity at the quoted price using one or more railcars owned by the entity specified by the customer as railcar owner. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for a railway transportation company to provide a customer with a quote for shipping a commodity by one or more railcars selected from a pool of railcars in which two or more of the railcars have different owners, the method comprising:
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a) receiving at a network server that communicates with a customer'"'"'s computer over a data network; i) information input by the customer that specifies an origin of the shipment of the commodity; ii) information input by the customer that specifies a destination of the shipment of the commodity; iii) information input by the customer that specifies the commodity to be shipped; iv) information input by the customer that specifies a quantity of the commodity to be shipped; v) information input by the customer specifying an entity as owner of a railcar that is to be used for shipping the commodity, the entity specified as owner of the railcar being distinct from the rail transportation company; b) generating a price quote for shipping the commodity computed on the basis of multiple factors including the entity specified by the customer as owner of the railcar that is to be used for shipping the commodity; c) sending information to the customer'"'"'s computer to display the price quote to the customer; d) in response to information received by the network server from the customer'"'"'s computer indicating that the customer has accepted the price quote, then performing the service of shipping the commodity at the quoted price using a railcar owned by the entity specified by the customer. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for a railway transportation company to provide a customer with a quote for shipping a commodity by one or more railcars selected from a pool of railcars in which two or more of the railcars have different owners, the method comprising:
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a) receiving at a network server that communicates with a customer'"'"'s computer over a data network; i) information input by the customer that specifies an origin of the shipment of the commodity; ii) information input by the customer that specifies a destination of the shipment of the commodity; iii) information input by the customer that specifies the commodity to be shipped; iv) information input by the customer that specifies a quantity of the commodity to be shipped; v) information input by the customer specifying an entity as owner of a railcar that is to be used for shipping the commodity, the entity specified as owner of the railcar being distinct from the rail transportation company; b) generating a price quote for shipping the commodity computed on the basis of multiple factors including the entity specified by the customer as owner of the railcar that is to be used for shipping the commodity owner of the railcar identified by the customer; c) sending information to the customer'"'"'s computer to display the price quote to the customer, wherein the price quote has a period of validity; d) in response to information received by the network server from the customer'"'"'s computer indicating that the customer wishes to save the price quote; i) saving the price quote in a customer profile; ii) performing the service of shipping the commodity at the quoted price using a railcars owned by the entity specified by the customer if the customer orders the service within the period of validity of the price quote.
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18. A client-server system for allowing a railway transportation company to deliver to a customer a quote for shipping a commodity by rail, the client-server system comprising:
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a) a client computer at which the customer receives information and can input commands; b) a server communicating with the client computer via the Internet; c) the client computer implementing a graphical user interface (GUI), including; i) an origin and destination field allowing a customer to specify an origin and a destination of the shipment, the origin and destination field presenting; (1) a first input component allowing the customer to specify an origin of the shipment of the commodity; (2) a second input component allowing the customer to specify a destination of the shipment of the commodity; ii) a commodity selection field allowing the customer to specify the commodity to be shipped, the commodity selection field presenting; (1) a third input component allowing the customer to specify a type of commodity to be shipped; (2) a fourth input component allowing the customer to specify a quantity of the commodity to be shipped; iii) a railcar owner selection field presenting the customer with an input option to specify a railcar owner whose one or more railcars are to be used for shipping the commodity, the specified railcar owner being selected amongst two or more different railcars owners, the input option allowing the customer to specify an entity as a railcar owner that is distinct from the railway transportation company; iv) a price quotation field for displaying to the customer a price quote for shipping the commodity; v) a control component providing the customer with the option to order from the railway transportation company a transportation service for shipping the commodity at a quoted price; d) the server being operative to compute a price quote on the basis of multiple factors specified by the customer, including; i) the origin of the shipment of the commodity; ii) the destination of the shipment of the commodity; iii) the type of commodity; iv) the quantity of the commodity; v) the entity specified by the customer as the railcar owner e) the server being operative to; i) send information to the client computer to display the quoted price in the price quotation field; ii) receive from the client computer information that the customer has ordered via the control component the service for shipping the commodity at the quoted price using one or more railcars owned by the entity specified by the customer as railcar owner. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A computer readable medium including a program element implementing a graphical user interface (GUI) allowing a railway transportation company to deliver to a customer a quote for shipping a commodity by rail, the GUI comprising:
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a) an origin and destination field allowing a customer to specify an origin and a destination of the shipment, the origin and destination field presenting; i) a first input component allowing the customer to specify an origin of the shipment of the commodity; ii) a second input component allowing the customer to specify a destination of the shipment of the commodity; b) a commodity selection field allowing the customer to specify the commodity to be shipped, the commodity selection field presenting; i) a third input component allowing the customer to specify a type of commodity to be shipped; ii) a fourth input component allowing the customer to specify a quantity of the commodity to be shipped; c) a railcar owner selection field presenting the customer with an input option to specify a railcar owner whose one or more railcars are to be used for shipping the commodity, the specified railcar owner being selected amongst two or more different railcars owners, the input option allowing the customer to specify an entity as a railcar owner that is distinct from the railway transportation company; d) a first control component for allowing the customer to cause a price quote for shipping the commodity to be computed on the basis of multiple factors including the entity specified by the customer as railcar owner; e) a price quotation field for displaying to the customer the price quote for shipping the commodity computed on the basis of multiple factors including the entity specified by the customer as railcar owner, wherein the price quote has a period of validity; f) a second control component presenting the customer with the option to save the price quote in a customer profile, wherein the railway transportation company will perform the service of shipping the commodity at the quoted price using one or more railcars owned by the entity specified by the customer as railcar owner if the customer orders the service within the period of validity of the price quote.
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Specification